[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 140 (Thursday, August 6, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5252-S5253]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, it is Thursday afternoon, and it looks 
like any other Thursday afternoon. There is no sense of urgency. The 
leader, Senator McConnell, has sent folks on their way for the weekend, 
and there is no agreement on the COVID-19 survival package, which is 
what it really is for so many families.
  We are in a situation where it is another week of not focusing on how 
we get unemployment extension passed or how we deal with hungry 
families or make sure people are going to have a roof over their head 
or support our small businesses or our small family farms or our first 
responders on the frontlines and others in cities and towns and in 
States who are providing public services essential to us--people who 
are in jobs who may lose their jobs if we can't get them the support 
they need.
  That is not happening. There are a few nominations--a couple of 
nominations of judges. Let's put a few more ideologically extreme, 
rightwing judges on the bench. No sense of urgency. We are here on a 
Thursday as if it were just regular business.
  Over 2 months ago, Senator McConnell said he felt no sense of urgency 
to act on what the House passed, no sense of urgency at all. Over 2\1/
2\ months ago, the House of Representatives passed a critical survival 
package to continue to tackle the pandemic, including testing, 
supporting our hospitals and nurses and doctors and communities on the 
frontline who are trying to maintain, manage, and keep us safe--save 
lives.
  Senator McConnell said he felt no sense of urgency. He certainly has 
demonstrated no sense of urgency since that time. He is not even in the 
negotiations that are going on right now.
  But this isn't a regular Thursday for folks in Michigan. No. This 
isn't a regular Thursday, like ``Ho-hum, let's go home for the weekend 
or longer.'' We have 1.8 million people on unemployment benefits. By 
the way, we don't have 1.8 million jobs right now that they could get. 
These aren't folks who just don't want to work. The jobs aren't there 
because of what has happened with the pandemic and the necessary 
closures and the challenges going on for businesses large and small.
  We certainly want to support them to safely be able to reopen, but we 
have 1.8 million people who, this week--this Friday, as opposed to last 
Friday--this Friday, tomorrow, when they get help through unemployment, 
it is going to be about a 60-percent cut--6-0, not 6--a 60-percent cut. 
Their rent didn't go down 60 percent. Their food didn't go down 60 
percent. Their utility bills didn't go down 60 percent. The other 
things they need to take care of their families didn't go down 60 
percent. But their income is going down 60 percent because there is no 
sense of urgency in this Senate.
  The Republican majority sees no sense of urgency. It is just another 
Thursday afternoon. There is no sense of urgency to help people who are 
trying to figure out what to do right now because everything collapsed 
when the pandemic hit and their business closed or other challenges 
took over so they are not able to work right now. What are they going 
to do? It is not just another Thursday afternoon for them.
  It is not just another Thursday afternoon for the single mom of two 
kids in Michigan right now who, frankly, could very well be deciding 
whether she eats tonight because it is so important that the children 
eat. She can't do both, so she will go hungry one more time so the kids 
can eat. We have a hunger emergency in this country right now. It is 
not just another Thursday for those folks, although they have spent too 
many Thursdays feeling hungry.
  It is not just a Thursday for the person who, right now, is probably 
in their car--maybe they have been there 2, 3, 4 hours--waiting in the 
food bank line to get some groceries to take home. They used to donate 
to the food bank, and now they are in a situation in which they have to 
go to the food bank. They never thought in their wildest dreams that 
would happen, yet it has. They feel a sense of urgency.
  It is not just another Thursday afternoon in the Senate for them. 
They feel a sense of urgency for today and tomorrow and Saturday and 
Sunday and Monday and on into however long it is going to take to be 
able to bring our colleagues together.
  It would be humorous if it just weren't so outrageous to hear 
colleagues talk about how we need to get something done when the House 
of Representatives passed a bill 2\1/2\ month ago, the Heroes Act. It 
came over here and has just been gathering dust on Senator McConnell's 
desk.
  We know that negotiation takes time. We know you always have to 
compromise, and that should have started 2 months ago or a month ago, 
not after somebody is losing 60 percent of their income trying to hold 
it together for their family.
  By the way, we tell people to go home--shelter at home--but their 
rental protections go away, their mortgage protections go away, and you 
put more people on the street. That makes a lot of sense in the middle 
of a health pandemic when we want people to stay home
  Every move that has happened in this Senate since the House acted has 
been too little too late, and it is causing more and more devastating 
consequences as a result of that.
  I will tell you who doesn't think it is another Thursday, just a 
normal Thursday afternoon, is 85-year-old retirees I know who are 
trying to figure out how to get their medicine versus their groceries. 
By the way, they haven't been out of their house in over 4 months. They 
are trying to stay connected with their families but are terrified of 
what is happening. Will what is happening right now be the rest of 
their life? They certainly feel a sense of urgency for us to act.
  The moms and dads who want their kids to go back to school safely and 
are trying to figure it out are saying: Come on. This cannot be my 
child's education versus their safety. It has to be both.
  That is not exactly rocket science. It has to be both.
  I am excited about the Tigers playing now--and their baseball 
league--and I am excited about the NFL. But if those guys can get 
tested every day, why can't our teachers? Where are the priorities 
here? Do they feel a sense of urgency?
  I can tell you that my son and daughter and their families and my 
grandkids feel an incredible sense of urgency. They want to go back to 
school to see their friends. They want to do it safely. They know it 
has to be safe. It is not either-or. They feel a sense of urgency. They 
would love this to be just another Thursday afternoon when we end the 
week and everybody goes home. It is not that for them as they are 
trying to figure out where they go for childcare or their school.
  It certainly isn't just another regular day for the teachers trying 
to figure out what to do. They went into teaching because they love 
children. They want to teach. They also know they may have their own 
preexisting conditions. They also have their own children at home. They 
have to think about their own exposure and how they can be teaching, 
which they want to do, but it has to be done safely because of all the 
other issues in their lives as well.
  I think about the small business owner. We have so many in Michigan. 
We have the most incredible entrepreneurs in Michigan in every small 
town as well as in big cities. There are people who poured their hearts 
and souls and capital and second mortgage on the house and maxed out 
their credit cards to have the small business they wanted. They are 
certainly not happy it is just another Thursday afternoon ending the 
week in the Senate. They are desperate to know how to keep their doors 
open and the three employees on the payroll. We have done some good 
work in a bipartisan way on that, which needs to continue.

[[Page S5253]]

Yet that small business person and the people I talk to in Michigan 
feel an incredible sense of urgency.
  I talk to our family farmers who work night and day, battling the 
weather and low prices and chaotic trade policies. I have talked to 
someone raising livestock who can't find a processor that they need 
right now to make the food for hungry families. They certainly feel a 
tremendous sense of urgency.
  The reality is that there are millions of people across this country 
who don't understand what is not happening here--why there is no sense 
of urgency, why there hasn't been a willingness to come together. Why 
didn't it happen 2\1/2\ months ago? What is going on? It appears that 
too many people don't care.
  This is the United States of America. We are one of the wealthiest 
nations in the world. We invented the assembly line. We put our 
footprints on the Moon. We are seeing what is happening today. We 
should never have gotten to this point right now where people are 
losing 60 percent of their income on unemployment benefits, are hungry 
trying to feed their kids, worried about losing the roof over their 
head or their small business or the family farm. We should never have 
gotten to this point, but here we are.
  It has been more than 80 days since the House passed the Heroes Act--
more than 80 days. Since that time, our essential workers, who deserve 
hazard pay, have been waiting. Those providing public services in our 
cities and towns and in States have been waiting for the support they 
need so that they don't lose their job and we don't lose those public 
services. Our businesses, our schools, our farmers all have been 
waiting, waiting, waiting. The reality is it is because it is just 
another Thursday--just another Thursday afternoon in the U.S. Senate.
  Senator McConnell has made it very clear that they are just going to 
have to wait some more. Right now, we should be voting on an important 
survival package for people in our country. We should be investing 
whatever it takes to manage and get our arms around this virus, do the 
testing, provide the healthcare, remain laser focused on getting 
vaccines. People should have confidence that everything humanly 
possible is being done and that there is a sense of urgency here.
  I feel a sense of urgency. My Democratic colleagues feel the sense of 
urgency. Through the actions on this floor, we do not see that the 
Senate Republican majority feels the sense of urgency that every single 
person in Michigan feels right now.
  We need to take action. People are tired of waiting. They can't 
afford to wait any longer. This is about their lives and their 
livelihoods. People need help. The Congress, working with the 
President, needs to provide that help, and there is no excuse not to 
act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

                          ____________________