[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 96 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2564-S2565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, one unfortunate side effect of the 
COVID-19 pandemic is that we have become accustomed to the recitation 
of grim statistics.
  The United States now leads the world in the number of confirmed 
cases of the coronavirus with more than 1.5 million. Another 2.4 
million workers filed jobless claims this week, joining the more than 
38 million Americans who have applied for unemployment assistance since 
the crisis began.
  Very soon, our country will reach another grim milestone. We are fast 
approaching the day when more than 100,000 American lives will be lost 
to COVID-19--the size of a small city erased from the map.
  Speaker Pelosi and I sent a letter to President Trump this morning, 
requesting that the American flag be flown at half-mast on all public 
buildings on the day the toll reaches 100,000. As families all across 
this great country mourn the loss of friends, colleagues, and loved 
ones, flying the flag

[[Page S2565]]

at half-mast would be a national expression of grief.
  Of course, this weekend is also Memorial Day, when we commemorate the 
so many Americans who, through the centuries, have lost their lives for 
our country, and we never forget them. We never forget them. I hope, on 
Memorial Day, every American will take a minute amidst this crisis to 
remember our veterans who have served and made great sacrifice and to 
remember their families as well.
  Now, in a flash, this disease has washed over our country like a 
flood, changing nearly every aspect of American society except, 
perhaps, the Republican Senate. If you looked at our activity in the 
last 3 weeks, you would hardly know that there was a COVID crisis.
  Leader McConnell called the Senate back into session 3 weeks ago. In 
that time, the Republican leadership has not put one bill on the floor 
of the Senate related to COVID-19--not one vote on legislation having 
to do with COVID-19 in the entire month of May.
  The House has not been in regular session, but it has voted on many 
more COVID-related bills this month than the Republican Senate. For 
Leader McConnell to say that the Senate is working and the House is 
derelict is the opposite of what happened.
  The House has passed a major bill dealing with COVID. We have done 
nothing on this floor to vote on anything about COVID.
  For Leader McConnell to think we are doing our job by voting for some 
rightwing judges, by engaging in some sort of show trials to go to 
pursue conspiracy theories from the far right and even from Russia to 
besmirch political opponents past and present--that is not what we 
should be doing.
  When Americans look at what the House has done over the last 3 weeks 
and what the Senate has done over the last 3 weeks, they will see that 
the House has done far more on COVID than the Senate because Leader 
McConnell is not allowing the Senate to focus on the issues we should 
be focusing on.
  What little business we have done related to the crisis--oversight 
hearings in a few committees--required weeks of pressure from Senate 
Democrats. We had to push and push and push our colleagues to even 
fulfill their most basic responsibilities to do a hearing, to do 
oversight as to whether the money that we passed weeks ago is being 
spent properly.
  In the interest of making incremental progress--just incremental 
progress--Democrats have asked this Chamber to consent to smaller 
measures related to our relief efforts. We asked our colleagues to 
increase transparency in the small business lending program. We asked 
to release the unedited CDC guidance to help families, States, 
businesses, and schools reopen safely. Senate Republicans blocked those 
ideas.
  The inaction by Senate Republicans has gotten so bad that even one of 
my colleagues on the other side doesn't want to adjourn today because 
his party has done nothing on the coronavirus for an entire month.
  Leader McConnell has long presided over a legislative graveyard, but 
in this time of national crisis, when Americans all across the country 
are desperate for relief, the inaction of Senate Republicans is 
staggering.
  Making matters worse, Republicans aren't just ignoring the 
coronavirus; they are practically sprinting toward focusing on a 
partisan election instead of our coming together and trying to solve 
this problem.
  Instead of debating COVID-related legislation on the floor, Leader 
McConnell has asked the Senate to confirm some rightwing judges. In the 
Homeland Security Committee, the Republican chairman convened a hearing 
that slanders the family of the President's political opponent with 
conspiracy theories invented by none other than the Kremlin. The 
Homeland Security Committee should be holding hearings with the FEMA 
Administrator about the alarming shortage of PPE. But, instead, the 
Republican majority is busy following breadcrumbs left by Putin and his 
intelligence services. What a disgrace, what a sham, and what a 
dereliction of duties.

  The House--again, they are doing their job. They passed a major bill. 
Senator McConnell says: Let's wait. Let's pause. He doesn't see 
immediate urgency. Well, Americans do.
  In the Judiciary Committee now, the Republican chairman wants to 
issue a bonanza of subpoenas about yet another conspiracy theory 
related to the 2016 elections in the hopes of diving down as many 
rabbit holes as can be found.
  And today, in the Foreign Relations Committee, the Republican 
chairman is holding an audio-only hearing to advance President Trump's 
handpicked nominee for the Voice of America, a nominee who is currently 
under investigation by the attorney general of Washington, DC. That is 
right. The Republican majority of the Foreign Relations Committee is 
turning the cameras off so that the press and the public can't see what 
they are doing--giving a promotion to Steve Bannon's business partner 
in the middle of a health crisis. This is such a gross misuse of power 
by the majority.
  While unemployment reaches astronomic levels, the Senate Republican 
caucus is off on a wild goose chase. The conspiracy caucus is back with 
a vengeance. That is the name of this Republican Senate majority: the 
``conspiracy caucus.'' That is where their zeal is; that is where their 
focus is--not on eradicating COVID, not on helping people get back to 
work, not on feeding hungry families but on pursuing conspiracy 
theories. Wow.
  The Memorial Day weekend in a State work period is usually a time for 
Senators to meet with their constituents and hear their concerns. In 
these strange times, we will not be able to do that in person, but we 
will find ways to hear from the people in our States, and I expect my 
Republican colleagues will get an earful.
  The American people should be furious about what Washington 
Republicans are doing in Congress and, more to the point, what they are 
failing to do.
  As we approach a day of reckoning, more than 100,000 deaths from the 
coronavirus, I cannot imagine the American people are happy that Senate 
Republicans can't focus on coronavirus because they are too busy doing 
opposition research for the President's reelection campaign.