[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 89 (Tuesday, May 12, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2363-S2365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mrs. FISCHER. Madam President, I rise today to speak about the 
unprecedented crisis our Nation is facing. In a matter of just a few 
months, COVID-19 has completely changed our daily lives. This virus has 
forced us to close schools, shut down restaurants, cancel major events, 
and temporarily shutter businesses across our economy.
  The sacrifices have been necessary for the sake of public health, to 
help ``flatten the curve'' so our medical facilities don't become 
overwhelmed, but they have also been disruptive, frustrating, and in 
some cases, scary.
  Despite the emotional and economic toll this crisis has taken, we 
have seen countless acts of compassion, generosity, and selflessness 
all across the country. Americans have stepped up to help each other to 
fight this new threat.
  I want to make sure the American people know that since the very 
beginning of this crisis, Nebraskans have been on the frontlines.
  When 13 Americans were evacuated from a cruise ship in Japan in late 
February, they were taken to the National Quarantine Unit at the 
University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. As the Nation's only 
Federal quarantine unit, they were also trusted to care for Americans 
recovering from Ebola in 2014.
  Beyond treating those exposed to or infected with coronavirus, UNMC 
is also working to test new treatments for this virus. In late 
February, the National Institutes of Health announced that the 
country's first clinical trial for coronavirus therapy had begun at 
UNMC.
  Our world-class medical center has been active from the very 
beginning of this crisis.
  The Nebraska National Guard--our citizen soldiers--has also played an 
important role in our response. They have been deployed as distributors 
at food banks, as healthcare workers assisting with testing, and as 
drivers bringing ventilators to where they are most needed.
  One of the first State Department evacuation flights out of China 
brought 57 Americans to Nebraska, where they were quarantined at Camp 
Ashland, a Nebraska National Guard training site.
  It is easy to forget that these first evacuations happened just back 
in February. Since that time, we have relied on our amazing healthcare 
workers and first responders. These heroes have been working around the 
clock to keep all of us safe. They get up every day to fight this virus 
in hospitals and in clinics across this country. I can't imagine how 
hard it must be for them to see the effects of this new sickness day in 
and day out. Yet I know we are in good hands.
  We have also relied on our food heroes, many from my home State, 
where one in four jobs is tied to production agriculture. If you raise 
cattle or grow soybeans, you can't stay inside and work from your 
couch. If you package beef or pork, you can't work from a laptop. 
Americans should be incredibly grateful for our essential workers 
throughout the food supply chain. They are working so that we can 
continue to put healthy, safe food on our tables.
  Nebraskans and all Americans are making daily sacrifices to slow the 
spread of this virus. We have drastically reduced our contact with 
others, knowing that short-term sacrifice will lead to long-term public 
health. But despite our best efforts, over 8,000 Nebraskans have 
contracted the virus, and 96 have died since COVID-19 arrived in the 
United States. These people were loved by their families and by their 
communities. I grieve for their loved ones. These tragic losses 
underscore the seriousness of this virus. They demonstrate to all of us 
that we need to keep up the fight.
  The changes we have made in our national life, while necessary, have 
been difficult. They have come at the cost of the economic security of 
many people in the heartland of this Nation. We are seeing record 
numbers of unemployment claims, and many people who have never faced 
unemployment before now find themselves out of work. More Nebraskans 
are now dealing with food insecurity due to unemployment and the 
effects of COVID-19.

  I have been inspired by the work nonprofits across my State are doing 
to address this.
  The local chapter of the Salvation Army in Hastings has started a 
mobile food unit, which they drive from neighborhood to neighborhood, 
and they serve hot meals.
  The Central Nebraska Community Action Partnership has begun to box up 
food and leave it on people's doorsteps. This has allowed them to 
reduce person-to-person contact while helping those who are in need.
  The Food Bank of Lincoln, which serves Southeast Nebraska by acting 
as a distribution center for food pantries in 16 counties, has seen a 
huge surge in demand. They have been able to keep up with this demand 
in large part thanks to the innovation of a partnership of Lincoln 
business, philanthropy, and government leaders, who together formed the 
Lincoln COVID-19 Response Fund.
  These are major problems, and there is no easy fix. Even so, it is 
our job in Congress to respond to this national crisis and do what we 
can to provide relief. That is why I was proud to support the CARES 
Act, the relief package this body passed unanimously at the end of 
March.
  A big part of this legislation was the Paycheck Protection Program, 
which was designed to help America's small businesses keep their 
employees on payroll by offering forgivable loans.
  Upon the creation of this program to provide relief, Nebraskans hit 
the ground running. By mid-April, the Paycheck Protection Program had 
provided nearly 25,000 loans worth just under $3 billion to Nebraska's 
small businesses. This funding was enough to cover more than three-
fourths of Nebraska's eligible payrolls--the highest percentage in the 
Nation.
  I think it is important to note that none of this would have been 
possible without Nebraska's community banks and our credit unions. 
While some national banks hesitated, Nebraska's local institutions 
stepped up to provide these loans and make sure small businesses in 
their communities received assistance.
  To our community banks and credit unions, Nebraskans applying for 
these loans are not just statistics halfway around the country. The 
people hurting are their friends, their families, and their neighbors. 
The people who need their help live just down the street.
  One of these banks is Union Bank & Trust in Lincoln. This family-
owned bank is not in the top 200 banks by assets nationally, but after 
the first 72 hours of the Paycheck Protection Program, they ranked 
second in the Nation for the number of loans approved. Like many other 
lending institutions, Union Bank & Trust accomplished this while 
adjusting to working from home for the first time. Their remarkable 
efforts and those of another Nebraska institution, Pinnacle Bank, were 
covered in a recent Washington Post story for leading the way 
nationally with this program.
  It is good to see the Paycheck Protection Program working well in my 
State. I am pleased that Congress came

[[Page S2364]]

together to further fund this program so that more small businesses can 
receive assistance. The drive to support one another, help out, and 
deliver relief to others is something we are seeing all across my 
State.
  Along with grief, we have seen resilience. Along with sadness, we 
have seen hope.
  I read a story about young children in Omaha who wanted to visit 
their grandfather. They couldn't go into his nursing home, so they 
connected a microphone to a speaker inside so that they could talk to 
him and sing to him.
  I have seen schools that stopped holding in-person classes weeks ago 
still serving their students.
  On top of instituting remote learning, many are also offering free 
meals.
  In Gering, teachers organized an impromptu drive-by parade through 
their students' neighborhoods.
  In Hastings, Longfellow Elementary School has converted old newspaper 
vending machines into learning material dispensers. Students walk up to 
the dispenser for their grade level, and they take out their weekly 
learning packet, just as you would a newspaper.
  In short, I have seen neighbors helping neighbors. I have seen 
Nebraskans helping Nebraskans.
  Much remains uncertain about our future. We don't know how many more 
lives will be lost, how long we are going to have to wait for a 
vaccine, or how long it will take for Main Street to fully open for 
business once again. I think we may have a long and tough road ahead of 
us, but I take great pride in the way Nebraska has responded to these 
difficult circumstances.
  The inspiring stories of kindness and humanity in my State don't come 
as a surprise to me.
  I have seen our people respond to other disasters, including the 
widespread flooding that we faced just last year. I have seen 
Nebraskans respond the same way to COVID-19 as we did to that flood--by 
putting others first. It is just who we are.
  Nebraskans will continue to adapt, to help others, and to lead the 
way in addressing and responding to this crisis. We will get through 
this, and we will come out stronger than ever before


                   nomination of Brian D. Montgomery

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, today I will vote to oppose the nomination 
of Mr. Brian Montgomery to serve as Deputy Secretary for the Department 
of Housing and Urban Development. My vote today is not because I 
believe Mr. Montgomery is incapable of doing the job. Across multiple 
administrations, Mr. Montgomery has shown himself to be a dedicated 
public servant with an impressive understanding of the programs and 
policies he would oversee if confirmed. During prior administrations, 
Mr. Montgomery demonstrated his commitment to HUD's mission and helped 
respond to the early days of the financial crisis. And over the past 
year, Mr. Montgomery has done important work strengthening HUD's 
reverse mortgage program.
  But I will vote against Mr. Montgomery's nomination today because, 
like too many people in this administration, over the last 2 years he 
has helped advance policies that will have devastating effects for 
millions of families. In addition to his role as Federal Housing 
Commissioner and Assistant Secretary for Housing, Mr. Montgomery began 
performing the duties of the Deputy Secretary at HUD nearly a year and 
a half ago. Since that time, he was involved in the decision to advance 
a revised disparate impact rule that the U.S. Commission on Civil 
Rights wrote that it was very concerned would ``impose substantial new 
obstacles for victims of discrimination'' and ``undermine the 
protections of the Fair Housing Act, thereby substantially undermining 
necessary civil rights protection in an area about which the Commission 
and its state advisory committees continue to receive compelling 
evidence of need for meaningful federal corrective action.''
  Mr. Montgomery also helped advance HUD's Housing Finance Reform 
Report, which would increase the cost of an FHA-backed loan for those 
who can least afford it, restructure FHA in a way that could undermine 
HUD funding, and restrict consumers' choice between an FHA and Fannie 
Mae or Freddie Mac-backed loan. But when confronted with questions 
about these issues that are critical to low- and moderate-income 
families, Mr. Montgomery offered little explanation.
  Throughout Mr. Montgomery's time performing the duties of the Deputy 
Secretary--the No. 2 person at HUD--HUD's budget requests have 
repeatedly zeroed out critical housing and community development 
accounts, like the community developmental block grant, HOME investment 
partnerships, and public housing capital funds, while proposing to 
raise rents for the lowest income renters. When asked to justify these 
disastrous proposals, Mr. Montgomery again offered no explanation.
  Our Nation is facing an affordable housing crisis and a crisis of 
equity across our housing system. Before COVID-19 hit, there was a 
nearly 30-point gap between the Black and White home ownership rates, 
and more than one in four renters paid more than half of their income 
for housing. With COVID-19's economic devastation disproportionately 
burdening the lowest income households and communities of color, these 
challenges will only grow.
  We need leaders at HUD who will fight for our housing and community 
development programs and the families who depend on them. We need 
leaders at HUD who will push for progress and equality in our Nation's 
housing system, regardless of race, disability, or family status. We 
need leaders at HUD who will advance proposals that support, not 
further burden, the lowest income families. Mr. Montgomery has not 
shown us a record of fighting for those priorities, and that is why I 
cannot support his nomination today.
  Mrs. FISCHER. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all postcloture time 
is expired.
  The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Montgomery 
nomination?
  Mrs. FISCHER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Tennesse (Mr. Alexander) and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. 
Sasse).
  Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. 
Alexander) would have voted ``yea.''
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy), the 
Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Washington 
(Mrs. Murray), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), and the Senator 
from Rhode Island (Mr. Whitehouse) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). Are there any other Senators in the 
Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 61, nays 32, as follows:

                       [Rollcall Vote No. 86 Ex.]

                                YEAS--61

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Capito
     Carper
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Coons
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kennedy
     King
     Lankford
     Lee
     Loeffler
     Manchin
     McConnell
     McSally
     Menendez
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Murphy
     Paul
     Perdue
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sinema
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--32

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Klobuchar
     Merkley
     Peters
     Reed
     Rosen
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warren
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--7

     Alexander
     Leahy
     Markey
     Murray
     Sanders
     Sasse
     Whitehouse
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table.
  The President will be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

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