[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 3, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2670-S2671]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Unanimous Consent Request
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, I came to the floor of the
Senate to ask for consent on the simple, timely Senate resolution
sponsored by nearly half of the Members of this Chamber. What did the
resolution call for? Well, it urged the United States to join global
coronavirus vaccine and treatment efforts. That doesn't sound like a
radical idea, does it? In the midst of a global pandemic that is
causing so much suffering and so many deaths, it would seem that asking
the United States to join other countries of the world in searching for
therapies and vaccines is just common sense.
We don't know where or when a vaccine will be discovered. We don't
know if an effective treatment will be discovered in the United States
or in some other place. Certainly, with the respected medical and
scientific leadership in the United States, you would hope that it
would be here, but let's be honest. If a safe and effective vaccine
against the coronavirus is discovered in some other country, the United
States would want to be there and be part of the discussion about its
production and distribution. Wouldn't we? That is all this resolution
says.
Why not team up with allies around the world since we are all looking
for the same thing--a safe and effective vaccine. Whether that vaccine
is stamped ``Made in the USA'' or is made in some other country is
secondary. Is it safe? Is it effective? Will it save lives? Do we
really want the American people to be left out of such an effort? It
was a global effort to eliminate smallpox, Ebola, polio, and so many
other deadly diseases we took for granted. We were all in it together.
These viruses and diseases don't know any boundaries. People around
the world have the same fears and concerns that we have in the United
States about what we are paying in price of suffering and death until
we find a way to avoid it. This resolution would just call on the
United States to be part of a global effort to find a therapy and a
vaccine, but this resolution was blocked here in the Senate. Since
then, since the 2 weeks that have passed, we have lost over 100,000
American lives. Sadly, the number still grows. This has been 100,000
lives in just a few months--the same number of American casualties in
the wars of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined.
What was President Trump's response? Was there empathy or a message
of national unity or healing during this tragic moment? No. Once again,
President Trump refused to take any responsibility for leadership
during this crisis. Sadly, he has cast blame in every direction and
ignored his own responsibility amid a deadly global pandemic that has
had devastating consequences for the American people.
[[Page S2671]]
Sadly, we lead the world in infections and death, but President Trump
has decided that now is the moment in history for the United States to
pull out of the World Health Organization--the same body that is
heading the global pandemic response. What is he thinking--that we
would walk away from the organization that has called to the table
countries from around the world in an effort to find a safe and
effective vaccine? Here we are, on the 40th anniversary of the World
Health Organization's historic achievement in eradicating small pox,
stumbling along with a President who is more interested in settling a
score, casting blame, and finding ways to divide us. Once again, the
majority of his party here in the Senate is not chiming in and joining
us in this effort to pass this resolution.
While we continue to have some of the world's best researchers and
experts, it is plausible that a vaccine will be found and developed
elsewhere. In a rush to research and validate a vaccine, ramp up
production, address global allocation and supply needs, ensure
affordability and access worldwide, and make sure the United States
gets its fair share of any safe and effective vaccine, where will we
stand if the President insists on being on the sidelines, unengaged?
When the United States pursues this Trump go-it-alone approach while
the rest of the world is working together, where does that leave us?
Pride cometh before the fall.
Just as with the smallpox effort, a global, collaborative approach
makes obvious sense, and it will save American lives. Joining forces
with other countries around the world will help to speed the
development and eventual distribution of the coronavirus vaccine we
desperately seek.
Do you want to know what one Republican Senator from Tennessee said
about this? He said: ``I disagree with the President's decision.''
Withdrawing U.S. membership from the WHO could, among other things,
interfere with clinical trials that are essential to the development of
a vaccine. No one knows where this vaccine will eventually be perfected
or produced. God willing, it will be soon. Yet why shouldn't we be
joining in this global effort? Why? Why, at this moment in history, has
President Trump said we are stepping away from the organization that
leads this effort?
Given this President's--sadly, I hate to use the word--``obsession''
with blaming everyone but himself for mishandling this situation, maybe
his dereliction of duty should come as no surprise, but what a bitter,
bitter disappointment it is.
I return to the floor to ask unanimous consent on a straightforward
resolution--a simple resolution that should have passed without any
fanfare by a voice vote unanimously in the Senate. This resolution
calls on the United States to join in the global effort to find a safe
and effective vaccine--something that we have done consistently
throughout our history until this President took office.
Ultimately, let's remember that this is a pandemic that affects the
world, and any solution has to be a worldwide solution as well. We
cannot isolate ourselves from the international ways of finding
treatments and the development of a vaccine. Doing so not only wastes
time but risks there being a loss of life.