[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 93 (Monday, May 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S2477]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I have just returned from being in 
Tennessee this weekend and lots of phone calls, seeing a lot of people 
out and about. I will tell you, this COVID-19 has changed a lot about 
how we go about our daily lives, but it has not changed the way 
Congress works out its differences. We are still arguing about spending 
and debt. We are still debating the importance of federalism and how 
the Constitution can help us determine what we can and should do on a 
Federal level to help our communities back at home.
  Now, in Tennessee, our cities all across the State, from one corner 
to another, are getting back to that daily routine. Many of those 
businesses were able to improvise their way through the early weeks of 
lockdown, and now they are finding what they are calling their new 
normal, their new processes.
  Some of them received emergency loans from the SBA. Others became one 
of the more than 80,000 small businesses and self-employed workers who 
were able to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program.
  But no matter how hard they work or how smart their plans are, we 
know that, in the end, we are going to lose a lot of our favorite 
neighborhood stops. It is tough. It is really tough out there. Some of 
those businesses are already gone. And that is going to happen in spite 
of the unprecedented investment that the Federal Government, working 
with our State and local governments, has made into our business and 
our healthcare sectors, making certain people are able to stay afloat 
and bridging from that rescue to a business restart and bridging on to 
recovery.
  Well, as we saw this week, the more Washington spends, the more 
Washington's focus drifts away from emergency measures and that rescue, 
and it doesn't go to a restart or a recovery. What does it do? It goes 
to, How can we use this crisis to grow government? How can we use this 
crisis to take away a little bit more of your freedom?
  Last week, House Democrats passed a $3 trillion spending package that 
they used as a vehicle for a lot of their pet projects. We have all 
heard about it: pension bailouts, unsustainable environmental mandates, 
fundamental changes to tax policy, all of these line items that have no 
business being slapped on the coattails of a bill that was sold as 
being a safety net for panicked Americans.
  You will be relieved to know that that bill will never see the light 
of day here in the Senate. But, you know, it might not be a bad idea 
just to put it on the floor and see if our friends across the aisle 
want to vote for it--$3 trillion, $3 trillion.
  It is disrespectful to people who are hurting. It is disrespectful to 
small businesses that they have become a bargaining chip for the 
Democratic, left-leaning socialist wish list. That is what they think 
of you. When you walk down Main Street and you see shuttered 
businesses, I want you to remember that. That is what they think of 
you: They can use you to get what they want.
  In fact, I will say this. We have been pretty busy focusing on 
bipartisan efforts that will help in the short term and will help with 
a postpandemic future, something that will really bring relief and 
clarity to the American people--not things like a liberal wish list.