[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 130 (Thursday, July 23, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4449-S4451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



            Unanimous Consent Requests--S. 3685 and S. 4097

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask 
unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate en bloc 
consideration of the following bills: S. 3685, the Emergency Rental 
Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act, which I am a prime 
sponsor of, and S. 4097, Senator Warren's bill, the Protecting Renters 
from Evictions and Fees Act. I further ask that the bills be considered 
read a third time and passed en bloc and the motions to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, we have 
discussed this before on the floor, and I will not go through that 
entirely in my part of the discussion here.
  Four months ago with the CARES Act, we came together and unanimously 
passed a package that provided historic support, significant support, 
in the rental markets, as this request focuses on. I believe that in 
the coming days, we can come to that same kind of consensus and deal 
with this important issue. Because of that, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. I am disappointed. I knew it was coming from Senator 
Crapo. He is my friend, and I appreciate the cooperation, but this is 
so much more serious than what we did a few months ago.
  We have been asking just down the hall--Senator McConnell was just 
in. We have asked him week after week after week--April, May, June, 
half of July--to do something about this impending problem we have.
  This is why we have to do this now. Tomorrow, millions of families 
face a massive cliff, and they face another one in a week. Right now, 
millions of Americans are in danger of losing their homes. In the CARES 
Act, we put a temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for 
renters and homeowners and properties with federally backed loans, as 
well as for renters receiving Federal assistance. It is a good thing 
entirely, just not enough. This rental eviction moratorium expires 
tomorrow.
  The last thing we need--imagine this: In the middle of a public 
health crisis, people who get evicted roam the streets, or they go to 
an overcrowded shelter, or they go live in their cousin's basement--all 
potentially spreading the virus.
  We know the moratorium didn't go far enough. It only covered 28 
percent of renters. We should be extending and expanding the 
moratorium. We should be passing my emergency rental assistance bill to 
get people through this pandemic, not kicking them out on the streets.
  We already had a housing crisis in this country before the 
coronavirus hit. Many of the professions we are now recognizing as 
essential--one essential worker, a grocery store worker, said:

       I don't feel essential. They call me essential. I feel 
     expendable because I don't make much money, and they don't 
     protect you at work.

  Many of those people recognized as essential aren't paid enough to 
afford housing.
  Think about this: One-quarter of all renters--one out of four 
renters--before the pandemic were paying half or more of their income 
in rent. One thing happens in their lives, and they are on the streets. 
Now we are seeing millions of people all at once have those same 
emergencies. They are facing impossible choices between rent and 
grocery or prescriptions or draining their savings or going to a payday 
lender. More than 40 percent--40 percent--of Black and Latinx renters 
report they are unlikely to be able to make their next payment--40 
percent.
  Some people don't have any choice at all. Their only option is 
eviction. Those evictions are already happening in Columbus, the 
capital city in Ohio, the largest city in Ohio. In Columbus, they have 
turned the convention center into an eviction court--an eviction court 
at the convention center. More eviction filings will be coming if we do 
nothing.
  For all those renters who have been protected from eviction by the 
CARES Act, back rent will suddenly be due. They will owe for March and 
April and May and June. The same goes for the millions who aren't 
protected under

[[Page S4450]]

the CARES Act but got relief from a temporary State or local moratorium 
or court closure.
  On top of that, at the end of next week, the additional $600 a week 
in UI benefits expires. Senator Wyden has done yeoman's work. It is 
incredible what he was able to do for this unemployment that kept 
millions and millions and millions--tens of thousands of Oregonians and 
hundreds of thousands of Ohioans were kept in their homes because of 
this $600 unemployment check that they got weekly. Now, because Senator 
McConnell doesn't care, President Trump doesn't care, those people are 
going to lose that $600. What do they do then? We know that UI didn't 
cover everyone, but for many people, that $600 was the difference 
between being able to pay their bills and skipping meals or draining 
their savings or having to turn to a payday lender.
  We need to extend the assistance to help families afford their food 
and prescriptions. We need to provide emergency rental assistance to 
keep a roof over their heads.
  This problem isn't some distant cliff. We are all about to go home 
for the week. This doesn't happen a month from now or 3 months from 
now; this happens starting this week. It happens when unemployment 
expires. It happens when these moratoria around the country expire.
  What is President Trump doing? What is Majority Leader McConnell 
doing? Nothing. Maybe going to Mar-a-Lago, maybe going back to 
Kentucky. I don't know. What are they doing about this impending cliff? 
Nothing.
  We asked them in March. We asked them in April, in May, and in June. 
Two-thirds of the way into July, they still refuse to help.
  Because of this President's failures, this crisis isn't getting any 
better, the virus continues to spread, people continue to die, small 
businesses continue to suffer.
  Why would we let up on the relief people need now? The work we do in 
this body to get help to people simply can't make up for the lack of 
leadership from the White House, but it can mitigate some of the 
damages.
  The House passed the Heroes Act nearly 2 months ago. That would have 
eliminated these cliffs. It would have provided $100 billion in 
emergency relief. But do you know what? That bill has been on the 
majority leader's desk collecting dust since May.
  For millions of families about to lose their unemployment, about to 
lose their homes, and not able to feed their kids, the bills keep 
coming, the clock keeps ticking, the stress keeps mounting. People are 
tired of this lack of action and lack of accountability.
  They are tired of being betrayed--``betrayed'' is the right word--
betrayed by this President, who is supposed to look out for them. They 
are tired of feeling like no one is on their side. That is why we need 
to do this.
  We are supposed to be the greatest country on Earth. The American 
people should not have to fend for themselves in the middle of a once-
in-a-generation crisis. It is time to lead where the President has 
failed. It is time for Leader McConnell to let us do our job. It is 
time to keep families from losing their homes. That is really clear.
  I yield the floor to the sponsor of this other bill that is so very 
important, Senator Warren.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts
  Ms. WARREN. Mr. President, I thank Senator Brown for the leadership 
on this.
  I am very sorry that the Republicans will not agree to moving forward 
on this bill today. The urgency of the moment cannot be overstated.
  President Trump's utterly failed response to the coronavirus pandemic 
has allowed a dangerous virus to spread, uncontrolled, throughout our 
Nation. More than 4 million Americans have contracted coronavirus, and 
more than 140,000 people are dead.
  While the death toll mounts, the President's failure to control the 
spread of COVID-19 has caused a second crisis, following closely on the 
heels of the virus. Our economy is in shambles, and now we are forced 
to fight on two fronts: to keep families safe from the coronavirus and 
safe from the economic fallout.
  So I am here on the Senate floor today to talk about one piece of the 
economic emergency unfolding in our country. Right now, we are just 
days away from a completely preventable housing crisis. The CARES Act 
eviction moratorium is currently protecting more than 12 million 
renters from losing their homes while the virus rages across our 
country. On Friday at midnight, those protections will disappear, 
allowing a tsunami of evictions that will hit communities of color and 
low-income families the hardest unless we act now.
  Let us be clear. Eviction is not a new problem in this country. Too 
many families were already on the financial brink before the virus 
crashed our economy. Close to 40 percent of adults don't have enough 
cash to cover an unexpected $400 expense. More than half of households 
didn't have enough savings to cover 3 months without income. More than 
one in four renters were paying more than half of their income to 
housing.
  Now families are facing the worst economic crisis of their lifetime. 
About 30 million Americans are officially unemployed or out of work. 
One-half of all Americans have lost employment income since the start 
of this pandemic, and communities of color have been hit the hardest. 
It is not possible to fix this economy without containing the virus, 
but we can make sure that millions of Americans don't lose their homes 
because President Trump closed his eyes and hoped that the pandemic 
would just go away.
  This is really a commonsense solution. My bill, the Protecting 
Renters from Evictions and Fees Act, would extend the Federal eviction 
moratorium through March of 2021, and it would expand the moratorium to 
protect every single renter.
  Congress should pass this bill immediately, and we should pair it 
with Senator Brown's bill to create a $100 billion emergency rental 
assistance fund to help struggling renters make their payments. 
Families would get the help they need to stay in their homes and stay 
current on their rent, and landlords would get their payments. This 
would help families. It would cover landlords, and it would help 
protect renters and communities from the spread of coronavirus.
  So the answer is really simple. The Senate can--and must--pass these 
two bills today because the consequences of inaction would be 
devastating.
  More than one out of every three renters have already missed a 
housing payment. More than one-third of renters have little or no 
confidence that they can make the next payment.
  And let's be clear about who is most at risk. Closer to half of Black 
and Latinx renters aren't sure they will be able to make the next 
housing payment. Black Americans are already more likely to be renters 
because of decades of racist Federal policies that denied Black 
families Federally insured mortgages, and our government failed to 
protect Black homeowners from predatory mortgages leading up to the 
great recession. So when the economy crashed, millions of Black 
Americans lost their homes, wiping out nearly all of the gains in Black 
homeownership since the 1968 Fair Housing Act.
  Failing to institute an eviction moratorium would further deepen 
existing racial injustices. Letting eviction protections evaporate at 
midnight on Friday will also result in widespread housing disruption 
and needlessly cause long-term harm to millions of families' future 
housing, financial stability, and their health. It will put more 
families at risk of homelessness at a time when providers are already 
stretching every dollar to connect unhoused Americans with sheltering 
resources, and it will take away one of the most critical protections 
from furthering the spread of coronavirus: safe, stable housing.
  President Trump's shameful inaction has allowed this virus to spread 
throughout every community in our country. He has denied the scope and 
seriousness of this pandemic. He has dismissed calls to take lifesaving 
action, and he has refused to use the powers of the Federal Government 
to implement even the most basic mitigation measures.
  But crisis does not stop growing just because those in power refuse 
to acknowledge it. That is true for the spread of the coronavirus, and 
it is also true for the looming eviction crisis.
  This is about our values. The Senate has the opportunity--right now--
to

[[Page S4451]]

stop a massive wave of evictions that will displace families right in 
the middle of a global pandemic. My colleagues understood the stakes in 
March when Congress passed the existing eviction moratorium into law. I 
urge them to join me now in continuing this lifesaving protection while 
providing emergency rental assistance to keep renters housed, landlords 
paid, and most of all, to keep families safe
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.