[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 154 (Tuesday, September 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5434-S5435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in the 3 weeks since the Senate last 
met, America eclipsed 6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. Nearly 
190,000 Americans have died, and those totals climb by tragic amounts 
each day. Too many businesses remain closed, schools begin the year 
under a dark cloud of uncertainty, and our economy faces the greatest 
crisis since the Great Depression.
  The United States is 11.5 million jobs short of where we were at the 
start of February, and the number of jobs that have been permanently 
lost is rising at an alarming rate. All of this reflects a tragic 
reality: President Trump has led the worst response to COVID-19 of any 
nation on Earth. It is what it is.
  The economic pain of the pandemic was mitigated by our action in 
March when Democrats insisted on a robust stimulus bill that became the 
CARES Act. One of our policies included in that bill, enhanced 
unemployment benefits, has kept nearly 12 million Americans from 
poverty. Those benefits have

[[Page S5435]]

now mostly expired, and the stimulus provided by the CARES Act has been 
exhausted. The pandemic and economic hardship for millions of American 
workers and families, however, is ongoing and painful.
  Speaker Pelosi and I have been trying to negotiate with the White 
House in another round of relief. It has been arduous. Democrats 
offered to meet our Republican colleagues in the middle, but the White 
House has refused to make any significant compromise.
  Here in the Senate, the Republican majority leader has kept the 
Senate on ``pause'' while the Nation suffered. When they tried to draft 
a relief package in July, Senate Republicans flailed for 2 weeks before 
announcing a series of separate, incoherent proposals that lacked the 
support of--surprise--Senate Republicans. It was so unpopular within 
the Republican conference that Leader McConnell never even brought it 
up for a vote.

  Now, after more than 4 months of long inaction--after sitting on the 
sidelines while we tried to negotiate with a recalcitrant White House--
Senate Republicans are finally realizing the damage their pause--the 
McConnell pause--has done to the American economy and our Nation's 
health. As they scramble to make up for this historic mistake, Senate 
Republicans appear dead set on another bill that doesn't come close to 
addressing the problems in our country.
  The Republicans are going to cut their original, inadequate $1 
trillion ``skinny'' bill in half--maybe more--and put it up for a vote 
this week. Of course, it had no input--zero input--from the Democrats--
completely partisan. In this Chamber, you need bipartisanship to get 
anything done. The Republicans call this a ``skinny''--or 
``targeted''--proposal, but it would be more appropriate to call it 
``emaciated.'' Shockingly, as the pain from this pandemic gets bigger 
and bigger, the Republicans think smaller and smaller. They are moving 
backward. Their proposal is completely inadequate and, by every 
measure, fails to meet the needs of the American people--with no money 
for rental assistance, nutrition assistance, the census, safe 
elections, and so many other things.
  The bill, amazingly, will do almost nothing to help State and local 
governments that have already been forced to cut a million jobs since 
the pandemic began. This bill actually goes backward from the last 
Republican proposal. It does not even allow States to use existing 
relief funds to cover lost revenues.
  Even worse, this latest and sorriest Republican proposal is laden 
with poison pills that our colleagues know the Democrats would never 
support. The bill doesn't provide enough funding to help our schools 
reopen safely--not close to what school superintendents say they need--
but it includes funding for a partisan school choice program that has 
been long pushed by hard-right conservatives and Secretary DeVos. It 
provides immunity to corporations that put their workers in harm's way, 
which, sadly, seems to be the only thing that the Republicans can 
consistently agree on. It even includes a provision that could fast-
track coal mining operations because, God forbid, our Republican 
friends miss an opportunity to reward corporate polluters in their 
coronavirus relief bill.
  The Republicans call their bill ``targeted.'' Maybe they mean it is 
targeted to corporate donors. The presence of these poison pills should 
remove every shred of doubt that the true intent of this bill is 
anything but political. If Leader McConnell and the Republican majority 
were trying to achieve a result, they wouldn't draft such a lame, 
partisan bill, loaded with poison pills, and rush it to the floor.
  May we have order, please?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cassidy). Yes, sir.
  Mr. Leader, be careful not to impugn the motives of another. The 
leader suggested corporate donors. I issue that warning.
  Mr. SCHUMER. The truth is, if you wanted to draft a bill that was 
certain to fail, this is it. This is one of the most cynical moves I 
have ever seen. We all know what is going on here. Leader McConnell had 
to create the most paltry, partisan, cynical bill because he has 20 
Members of his caucus who don't want to support anything. By his own 
admission, they want zero dollars, so Leader McConnell keeps whittling 
down the Republican proposal until he can find something--anything--
that he can claim his party supports. He had to throw in the right 
wing's favorite goodies to sweeten the pot to even approach the number 
of votes in his caucus to make it look like a Republican bill that had 
broad support.
  Leader McConnell knows this bill won't pass, and he knows that most 
of his Members don't want it to pass. Amazingly, he seems happy with 
that situation. This is one of the most cynical moves I have ever seen 
in the middle of a pandemic--when Americans are crying out for relief.
  This political exercise on the Republican side bears no relationship 
to the needs of our country. It has nothing to do with our States, our 
workers, our families, with opening up schools safely, or with what 
healthcare workers really need. It has everything to do with finding 
the bare minimum that Senate Republicans can support. While facing the 
greatest economic crisis in 75 years and the greatest health crisis in 
a century, Leader McConnell isn't searching for bipartisan progress; he 
is looking for political cover.
  As we begin the final work period before the November elections, the 
Democrats will keep pushing for a bipartisan, bicameral agreement that 
actually meets the urgent needs of the American people. For the good of 
the country, I hope--I pray--my Republican colleagues will join us in 
that effort.