[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 140 (Thursday, August 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5237-S5239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, the most recent count of confirmed 
Americans who have died as a result of COVID-19 is 157,551 souls. In my 
State of Maryland, that confirmed number is 3,402. Those are the 
confirmed deaths. We believe the deaths are even higher.
  Although the United States represents only 4.3 percent of the world's 
population, we represent over 26 percent of the COVID-19 infections and 
almost 23 percent of fatalities. These numbers are continuing to grow 
every day.
  The Trump administration was ill-prepared, inadequate in its 
response, misleading and inconsistent in its messaging, missing in the 
international leadership to deal with this global pandemic, and denied 
the consequences of the pandemic on our own constituents.
  Congress took on its responsibility by passing major legislation. The 
passage of the CARES Act--which was passed in March--was the right 
response at that time to do what we needed to deal with the pandemic. 
But we knew by May that COVID-19 would have a much longer impact on our 
country, would be more difficult to control, and we had to take 
additional steps in Congress in order to protect our Nation.
  The House did the right thing in passing the Heroes Act on May 15. It 
has been almost 3 months, and the Republican leadership in the Senate 
has failed to respond. We need to take action that is equivalent to the 
challenge--this incredible challenge.
  This is the worst pandemic we have seen since the 1918 influenza 
pandemic, over 100 years ago. This is the greatest economic challenge 
that we have faced since the Great Depression. This requires bold 
action in order to protect the people of our country.
  The help provided by the CARES Act has ended. Unemployment benefits 
have terminated. State and local governments are out of resources. The 
small business tools have already been used by the small businesses. 
American families need additional help. The unemployed need help. State 
and local governments need help. Our businesses need help. We need to 
act now and pass a comprehensive package to deal with this pandemic.
  What should be included in a comprehensive package? Let me start 
first with the health challenge. I was pleased that the CARES Act 
provided for a Marshall Plan to deal with the health pandemic. But we 
have since learned that this health challenge has been different in 
different communities. There are disturbing facts about the health 
disparities on the communities that have been particularly hard-hit. 
Communities of color have had higher infection rates, higher 
hospitalization rates, higher deaths. We know that this is in part 
because of systemic discrimination that we have seen in our system of 
healthcare. We need to take action.
  Let me give you a few things we could do in this next round that 
could help deal with the disparities in the health impact. The FMAP, 
the payment for Medicaid by the Federal Government to the States--you 
see, it has been estimated that 12 million Americans have additionally 
needed to rely on Medicaid as a result of COVID-19. The States are 
unable to act because their budgets have been so badly hurt.
  There is a risk factor that they will, in fact, even cut back 
benefits because they don't have the funds to maintain the current 
benefits before COVID-19, let alone the additional number of people who 
have been thrown into the need for Medicaid. We need to take steps and 
improve the FMAP by the Federal Government.
  Telehealth has proven to be a very effective tool in dealing with 
COVID-19. We know that people cannot travel, cannot go to offices as 
easily as they could, and we have seen a natural desire to do as much 
telehealth as possible. We have passed legislation to expand the types 
of services and geography that can use telehealth services. It is very 
important for rural America, very important for the underserved 
community, and very important for the transportation-challenged 
community. We need to make those provisions permanent.

  I have introduced two pieces of legislation with my colleagues: the 
REACH Act, with Senator Tim Scott, and the COVID-19 Health Disparities 
Act, with Senator Menendez. These bills work on fundamental problems of 
why COVID-19 has had a disparate impact on communities of color.
  We want to make sure we have a workforce that represents our 
communities. We want to make sure there is adequate funding. We want to 
make sure testing is done, targeted to those communities that are most 
vulnerable. We want to make sure the vaccine, when it is developed, is 
fairly shared. We want to make sure we have outreach and education in 
all communities. These bills deal with those issues.
  The health challenge, as it relates to health disparities, needs to 
be part of the legislation that I hope we will be considering in the 
very, very near future.
  The legislation needs to include an extension of unemployment 
insurance benefits, which is a lifeline for individuals and our 
economy. Individuals desperately need these funds in order to take care 
of basic needs for their families. But our economy needs the influx of 
these resources in order to keep our economy afloat during COVID-19.
  The Heroes Act, which, again, was passed almost 3 months ago, extends 
the $600-a-week payment through the end of January; whereas the 
McConnell bill, the HEALS Act, cuts it back to $200 and only through 
October and sets up a test for local--on the percentage of your 
previous salary that UI, unemployment insurance, administrators in the 
States tell us is not administrable, making a roadblock for those even 
to get the money provided in the HEALS Act, the bill introduced by 
Senator McConnell.
  We need to act boldly. The impact on our economy is here today and is 
showing no letup. We need to extend the $600, and we need to do it 
through at least January of next year.
  The impact of COVID-19 has been cruel to families meeting their basic 
obligations, including housing for both

[[Page S5238]]

renters and homeowners. The moratorium on eviction and foreclosure has 
now expired. The protection is not there. It has been estimated that 
$12.3 million American households are now at risk of eviction.
  We need to act now. We need to provide help against eviction and 
foreclosure, including direct assistance to renters and homeowners. It 
will not only be, again, the right thing to protect American families 
during this pandemic, but it will also help deal with stability in the 
real estate market, making sure we can maintain financial viability for 
that critically important industry. It is a win-win situation.
  But look at the contrast between what was done in the House and what 
we are asking--the Democrats are asking--to be considered on the Senate 
floor. The Heroes Act provides $100 billion to assist renters and $75 
billion to assist homeowners. The legislation offered by Senator 
McConnell, the HEALS Act, provides zero assistance.
  We need to do what is right for American families and make sure that 
they have a roof over their heads. That needs to be part of our 
comprehensive response.
  State and local governments are in desperate need. You see, they have 
balanced budget requirements. They have to balance their budgets, and 
now they are juggling 2 fiscal years--one for most States that ended on 
June 30 and another that started on July 1. In both of those fiscal 
years, they are projecting large deficits.
  I can tell you, in Maryland alone, the fiscal year June 30 deficit is 
now projected to grow by $1 billion.
  Here is the challenge. It is up to our State and local governments to 
fund things such as first responders and public safety and schools and 
public health and critical, essential services, but they don't have the 
resources to do it. Without help from the Federal Government, without 
help in this round, we are going to see additional layoffs and services 
that are essential in our community not being carried out. The CARES 
Act helped, but the CARES Act did not deal with the loss of revenue 
sustained by State and local governments.
  Let's just use our common sense here. What do you think our State and 
local governments are looking at in sales tax revenues with so much 
consumer activity that has not taken place?
  Let's take a look at our income tax revenues by our State and local 
governments. With income being so severely restricted, those revenues 
are dramatically reduced. In recent years, we have seen the State and 
local governments rely more and more on specific taxes, generally with 
hospitality--dealing with hotels and car rentals and parking. Those 
revenues are nonexistent.
  We need to act. It was for good reason that Governor Hogan, the 
Republican chair of the National Governors Association for Maryland, 
and Governor Cuomo, the vice chair--the Democratic Governor from New 
York--came together with all of our Governors, saying: You need to help 
us so that we can help our constituents.
  By the way, their constituents are our constituents; the same 
individuals are served by State and local governments and by us in the 
Congress.
  The Heroes Act, once again, provided robust help, recognizing that 
this pandemic will have an impact not only on the fiscal year that 
ended June 30 but the fiscal year that began July 1. They provide $900 
billion of help to State and local governments, providing for its use 
for revenue loss and providing direct assistance to our larger 
subdivisions.
  The legislation that was suggested by Senator McConnell on behalf of 
the Republicans contains zero--no help for State and local governments.
  One of the essential functions that State and local governments need 
to carry out is educating our children in our schools. There are 
different needs in different communities. Our aid has to be flexible to 
allow the local school districts to do what is right for their children 
as it relates to public safety and education. That is our 
responsibility.
  I recently met with educators in Maryland and looked at their 
challenges. They went over with me the cost challenges that they will 
face this fall, whether they are doing in-classroom, distant learning, 
or a hybrid approach. Safely reopening is costly. Following the CDC 
guidelines to make sure they have the cleaning supplies and protective 
equipment and infrastructure changes that are necessary to safely have 
students in the classroom and educators in the classroom; how bus 
routes need to be changed, which is going to be more expensive; dealing 
with distant learning and the technology that is needed; the tutoring 
and special education needs that are going to be more challenging; the 
training of teachers--all this is going to cost more funds. State and 
local governments have less funds to operate with.
  I particularly want to mention the digital divide. We knew before 
COVID-19 that if you did not have access to broadband high-speed 
internet in your household, you were at a disadvantage. It puts your 
children at a disadvantage because even though they learn at school, 
learning does not stop at the end of the schoolday, and access to high-
speed internet is critically important for students. It is also 
important for their parents and for everyone to be able to get access 
to the internet. That has really come to light during COVID-19.
  Yes, we have a digital divide. We know that in rural America, it is 
more difficult to get broadband. We also know about the economic 
circumstances of many families who can't afford the internet. We need 
to take steps to remove that digital divide. We need to do that now. We 
need to do that in this legislation so that our children can get the 
maximum opportunities this fall through distant learning--those who are 
going to participate in distant learning. We need to do everything we 
can so children don't fall further behind because of a lack of access 
to broadband.
  The Heroes Act provides robust funding both for State and local 
government but also dedicated to education. That is what we need to do 
and make sure it is part of a robust response.
  In November, we will be having our national elections. There is 
nothing more important to our democracy than protecting the free and 
fair election process in America so that every eligible voter in our 
country can cast their ballot safely, that they can do it without fear 
for their public health, and that we can make sure it is done without 
influence from foreign actors. That requires additional resources.
  I was on the phone with the head of our election board in Maryland, 
talking about the challenges they have. Governor Hogan has suggested a 
hybrid approach to the November elections. It is going to cost millions 
of dollars more to conduct that election. The local governments don't 
have those funds.
  The Heroes Act provides funds to protect the integrity of our 
election system. It needs to be part of it. We all know there are 
foreign actors trying to interfere with our elections. We need to take 
steps to make sure it is protected. Once again, the bill brought to us 
by the Republicans, the HEALS Act, provides no help. The Heroes Act 
provides $3.6 billion.
  This week, I was on the phone with several of my constituents 
concerning the U.S. Postal Service. The U.S. Postal Service is 
mentioned in the Constitution as one of the primary functions of the 
Federal Government. It is essential. Ask seniors who rely on the Postal 
Service to get their medicines in a timely way. We now know how 
important it is for timely conducting our election process. Yet we are 
seeing delays in service. We are seeing compromises to worker safety. 
We are seeing unreasonable restrictions imposed by the Postal System, 
and they have a desperate need for additional resources. There is a 
lack of overtime, a lack of being able to pick the hours that you make 
your delivery so that you can get your mail delivered promptly and in 
the safest way considering the weather and COVID-19. All of that has 
been compromised because of a lack of resources and, I will also add, 
the management, the Postmaster.
  We need to provide additional help. We knew that before COVID-19, and 
it is now even more critical post-COVID-19. The Heroes Act provides $25 
billion for our Postal System. We need to make sure that is done. Once 
again, contrast that with the offer that was

[[Page S5239]]

made by Senator McConnell, where no money was provided for those 
services.
  Nutrition and the SNAP program are all critically challenged as a 
result of COVID-19. We need to make sure we make more resources 
available. The Heroes Act provides more resources to make sure 
our families receive the nutrition they need.

  One of the things is delivering meals. When students are in the 
classroom, they usually get their food there, and it is a lot more 
efficient to do it that way. When they are not in the classroom, it has 
to be delivered, and that is more costly. We have to provide those 
resources to make sure our children are protected.
  We have to deal with childcare. Many families have challenges with 
childcare. The Heroes Act provides help there.
  Essential workers. We talk about essential workers all the time and 
talk about how we applaud them. They are our heroes. What do we do for 
them? Well, the House bill deals with hazardous pay to show our 
appreciation through compensation. That is what we should do. As we 
pass comprehensive legislation, that should be part of it.
  Let me say that we should also do that in regard to our own Federal 
workforce. We should make sure there are adequate resources to make 
sure every Federal worker has the protection they need to stay safe 
from COVID-19. We should do everything we can to encourage telework 
when telework makes sense for our Federal workforce.
  Let me conclude with the area that I probably have spent the most 
time with, and that is small business. In regard to small business, we 
have had a bipartisan working group that has made tremendous gains on 
behalf of tools that help small businesses.
  Yes, I do want to acknowledge Senator Rubio and Senator Collins and, 
on the Democratic side, Senator Shaheen. The four of us worked together 
in the CARES Act to produce the Paycheck Protection Program, which was 
successful in getting money out quickly to small businesses so they 
could stay alive.
  The problem with the PPP program is that we thought that by now, the 
economy would be back on track and that small businesses would be able 
to continue without additional help from the Federal Government. That 
is not the case.
  Secondly, we learned in the PPP program that the underbanked 
community--the minority small businesses and the smaller small 
businesses--was left behind when it started because they didn't have 
the same priority relationship with the lenders as the more 
sophisticated small businesses had. As a result, they were denied help. 
In the early stages, their loans were not as large; they didn't get the 
same type of attention.
  As we look at a second round, we need to make sure that it is 
targeted to those small businesses that need the help and have had 
revenue loss as a result of COVID-19. That is targeted to the smaller 
of the small businesses. They are the ones that don't have the same 
degree of resiliency, and they need attention at this particular 
moment.
  Yes, we need to build up the capacity and make sure that mission 
lenders--those that are most sensitive to the underserved community--
have the capacity and the volume of loans necessary to reach out so 
that we don't make the same mistake on the next round that was 
initially made in the PPP program. I think we can get that done.
  There has been strong bipartisan talk about these issues. I think we 
can make progress and get this done.
  There is another program that was left out of the HEALS Act by 
Senator McConnell that I was very disappointed about, and that is the 
economic injury disaster loan and grant program, the EIDL Program. PPP 
provided help to small businesses to deal with their payroll expenses 
and some utility expenses, but it didn't deal with the long-term 
capital needs of a small business.
  We know that they need help in addition to just the paycheck issues. 
That is where the EIDL Program came in. You can make both an EIDL loan 
and a PPP loan. Yet we ran out of EIDL funds very early. Instead of 
issuing loans up to $2 million, the SBA only issued loans up to 
$150,000. The grant program was $10,000 in cash to small businesses. It 
doesn't have to be repaid. That is a lifeline for the smaller small 
businesses. They are the ones that use the EIDL Program. They are the 
smaller of the small businesses. The SBA imposed a $1,000-per-employee 
cap, so they didn't get the full amount of the grant.
  We have to make sure that we provide additional resources to deal 
with these issues so that the EIDL Program can provide long-term 
financing to small businesses. Coupled with the PPP program, we can 
keep small businesses alive, because we all know they are the growth 
engine of America. They are the heart of our economy. We need to make 
sure that is part of the next legislation.
  COVID-19 is a once-in-a-lifetime challenge for us. Pandemics happen 
once in a hundred years. This impact on our economy is similar to the 
Great Depression. Let's rise to the challenge. Let's pass a 
bipartisan--I would say a nonpartisan--bold bill to deal with the 
challenges that are before us, and let's stay here and get it done now
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Georgia.

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