[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 108 (Thursday, June 11, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2902-S2903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Of course, there is another crisis in the country crying 
out for action and leadership.

[[Page S2903]]

  The COVID-19 pandemic didn't go away while the Nation rightfully 
turned its eyes to issues of racial justice.
  Yesterday, the United States eclipsed 2 million cases of coronavirus. 
Another 1.5 million Americans filed for unemployment this week. Federal 
Reserve officials--sober, nonpolitical--are predicting that, best case, 
we will end the year around 10 percent unemployment--a staggering 
figure. One out of every 10.
  The disease is spiking in a number of States around the country. 
Arizona officials have warned that its hospitals could be filled by 
next month. Texas has gone 3 straight days with record numbers of 
hospitalizations. North Carolina, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and 
several other States are experiencing a resurgence or peak levels of 
COVID-19.
  As the President continues to fixate on the stock market and Senate 
Republicans are prematurely ready to declare victory, we need to wrest 
the focus back to these crucial issues. So today I am requesting that 
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx and other members of the administration's 
Coronavirus Task Force conduct a briefing for Democratic Senators on 
the recent spikes and do it next week. We need to understand why these 
spikes are happening and how to adapt our national response.
  The President--always interested in himself, not in the good of the 
country--was too quick to sideline the Coronavirus Task Force, too 
eager to pretend that everything was back to normal and better than 
ever. The country needs Dr. Fauci on billboards, but the President 
wants to put him on a milk carton.
  The Vice President yesterday was photographed with campaign staffers 
in a tight space, no social distancing, without anyone wearing a mask. 
The very least the administration could do is lead by example and often 
cannot even manage that much.
  At the same time, we cannot forget that the issues of racial justice 
and COVID-19 are intricately related. The COVID-19 pandemic 
disproportionately kills Black Americans. Communities of color have 
less access to quality healthcare, greater food insecurity, greater 
percentages of poverty, and a disproportionate number of our frontline 
essential workers--41.2 percent--are African American and Latino. The 
majority of African Americans are renters and dedicate more than 50 
percent of their income to rent.
  The truth is, an emergency bill on COVID-19 is a racial justice issue 
too. Hazard pay for essential workers is a racial justice issue too. 
Healthcare is a racial justice issue too. Rent assistance and 
forbearance from eviction is a racial justice issue too. These are all 
items that must be discussed in another COVID relief bill, and it is 
past time to get to work.
  African Americans, Latinos, and other minorities are taking the 
economic hit from the coronavirus on the chin, but Senate Republicans, 
led by Leader McConnell, are reportedly unwilling to consider another 
emergency relief bill until late July. How many more workers will lose 
their jobs between now and late July? How many renters will be kicked 
out of their homes between now and late July? How many State and local 
government workers will lose their jobs, as State and local governments 
meet their budget deadlines on July 1 and don't have the dollars to 
deal with them? How many of them will lose their jobs? Waiting until 
late July is callous, it is cold, and it is wrong for our economy.

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