[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 155 (Wednesday, September 9, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5502-S5504]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today, the day 
before we will be voting on a piece of legislation to deal with relief 
for people, for a country, dealing with coronavirus. I come to the 
floor today as Americans are looking to us, the U.S. Senate, to provide 
relief in this ongoing battle against this disease.
  Republicans, as you well know, are offering a path forward. That is 
what the American people want. They want a path forward. So tomorrow, 
the Senate Republicans will move a targeted bill, a bill to help people 
get back to work, to help kids get back to school, and to deal with and 
put the disease in the rearview mirror.

[[Page S5503]]

  It is interesting, in watching all of the things that unfold in the 
U.S. Senate and in the Chamber, that Democrats continue to be playing 
political games. The Democratic leaders in the House, as well as the 
Senate, have held up this round of coronavirus relief just as they held 
up the last round of coronavirus relief.
  You say: Where is the roadblock? Well, I will tell you. Senator 
Schumer and Speaker Pelosi have been the roadblocks to relief for the 
American public. The Speaker has demanded a multi-trillion-dollar blank 
check to pursue her liberal agenda. It is a liberal wish list, no 
strings attached. You can go through all of the things that she has 
asked for. Even the New York Times said it was a liberal wish list, and 
that is the New York Times realizing that it wasn't a serious piece of 
legislation.
  Yet, just last week, when Speaker Pelosi was asked about it and all 
of the things that are in it, she said: ``We're not budging.'' Her 
statement: ``We're not budging.''
  At the same time, as you look at what is happening in the country, 
Presidential nominee Joe Biden seems to be, ever so slowly, coming out 
of his hiding place in the basement. His answer to coronavirus, when 
the press asked him about this a week or so ago when he just edged out 
of the basement just a little bit, he said he would shut down the 
entire country again.
  That is not what they want in Wyoming. That is not what they want in 
your State, Mr. Presiding Officer. That would be a recipe for disaster. 
But that is what the former Vice President, the nominee of the Democrat 
Party, has said he would do: shut down the country again. We have seen, 
time and time again, Democrat leaders shrink in the face of adversity. 
Republicans are facing challenges head-on.
  It was interesting that, a couple of weeks ago during the Democrat 
convention, Joe Biden didn't even mention the violence that was 
plaguing Democrat-run cities all across the country. Not a single one 
of the Democrat speakers at their convention mentioned the destruction 
and the looting and the rioting and the violence. Democrat mayors, 
Democrat Governors, through their words and their actions, are 
encouraging these riots that are destroying our cities. They have 
surrendered to the leftwing mob, and, as a result, violent anarchists 
rule the streets in a number of the cities run by liberal mayors
  In Portland, OR, police officers have been viciously attacked for 100 
days. Innocent people have been murdered in cold blood. We have seen 
small businesses looted, torched--a lifetime of work up in flames.
  Democrat mayors are tying the hands of law enforcement, it appears to 
me, and liberal city officials are defunding the police, calling to 
defund the police, voting to defund the police. Clearly, they have 
refused to allow the police to do their job. It is an incredibly 
dangerous situation, and it is a complete lack of leadership by 
Democrats.
  Republicans would defend, not defund, the police. The burning, the 
looting, the rioting--this must stop. People are fleeing the liberal 
cities, and they want to move to States like ours. Even some Democrat 
mayors are fleeing their own homes. Portland's mayor is moving out of 
his condo building to escape the riots. St. Louis's mayor has 
temporarily relocated from her home, and the mayor of Chicago, 
interestingly enough, has banned protests on her block while doing 
nothing to protect the rest of the city, where the number of fatalities 
and where violence and murder are breaking records at an alltime high.
  People expect their elected leaders to keep them safe, but, really, 
the Democrats need to get their priorities right. They don't have them 
right. Americans need safety and security so they can get back to a 
normal routine in their lives.
  There really is some good news to report, and that is both with 
regard to coronavirus and with regard to the economy. Last week, the 
Wall Street Journal reported that coronavirus is starting to retreat, 
that positivity rates fell 40 percent from July, that hospitalizations 
were down 60 percent, and the good news is that researchers are 
reporting that they are on track to produce a safe, effective vaccine 
in record time.
  As a doctor, I will tell you this truly is record time when I think 
of how long it took--years and years--for vaccines to be developed. 
Now, we are not out of the woods yet, but we are making significant 
progress and moving ahead at warp speed.
  That is one of the things that is going to be on the floor tomorrow 
with this vote, as we work to get people back to work and kids back to 
school and the virus behind us, is more money and effort for testing 
and for treatment and for vaccine development and distribution.
  The economic news is good. Joe Biden says he would shut down the 
country again, and this country is opening up and doing remarkably 
well. The economy added nearly 1.4 million jobs in August alone, 10 
million new jobs in the last 4 months. The unemployment rate fell to 
below 9 percent--8.4 percent. That is down from a pandemic high of 
close to 15 percent.
  It is interesting. The experts had it all wrong. The experts said 
that, heading into the fall, we would have an unemployment rate at over 
16 percent. It is now down to 8.4. I compare this to the economic 
recovery that took so long when President Obama and Vice President 
Biden were running the economy. We had an unemployment rate of over 9 
percent for 30 months in a row--over 9 percent for over 30 months. This 
time, with the unemployment rate, we are already below 9 percent at 
8.4.
  So the economy is rebounding, the virus is receding, but still there 
is hardship around the country, and that is why we will tomorrow vote 
on the floor of the U.S. Senate to deal with the needs of the American 
people; yet Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats in Congress remain focused 
on a different agenda, and I believe their misguided priorities will 
hurt, not help, Americans.
  It is interesting, when I listen to the Speaker of the House, even 
over 100 Democrats wrote her and openly commented that they should be 
able to be allowed to vote on a targeted piece of legislation. She 
refused to listen to them.
  But we were home for the last period, listening to folks all around 
my State and your State, and what did we hear them say? They said: We 
still need help with paycheck protection for our small businesses so 
they can continue to make payroll. Nancy Pelosi says no. Chuck Schumer 
says no.
  They said: We want to get our kids back to school so we can go back 
to work and our kids will not fall so far behind. Nancy Pelosi has said 
no. My concern is that, tomorrow, Chuck Schumer will say no as well.
  People at home said: We need a vaccine. We need more testing. We need 
treatments. It sounds like, tomorrow, the Democrats may say no to that 
as well.
  I look at the list of the things that the Democrats are proposing: 
more money for sanctuary cities, direct payment checks to illegal 
immigrants, issues relating to immigration and customs enforcement. 
That is just the tip of the iceberg. At the same time, with their 
misplaced priorities, they are blocking justice reform. They did that 
to the Tim Scott justice reform bill that every one of the Republicans 
cosponsored. They blocked it and refused to even allow it to come to 
the floor for discussion. They are ignoring crime.
  Clearly, the leftwing of the Democratic Party has taken the wheel and 
has taken a sharp left turn and is headed right off a cliff.
  The Democrats' misguided priorities lie in stark contrast with 
Republicans' forward-looking plan. We have targeted coronavirus relief. 
It is a bill that will help our students, will help our workers, will 
help our families, will help people with the disease.
  The Senate legislation sensibly extends small business paycheck 
protection support to help keep people on the payroll. It ensures that 
we beat the disease with the money that we have talked about. It gives 
the schools the tools they need and continue to need to reopen smartly 
and safely so our kids will not be left behind.
  I come to the floor to say the contrast is clear. What we are hearing 
from the opposite side of the aisle are empty Democrat promises, and 
Republicans are delivering on ours. Senate Republicans are going to 
stay focused on governing. We are going to do the

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job the American people elected us to do.
  The choice could not be clearer: Republicans on a path forward or 
Democrats with their ongoing partisan obstruction.
  I appreciate your time and your attention in this critical time as we 
move forward with the bill that the American public is asking us to 
pass, that we have Republicans supporting, that fills the needs and 
responds directly to the needs of the American people. At the same time 
tomorrow, we will see if the Democrats continue to obstruct or work 
with us on the solution and a path forward for our Nation.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.