[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7273-S7276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I am here on the floor today to talk 
again about the need for Congress to act to pass a COVID-19 bill that 
helps the people we represent. I am told this is the 20th time I have 
come to the floor to make this plea, meaning that I haven't been all 
that convincing, I guess.
  But the reality is there is hope in the air. There is a bipartisan 
group that is working on a package. I am part of that group, as is the 
Presiding Officer. It is bipartisan: about five Democrats, about five 
Republicans.
  Maybe more significantly, today the White House apparently made an 
offer to Speaker Pelosi to reengage in conversation to try to get to a 
package that meets the needs of everyone. The package that was 
presented was actually very similar to the package that this bipartisan 
group has been working on over the past few weeks. So there is hope in 
the air, and that is good because we need the help, and we need it now.
  Let's talk for a minute about why we need this help. I would guess 
that pretty much everybody in this Chamber has seen firsthand the 
health crisis that we are facing. The number of cases is up. The number 
of people in intensive care is up. Hospitalizations are up. And, sadly, 
fatalities have increased.
  Some of my colleagues in this Chamber have had to fight cases of 
COVID-19 themselves. Thank God they are all OK. But that is not true 
with everyone we represent. I would bet that everyone in this Chamber 
knows somebody and probably multiple people who have had a very tough 
time or who have even succumbed to this terrible disease.
  Last week, another friend of mine died because of COVID-19. His name 
was Mike Crabtree. Mike was a county commissioner in Scioto County, 
OH--a friend, a standup guy who helped me on a lot of tough issues in 
Southeast Ohio. He was always there for his community and for me. 
Today, of course, we offer our prayers to his wife Diane, his family, 
and to all of his friends in Scioto County.
  It is personal. In the face of these personal tragedies and the sad 
reality that in many States we are now experiencing this higher number 
of cases--in many States it is the highest we have had since the 
beginning of this pandemic--we do have some promising news on one 
front, and that is on the vaccine front.

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  It now seems clear that later this month, and then over the next 3 to 
4 months, help is on the way in the form of very effective new vaccines 
being developed by Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, and 
other U.S. manufacturers.
  The unprecedented support that Congress has provided for vaccine 
development, the Trump administration's innovative approach to cut 
bureaucratic redtape through what is called Operation Warp Speed, and 
the commitment and ingenuity of our researchers who have been working 
around the clock, our scientists, and our manufacturers have combined 
to put us on a path to having multiple vaccines, at unprecedented 
speed, with efficacy rates above 90 percent.
  This is incredible. This is good news. Safe, effective vaccines are 
expected to be available to frontline healthcare workers, first 
responders, long-term care facilities, and others just in the next few 
weeks. This is good news.
  Within the next few months, we would expect that these vaccines would 
be more broadly available, and hopefully by March, maybe April, pretty 
much everybody would be able to find a way to get that vaccine, free, 
for them and for their family. That has to be our goal here, as quickly 
as possible, to get safe, effective vaccines.

  I am concerned--as some of my colleagues know, because I talk about 
it a lot--that the number of people who say they are willing to get the 
vaccine is too low. That is one reason I entered one of the trials 
myself. I am in the Janssen J&J trial. I either got the vaccine or I 
got a placebo--I don't know--but I did it to be able to go out and talk 
about it and tell people that these scientists, these experts, the 
people with the white coats, not the politicians, are the ones calling 
the shots here on these vaccines and they are being safe and they are 
being careful.
  It is going through a process at the FDA, the Food and Drug 
Administration, that is actually more stringent than it was pre-COVID. 
To get this emergency use authorization, they have to go through more 
testing, and they have to show efficacy rates above 50 percent, which 
they normally wouldn't. That is good. We want it to be safe.
  Even with all that hard work that is being done, all those scientists 
and researchers working around the clock, there are some Americans who 
are unwilling and concerned. Part of this is because some politicians, 
I think, have played politics with this, and I hate that--as if, 
somehow, in the Trump administration, this wouldn't be trusted. Of 
course, this is not a political game. This is about saving lives.
  I am encouraged by the process that we have seen. I hope people will 
sign up. When I got into the trial, the Gallup poll that is being done 
periodically to determine whether people are saying whether they are 
willing to take it or not was at 50 percent--only 50 percent of 
Americans saying they were comfortable getting the vaccine. That number 
in last couple of weeks has gone up to 58 percent. It is heading in the 
right direction.
  We need people to understand that this is based on science. These 
vaccines are like the vaccine for smallpox or polio or measles--
virtually, wiping out these diseases in this country. My dad had polio 
as a kid. Now people don't even talk about it. That is because of the 
vaccine. They work. We have to view it that way.
  It is not like the flu vaccine, frankly. The flu vaccine is only 
effective about one-third of the time. These, what they call efficacy 
rates, meaning how effective it is, have come in at 90, 95 percent and 
higher. So we will see what the FDA says here in the next couple of 
weeks.
  I am encouraged that we are likely to get some approvals and likely 
to begin being able to provide these vaccines for those on the 
frontlines, for those in long-care facilities, for our first 
responders, and then out from there to the entire population.
  Because these vaccines won't be widely available for 3 or 4 months, 
we need to act here and act now to provide a bridge to more normal 
times. That is really how I see it. This is a short-term emergency 
response to a desperate need we have right now as cases are rising and 
the economic consequences are being felt in every family in America--
more and more pain.
  My hope is that Congress will make good on the promise we have seen 
over the last couple of weeks, where Republicans and Democrats, alike, 
have come together to say we do have a lot of common ground here; we 
actually agree on most of this stuff. Who wouldn't be for more money 
for vaccines and distribution? We need that. Who wouldn't be for more 
money for small businesses? Who wouldn't be for more money for people 
who are losing their jobs through no fault of their own? They are 
struggling to pay the rent and pay their car payment. That is what this 
legislation can do. I am excited about that possibility.
  Meanwhile, in the first week of December, we have lost 13,726 
Americans to COVID-19 compared to half that many in the first week of 
November. In 1 month, we have had a doubling of the number of 
fatalities. At no point in time during this pandemic have we seen daily 
mortality rates like this, except in the early days in March and April 
when New York and New Jersey hospitals were being overrun. We have a 
real crisis.
  Of course, this healthcare crisis is having a direct impact on the 
economy too. Even with these vaccines on the horizon, it is clear we 
have to do more to help the economy get through this period of time 
before we are back to more a normal time.
  We have to help, in the short term, to address the impact this 
healthcare crisis is having on families, on employment, on businesses, 
on schools, on nonprofits, and, yes, on State and local governments. As 
I see it, our job is to provide that bridge so that the economic 
rebound that we have begun to see can continue.
  I am concerned that the recovery we have seen, which has been called 
a K-shaped recovery--you know, you like to see a recovery come in a V-
shape, where you have a recession, you lose jobs and economic growth, 
and then it comes back up the way it went down. It is called a V-shape. 
This has been more like a ``K.''
  For some people, it has been OK. If you are a big-box hardware store 
or grocery store in America, you are probably doing pretty well right 
now. If you are a small business, say, a small retail store or sitdown 
restaurant next to those big boxes, you are not doing OK. You may 
already be closed down. Your employees may already be unemployed. If 
not, you are hanging by a thread and hoping and praying that Congress 
passes legislation to help you.
  It has been different for different people. If you have a blue-collar 
job, you can't telework. If you are in the financial services industry, 
you are probably doing OK, but if you work in a kitchen making 15 bucks 
an hour, you are probably not. So it is different for different people 
in different sectors of our economy. I get that. For some, again, they 
are doing OK; for others, they are really struggling.
  Poverty, overall, is up because of what is happening, and this is sad 
to me. And we can see it in our communities. Go to your local food 
bank, see how many cars are lined up, how many people are waiting for 
3, 4, 5, in Ohio, sometimes 6 hours just to get food for their 
families.
  Before the pandemic hit, we had very strong economic growth. I think 
the pro-growth policies that were put in place here in Congress really 
helped. The tax reform, the tax cuts, the regulatory relief, using our 
energy--it all was working. We were having a period of growth that was 
strong, but also it was a very ``opportunity'' economy. People who had 
been on the sidelines for years were coming back into our economy. A 
lot of the benefits were being felt by lower and middle-income workers.
  Let me give you an example. In February of this year, just before the 
pandemic started, we had 19 straight months of wage growth of over 3 
percent. That is fantastic. We have been wanting that for a decade and 
a half in Ohio. We had flat wages, even not keeping up with inflation. 
Finally, we were seeing wage growth. That 3 percent was compounding and 
was really helping people feel like if they worked hard and played by 
the rules, they could get ahead. Sadly, when the coronavirus hit, that 
ended.

  Before the coronavirus, the national poverty rate was the lowest in 
the history of America. In February, it was 10.5 percent, the lowest 
rate since we

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started tracking this statistic more than 60 years ago. That is the 
poverty rate. That is incredible. That is what we all want.
  After the initial wave of layoffs in the spring, Congress passed the 
bipartisan CARES Act. That was 9 months ago--9 months ago. It included 
programs like the stimulus checks and expanded unemployment insurance. 
It actually helped drive the poverty rate down for a while.
  Since then, this continual economic pain felt particularly by low- 
and middle-income Americans, combined with the lack of action on our 
part here in Congress to help them, has meant the poverty rate has 
actually gone back up since May by a significant amount. It now sits at 
11.4 percent. That means that 7 million more Americans have fallen into 
poverty since the spring--7 million.
  When you fall into poverty, it is hard to get back out. As long as 
this economy remains partly shut down--in some of our States, it is 
largely shut down if you are in the hospitality business or travel 
business. As long as this happens and we can see more shutdowns in the 
coming weeks and months, of course, as this crisis continues to worsen, 
we will see poverty levels rise unless we provide some relief.
  Along with the rising poverty rate, what is concerning to me is the 
fact that more and more people are just giving up hope. There is a stat 
called the labor force participation rate. It is the share of Americans 
who are over 16 years old, either working or looking for a job. In 
February, we hit a 5-year high for labor force participation. That is a 
good thing. In other words, we had more people participating in the 
workforce than we had in 5 years.
  Unfortunately, it has gone back down. It was up to 63.4 percent. Now 
it is down to 61.7 percent. The October number works out to a labor 
force that has nearly 4 million fewer participants than it did in 
February. Just people participating in the economy has gone down.
  Why do we need this package? We have a real problem on our hands. It 
is a healthcare crisis, but it is also an economic crisis for so many 
people.
  Unfortunately, a record number of women and older Americans are also 
having to leave the workplace due to either a lack of opportunity or 
the need to stay home with their kids. For a lot of women, not having 
childcare is a real problem because the schools are closed. This is 
driving people out of the workforce as well. This is bad news for 
businesses trying to reopen, but it is also bad news for our long-term 
economic health.
  People who can't find a way off the sidelines right now won't be able 
to help power the eventual economic recovery we all hope for, and they 
will miss out on the economic recovery that does happen. It is a bad 
position to be in.
  We saw with last week's jobs report that hiring is slowing down, 
meaning that more people may slip out of the labor force. In all, we 
are still down 10 million jobs in America since February.
  Some of my colleagues said to me: My town is doing great or my State 
is doing great or this industry is doing great. I get that. It is a K-
shaped recovery. For some people, it is going well. The fact is that 10 
million people--10 million people--that is how many jobs we are down 
since February.
  A further slowdown in the economy is going to be tough for these 
long-term unemployed. My concern is some may never reenter the 
workforce without action here to help businesses start hiring again. 
Some of the hardest hit industries in our States, like the travel, 
leisure, hospitality industries, are facing real losses.
  Our airline industry is expected to cut the equivalent of about 
90,000 jobs by the end of this year--90,000 jobs alone in the airline 
industry. I spoke to the president of American Airlines today. They are 
big in Ohio. He called. Guess what. He is really eager for us to pass 
this coronavirus legislation we are talking about. He is really eager 
because he needs it desperately to hold on to his employees. He doesn't 
want to furlough any more people, but he doesn't have the business to 
keep them working.
  According to a November survey from the American Hotel and Lodging 
Association, more than 70 percent of hotels have said that they won't 
be able to stay in business another 6 months without more assistance--
70 percent. Almost 80 percent said they had to lay off more people.
  Our restaurant industry lost jobs in November for the first time 
since April. It is a worrying sign that while restaurants were starting 
to pick up, things were getting better, in November, because of the 
news of the high level of cases and the concern people had about going 
out in public and also, in some States, because of a government edict 
saying you can't go--in some places, they even said you can't have 
outdoor dining anymore, not just indoor dining. Think of what this does 
to those restaurants, most of which are small businesses, family-owned, 
and were already stressed. Some of those restaurants have closed their 
doors. I know some of them are never going to reopen again. It is not 
just restaurants. It is bowling alleys; it is movie theaters; it is the 
place you get your hair cut. A lot of them are suffering.
  A lot of these challenges are going to get worse soon because the 
number of the programs we put in place in this pandemic to help provide 
relief for people struggling are going to expire. That is another 
reason we have to act.
  At the end of this year--actually, the day before Christmas--we are 
going to see some of these programs begin to expire. The pandemic 
unemployment assistance program that helps the self-employed, that 
helps gig economy workers, people who would not normally be eligible 
for unemployment to be able to step forward and get unemployment 
insurance, is going to end at the end of this month. That is something 
a lot of my constituents in Ohio have been depending on if they have 
lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
  The pandemic emergency employment compensation program that 
authorizes another 13 weeks of State benefits, helped by the Federal 
tax dollar, ends at the end of this month.
  Of course, there is a moratorium on evictions that ends at the end of 
this month.
  The bottom line is that the people, State and local governments, the 
industries, the sectors of our economy that have been hardest hit to 
date by the economic crisis caused by COVID-19 are going to be the ones 
who are likely to be hurt most by a continued economic slowdown.
  As I said, these are problems that, right now, can only be fixed by 
all of us stepping forward. Congress needs to take action and take 
action now. We have about a week. We have about a week.
  Fortunately, again, I am pleased to say that the proposal that is in 
the works on a bipartisan basis here in the Senate is going to help. It 
has a total price tag of $908 billion, and you have all heard that, 
probably, if you have been following what has been going on with this 
continuing negotiation.

  It helps everybody. It helps individuals; it helps families; it helps 
small businesses; it helps industries; it helps those who have been the 
hardest hit--with targeted resources. It is focused. It is targeted. It 
is not the $3.5 trillion legislation that has been talked about over 
the last several months. It is targeted. It is focused. Actually, 
although it is $908 billion, it is really more like $350 billion 
because it takes back money that was spent in the CARES Act, which was 
appropriated by this Congress but not used, and repurposes it for these 
purposes. So I think it is a focused, targeted effort that will really 
help.
  Again, what is exciting about it is that, today, there was a proposal 
made that says we have this bipartisan framework, which is very 
similar, apparently, and my hope is that the Speaker of the House, the 
majority leader here in the Senate, the Democratic leader here in the 
Senate, the Republican leader in the House, and the President of the 
United States can all figure out how to get together and make this 
work. This bipartisan proposal that we have been working on here, I 
think, does provide a good template. By the way, all of those actors I 
talked about--all of those players--have said good things about the 
proposal.
  It has funding in there to extend the Paycheck Protection Program for 
small businesses. It targets those small

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businesses that need the help the most. It is really more targeted this 
time. It is targeted relief for some of our hardest hit industries, 
including our airlines and our mass transit industry.
  It includes funds to help those Americans who have lost their jobs 
through no fault of their own--the unemployment insurance extension 
that I talked about earlier. As a bridge to normalcy, we need this 
funding. It provides funds for State, local, and Tribal governments 
based on their revenue shortfalls or their expenses due to COVID--in 
other words, needs-based.
  We are also working on commonsense liability reforms to give 
businesses, nonprofits, schools, healthcare providers, religious 
organizations, and others the legal protection they need to reopen with 
the confidence that they are not going to be subjected to frivolous 
lawsuits that could put them out of business. That is really important 
because getting these businesses back up and running is a critical part 
of getting our economy through these next few months. In my view, these 
protections are essential.
  I am hopeful that both sides can now come together and find common 
ground on liability protections that we can all support. Several of my 
colleagues are working on a proposal here, right now, in the U.S. 
Senate. All of this gives us hope that we will have better days around 
the corner.
  By the way, this proposal is not what any of us would write. It is 
not the proposal I would write. It is not the proposal our Presiding 
Officer, who is here in the Chamber, would write. Personally, I would 
put more emphasis on tax incentives for hiring. We have some good 
proposals for that. I would put tax incentives in place to get 
businesses to reopen safely--one called the healthy workplaces tax 
credit so they could get compensated for putting up the partitions or 
for having the PPE and providing safer work environments. I would 
expand the work opportunity tax credit to help those, again, who are on 
the sidelines in order to bring them back to work through a credit. I 
would help with regard to the employee retention credit, which was in 
the CARES Act, that could pick up some of these companies that aren't 
picked up by the PPP program, companies that have slightly more 
employees, let's say, so that they don't otherwise qualify.
  So there is more I would like to do, but do you know what? This 
proposal is needed. It is needed so badly that, of course, all of us, 
regardless of our particular interests or our particular ideas, know it 
is right, and all of us should get behind it. Let's not make the 
perfect the enemy of the good--I would even say the enemy of the 
necessary. Targeted relief now, I think, is the right approach.
  Most importantly, all of these significant economic problems I laid 
out and the healthcare crisis I laid out need to be addressed now. As I 
said earlier, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for the health 
side of this crisis, and our proposal that I have been talking about 
also helps us get there because it has more funding for vaccine 
development and vaccine distribution. I talked today to some experts in 
that area who know a lot more about it than I do, and they said it is 
necessary. We actually have to provide more funding to keep the vaccine 
train moving so that, by March and April, we will have it widely 
available. Again, my hope is that Americans will step up and be 
vaccinated.
  By the way, there is also bipartisan legislation that four of us 
introduced last week--two Republicans, two Democrats--to provide for a 
public service campaign, not with politicians talking about the 
importance, as I am doing tonight, but with the experts talking about 
why the science says that it is a good idea to get vaccinated--again, 
just like we do for smallpox or polio or the measles.
  Will another COVID-19 bill solve every problem we face right now? No, 
but we could do a lot with this proposal to help the most vulnerable 
individuals just get by for the next several months rather than slip 
into poverty, rather than miss out on mortgage payments or miss out on 
their rent, miss out on their car payments, and other bad outcomes. We 
can help the most vulnerable businesses keep their lights on and their 
employees on payroll. Frankly, this is work we should have been doing 
months ago, but we are here now. Let's get it done.
  My hope is that we can end this year by recapturing that spirit of 
bipartisanship that was on display in March of this year when we passed 
the CARES package here in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 96 to nothing. 
That doesn't happen very often. The CARES Act was not a perfect bill 
either, but we all recognized it was a bill needed for the moment. I 
hope we can also recognize that another bill is needed now even if it 
is not perfect. Let's build on the bipartisan proposal we have put 
forward, and let's ensure that the people we represent get the targeted 
economic relief they desperately need in the coming months.
  Folks, let's not leave for the holidays until we have done that.
  I yield the floor.

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