[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 112 (Wednesday, June 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3054-S3055]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Despite what we hear from the Trump administration, the COVID-19 
pandemic is far from over. In fact, as you may know, nine States 
today--nine States--hit record highs for new cases in a single day. 
What we have seen unfold over the last several months and continue to 
see unfold is an administration that continues to ignore the 
recommendations from scientists and physicians.
  No one doubts anymore, for example, that masks can play an important 
role in cutting back on the transmission of the virus. We need to 
utilize the Defense Production Act and manufacture the hundreds of 
millions of high-quality masks our people and our medical personnel 
desperately need. As part of the Defense Authorization Act, I will be 
offering an amendment to do just that. Other countries around the world 
are sending masks on a regular basis to all of their people. We can and 
should do exactly the same thing.
  Not only do we need to act boldly and aggressively to address this 
horrific pandemic that we are experiencing, not only do we need to act 
boldly to fix a broken and racist criminal justice system, but we need 
to respond with a fierce sense of urgency to the worst economic crisis 
in the modern history of our country.
  Over the last 3 months, over 30 million Americans have lost their 
jobs, and because half of our people live paycheck to paycheck, having 
virtually nothing in savings, many of those people are now facing 
economic desperation. Today, all across our country, tens of millions 
of Americans are in danger of going hungry. In Vermont and in States 
all over America, we are seeing long lines of people in their cars 
lining up in order to get food that the Federal Government is now 
supplying.
  But it is not just food. Millions of Americans are frightened to 
death that they will soon be evicted from their apartments or lose 
their homes to foreclosure. Imagine that. In the middle of an economic 
meltdown, in the middle of a pandemic, millions of people are in danger 
of being thrown out onto the streets.

  Further, as part of the economic crisis, we are in danger of losing 
over half the small businesses in this country within the next 6 
months--impossible to contemplate. Half of all small businesses in 
America are threatened with destruction.
  I would say to Senator McConnell and the Republican leadership here 
in the Senate that the American people cannot afford to wait. They need 
our help now, not a month from now, not 2 months from now. We need to 
respond vigorously to the enormous economic pain and suffering and 
anxiety that the American people, today, are experiencing.
  What does that mean specifically? It means, among other things, that 
the Federal Government must guarantee 100 percent of the paychecks and 
benefits of American workers up to $90,000 a year through a Paycheck 
Security Act, which is legislation that I introduced with Senators 
Warner, Jones, and Blumenthal. Countries in Europe that have taken this 
approach have not experienced the skyrocketing levels of unemployment 
we have seen here in the United States.
  As a result of the economic downturn, we know that over 16 million 
Americans have already lost their health insurance. Further, there are 
estimates that that number could go as high as 43 million people losing 
their health insurance, and that is on top of the 87 million Americans 
who were already uninsured or underinsured before the pandemic.
  Responding with a fierce sense of urgency to the economic crisis 
means that, in the midst of the horrific pandemic, every man, woman, 
and child in this country must receive the healthcare they need, 
regardless of their income. That means that Medicare must be empowered 
to pay all of the healthcare bills of the uninsured and underinsured 
until this crisis is over. If this crisis has taught us anything, it 
has taught us that we are only as safe as the least insured among us.
  Responding with a fierce sense of urgency means providing every 
working-class person in America with a $2,000 emergency payment each 
and every month until this crisis is over, so that they can pay the 
rent, feed their families, and make ends meet. A one-time $1,200 check 
does not cut it. An emergency $2,000 monthly payment will serve also as 
a major stimulus in reviving the economy.
  Responding with a fierce sense of urgency means making sure that no 
one in America goes hungry, which means that we have got to 
substantially expand the Meals on Wheels program, the school meals 
program, and SNAP benefits.
  Responding with a fierce sense of urgency means making sure that the 
Postal Service receives the emergency funding that it desperately 
needs. If we could bail out large corporations, if we could provide 
over $1 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy and the powerful, please 
do not tell me that we cannot save and strengthen the Postal Service, 
an agency of huge importance to our entire economy.
  Acting with a fierce sense of urgency means extending the $600 a week 
in expanded unemployment benefits that expires in July. Failure to 
extend these benefits would slash the incomes of millions of Americans 
by 50, 60 or even 70 percent. You can't do that in the midst of an 
economic crisis.
  Here we are today. We are in the midst of the worst public health 
crisis in over 100 years, and the Republican Senate is doing nothing 
about it. We are in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the 
Great Depression of the 1930s. People all over this country in every 
State in America are financially hurting, and the Republican Senate 
today is doing nothing about that. We continue to see African Americans 
brutally murdered and tortured by racist police officers, and the 
Republican Senate leadership proposes a woefully inadequate solution.
  Now, I understand that not everyone in America is hurting, not 
everyone in America needs help from the Senate. While over 32 million 
Americans have lost jobs during this horrific pandemic, 630 
billionaires in America have seen their wealth go up by $565 billion--
amazing, but true. Over the first 3 months of this horrific pandemic, 
America's top 630 billionaires have seen their wealth go up by $565 
billion--hard to believe.
  In other words, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, 
which is already today worse than at any time since the 1920s, a 
horrific situation is becoming much worse. During the last 3 months, 
while the very, very rich have become much richer, American households 
have seen their wealth go down by $6.5 trillion. Billionaires see their 
wealth increase by over $600 billion; American households see their

[[Page S3055]]

wealth go down by $6.5 trillion. In the midst of everything else that 
we are experiencing, we are currently witnessing what is likely the 
greatest transfer of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the 
very rich in the modern history of our country.
  In the midst of these unprecedented crises, it is time for the Senate 
to act in an unprecedented way. In every State in this country, our 
constituents are hurting, and they are calling out for help. Let us 
hear their cries. Let us hear their pain. Let us act and act now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.