[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 155 (Wednesday, September 9, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5480-S5481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, the amount of 1984-like doublespeak 
that comes out of the other side never ceases to amaze, and I guess it 
is becoming more and more extreme. The Republican leader calls his bill 
bipartisan? I would remind the leader that ``bipartisan'' means two 
parties, Democrats and Republicans. His bill is only a product of the 
Republican side.
  The Republican leader said Democrats are delaying things. Was it 
Democrats who called for a pause? Was it Democrats who, when COVID was 
raging, said we had to assess the situation? Oh, no, it was the 
Republican leader who said those things. Meanwhile, Democrats in the 
House, supported by Democrats in the Senate, have passed a strong 
comprehensive bill. We have just been waiting and waiting for our 
Republican friends to get their act together so they might come close--
even near to the moment that we need.
  So, after taking a pause on COVID relief for 4 months, finally, 
finally, finally, Senate Republicans are realizing the damage that 
their delay has done to our economy and the Nation's health.
  Yesterday, Leader McConnell announced that by the end of the week, 
the Senate would vote on a new slimmed-down version of an already 
skinny Republican bill. We know what happened here. The leader did 
nothing for months, but the American people are demanding action. 
Republican Governors, local officials, hospitals, small businesses--
everyone is demanding action. Restaurants, performance stages, and 
places are demanding action not just of Democrats but of both sides of 
the aisle.
  So the leader had to do something. At first, he tried to cobble 
together a legislative response, but it failed spectacularly. Leader 
McConnell was unable to bring it even forward for a vote.

[[Page S5481]]

That happened a couple of weeks ago. So, now, because he can't get the 
votes because, by his own admission, 20 of his own members want no 
money voted in this crisis--how many Americans think there should be no 
money at the height of the greatest economic crisis we have had since 
the Depression, the height of the greatest health crisis we have had 
since the Spanish pandemic flu? How many Americans think the Federal 
Government should do nothing? But a large chunk of the Republican 
caucus evidently seems to, by the Republican leader's own admission.
  So he couldn't even get this $1 trillion bill passed. It was 
pathetic. So, now, Republicans are going to cut their original 
inadequate $1 trillion bill in half in a desperate attempt to find the 
lowest common denominator among Republicans.
  As the economic pain for millions of Americans advances, Senate 
Republicans are actually moving backward. Of course, up until now, the 
issue in our negotiations with the White House, where Leader McConnell 
had been absent, has been about the size and scope of the next relief 
bill. Democrats passed a $3 trillion bill in the House over 2 months 
ago. Why? That is the need of America during this great crisis. We 
didn't come up with just any numbers. We studied it carefully. We 
talked to school administrators and asked: What do you need? We talked 
to hospital administrators and asked: What do you need? We talked to 
restaurants, and we talked to performance places and asked: What do you 
need? And we came up with a carefully thought-out bill that met the 
need.
  Our Republican friends didn't meet the need. They came out with what 
they call a skinny bill at $1 trillion. We all know why the rightwing 
ideology that has so gripped so much of the Republican Party doesn't 
want to spend any money. We, at least, in an offer to compromise, 
offered to meet our Republican friends in the middle. They balked. No, 
no, they didn't want to compromise. Their way or no way. And now, 
instead of improving their offer, Senate Republicans have made it even 
stingier and even less appropriate for the looming crisis that we have
  I am not sure what kind of negotiating strategy that is, but it sure 
isn't a serious strategy, and it sure will not be successful. That is 
why I called it cynical yesterday.
  COVID-19 has changed nearly every aspect of American life. The needs 
in our country are so great. The pain felt by average Americans is 
severe. Yet the new Republican proposal doesn't include food assistance 
for people who can't feed their kids, rental assistance for people 
being kicked out of their homes, or aid to State and local governments 
desperate not to lay off busdrivers and sanitation workers and 
firefighters.
  In their new bill, Republicans will not even let the States use 
existing funds to cover lost revenues. It leaves out important worker 
protections. It leaves out hazard pay. It leaves out broadband so 
desperately needed in rural areas. It leaves out funding for safe 
elections and help for the census. It shortchanges our healthcare 
system and education system.
  As the school year begins across the country, the new ``emaciated'' 
Republican bill basically makes funding for schools contingent upon 
reopening. So if you are a school that is struggling with the costs of 
operating remotely, if you are a school that would like to reopen 
safely but needs help instituting new standards and protections, the 
GOP bill says ``tough luck.'' Donald Trump comes up with this idea that 
all schools must reopen, and our Republican colleagues, in obeisance, 
come up with a proposal that says to the millions of kids who will go 
to school remotely or in hybrid situations: We are going to make it 
much harder for you to get help.
  That is to say nothing about the fact that the new Republican COVID 
bill is ladened with poison pills designed to make its passage 
impossible. Someone looking at this would say: If they want to come to 
a compromise, why would they put poison pills in the bill that they 
know are nonstarters to getting bipartisan compromise? Is it because 
they really don't want a bill but a political issue--one that would 
ultimately backfire on them, I believe. But they have done it.
  There is broad corporate immunity that my colleague in Illinois has 
so focused on--an immunity provision that would protect corporations 
that put their workers in harm's way from legal liability. And 
evidently to get a handful of hard-right Senators who didn't want to 
spend any money, they added a partisan school choice program long 
sought by Secretary DeVos--hardly a friend of public education.
  Republicans call their new bill ``targeted,'' but by almost every 
measure, it misses the mark. It is impossible to look at the new GOP 
proposal as a serious effort to passing a law. It is impossible to look 
at this GOP proposal and not wonder: Do our Republican friends see the 
damage in America? Are they still intent on playing these same games? 
Are they still trying to fool the American people by calling the 
harshly partisan proposal bipartisan, as the leader just did?
  If Republicans were serious about achieving a result, they would have 
joined negotiations with Speaker Pelosi, me, and the White House. If 
Leader McConnell was so eager to get something done, why wasn't he at 
the table for weeks? Republicans could have encouraged the White House 
to improve their offer, to meet us in the middle, to break the logjam. 
Where were the Republican Senators? I haven't heard a voice speak out 
and say we should meet in the middle. They are all so afraid of what 
Donald Trump might say, I suppose.
  Leader McConnell, instead, crafted a partisan bill--with no input 
from Democrats--even leaner and meaner than the previous Republican 
proposal and would rush it to the floor 2 days after releasing it. This 
is one of the most cynical moves by any leader I have ever seen. This 
isn't about making law or working in good faith with the other party. 
Leader McConnell isn't searching for bipartisan progress. He seems to 
be looking for political cover. It will not pass on Thursday, and we 
will be right back where we are today, needing our Republican 
colleagues to understand the gravity of this situation in our country 
and to work with us on a bill that actually makes some sense and deals 
with the magnitude of this awful crisis.