[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 201 (Monday, November 30, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7097-S7098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       BUSINESS BEFORE THE SENATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senate is back in session to finish 
up 2020. The American people are counting on us to finish strong. We 
need to reach agreement on Federal Government funding to avoid a lapse 
in basic programs and services.
  We need to finish the annual Defense authorization to shore up the 
U.S. military's competitive advantage over our adversaries, and we need 
to continue processing well-qualified nominees for vacancies throughout 
the government, especially--especially--on the Federal bench.
  These are important assignments, but they aren't the only things that 
Congress should get done before the end of the year. There is no 
reason--none--why we should not deliver another major pandemic relief 
package to help the American people through what seem poised to be the 
last chapters of this battle
  This morning, we got yet another major sign of hope. More data 
appeared to confirm that the vaccine developed

[[Page S7098]]

by Moderna is more than 94 percent effective. They are going ahead and 
asking the FDA for emergency use authorization. Experts are calling 
this news ``absolutely remarkable.'' Alongside other promising vaccine 
developments from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and others, 
there is continued cause to suspect that victory over this pandemic is 
not far off.
  But a huge amount of work remains before us. If Operation Warp Speed 
remains on this historic trajectory, we need to continue investing in 
the system that will distribute these vaccines around our country. If 
we want the small businesses that have already hung on for most of the 
year to survive a few more months, we need a second round of the job-
saving Paycheck Protection Program for the workers at the hardest hit 
establishments. Some major parts of the historic CARES Act have already 
run dry, and many others are set to expire at year's end.
  We Republicans have spent months trying to renew important help and 
provide even more. We have tried to send more than $100 billion to help 
schools and welcome students and teachers safely to the classroom. We 
have tried to implement commonsense legal protections that universities 
and charities have been clamoring for. We have tried to pass all of 
this over and over again, but Speaker Pelosi and the Senate Democratic 
leader have blocked it.
  They have been very transparent about all of this with their 
political strategy--laid it right out there. The Speaker of the House 
spent the entire summer and the entire autumn literally gambling with 
the health and welfare of the American people. She gambled that if 
American families didn't get any more relief before the election, her 
party would expand its majority in the House, and Democrats could 
continue demanding the right to remake all of society along far-left 
lines in exchange for passing any more COVID relief whatsoever.
  But their all-or-nothing obstruction backfired. Democrats did not 
pick up seats in the House but instead appear to have lost seats. They 
have not gained any leverage, but instead they have lost leverage. And 
in the meantime, with the coronavirus surging from coast to coast, the 
American people have gone entirely--entirely--without any additional 
aid--even the least controversial, most bipartisan programs--because 
the Democrats say no.
  Here is a summary from one news outlet:

       Pelosi seems to have overplayed her hand as she held out 
     for $2 trillion-plus right up until the election. The results 
     of the election, which saw Democrats lose seats in the House, 
     appear to have significantly undercut her position.

  By now it is abundantly clear to everyone that the Speaker will not 
be getting to fundamentally transform American society in a socialist 
direction in exchange for more bipartisan relief. The hostage-taking 
was never going to work.
  Now there is only one remaining question for the Speaker and the 
Democratic leader--just one question: Will they finally--finally--let 
Congress pass hundreds of billions of dollars of relief on all the 
subjects where we agree? Or will they continue to insist that either 
they get their entire ideological wish list or the American people get 
nothing at all?
  Even their fellow Democrats are increasingly seeing this as not a 
terribly difficult question to answer. For example, over the weekend, 
Professor Austan Goolsbee, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers 
under President Obama, called on Democrats to finally play ball. Here 
is what he said:

       There are a lot of people really hurting. . . . I hope 
     [Congress] can agree on something soon. . . . [I]f they have 
     to accept half a loaf, then they have to accept half a loaf.

  Speaker Pelosi's No. 2, the House Democratic majority leader, feels 
the same way:

       I just hope that we can get agreement. It may not be 
     everything that everybody wants, but at least. . . . some 
     significant relief to people.

  Our distinguished Senate colleague from Illinois, the Democratic 
whip, said the same thing: ``[G]et something done that is significant, 
do what we can achieve now.''
  Here is the headline from Newsweek: ``Democrats Urge Pelosi to Accept 
Smaller Stimulus Package to Ensure Relief by End of Year.''
  Even the Speaker's own House Democratic Members are now openly 
campaigning for our Republican approach. Here is one Democratic 
Congressman, who nearly lost his reelection after Speaker Pelosi's 
stonewalling:

       We absolutely have to get something done. . . . Mitch 
     McConnell is talking about a bill we can pass. . . . We 
     should negotiate that to the finish.

  That is a House Democrat saying that the Senate Republican proposal 
is the template that can pass.
  Rank-and-file Democrats in both Chambers are telling Speaker Pelosi 
and the Democratic leader to stop stonewalling and move forward with 
the approach Republicans have been urging for months. The American 
people need more help, and they need it right now--right now. 
Democratic leaders have already burned through 3 months--3 months--and 
they didn't even get the political results that their cynical strategy 
was supposed to deliver.
  So let's hope our colleagues at the top of the Democratic Party can 
finally hear their own Members and stop blocking the commonsense, 
multihundred-billion-dollar measures that Republicans have been ready 
to deliver for months.

                          ____________________