[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 135 (Thursday, July 30, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S4617]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative 
session.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask to be recognized to respond to the 
leader.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader is recognized.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Well, we have had a lot of words from the leader--none 
of them talk about reality. One picture equals all his words: Schumer, 
Pelosi, Mnuchin, Meadows in a room negotiating, where the Republican 
leader can't even show up because his caucus is so divided. In his own 
words, 20 of his Members don't want to vote for anything.
  Now, faced with a crisis they created--for 10 weeks we have asked the 
leader to negotiate, and now, finally, they have woken up to the fact 
that we are at a cliff. But it is too late--too late because even if we 
were to pass this measure, all the States--almost every State says 
people would not get their unemployment for weeks and months, all 
because of the disunity, dysfunction of this Republican caucus and of 
the leader, afraid to negotiate because he doesn't have his people 
behind him.
  The bottom line is very simple: This new proposal moves things even 
backward. Instead of a 30-percent cut from what people are getting, it 
is a 33-percent cut. And we all know that the proposal that is in 
existence now has kept millions out of poverty.
  Now we hear talk from the other side that this creates the deficit--
this increases the deficit. We can't spend money. Well, I would remind 
them of the $1.5 trillion tax cut for the rich--tax cut for the rich. 
No one even thought about the deficit then. But when it comes to 
average folks, working people, we don't hear a thing.
  Unemployment is a crisis. There are many crises. All your 
constituents, the parents, are saying: Why can't we open our schools 
safely? They need dollars.
  We can't negotiate that proposal. People are being thrown out of 
their homes. That is a cliff that happened Thursday. Nothing for that.
  The bottom line is very simple: This is the worst health crisis in 
100 years. This is the worst economic crisis in 75 years. 
Unfortunately, at this great moment of terrible trouble in our country, 
our Republican friends are paralyzed, and when they want to do 
something, it is a stunt, not a real negotiation, that they know won't 
pass, because their backs are against the wall and the American 
people--just look at the data--know who is to blame and know who 
doesn't want to help people.
  So the bottom line is very simple: We Democrats know what the problem 
is, and we are unified. We have a very strong proposal. And to look at 
the things in that proposal with the callousness that my friend the 
Republican leader has done; to say that this is all politics when 
people are being thrown out of their homes and we want to give them 
shelter; when people are not able to feed their children and we want to 
give them food; when small businesses--men and women who have 
struggled--can't keep their businesses going, we hear nothing.
  Our proposal--the one to which the Republicans objected--deals with 
these problems in a serious, significant, and, yes, expensive way. But 
we know what is going on on the other side of the aisle. It was said by 
my friend from Indiana: Let the private sector do it. Well, my friends, 
this is a moment where the private sector can't solve the problem. This 
is a moment when we do need strong, active, and bold relief--something 
that this caucus has been running away from, ignoring, for far too 
long.
  My fellow Americans, we are in an enormous crisis. We are stepping up 
to the plate on this side of the aisle. Please let your Senators know 
on the Republican side of the aisle how deep this crisis is, how 
painful it is for people, and to step up to the plate, get in the room, 
and negotiate a real deal and stop doing stunts that simply are 
political--get it off my back--that you know cannot pass.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The motion was agreed to.

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