[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 191 (Monday, November 9, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6617-S6619]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  While the country prepares for a change in administration, it must 
also brace for the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the 
weekend, the United States recorded its 10 millionth case. We are now 
confirming nearly 100,000 new cases of COVID per day, on track to 
eclipse more than a million cases per week.
  As exhausted and impatient as we all are for our lives and 
livelihoods to return to normal, experts are warning us that the worst 
phase is still ahead. The quickest way to turn the tide, crush the 
virus, and get back to normal is to do what we should have been doing 
all along: take the virus seriously, listen to the scientists, and 
dedicate the necessary resources to get the job done.
  President-Elect Biden is already preparing to do just that. Today, he 
named several health experts and scientific advisers to serve on a 
COVID-19 task force. It sends the right signal that while the 
President-elect will not assume office for another few months, his 
administration will hit the ground running, and its policy on COVID-19 
will refreshingly be dictated by facts and by science.
  It is a major turning point that soon we will have an administration 
that actually acknowledges that this is a healthcare crisis; that knows 
our economy won't fully recover until we solve it. I am confident that 
a Biden administration will do that, but Congress must play its part 
too.
  Nearly 15 million Americans have lost health insurance through their 
employer. Democrats have a solution to that problem. Let's get it done 
and make sure those families have health coverage.
  Medicaid Programs across the country are experiencing a huge influx 
of new enrollees, while State budgets struggle to bear the added costs. 
The Heroes Act ensures that Medicaid is strengthened and secured for 
the duration of this pandemic. Let's get that done too.
  And today, we received news that the entire world has been waiting 
for. A U.S. company has developed a vaccine for COVID-19 that, 
according to the preliminary research and the news reports, is 90 
percent effective. The FDA said it would approve a vaccine that was 50 
percent effective. So while the FDA needs to review the vaccine, to 
have a vaccine that is 90 percent effective is about as good as it 
gets.
  We Democrats will do everything we can to make sure this vaccine or 
any

[[Page S6618]]

vaccine is distributed quickly, fairly, equitably, and the challenge is 
now one of scale and one of delivery. Congress should fund a national 
vaccination program, and the administration, whether it is the Trump 
administration or the Biden administration, must do everything to reach 
minority and underserved communities, combat vaccine hesitancy, and 
ensure that the vaccines are free to everyone. This will be a massive 
and complex undertaking unlike anything that our country has seen, and 
we must all work together--from the President to Congress, down to 
local community health departments--to ensure that it gets done right 
and it gets done fairly and it gets done equitably.
  So while the incoming administration prepares to take on the surge of 
COVID-19, Congress should pass a strong, comprehensive COVID relief 
bill that actually meets the needs of the American people.
  When it comes to health care, education, testing, tracing, 
unemployment benefits, and many other critical issues, this Republican 
majority has proposed totally inadequate solutions. As the disease 
surges across our country once again, there is no time for inadequate 
solutions.
  I hope, now that the election is behind us, our colleagues are ready 
to come together in a search for an adequate bipartisan solution rather 
than the partisan, stunt-voting legislating we have suffered these past 
few months.


                             2020 Elections

  Now I must spend a moment on something that will garner too much 
attention over the next few weeks: baseless claims by the President and 
his supporters that there has been widespread voter fraud and that the 
election was somehow rigged or stolen from President Trump.
  That kind of rhetoric is extremely dangerous and extremely poisonous 
to our democracy. As in any campaign, the President has a right to 
bring legal challenges or request recounts where State law allows. 
However, there is no legal right to file frivolous claims. Lawsuits 
must have a basis in facts and evidence. And make no mistake, there has 
been no evidence of any significant or widespread voter fraud.
  Joe Biden won this election fair and square. The margins of his 
victory are growing by the day, and former President George W. Bush, 
commendably, acknowledged that fact when he congratulated President-
Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris on their victory.
  Now Republican leaders in Congress should also do the right thing. 
Republican leaders must unequivocally condemn the President's rhetoric 
and work to ensure the peaceful transfer of power on January 20. I have 
been heartened to see a few of my Republican colleagues--it is three, I 
believe--congratulate the winning ticket, but too many, including the 
Republican leader, have been silent or sympathetic to the President's 
fantasies.
  Even some nonpartisan members of the current administration have 
refused to move forward with the formal process for the incoming 
administration. According to the Washington Post, the Administrator of 
the General Services Administration has declined to sign a letter 
allowing President-elect Joe Biden's transition team to formally begin 
its work.
  It does not matter whether the President is happy about the results 
of the election. The peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark--the 
bedrock--of our democracy, and it must proceed unimpeded. The GSA 
Administrator should sign the paperwork immediately in order to allow 
the important work of the Presidential transition to proceed.
  America remains in the middle of a worsening health and economic 
crisis, and there is no excuse--none--for the outgoing administration 
to impede the new administration's preparations to deal with these 
urgent challenges. There is no law or requirement that President Trump 
concede the election or leave the Office of the Presidency with grace, 
but as history prepares to write the final few sentences on the Trump 
Presidency, it will surely note how this President and his Republican 
allies here in Congress treated our democracy on his way out the door.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I believe under our original agreement, I 
am recognized next. Is that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, sir.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I appreciate what the Democratic leader has 
said. I was willing to step aside earlier when I had the floor because 
I understood the two leaders were coming to speak. It was a matter of 
courtesy to them, and I know the Democratic leader, at least, 
appreciated that.
  Let me agree with what he said. You know, when I came here, the 
President of the United States was an unelected President, and there 
was an unelected Vice President. It was Jerry Ford. And then, under the 
change in our law since President Kennedy's death, he was able to pick 
an unelected Vice President. I remember Democrats and Republicans alike 
welcoming him and saying: Let's go forward.
  I have been here with each President--some reelected, some not--and, 
in every instance, I see the outgoing President welcoming the incoming 
President, Republican or Democrat, and they have done it to try to make 
as smooth a transition not for their own political purposes but for the 
good of the United States of America. Everyone has done that.
  I think it was George H.W. Bush welcoming Bill Clinton, who defeated 
him. I remember Al Gore had more votes than George W. Bush, but after 
the Court had ruled, he graciously conceded to George W. Bush. I 
remember Hillary Clinton, with well over 2 million more votes than 
Donald Trump, but saying that here is what the electoral college is and 
conceded.
  Now we see Joseph Biden, with more votes than anybody has ever gotten 
in the history of the United States for President, and the incumbent 
President goes off golfing again and again and pretends he doesn't have 
to step back, and, in fact, actually does everything possible to make 
it difficult for the new President to handle the transition.
  That is wrong. Just as I have encouraged both Democrats and 
Republicans as President, you help the incoming President with 
transition, not for your political reasons or their political reasons 
but for the good of all of us as Americans. They are saying: Oh, no, we 
are going to hold the key to the door of the transition office.
  Every Republican and every Democrat voted for the money for that 
transition office so that whoever is President could step forward and 
not hurt the country by coming in without doing the necessary 
preparation. They are like a little child in a playground: No, we got 
the key; we got the key. We are not going to share the key.
  Oh, come on. Do you know how this makes us look to the rest of the 
world? Do you know how it makes us look in my State of Vermont, where 
some Republicans voted for Donald Trump and some voted for Joe Biden? 
The majority voted, in this case, for Joe Biden. But I have been 
hearing from Vermonters all over from both parties: What is going on? 
It is over. It is done for the country.
  In that regard, let me just speak briefly about the President-elect 
and the Vice President-elect. When I came to this body, I was the most 
junior Member of the U.S. Senate and the second youngest. The youngest 
was a Senator from Delaware who had been elected just 2 years before, 
Joe Biden. I think of the fact that we were the two youngest, and we 
bonded over that, and I got to know his family.

  I knew of the tragedy he had when his first wife and daughter were 
killed. He would go home every day to make sure that he could put his 
sons to bed and be there with them. I don't know how many times we 
would be standing down there in the well, and he was looking at his 
watch, and he said: What time do you think the last votes are going to 
be, because the next train to Delaware is at such and such time? He was 
like a marathon runner going out the door to make sure he got the 
train, which he did, to be home to take care of his children.
  I remember how happy Marcelle and I were when we met Jill--what a 
wonderful woman. Dr. Biden was everything you would want in a First 
Lady in this country. We had the privilege of traveling with both of 
them and seeing the love and the joy they had in each other's company, 
the love and the joy

[[Page S6619]]

they have shown in their children and grandchildren, and continue to. I 
watched Joe Biden, with a sense of dignity, as he ran for election to 
the Presidency, an office he had hoped to hold and probably thought he 
never would.
  I know that he wanted to run 4 years ago, but it was too close to the 
time of losing his son Beau. I had the privilege of knowing Beau. In 
fact, the last time I talked to him was on one of the battlefields in 
Iraq where he was serving in combat for our U.S. military. I told him 
at that time: You know, when I get back on the plane, I am going to 
call your father. I always do this when I meet a Vermonter in a war 
zone. I call their family and say they are doing well. I will call your 
dad and tell him.
  When I got on the plane and connected with the White House operator, 
I remember then-Vice President Biden coming on. After a ways, he said: 
I know what you are going to say. I got an email from Beau.
  I remember when Marcelle and I stood there and tears went down her 
face listening to President Obama eulogizing Beau at his funeral. We 
all felt as part of that family. So there was joy in the Leahy 
household when he was elected--not just a joy for the good of the 
country but the joy of seeing a person whom we know, love, and respect 
elected as President.
  And added to that is the added advantage of Kamala Harris, one of our 
Senate colleagues here. I remember when Senator Harris came to the 
Senate, and I was so happy to see her going on the Judiciary Committee 
because she had been such a good prosecutor and such a good attorney 
general. She was a woman who didn't need to have much of an 
orientation. She knew exactly what she was doing.
  We have gotten to know her and her husband and admire her so. Then, 
when she spoke--as they accepted the fact that they were President and 
Vice President-elect--she said how proud she was to be there with 
President-Elect Biden and how proud she was to speak about her 
background and her immigrant parents coming here, the different races 
shown in her background, and what she was saying, as she said, to 
``women everywhere.'' But I would say also what she shows to young 
women, those not old enough to vote, like my granddaughters, and they 
can look at that and say: That shows everything is open.
  You know, I come from a State where it is unusual to be elected the 
first time because, well, I am the only Democrat ever elected to the 
U.S. Senate in Vermont's history, and the youngest also. I wasn't 
supposed to win. We were overwhelmingly a Republican State then. We 
have become now one of both parties. In the last election, for example, 
there was a Republican Governor. This year, in the last few days, our 
Republican Governor won overwhelmingly, and Molly Gray, a young woman 
that started out as an intern in my office and went to the University 
of Vermont, won comfortably and by a comfortable margin as a Democrat. 
But also, our Republican Governor said on election day that for the 
good of the country, to stop the dissension, to lower the kind of 
rhetoric we were hearing, he was going to vote for Joseph Biden.
  Now, I mention that just as a microcosm in our State. But to go back 
to just a purely personal thing, Marcelle and I prayed for that day. We 
were so happy to see our friends. We were so happy to know they were 
there. And, as one who has known Joe Biden from the day I came into the 
Senate, I still remember, to this day, his coming over to greet me on 
the floor and saying: I am glad to see us young people here. I was 
about a year or so older than he, and we were sitting kind of in the 
junior role, and that friendship has lasted ever since.
  I know Joe Biden. I know Jill Biden. I know the United States of 
America, and at a time when we are so torn apart, these are two people 
who can bring us back together.
  I know Kamala Harris. We know her wonderful husband. And here, my 
goodness, what a broad spectrum right there. In one way, it is unique. 
In another way, it is not the least bit unique. It is the face of 
America. It is the face of America. The diversity in our country of 
race, religion, everything--it is reflected in this ticket. It couldn't 
be better for the beginning of this century to have such a wide 
spectrum shown in the President and Vice President of the United 
States.
  I think of what the mayor of Paris said. She issued a statement sort 
of to the effect of ``Welcome back, America.'' Well, this is an America 
that represents all of us. We should all get together to try to make it 
successful. If Senators disagree on a particular issue, vote up or 
down, but have the courage to vote. Have the courage to vote. Don't do 
what we have done this past year, refusing to vote on COVID as 
thousands upon thousands upon thousands of people die in our 
country. Have the courage to get up and vote. Vote yes or no.

  We are here with 6-year terms. We ought to at least have the courage 
to vote yes or no. And then let's take a pause and say that these are 
the two who will be the face of America from noon, January 20.
  From a personal point of view, that face reflects very much our 
family--our children and our grandchildren. I can see them in these 
four people, and I am proud of that.
  I will admit that I have gotten a few emails from my Irish friends to 
say how much they are looking forward to a President Biden coming to 
Ireland, and they have forgiven me my Italian half with that. But I 
know that when I heard Joe Biden quoting Seamus Heaney during his 
campaign, I remember that he knows those Irish roots. But he, like his 
family, are first and foremost Americans. Like his late, wonderful son 
Beau, they are first and foremost Americans.
  Kamala Harris speaks of her family, her ancestors coming here, her 
mother and father coming here, coming not to be anything other than 
Americans. They are as American as she is. She is as American as any of 
us.
  I will close with this. Isn't it time the United States of America--a 
country that has become as diverse as you can imagine--can show their 
face to the rest of the world and say: This is who we are. And my 
grandchildren--my White grandchildren and my Black grandchildren--can 
look and say: Yes, that is who we are.
  Joe and Kamala, in a few days I will call you Mr. President and Madam 
Vice President, and I will do it with great pride. But I say today to 
my dear friends Joe and Kamala: Congratulations. This Vermonter is 
very, very happy.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Ernst). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.