[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 209 (Thursday, December 10, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7379-S7380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, we learned a few minutes ago that new 
unemployment claims just hit their highest weekly total since mid-
September. It is the largest 1-week jump since back in March, and the 
number of continuing claims--people struggling with joblessness on an 
ongoing basis--which had plateaued for months but at least not 
increased, just ticked back up as well.
  Our economic recovery thus far has been faster than expected. 
Americans are tough and resilient, but our people need another dose of 
support as we hope to close out our battle with this virus. We should 
be doing everything we can to prevent layoffs, create jobs where 
possible, and race toward the vaccines that will end this nightmare.
  While Democrats hold the Paycheck Protection Program hostage over 
controversial State government bailouts, family businesses are closing 
their doors. While Democrats resist the kinds of commonsense legal 
protections that we put in place during past emergencies, our reopening 
and recovery is threatened by, according to one estimate--now, listen 
to this: So far, 6,500 lawsuits have been filed and counting--6,500 
lawsuits filed and counting.
  Here is what one litigator told one reporter a couple of days ago. 
These lawsuits are ``pretty common these days. I have seen 10 like this 
over the last 30 days.''
  The American Council on Education told Congress in May--in May--that 
colleges and universities need temporary but strong legal protections.
  Now, our Democratic colleagues want to pretend they are bravely 
fighting big corporations, but they are really bullying small business 
owners and college presidents who have been pleading for these 
protections for months.
  Our Democratic colleagues have not even let us pass noncontroversial 
money to invest in vaccine distribution--not unless the two parties 
settle a whole list of issues that are controversial the way that they 
want to settle.
  So I hope our colleagues let Congress deliver more help soon. A lot 
of Americans simply cannot afford to wait

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