[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 206 (Monday, December 7, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7225-S7227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, speaking both as a Senator from Vermont and 
as vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I am speaking 
with concern about what has been happening in the Senate.
  It has been 321 days since the first COVID-19 case was reported in 
the United States--321 days. It has been 282 days since the first 
COVID-19 death was reported in the United States.
  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the unemployment rate in 
November was 6.7 percent, nearly double the rate in November of last 
year. Hundreds of thousands of small businesses across the country have 
closed permanently, all due to COVID.
  As of today, there are more than 14,800,000 reported cases of COVID-
19 in the United States. To put that in perspective, that is 1 million 
more than just a week ago. More than 282,000 Americans have died, and 
it has been 256 days since the Senate passed the CARES Act--256 days 
since the Senate acted in a comprehensive, meaningful way to address 
the real and mounting concerns and needs of our constituents.
  My State of Vermont is like everywhere else. Healthcare workers, 
caregivers, business owners, employees, teachers, and students are all 
in need of support during these difficult and uncertain times.
  We have families wrestling with heightened food insecurity. People 
for the first time in their lives cannot feed their children and they 
cannot feed themselves. They have the threat of eviction from their 
homes hanging over them.

[[Page S7226]]

  We have States that are strapped by budget shortfalls and are forced 
to lay off thousands of employees, people who have worked so hard for 
the people of their State.
  It has been 205 days since the House first passed the Heroes Act, and 
it has been 65 days since they stepped forward to offer a substantial 
compromise on the Heroes Act and passed it again. And where does it 
sit? It sits on my friend the Republican leader's desk. It is 
collecting dust. It is the largest and most significant bill in the 
McConnell legislative graveyard.
  Why aren't we voting? Look what happens. We can't even bring 
ourselves to actually vote on something to help Americans, to help the 
people of our own States. They are being thrown out of their houses, 
their apartments, and out of their jobs, and we come in for a few days 
and then get on an airplane and fly back home, and the taxpayers pay 
for it, taxpayers paying our salaries and all and nothing happens.
  Now, like millions of Americans, I am encouraged by the news of 
recent weeks that pharmaceutical companies are making significant 
progress on vaccine development. I am encouraged that some of these 
vaccines may be available as early as later this month.
  Let's not forget why we were able to develop vaccines so quickly. It 
is because of longstanding Federal investment in cutting-edge research 
at the National Institutes of Health--research that has been backed by 
so many of us in both parties for years in this body. NIH funded 
research in genetic and genomic sequencing and enabled the research of 
COVID-19 that led to the vaccine. This is the power of Federal dollars 
when it is targeted to solve a national--a national--problem. We need 
more of that today.
  The development of several promised vaccines is great news, but if 
you don't have a comprehensive plan in place and resources implemented, 
how can we be sure the vaccination is safe, effective, widely 
available, and free?
  Can anybody stand up and say that every part of their State will have 
vaccination? No, the money is not there yet, and we haven't done 
anything on that. It is a complete abdication of our responsibility as 
elected Representatives that we have simply failed to act.
  Now, I know that my friends across the aisle will probably rush to 
the floor, and they will blame Democrats for stalling on their 
inadequate, face-saving proposal that they went through the motions to 
bring before the elections. Remember what it was. It was a give-away to 
insurance companies, and they didn't even have the courage to allow 
amendments for people to actually have to vote up or down. It is easier 
to make a face-saving gesture knowing it would not go anywhere.
  Sure, it made some investments in small businesses. It provided some 
employment relief, albeit at a significantly reduced level. But it also 
tied educational relief to forcing kids back into the classroom, even 
if it is an area where it was not safe to accommodate those children.
  It failed to deliver on relief to State and local governments, which 
are continuing to try to provide essential services to their 
communities, as our government is in Vermont. It included nothing for 
Low Income Home Energy Assistance, or LIHEAP. And it was snowing in our 
State and in a lot of other northern States this weekend. It had no 
funding for mental health services. Can you imagine what is going on--
no funding for mental health service? There is no funding for nutrition 
assistance. There wasn't a dime for NIH research. And it didn't have a 
plan--a vigorous plan--or an investment in vaccination production and 
distribution.
  It is one thing to say we have these supercold things on an airplane. 
Wonderful. When are you going to be able to bring it to our factories, 
our schools, our hospitals, and our senior citizens and actually 
vaccinate them?
  So what was the legislation brought up here? It created a shield for 
corporate misconduct. And what it said is that my friends, the 
Republicans, are more keen to shield corporate cronies than to work on 
behalf of the American people. That is a sham. It is a shame, 
especially when you find that at least in one of those corporations 
that want a shield, the managers were betting on who would get COVID 
first.
  In my home State of Vermont, our Governor and our State legislature, 
our mayors, and our town leaders across State have taken bold moves to 
slow the spread of COVID. Our Governor is Republican, and I am a 
Democrat. I praise him for what he did. I talked with him again today 
about the steps he has taken--difficult steps, hard steps, but steps to 
keep Vermonters safe. And these moves taken in my State of Vermont 
resulted in lower instances of the virus than anywhere else in the 
country. But as the Governor said and what I have said and everybody 
else has said, they have come with a cost. We have kept people safe, 
but not without a cost. Unemployment remains. Small businesses continue 
to struggle, if they are even able to stay in existence. That says 
nothing of the personal hardship families are facing across our small 
State
  One elderly woman called my office. She expressed frustration with 
the President. She told may staff that she has only been able to visit 
her husband, who is in a medical rehab facility, a couple of times 
during this pandemic due to COVID restrictions. That is not an 
anecdote. That is a personal tragedy.
  In Vermont, the State and local governments are worrying about how to 
clear the roads this winter if COVID hits the plow crews. Snow removal 
isn't a luxury in Vermont in the winter. It is a necessity. We 
sometimes have 7, 8, 9, 10 inches of snow overnight. But we expect our 
businesses and our schools to open that day. I don't know how many 
times, at home, on a snowy night, I wake at 4:30 in the morning as I 
hear the snowplows going by on the road, and I know I can get to my 
office a couple of hours later--and we have had nearly a foot of snow.
  My staff spoke with one Vermont mother--not unusual. She is raising a 
son with autism. With school systems strained to their limits, special 
education services have been sharply reduced. That is going to have a 
lasting impact on these students, both educationally and socially.
  For those who are facing challenges like addiction, depression, or 
mental health issues--and that can be any one of our States--or who 
were simply down on their luck before COVID hit earlier this year, 
access to vital resources like counseling or intervention has been made 
more complicated by COVID restrictions, often with tragic results.
  I heard of one Vermonter who passed away alone in a motel room in 
Rutland in October. Battling mental health issues, he had become 
homeless just as COVID struck earlier this year. And due to the risks 
of the virus, family and friends were unable to take him into their 
homes. This isn't just a story. It is a man's life. And there are so 
many more people out there facing the same struggles.
  We are seeing images of car lines at food banks stretching for miles, 
as an unprecedented wave of food insecurity is washing over our 
country. In my State alone, one in every four Vermonters are now food 
insecure. Before this pandemic, it was already an unacceptable 1 in 10.
  We are asking children to learn without providing the necessary 
resources their teachers need. We are asking families to pay rent 
without their jobs and for people to deal with their chronic illnesses 
while our hospitals are still stretched to capacity. All of this is 
while an unacceptable amount of people are unsure how they will put 
food on the table through the end of the week in the wealthiest Nation 
on Earth. That is unconscionable.
  I must say that the leadership across the aisle has got to bring up 
these bills. Stop stalling. You know, they say we only need a targeted 
approach, and they point to the stock market as proof. These people who 
are out of jobs aren't looking at the stock market. These people who 
can't feed their children aren't looking at the stock market. For these 
people whose rent has come due and they can't pay it, to them that is 
nonsense.
  The economy is not going to recover until we have vanquished the 
virus. It is that simple. It is that basic. And people are suffering 
now. That is the cost of inaction--inaction on real, comprehensive, 
COVID relief legislation.
  Now with our backs against the wall with a funding deadline looming, 
we are racing to accomplish what should

[[Page S7227]]

have been done months ago: annual appropriations bills to keep our 
government running. We were ready on this side of the aisle to vote on 
those back in June and have a couple of amendments up or down. 
Republicans, in the majority, if they didn't like a Democratic 
amendment, they could vote it down. We could have done it back then. 
Now the deadline is this week, months later. We have to pass these 
bills before Congress adjourns this year so there is no disruption in 
our government, in our services during this difficult time in our 
country. It will only exacerbate the growing problems facing many 
Americans today. But our annual appropriations bills are no substitute 
for the significant investment we need to confront this national and 
international emergency. We need a comprehensive COVID relief bill.
  It is time to get serious. Instead of flying off every weekend back 
home, stay here. Vote these things up or down. Bring up amendments on 
both sides of the aisle. Have an agreement on the amendments and vote 
them up or down, because time is wasted.
  How many hours have we spent racing to confirm nomination after 
nomination at the expense of everything else, including dealing with 
the emergency of this pandemic, while COVID cases soar and more and 
more people succumb to this virus? How much more time will the Senate 
waste while American families and communities suffer? It is time for us 
to do our job. We are elected for 6-year terms. Let's stay here for 6 
days during the week, if need be. Let's get it done. The American 
people are suffering enough. We shouldn't be adding to that strain by 
playing politics with these essential priorities
  I am hearing from Vermonters every day, worried about unemployment 
benefits, their children's education, their health or for that of their 
loved ones, about food security, about keeping their homes and paying 
their bills.
  The Senate, when it has been at its best, has been the conscience of 
the Nation. It is long past time that we started acting like the 
conscience of the Nation. It has been 256 days since the Senate took 
meaningful action on this COVID epidemic. We shouldn't wait a day 
longer. Let's set everything else aside. Let's have votes on these 
programs. Let's vote up or down. This Senator is ready to do that.
  I see the distinguished leader on the floor.
  I yield the floor.