[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 119 (Monday, June 29, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3642-S3650]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown our
country into a nightmare level crisis of joblessness. The Congress has
not done enough to stop it and has not done enough to save the jobs of
our people.
I have come to the floor this evening to call for the Senate to pass
legislation that is all about saving the public sector jobs that form
the backbone of our local communities, our firefighters, our first
responders, our teachers, our families, and so many others. They need
our help. They need it now.
Senate Democrats have been warning since March that when COVID-19
cases exploded and our economy went into lockdown, our States, our
cities, and our towns are now facing budgetary disasters unlike any
they have gone through in recent memory. The shortfalls that State and
local governments are facing due to the pandemic make the great
recession look like a modest little economic hiccup. Layoffs are now
happening at nightmarish levels.
In March, April, and May, there were 1.5 million job losses. Among
these key individuals were the firefighters, the first responders, our
public employees, folks who teach our kids, work in public health,
emergency response, and play a key role in maintaining our roads and
highways. I am just going to take a few minutes to run through some
specific examples of why Senate Democrats think this is so important.
First, what kind of sense does it make to sit back and allow
thousands and thousands of first responders to lose their jobs in the
middle of a pandemic? COVID-19 cases have spiked now in places around
this country. Our public health systems are getting hit like they were
hammered with a wrecking ball. State and local governments are being
forced to cut EMS
[[Page S3643]]
workers at the exact moment they need more first responders who know
how to keep the ailing of this country safe.
Second, let me mention education. Our country is in danger of losing
a generation of teachers if Congress does not act to save their jobs.
The official jobs data showed that in April alone, just 1 month, nearly
half a million K-12 employees lost their jobs--half a million.
Education experts have estimated that hundreds of thousands of teachers
could be permanently laid off without action.
Schoolchildren are already facing major setbacks due to the fact that
they can't get the same level of face-to-face instruction during the
pandemic. Far too many kids come from working families and are falling
behind because they don't have the technology, and they don't have the
support at home. Too many kids are hungry. Too many kids are neglected.
Nobody knows when they are going to be back in class full time.
Helping those young people catch up when this pandemic ends is
already going to be incredibly hard, and it will be even harder if the
Nation loses hundreds of thousands of dedicated teachers in the
meantime, and that is just K-12.
The COVID-19 crash is a disaster for Americans who want to get an
affordable college degree as well. Our public colleges and universities
are taking enormous losses. In my home State of Oregon, the losses
added up to $130 million this spring. States are facing big, higher
education budget cuts. School administrators are doing their best to
plan for the future, but, still, they don't know when their campuses
are going to go back to normal. You only have to look back to the great
recession to see what is likely to happen next. More and more costs
getting pushed onto more and more students and their working families.
Two-thirds of the class of 2018 borrowed to pay for college, and those
borrowers held an average of $30,000 in debt on graduation. Someday
soon, that may be something like a bargain.
Third, our country's already crumbling infrastructure is going to get
even worse if communities can't afford to invest in roads and highways
and other essential infrastructure projects. It is a self-defeating
prospect. If the Congress doesn't help communities tackle the projects
now, they will cost even more down the road and when the maintenance
backlog grows. Delaying these kinds of projects makes it even harder
for local economies to recover because all those workers will be out of
a job, and a lot of businesses don't want to invest in places where
there is a crumbling infrastructure.
The proposal I offer tonight with the Democratic leader will help to
save these jobs and stave off a whole lot of preventable economic
hardship. One of the key lessons the Senate ought to remember from the
great recession is that failing to support State and local budgets will
prolong suffering across this country. It will slow down the recovery,
and it will guarantee the country does not bounce back quickly in 2020.
Our proposal builds on legislation that has already passed the other
body. It incorporates State and local portions of the Heroes Act that
rescues firefighters, first responders, infrastructure jobs, and
teachers. It also includes an important proposal for the rural West--
Secure Rural Schools and Payments in Lieu of Taxes, what is call SRS
and PILT. Even before COVID-19, our rural communities started with
weaker economies, fewer public health resources, and worse access to
healthcare. They were bound to have a harder time responding to and
from the pandemic.
Secure Rural Schools, which I authored with our former colleague, is
all about bringing certainty and stability to communities and counties,
often the frontline healthcare providers in far-out places. These are
places where you have seen boom-and-bust traditional dependence on
resource extraction, and there have been cycles where it is almost
impossible, as the Presiding Officer knows, to plan for what is ahead.
Our proposal would create a permanent endowment of funds to provide a
predictable source of funding for rural economic development, roads,
and schools. Payment in lieu of taxes is all about providing that same
kind of certainty to those who live in rural areas dominated by Federal
lands. They have the same right as anybody else to reliable services:
firefighters, safe roads, highways, and schools. Ten years of permanent
mandatory payment in lieu of taxes will help those counties budget for
the future.
I am going to close with one last argument I have heard from the
other side and then yield to the distinguished Democratic leader. The
other side often says that our ideas are some sort of blue State
bailout. That is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Teachers are going to get pink slips in Texas, Kentucky, South
Carolina, and Florida, and they aren't going to believe that saving
their jobs is a blue State bailout. Of the 42 States and Territories
covered by Secure Rural Schools, less than a handful are blue States.
The virus has absolutely no interest in political parties. It might
hit Democratic States first, but it is now sweeping many parts of the
country, including States that voted for Donald Trump.
Despite being small and rural and, generally, relatively remote,
county governments that rely on Secure Rural Schools and payment in
lieu of taxes are responding to the same national public health crisis
facing larger cities and urban areas. This economic crisis is hitting
everybody.
I don't want to see hundreds of thousands of teachers laid off
anywhere--not in Oregon, not in Iowa, not in Texas, not in Kentucky.
Especially when it is safe for kids to go back to school in person, I
don't want them packed into classrooms with 40 or 50 other students. I
don't want first responders to be laid off in the middle of a pandemic.
I don't want our Nation's roads and highways to crumble into even
worse disrepair because the Congress failed to address the nationwide
budget crisis. The Senate has an obligation to act.
I am now going to yield to the distinguished Democratic leader, and
then I will offer a unanimous consent request to actually advance this
critically important cause.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank my good friend from Oregon for
his excellent and eloquent words. I want to thank him for being such a
leader on this issue and so many others. I thank my colleague from New
Hampshire, who will speak after me. I think Senator Menendez is
expected here, as well, to say a few words before the unanimous consent
request that will be made by my colleague from Oregon.
We are a long way off from beating COVID-19. Our communities need
Federal relief as soon as possible. The disease continues to spread in
an alarming rate across much of the South and West, and our country is
facing probably the greatest economic challenge since the Great
Depression.
Yet, for over 2 months, the Republican Senate has chosen to delay,
delay, delay. First, Leader McConnell said another COVID relief bill
was ``likely'' in June. Now, the earliest it could happen is late July,
and, even then, the Republican leader said he wants to ``assess the
conditions in the country'' first before writing a bill ``in his
office.''
I will make two points. The conditions in the country are terrible.
You don't need to wait to assess them. We must act now. Second, if the
leader thinks writing a bill in his office will produce results, I ask
him to look at COVID 2, 3, and 3.5, where, in each case, he wrote a
bill in his office without Democratic input. We insisted that we be
included by not going forward, and we got a much better bill. We hope
that is what he will do from the outset--work with us in a bipartisan
way and work with the House, as well, to get something done.
The time for waiting and the time for partisan posturing is over. We
are on the precipice of several deadlines that require immediate action
from Congress. There are several cliffs, but perhaps the most dangerous
is the cliff for State and local governments, so many of which are
finalizing their budget before the new fiscal year on July 1, in 2
days.
State, local, and Tribal governments have already laid off more than
1.6 million workers and are being forced to cut critical services. At
least 25 States have lost a minimum of 20,000 jobs. Apropos to the
point my colleague from
[[Page S3644]]
Oregon made, there are 25,000 State and local jobs in Florida. What are
we saying to them? There are 29,000 in Kentucky. What are we saying to
them? There are 93,000 in Texas. What are we saying to them?
These are not abstract numbers. They are teachers and firefighters
and busdrivers and healthcare workers and more. It includes so many
public health workers essential to contact tracing so we can lick this
disease once and for all. Without Federal support, those job losses
will continue, and the loss of vital services will continue as well.
So far, the Senate Republican response to this potential crisis has
been a giant shrug of the shoulders. Leader McConnell had once said
that he would certainly be in favor of allowing the States to use the
bankruptcy route. That is the Republican leader telling States, red and
blue alike, why don't you go bankrupt.
That is not acceptable to Senate Democrats. So tonight I am joining
Senators Wyden, Menendez, Hassan, Carper, Gillibrand, and Murphy to ask
the Senate's consent to pass emergency Federal funding so that State,
local, and Tribal governments can keep fighting the pandemic and keep
their communities safe.
Lest people think this is a blue issue or a red issue, I ask
unanimous consent that the following letter be printed in the Record
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record as follows:
National Governors Association,
June 29, 2020.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Hon. Chuck Schumer,
Minority Leader, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
Dear Majority Leader McConnell and Minority Leader Schumer:
We write today to advocate on behalf of states, territories,
counties, cities and towns, all of which are experiencing
historic budget shortfalls as they continue to respond to the
pandemic. In less than two days, the budget years for 45
states and thousands of local governments will begin. Unlike
the federal government, these state and local governments
must begin their fiscal years on time and with a balanced
budget. If the Senate fails to act immediately to support
state and local governments, our nation's recovery from the
pandemic-induced recession will suffer and millions of
Americans will needlessly be harmed.
Previous federal bills responding to COVID-19 provided
important support, many through well-established grant
programs, yet none allow for the replacement of billions of
lost revenue due to COVID-19. More robust and direct stimulus
is needed for state and local governments to both rebuild the
economy and maintain essential services in education, health
care, emergency operations, public safety and more.
As we move closer to the end of the budget year, furloughs
and job cuts are on the table for many states and localities.
These jobs losses not only affect the provision of government
services, but also add to state unemployment. The damage will
get far worse without federal assistance, forcing drastic
cuts that will further delay and cancel infrastructure
projects, as at least 26 states have announced construction
delays for transportation projects. The loss of such projects
will ripple through states' construction industry, delaying
recovery further.
State and local governments also purchase goods and
services which add to the nation's output, and in 2019, state
and local governments' purchases accounted for 11 percent of
GDP. When these activities slow down, there is an effect on
the nation's economy. Alarmingly, CBO's June letter on its
forecast of Gross Domestic Product for 2020 and 2021 found
that ``state and local governments' purchases of goods and
services fell by $350 billion, making up 9 percent of the
total decline in GDP.
Nearly 15 million Americans are employed by state and local
governments. Teachers, first responders and emergency medical
service workers are on the front lines of this crisis doing
the essential work of the country. Government employment
continues to suffer substantial losses with over 1.6 million
state and local government jobs lost since March.
Leaders in Washington have expressed support for flexible
fiscal aid to states and localities of all sizes. Yet months
have gone by and our communities continue to suffer.
Americans have a history of standing together in times of
crisis and must do so now.
Sincerely,
Accelerate Indiana Municipalities; ACT, Inc.; AECOM;
Alabama League of Municipalities; Alaska Municipal League;
Alkermes; American Association of Port Authorities; American
Beverage Association; American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees; American Federation of Teachers;
American Gas Association; American Hotel & Lodging
Association; American Network of Community Options and
Resources (ANCOR); American Planning Association; American
Public Human Services Association; American Public Power
Association; American Public Works Association (APWA);
American Shore & Beach Preservation Association; American
Society of Civil Engineers; AmeriHealth.
Caritas; Anthem; Arizona Association of Counties; Arkansas
Municipal League; Arthritis Foundation; Association of County
Commissioners of Georgia; Association of Arkansas Counties;
Association of County Commissions of Alabama; Association of
Financial Guaranty Insurers; Association of Indiana Counties;
Association of Minnesota Counties; Association of Oregon
Counties; Association of Washington Cities; Axxess;
BrightSpring; Health Services California; Marine Affairs &
Navigation Conference (CMANC); California State Association
of Counties; Center for Public Safety Management.
Central Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Shore & Beach
Preservation Association; CGI Communications, Inc.; Coast
Builders Coalition; Colorado Municipal League; CompTIA--
Computing Technology Industry Association; Connecticut
Conference of Municipalities; County Commissioners
Association of Ohio; County Commissioners Association of
Pennsylvania; County Commissioners Association of West
Virginia; County Executives of America; Credit Union National
Association (CUNA); Data Center Coalition; Delaware League of
Local Governments; Dexcom; Esri, Inc.; Florida Association of
Counties; Florida League of Cities; Florida Shore & Beach
Preservation Association; Georgia Municipal Association.
GIIA; GoRail; Government Finance Officers Association;
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock; IBM; Illinois Municipal League;
Illinois State Association of Counties; Institute for
Building Technology and Safety; International Association of
Emergency Managers; International City/County Management
Association; International Municipal Lawyers Association,
Inc.; Internet Association; Intuit Inc.; Iowa League of
Cities; Iowa State Association of Counties; ITC Holdings
Inc.; Jersey Shore Partnership; Johnson & Johnson; Kansas
Association of Counties; Kentucky Association of Counties.
Land O'Lakes Inc.; Large Public Power Council; League of
Arizona Cities and Towns; League of California Cities; League
of Kansas Municipalities; League of Minnesota Cities; League
of Nebraska Municipalities; League of Oregon Cities; League
of Wisconsin Municipalities; Louisiana Municipal
Association; Magna; Maine Municipal Association; Maryland
Association of Counties; Maryland Municipal League;
Massachusetts Coastal Coalition; Massachusetts Municipal
Association; Michigan Association of Counties; Michigan
Municipal League; Mississippi Association of Supervisors;
Mississippi Municipal League.
Motorola Solutions, Inc.; Municipal Association of South
Carolina; NACBHDD and NARMH; National Association for County
Community and Economic Development; National Association for
Home Care & Hospice; National Association of Black County
Officials (NABCO); National Association of Bond Lawyers;
National Association of County Collectors, Treasurers &
Finance Officers (NACCTFO); National Association of Counties;
National Association of County Engineers; National
Association of County Human Services Administrators; National
Association of Home Builders; National Association of
Regional Councils; National Association of State Auditors,
Comptrollers and Treasurers; National Association of State
Procurement Officials (NASPO); National Association of State
Treasurers; National Association of Towns and Townships;
National Community Development Association.
National Conference of State Legislatures; National
Governors Association; National Emergency Management
Association; National League of Cities; National Marine
Manufacturers Association; National Organization of Black
County Officials, Inc (NOBCO); National Workforce
Association; Nebraska Association of County Officials;
Netsmart; Nevada Association of Counties; New Jersey
Association of Counties; New Jersey State League of
Municipalities; New Mexico Counties; New York State
Association of Counties; New York State Conference of Mayors
and Municipal Officials; NIC; North Carolina League of
Municipalities; North Dakota Association of Counties; North
Dakota League of Cities; NWEA; Ohio Municipal League.
Oklahoma Municipal League; PACENation; Partnership for
Medicaid Home-Based Care; Pennsylvania Municipal League;
Police Jury Association of Louisiana; Port of Walla Walla;
ResCare Workforce Services; Rhode Island League of Cities and
Towns; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Siemens;
Sourcewell; South Dakota Municipal League; Southern
California Edison; Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association
of America (TIAA); TechNet; Tennessee County Services
Association; Tennessee Municipal League; Texas Association of
Counties; Texas Municipal League; The Coca-Cola Company; The
Community Outcomes Fund at Maycomb Capital.
The Council of State Governments; The Design-Build
Institute of America; The United States Conference of Mayors;
three+one; Thrive Skilled Pediatric Care; U.S. Tire
Manufacturers Association (USTMA); U.S. Water Alliance;
United Counties Council of Illinois; Utah League of Cities
and Towns; Vermont League of Cities and Towns; Virginia
Association of Counties; Virginia Municipal League;
Washington
[[Page S3645]]
City/County Management Association (WCMA); Washington State
Association of Counties; West Virginia Association of
Counties; West Virginia Municipal League; Wisconsin Counties
Association; Wisconsin County Highway Association; Wyoming
Association of Municipalities; Wyoming County Commissioners
Association.
Mr. SCHUMER. This letter is from the ``Big 7'' national associations.
They represent the Governors, Democrat and Republican; the mayors,
Democrat and Republican; the State legislatures, Democrat and
Republican; the county leaders, Democrat and Republican; and the city
managers. They all got together in a bipartisan way, as this Chamber
should do, and wrote the Senate a letter pleading--pleading--for
Federal support and warning of the dire consequences of the delay.
Let me read a passage from their letter to Leader McConnell and
myself, with a copy to all Republican and Democratic Senators. There
are many organizations from red States signing this letter. This is
what they wrote:
Previous federal bills responding to COVID-19 provided
important support . . . yet none allow for the replacement of
billions of lost revenue due to the COVID-19. More robust and
direct stimulus is needed for state and local governments to
both rebuild the economy and maintain essential services in
education, healthcare, emergency operations, public safety
and more . . . . Months have gone by and our communities
continue to suffer. Americans have a history of standing
together in a time of crisis and must do so now.
Let me repeat those words for every Member of this Chamber to hear:
``Americans have a history of standing together in a time of crisis and
must do so now.''
I urge my colleagues--and, particularly, my Republican colleagues--to
listen to those words. These are your States, your cities, your mayors,
your counties, and your State governments pleading with you for
relief--not in a month, not later this year, but right now.
I hope my Republican friends will listen to their voices--the voices
of their constituents and State leaders--and consent tonight to pass
Federal support for State, local, and Tribal governments. Blocking it
will send a terrible signal to the American people that this Senate--
this Republican-led Senate--is unwilling to act with any urgency to
pass the relief that our States desperately need.
I now yield to my colleague from New Hampshire, who has been such a
strong leader, particularly pointing out how lost revenues hurt
governments--big, small, rural, urban, suburban, you name it
Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished leader, and I
thank my colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden, for joining in this
motion and for making it.
I rise today to join them in calling for urgently needed funding for
State and local governments to support our communities as they continue
to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across our country, State and local governments have been at the
forefront of responding to this crisis and providing people and
businesses with the support they need. State and local governments also
employ millions of essential public employees--including teachers,
first responders, and others--who have been working around the clock to
help keep the American people safe.
But in the face of these unprecedented circumstances, States and
local communities are facing new, mounting costs and a catastrophic
loss of revenue. Without additional Federal resources, we will see even
more job losses and further economic harm. We must do more to support
the American people.
Just last week, Moody's Analytics released a sobering report on what
State and local governments are up against. This report indicated that
without significant Federal support for State and local governments, 4
million additional people could lose their jobs.
Throughout this crisis, we have worked together to try to save
American jobs. Why, then, would we now sit and do nothing for the
people who make our communities run?
States and cities employ essential workers who have been on the
frontlines of this crisis. We need these workers now more than ever. We
should support the important work they are doing, not leave their jobs
at risk.
In addition to job cuts, without additional support, State and local
governments may also need to cut programs and services that the
American people depend on. Forcing States to slash education,
infrastructure, and public health budgets, among others, would be
deeply harmful at any time, but in the middle of a pandemic and the
recession it has helped create, the ripple effect of those cuts would
be even more staggering. Already, States and cities are cutting or
delaying fixing sewer lines or roads and delaying putting out critical
contracts to bid, with a ripple effect felt throughout the economy.
It doesn't have to be this way. Senate Democrats are focused on
providing significant economic relief for State and local governments
across the country. This would mitigate the job losses and further
economic damage that we are seeing as a result of this crisis.
I urge my Republican colleagues to work with us to deliver this
necessary relief and ensure that States have the flexibility to use
this funding to backfill lost revenue and preserve jobs.
The recent spike in cases in many States reinforces that the public
health threat remains extremely serious. Our economy will be feeling
the effects of this pandemic for years to come.
State and local governments need our strong support to help save
lives and strengthen our economy, and they need it right now. Blocking
this relief will only make a dire economic situation even worse. That
is the last thing the American people need.
I join Senator Wyden and my colleagues in moving this UC request.
Thank you.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Jersey.
Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues to
stress the urgency for Congress to provide robust, flexible assistance
to State and local governments on the frontlines of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Because this administration has failed to devise and deploy a
national response to a national emergency, the burden of containing and
defeating the virus has largely fallen on our States, our counties, and
our municipalities. They are expending enormous resources to expand
testing, shore up hospitals, process unemployment claims, and get our
residents the help they desperately need.
At the same time, revenues have fallen off a cliff due to the
economic fallout. Monies collected from sales, property taxes, building
permits, court fees, parking meters, transit fares--you name it--are
all down.
I served at every level of government in New Jersey--the school
board, mayor, State legislature. I know exactly what they are going
through. It isn't about any irresponsibility on their part. It is the
consequences of a national pandemic. We didn't ask for 14,000 of our
citizens in New Jersey to die. We didn't ask for nearly 180,000 New
Jerseyans to ultimately be infected. But that is our reality. And that
is not only our reality. There are other States similarly situated.
Unlike the Federal Government, virtually all State and local
governments are constitutionally obligated--constitutionally
obligated--to pass a balanced budget. Forty-five States have a June 30
deadline. That is tomorrow. Others are fast approaching.
This isn't a blue State or red State issue. This isn't about
pensions, as some have tried to suggest. This is a red, white, and blue
issue. It is an American issue. This virus doesn't see political
boundaries. This isn't an issue of fiscal responsibility. No one--no
one--is immune. We see it across the Nation, huge spikes taking place
in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona, and others.
Earlier today, the bipartisan National Governors Association, the
National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, the
U.S. Conference Mayors, the National Conference of State Legislatures,
the Council of State Governments, and the International City/County
Management Association sent a joint letter to Senate leadership. I have
been a part of some of those organizations at different times. I have
never seen them all come together on any given issue. They came
together on this one.
Over 170 businesses and organizations signed on, all unified with a
clear message that, if we fail to provide our States and communities
with immediate assistance, we will only hamper
[[Page S3646]]
our Nation's ability to fully recover, and Americans will needlessly
suffer.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 1.4 million
public employees and counting have been laid off or furloughed across
the country--over 90,000 in Texas; 65,000 in Ohio; nearly 30,000 in
Kentucky; 25,000 both in Colorado and Florida. Every State and
community is bleeding.
We are talking about first responders, teachers, nurses, sanitation
workers, and other employees on the frontlines of the COVID fight. We
need them on the job, not the unemployment line. It would be the height
of irony that the result of the pandemic or, more importantly, our
government's unwillingness to respond to the challenge of State and
municipalities is that those whom we needed the most, those whom we
still need the most, those whom we will need the most tomorrow are
going to be laid off.
The essential services our residents and businesses rely upon are
being slashed left and right. For instance, the National League of
Cities reports that more than 700 U.S. cities have halted roadway
repairs and delayed equipment purchases to plug local budget holes. We
are seeing deep, painful cuts across the board. Moody's projected last
week that State budget shortfalls will top $500 billion over the next 3
years.
Now, I have heard some in this body argue that if we just reopen our
economy, we would negate the need for Congress to act. Well, that has
been proven a fallacy. COVID-19 cases are spiking across the country,
especially in those States that were quick to reopen. We are seeing
daily records being set in places like Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and
Texas, forcing some areas to tighten their restrictions.
Yet, in my home State of New Jersey, which was second only to New
York in the number of COVID cases, we have not just flattened the
curve; our infection rates are dropping. As we methodically and
responsibly reopen, there is no doubt that the emergency protection
measures we took in New Jersey helped stop the spread of COVID-19 and
save lives, but that progress has come with tremendous economic pain
and personal sacrifice that no State and community will be able to
escape.
So we can't allow ourselves to be handcuffed to partisan ideology.
This isn't about left or right, conservative or progressive politics. I
honestly believe that most of our colleagues on the Republican side
understand this. Most recognize that forcing States and communities to
go bankrupt is not a conservative principle, that the last thing we
need during an economic crisis is to send 3 to 4 million public workers
to the unemployment line without the ability for them to respond on our
collective behalf.
We need bold bipartisan action to address this national crisis. That
is why the State Municipal Assistance for Response and Transition Act,
or the SMART Act, is the commonsense solution we need to give our
communities a fighting chance and to stop the economy from freefall.
I want to thank Senators Cassidy, Hyde-Smith, Collins, Manchin, and
Booker for joining me in this bipartisan effort, and we are working
every day to build more support.
The SMART Act provides $500 billion in flexible Federal funds that
will help our communities dramatically expand the testing capacity and
contact tracing we need to contain the virus, which is a necessary step
to restoring consumer confidence and restarting the economy.
It will help stave off massive layoffs, tax hikes, and deep, painful
cuts to essential services. It will keep our EMTs, firefighters, public
health workers, teachers, and other essential employees on the job
during this critical time--because it is not just about defeating
COVID-19. We still need to keep our first responders on the job, our
children learning, the trash picked up, the roads maintained, and the
buses and trains running on time.
Unless we act soon, we will see more mass layoffs, devastating tax
increases, and a breakdown in public safety and essential services. We
cannot--in all good conscience--sit back and watch our States,
counties, cities, and towns fail. We cannot shift the Federal
Government's responsibility and then leave them holding the bag.
We can't turn our backs on the American people. A national emergency
requires a national response, and it is this body's sworn duty to act,
to send our States and local communities the resources they desperately
need to combat COVID-19 and to continue to serve the constituents we
have all been elected to represent.
If the safety and security of the American people is job one, this is
also safety and security.
I will close with this. I appreciate that there are different points
of view, but I really get upset when I hear that States like mine or
others somehow want to be bailed out.
I will tell you what--New Jersey would be happy to take the excess
money it sends to the Federal Treasury rather than what it gets in
return--billions of dollars--and say: We will handle the problem on our
own.
We would like to see some of our fellow States here, which receive
more money than they contribute to the Federal Treasury, return it. We
are not a moocher State; we are a donor State.
So some of my colleagues here should look: They get $20 billion, $30
billion more from the Federal Government than they pay into the Federal
Treasury. We in New Jersey pay more than we get.
Now that we are in the midst of a national emergency in which we have
thousands of our citizens dying, thousands more still infected, and we
did the right thing in order to stop the dying, we should pay a greater
consequence because we did the right thing in doing job No. 1: the
safety and security of our citizens?
I don't think so.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues. A number have
already given eloquent remarks, and we still have more to come. I know,
per the agreement, that it is time to propound the unanimous consent
request.
So, with the support of thousands of firefighters, first responders,
teachers, county health providers, and thousands more Americans of both
political parties with an extraordinary work ethic, I ask unanimous
consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the
State, Local, and Tribal Fiscal Relief and Rural Stability Act, which
is at the desk. I further ask that the bill be considered read three
times and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
The Senator from Florida.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, reserving the right to object,
this is clearly a challenging time for every level of government. I
think we will all admit that this crisis was unprecedented, and
Congress has already taken bold action to stem this virus and save our
economy. But if we are not careful, Congress will create another
equally devastating crisis down the road--a crisis of our own making.
Our national debt and deficits, already at unsustainable levels, have
skyrocketed as Congress has spent almost $3 trillion--$3 trillion--to
address this crisis. To put that in perspective, Congress has spent
$9,000 for every American.
At some point we need to start thinking about the impact this
spending will have on the future of our children and our grandchildren,
how we are impacting our ability to fund our military and our safety
nets like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Again, I know everyone here wants to help our States. I want to help
our States, too, which is why I support maintaining the existing
restrictions tied to the Coronavirus Relief Fund that were included in
the CARES Act to make sure this spending is for coronavirus response.
Congress has already allocated billions in direct and indirect aid to
States and localities. Total direct funding from the Federal Government
already exceeds $1 trillion. Let me just go through it.
We gave them $150 billion for COVID-19 expenses. To put that in
perspective, while I was Governor of Florida, we had four hurricanes.
The Federal Government never funded 100 percent of my cost. We are
funding 100 percent of the COVID-19 cost.
[[Page S3647]]
We have given our State and local governments $500 billion in short-
term loans. We have given them $45 billion in FEMA disaster funds, $30
billion in education funds without any information on whether education
costs have gone up, $34 billion for mass transit and community grants,
$270 billion for CARES Act emergency appropriations, and $50 billion
for Medicaid--and as we have all seen with the healthcare costs,
Medicaid costs have gone down around the country.
Even this doesn't begin to count another $1.3 trillion in indirect
assistance to small businesses, individuals, and increased unemployment
benefits to families in all of our States.
We have given $175 billion to our healthcare community. We have given
$11 billion to our States to deal with testing.
Now my colleagues want to spend another $1 trillion before the other
trillion dollars that was already allocated has even been spent.
I sent a letter this month to all U.S. Governors to get more details
on exactly how they are allocating the Federal coronavirus response
funds that they have already received. I have heard back only from four
States.
Do you think I have heard back from New York? Of course not, and I
don't expect to. Why? Because politicians in these liberal States have
refused to live within their means for decades, and they want
Floridians to backfill their budgets and pay for the incompetency of
Governors like Andrew Cuomo.
Andrew Cuomo got elected when I got elected--at the end of 2010, at
the end of the financial crisis. I have watched him in my 8 years as
Governor. Did he balance his budget? No, he doesn't balance his budget.
He keeps borrowing more money year after year.
The Wall Street Journal's editorial board said: ``The policy question
is why taxpayers in Florida and other well-managed states should pay
higher taxes to rescue an Albany political class that refuses to
restrain its tax-and-spend governance.''
New York has increased their spending since 2010 by $43 billion,
which is $570,000 per new resident--$570,000 per new resident. They
already have a State and local personal income tax rate of 12.7
percent.
I know why they want money: They can't tax their citizens any more.
They have already done it. Because of all of their taxes, people keep
moving to States like Florida. They have lost $9.6 billion in adjusted
gross income to other States just since 2018.
So what these States have done is they don't live within their means,
and now they want us to come be responsible for their bad budgets,
their pension plans, and things like that.
One of my colleagues brought up this concept that some States are
donors. I have been up here 18 months. I have looked at the Federal
budget. I haven't seen a dime come from the States. It comes from the
taxpayers in those States. Do you know how it comes here? It comes here
to pay for things like Social Security and Medicare. Then these
citizens get sick and tired of the high taxes in places like New
Jersey, New York, Illinois, and California and move to lower tax States
and then receive these benefits.
Then people come up here and say: Oh, our government funded
governments in other States. No, they don't. The citizens do it, and
then they get sick and tired of those high taxes and move.
So we know New York, California, and Illinois have no problem using
hard-earned taxpayer dollars to fund their liberal priorities and to
backfill their budget shortfalls and solve their longstanding fiscal
problems.
It is not fair to the citizens of States like Florida where, over my
8 years as Governor, we made the hard choices that put our State on a
financially secure path. Because we made those choices, the Governor of
Florida was able to sign a responsible State budget today without
having to beg the Federal Government for a bailout. Guess what. There
are teacher pay raises in there and increased funding for K-12
education.
American families make responsible budgetary decisions every day.
Successful companies make responsible budget decisions every day. Well-
meaning States like Florida have done it for years. It is time for New
York, Illinois, and California to do the same.
We have to get serious about how we are spending taxpayer money and
the fact that this year's Federal budget deficit will be the largest in
the history of this country. While it may be tempting to throw money at
the problem and then believe that removing the restrictions on funding
will satisfy States for a bailout, I am afraid that my colleagues are
mistaken.
These funds are still needed for coronavirus response, and
unfortunately many States have not been shy about their desire for
hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts for their liberal
agendas. I am not going to let this happen.
By the way, when you hear about all these letters that come that want
more money--I spent 8 years as Governor of Florida. I don't remember
one time that somebody came to me and said: Why don't you spend less
money? Of course everybody is going to come up here and ask us for more
money, more money, more money. It is somebody's money.
I think about this in the context of my seven grandchildren. We
cannot saddle them and children like them across the country with
mountains of debt--debt that right now stands in excess of $77,000 per
American--$77,000 per American.
Do you know what it was in 1976? It was $3 per American. It is
$77,000. To take away the same opportunities I had to live the American
dream from our children and grandchildren would not only be a political
failure, it would be an abdication of our moral responsibility.
It is time to make the hard choices, to put our Nation on a path to
recovery--recovery from this virus, from the economic devastations
brought with it, and from the fiscal calamity that decades of
politicians have ignored. I hope my colleagues will join me in the
fight for our future.
I therefore respectfully object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from Oregon.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, to make a very brief response--and I know
my colleagues have been very patient--I just want to make sure that
everybody really put in context the remarks the Senator from Florida
made. He is basically saying that if you don't address healthcare now,
if you don't address education now, if you don't address roads now,
that somehow there aren't going to be any consequences.
There are going to be very real consequences. People are going to be
sicker, for example. We are going to spend much more down the road. We
have a weakened and smaller economy, and we will have that for an
unknown amount of time.
My colleague mentioned his concern about weakened national security.
How can a semi-permanently weakened economy not affect national
security? Of course it is going to affect national security, and it is
going to affect national security badly.
Finally, I will make one additional point, and I know my colleagues
will address this as well. My colleague from Florida talks about
deficits. I am the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, where we
sat through my colleagues' tax bill--a bill that he voted for, and he
strongly supported it and said it is going to pay for itself; what is
to worry about?
Nobody does deficits better than that side of the aisle. Nobody does
them better and bigger and in a more irresponsible way.
I wanted to put that in context. I look forward to the remarks of my
friend from Connecticut and Nevada.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I would like to respond to my
colleague before he leaves.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, I wasn't here when the tax bill
was done. I cut taxes of over $10 billion. We cut taxes and fees. And
what happened is our economy grew. We added 1.7 billion jobs.
Let's go back and look at this. We talk about money. We have given
$150 billion for the expenses. We have given loans. We have given FEMA
disaster funds. We have given education funds. We have given mass
transit funds. We have given emergency appropriations for a variety of
different sections. We have given many healthcare dollars for
[[Page S3648]]
Medicaid. On top of that, we allocated $175 billion to our healthcare
system, and we gave our States $11 billion for testing. It is not like
we have been up here and not responding. We have responded.
By the way, the dollars have not all been spent. What we need to do
is, let's see what these Governors come back with. I have gotten a
response from four Governors so far. Let's look at what they said, and
then we can make a responsible decision on how we spend our money going
forward.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. MURPHY. Mr. President, let me tell you how the bailout has
worked. When COVID hit this country and people were dying from a
disease that we didn't have a vaccine for, as emergency rooms all over
the country were being overwhelmed, the Federal Government and the
Trump administration did nothing. They did nothing. They didn't stand
up a national testing program. They didn't stand up a national trace
and quarantine system. They didn't let the CDC do their job and issue
national guidelines around how to close businesses and schools. They
didn't lead proposing legislation before Congress to tackle the costs
of this response.
President Trump put in place a feckless travel restriction that still
allowed tens of thousands of people to get here from the countries that
were infected, and then the Federal Government gave up. It did nothing.
It left the entirety of the response to the States
Here is how the bailout works. The States have bailed out the Federal
Government by stepping up to the plate and being primary responders to
this epidemic. Hospitals and local public health systems have bailed
out the Federal Government, which did nothing to stop this virus. That
is how the bailout has worked.
All States are asking for is to help pay for the expense of
confronting this virus. If a bailout equals saving lives, then I am for
a bailout. Without help from the Federal Government, people are going
to die. States that have to balance their Federal budgets are not going
to be able to erect the kind of anti-pandemic infrastructure that will
save lives.
My colleague from Florida has left, but let's also just be honest
about the accounting here. He had a chart up about Florida bailing out
New York. If you want to do a deal in which Connecticut and New York
and New Jersey get to keep all of the revenue that we send to the
Federal Government, that we get a guarantee for every dollar we send to
Washington, we get a dollar back, we are all in.
I don't think my friend from Florida would take that deal because
every single year, on average, a Connecticut citizen gives $4,000 more
to the Federal Government than that Connecticut citizen gets back. The
average New York citizen gives on average $1,700 more to the Federal
Government than they get back. That is because we are wealthier States.
You know what, while we fight to try to get as much of that revenue
back to our State as possible, we understand that because citizens in
our States have done a little bit better, we should help pay for the
healthcare of people in Florida; we should help pay for the education
of poor kids in Florida.
We grouse about the amount of taxes we pay, but we understand the
deal in which, because we have done a little bit better, we are going
to help States that need a little bit more help. But on an average
year, the average Florida recipient gets $2,700 more in Federal
assistance than they give. That sounds like a bailout--on an annual
basis, repeating year after year.
What we are asking here is for some help to save lives. We are not
asking to give out surplus checks to our constituents; we are asking
for help to keep people alive all throughout this country. States and
municipalities are the ones that are conducting the response because
the Trump administration has refused to do it, and it is an expensive
response.
If you want to keep people alive, then you have to help us pay for
that expense. You have to help us pay for that expense. Our revenues
are cratering as the economy has been shut down. Our expenses are
spiraling as we have been left holding the bag. When that happens, you
can only do two things if you are a State that has to balance your
budget, as Connecticut is, every year. We can either raise taxes--think
about that: raising taxes in the middle of an economy in meltdown--or
we can lay people off.
Already across this country, 1.5 million State and local workers have
been laid off, and there are more to come. Many of them will be in the
public health field--the very people who we need to be able to identify
where the virus exists, trace the contacts, and quarantine people to
keep others safe. Those are the people who are going to be laid off.
It becomes this downward spiral in which, as the Federal Government
refuses to help States pay for the virus response and the States can no
longer effectively stand up a response effort, the virus wins. That is
one of the reasons you are seeing the virus spread in places like
Florida or Texas--because we don't have the infrastructure in place.
The Trump administration refused to build it, and now we are refusing
to help States build it.
It has been 45 days since the House passed their legislation helping
States to keep people alive. I was on this floor as my Republican
colleagues were literally jumping from their seats when Senate
Democrats were insisting that we take an extra day or two to pass the
CARES Act, to get it right--jumping out of their seats with a sense of
urgency.
The virus is back on the march again. The economy is in worse shape
today than it was in March. It has been 45 days since the House sent us
legislation to keep people alive, and we have done nothing.
My colleagues, I want to leave you with just one picture--really two
pictures side by side for my State. Just ask yourself after thinking
about this, visualizing this, if this is really the world you want to
choose to live in through your inaction.
We have our share of billionaires in Connecticut. They are important
to us. They pay a decent amount of taxes. They contribute
philanthropically. But they have done very well over the course of the
pandemic. A survey just came out that showed that over half of those
who count themselves as billionaires in Connecticut had dramatically
increased their net worth since this pandemic began. In fact, of all
the billionaires in Connecticut, they had increased their total wealth
by about $2 billion--$2 billion. That is driven in part by a stock
market that has priced in all of the Trump administration's support for
corporations. It is because of a stock market that has also priced in
the mass extinction of lots of small businesses that will accrue to the
benefit of those corporations.
I want you to think about the richest Americans over the course of
the last several months having seen their nest egg grow--grow. They can
afford more. They can pass down more wealth to their children, even
with 20 percent of Americans unemployed.
Put that next to this visual. Jen Sherman lives in my State and has a
14-year-old named Gavin. He is a special education student with a host
of learning challenges. He hasn't been in school since March. He needs
school because at school are his professionals--his counselors, his
therapists. School is where his routine is.
Jen says: My kid is falling apart in front of my eyes. It is making
me physically ill watching him be out of school for going on for 4
months. He is just deteriorating on me. His mental health is
concerning. It is the unknown. He has so many questions we can't
answer.
Jen is getting ready to send Gavin, who is already broken down, back
to school. As she is readying to send him back to school, school
districts across the State of Connecticut are talking about laying off
the very professionals who will help Gavin get back to that routine.
Surveys suggest that if we don't pass another emergency response
package for States, 10 percent of teachers could be laid off. You know
who is going to come first. It is going to be those paraprofessionals.
It will be those counselors who build support services around the most
vulnerable kids.
As corporations and billionaires have done better and better, kids
like Gavin--low-income families across this country, the masses of the
unemployed--are suffering and will not be able to get back to normal
unless we beat this virus. We can't beat it if we
[[Page S3649]]
don't help States and municipalities with the work that needs to be
done.
It has been some 45 days since we watched the House pass legislation
that could save lives and allow us to stand up a true national effort
to beat this virus once and for all. I would plead to my colleagues to
not go home for a 2-week vacation without passing legislation to help
us stand up a State and local response to COVID-19.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
Ms. CORTEZ MASTO. Mr. President, along with my colleague, I am
astounded that we have gone this long without any type of relief for
our State and local governments that are suffering right now. The last
time this Chamber passed legislation to address the coronavirus
pandemic was April 21, 2020. That was over 2 months ago.
I can tell you, I know, Mr. President and all of my colleagues, you
are hearing from your constituents in your States. I am hearing from my
constituents. I have heard from thousands of Nevadans who find
themselves lying awake at night trying to figure out how to pay the
rent, feed their kids, and take care of family members at elevated risk
from COVID-19.
People in the Silver State want to know what more the Federal
Government is doing to help them, and rightly so, but they do not want
to hear us on the floor of the Senate Chamber identifying and arguing
that liberal States should not get some sort of relief right now.
I just heard my colleague from Florida identifying that liberal
States shouldn't get funding. What is a liberal State? How do we define
that? Does that mean it is a Democratic State or a Republican State
because I can tell you--you have seen it and I have seen it--we have
all seen letters from our Governors across this country in a bipartisan
way--letters signed by Democratic Governors and Republican Governors
asking for relief and support from this Congress. It is not just the
Governors; it is the mayors; it is the county chairmen, the county
commissioners.
I will tell you, there are some beautiful places in my State, and we
are Nevadans. Whether you are a Republican or you are a Democrat, every
single one of my mayors I have talked to, every single one of the
county commissioners and the county chairmen, along with my Governor--
we come from beautiful, diverse backgrounds--they are looking for
additional support. We can't put a pause on it now. We can't wait.
I don't understand why we have been waiting since April. In April,
State and local governments laid off 1 million workers across the
country and froze or cut the salaries of thousands more. In April, in
my home State of Nevada, unemployment was skyrocketing to 28 percent,
the highest in the Nation. That is nearly one in three Nevadans without
a job. Let me put that in comparison. The highest national unemployment
rate America ever recorded during the Great Depression was 25.6
percent.
On May 25, the House voted for the comprehensive Heroes Act to
support State, local, and Tribal governments, to bolster health
systems, to provide further stimulus payments, to help frontline
workers, and strengthen this Nation's economy. At that time, we as
Senators could have rolled up our sleeves right then and worked to find
common ground with the House so we could provide help and assistance to
so many people across this country.
Unfortunately, on May 26, our majority leader told reporters that the
Senate would probably--we would probably pass more legislation. Now it
is the end of June, and we have no legislation from the Senate on the
greatest crisis facing this Nation since World War II, even though we
are hearing constantly from our constituents and from our States.
Meanwhile, we are suffering. I can tell you, Nevadans are suffering
like almost every other State in the country.
Nevada has to balance its budget on July 1, just a few days from now.
Forty-six States have similar budgets they have to balance. Unlike the
Federal Government, States can't borrow to make up for shortfalls.
Every State in this country is collecting less in taxes than it usually
would, and every State in the country faces unprecedented and
unforeseen expenses because of this pandemic.
In my State, the Governor has estimated there will be a $1.3 billion
budget shortfall. Las Vegas alone is facing a drop in revenue of over
$100 million. The city of Reno expects a $30 million hole in its
budget. These are real dollars that are going to come out of essential
services. State, local, and Tribal governments are absolutely on the
frontlines of this health crisis.
The Senate must join the House in passing this vital legislation to
give assistance to so many in need right now across this country.
We heard from my colleagues that States and localities have to pay
EMTs, police, firefighters, healthcare providers--those essential
people who are on the frontlines dealing with this healthcare crisis.
According to a study by the National League of Cities, half the cities
in the country expect that budget shortfall will affect public safety.
State and local governments also fund schools and teachers. In the
middle of this pandemic, they have to figure out ways to deliver online
education to students who don't have computers or internet and work to
support parents trying to help their kids learn. They are having to
figure out how to feed kids in the next school year under inflexible
nutrition program rules.
Meanwhile, with these added challenges in Nevada, we are having to
consider cutting $125 million from higher education and $100 million
from elementary and secondary education. In Nevada, like so many other
places, this is all going on against the backdrop of tremendous
economic pain. We have 300,000 people in the Silver State claiming
unemployment insurance and thousands of those still waiting to receive
their benefits.
This economic shock continues. People are going to start losing their
homes or be evicted from their apartments if we don't do something to
address it now. Nevada was already facing tremendous affordable housing
crisis. We need urgent solutions to prevent this wave of dislocations
and homelessness.
And equally urgent is the help needed for our small businesses. I was
just on a call earlier today with the executive directors of the
chambers throughout our State. I can guarantee you, I am not alone. In
your State and all of our States, our small businesses are scrambling
to find new business models and new sources of revenue. Many of these
businesses are the heart of our communities, and if they go under
permanently, cities and towns will suffer as well.
Our frontline medical workers--the true heroes--continue to need
support. As cases climb in Nevada, they are working tirelessly to save
lives and prevent complications, and they need our support.
Our frontline medical workers and our States also rely on Medicaid so
that other people who are also struggling financially can still get
critical healthcare when they need it. In Nevada, nearly 45,000 people
are newly reliant on this safety net coverage.
Without additional resources to cover the costs associated with their
coverage, the State will be forced to cut payments to the doctors who
serve them, and this is in a State that already has one of the
country's lowest rates of doctors per capita. Almost three out of four
Nevada providers are worried about the financial viability of their
practices in the face of the current crisis.
When we talk about funding State and local governments, we cannot
forget our Tribal governments. They don't collect taxes. They are
barred from doing so. Yet they rely on businesses to fund services.
With Nevada's economy so hard hit, our Tribal communities need another
source of funding, and they need support. This is while many of the
Tribes in my State are still in lockdown, still trying to get access to
sufficient COVID-19 testing and PPE and even key data. The CARES Act
funding wasn't even released to Tribal governments across the country
for 60 days, and the Senate majority leader still thinks things aren't
urgent? It is just wrong.
The Senate must move urgently to strengthen the very institutions
across this country that are delivering essential service to Americans.
It is just a basic necessity.
[[Page S3650]]
I understand that many of my colleagues want to make sure we spend
Federal funds wisely, and I want that, too, but the way to achieve this
is for all of us to start working now. Nevadans need us to take action.
The American people need us to take action. I ask Leader McConnell to
take up and pass the Heroes Act or convene on the floor of the Senate
or in our committees real bipartisan discussions so we can pass the
next economic stimulus package.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. I am honored to follow the Senator from Nevada who
knows so well the importance of public service and public servants.
One of the reasons why we are here is because many of those public
servants doing such great service for our communities will be laid off
or furloughed to the detriment of their communities and their States.
As the Senator knows in Nevada, and I know in Connecticut, what is
necessary for them to continue their work is, in fact, the Heroes Act.
We have been talking a lot about the frontline workers, the heroes,
like first responders, police, firefighters, the doctors and nurses,
the grocery checkers, the delivery people far and wide, high and low.
They have been doing great work. Many of them are going to be directly
affected if we fail to pass the Heroes Act. Many of them and their work
will be for naught if we fail to support the Heroes Act and enable
State and local government to continue to employ them and support them.
I have been traveling across the State of Connecticut over these last
2\1/2\ months. What I have found is unparalleled hardship and
heartbreak.
Yesterday, I visited a small business, a restaurant in Norwalk called
No Leftovers, offering Caribbean food. It has been in business for 3
years. Its owner has received no Paycheck Protection Program funding,
and it is hanging by a thread. That story is repeated again and again
and again.
One of the reasons he is so fearful about the future is that zoning
in Norwalk has been delayed because people are not at work. What
happens to Norwalk and its Zoning and Land Use Department if there is
no money to pay for it? That story writ large is about the future of
America and the American dream that No Leftovers and small businesses
like his exemplify, and it is a Black-owned business. The tragedy of
the Black-owned businesses going under is one of the unwritten stories
of this pandemic. Forty-one percent have failed during this pandemic--
often through no fault of those business owners--because they face this
economic crisis, and they face the loss of service if State and local
governments, in effect, have to cut their workforces and their services
to those businesses. This is not only Black-owned but businesses owned
across the board by all Americans and employing Americans.
Small businesses, as we know, no matter who owns them, are the major
job creators today in the United States. There are linkages here, as I
have been hearing. I go around the State talking to those business
owners--not only the big contractors, the defense providers, like
Sikorsky and Pratt & Whitney, but their supply chain. Those small- and
medium-sized businesses will be disastrously affected by a failure to
keep faith, move forward, and pass the Heroes Act.
Those frontline workers deserve the Heroes Fund--hazardous duty pay
up to $25,000, retroactive to the beginning of this national emergency.
Again, recognizing public service, not only rewarding it but also
retaining and recruiting more of them.
State and local governments depend on those frontline workers whom we
talk so glowingly about. Now is our chance to put the money where our
mouth is, and we have not only a moral obligation, we have an economic
duty and a patriotic duty as we go into July 4.
Finally, let me just say--and I said it last week--that the U.S.
Senate is about to leave town for 2 weeks, wanting America to believe
that we have done our job. The fact is, we will have failed to have
done our job unless we will have acted on the Heroes Act. Failing to
act on the Heroes Act is an abrogation of our duty. We cannot go back
and talk about the spirit of the Fourth of July and about the
resilience and resoluteness of the Founders if we cannot be
sufficiently determined to do our job here.
That aid to State and local governments is not a matter of
convenience or luxury; it is a necessity for us to finance the public
health departments that conduct testing and contact tracing as well as
those economic development departments and land use departments,
health, firefighting, policing, teaching. These are the core functions
of our government, and there will be layoffs--massive layoffs--across
the country if we fail to do our job.
I have been reading a book called ``The Great Influenza'' by John
Barry. One of the lessons of that pandemic is that the failure to tell
the truth is itself a failure that can lead to disaster. It can spawn
fear and even terror. It can lead to complacency and inaction.
The failure to tell the truth is all too common these days with
regard to this pandemic. The numbers tell, with much greater accuracy,
the story of this pandemic than what we have been hearing from the
White House. Yet now we have an obligation to make sure the truth is
told, and that means facing the obligation to act. The way we can act
is on the Heroes Act. The way we can tell the truth is to squarely lay
before the American people what the challenges are and what the costs
will be if we fail to act.
The other great lesson of that book is of the failure by local health
departments and by local leaders to command the resources and devote
them to fighting the pandemic itself. This contributed to it. We need
to learn the lessons of history. They are sometimes so simple and
powerful that we look the other way.
Before we leave town, let us look squarely at the Heroes Act and do
the right thing--pass it and make sure that America moves forward to
conquer this public health emergency and economic crisis that has been
made all the more severe by the unfinished business of this country in
dealing with racism and discrimination. We have that opportunity. The
July 4 holiday should not be a time off; it ought to be a time on for
us to do the right thing, and it is on us.
I yield the floor
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