[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 212 (Tuesday, December 15, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7476-S7477]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Madam President, now on COVID-19, in a year full of grim milestones, 
yesterday delivered the grimmest yet--that more than 300,000 Americans 
have now died from COVID-19. This is greater than the number of 
American soldiers who died during the entirety of World War II--a 
population the size of St. Louis or Pittsburgh wiped off the map--
300,000 American souls.
  As trucks bearing the first shipments of vaccines fan out across the 
Nation--the first best hope for defeating the pandemic in the new 
year--we cannot lose sight of what we have lost this year. That is what 
the end of 2020 has brought--hope tinged by grief. It was an amazing 
sight yesterday to see the first American being inoculated against the 
disease--a nurse at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, my 
home State of New York--but for so many, the vaccine has not come soon 
enough.
  Let it be our tribute to those Americans we lost to do everything in 
our power to limit the losses in moving forward--to produce and 
distribute as many vaccines as are necessary and encourage every 
American--every American--to take the vaccine when it is available to 
him. There are 3 million doses of the vaccine that are already out the 
door, and another vaccine is already in the emergency authorization 
process. Still another vaccine candidate may be ready early next year.
  As I said yesterday, the discovery of the coronavirus vaccine in the 
span of a calendar year is a crowning scientific achievement of the 
21st century. Our job now is to ensure that the good work of America's 
scientists, biochemists, and medical research is brought to bear and 
that, given the tools, we finally stamp out COVID-19 from our country 
and begin the road to recovery. We need to fully fund not only the 
production of the vaccine but its distribution as well. The States need 
that money.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, it was a hopeful day yesterday as the 
first COVID vaccines in the United States were distributed to 
healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID battle, and later 
this week, the FDA will hold a meeting on an emergency use 
authorization for Moderna's COVID vaccine, meaning that we could have a 
second coronavirus vaccine authorized before Christmas.
  If all goes well, we expect to have 100 million Americans vaccinated 
by March. That is a pretty amazing statistic when you consider that 
just a year ago, we didn't even know about the virus, and it is a 
tribute to the innovative power of the private sector and the efforts 
of Congress and the Trump administration to expedite vaccine 
development. It has been a long, hard year, but the light at the end of 
the tunnel is coming.
  But, while yesterday was an encouraging day, we have more work to do 
on the COVID front.
  First, we all need to keep following the CDC's recommendations. The 
rollout of Pfizer's vaccine is wonderful news, but cases in the United 
States are still surging. Until we can get a lot more people 
vaccinated, we need to do everything we can to slow the spread of the 
virus and avoid overwhelming our hospitals.
  Second, we need to pass another COVID bill here in Congress to 
provide additional funding for vaccines and deliver other urgently 
needed relief to our fellow Americans. Republicans, of course, have 
been trying to pass additional COVID legislation literally for months, 
and I am encouraged that, in the past few weeks, a number of Democrats 
have stepped forward to work with the Republicans to develop bipartisan 
legislation. Just yesterday, a bipartisan group of Senators released 
legislation along the lines of what the majority leader has advocated--
targeted relief that focuses on our most critical needs in the areas 
where Republicans and Democrats agree. This includes important COVID 
priorities like vaccine funding, money for schools, and help for the 
hardest hit small businesses.
  The Republicans and Democrats' ideal COVID bills might look very 
different, but there are a number of things that all of us agree need 
to be addressed, and we should--in fact, we must--pass legislation to 
take care of those priorities. I am thinking about vaccine distribution 
especially. We have been blessed with not one but two viable vaccines, 
with more on the horizon. We can't afford to undermine this success by 
failing to provide the resources that are necessary for widespread 
distribution.
  The ball is in the Senate Democratic leader and Speaker Pelosi's 
court. We have bipartisan support for targeted relief to address our 
most critical priorities. In fact, the Democratic leader in the House 
noted on Sunday:

       I think we need to get an agreement, and we need to get 
     this bill passed. . . . Nobody

[[Page S7477]]

     ever gets everything they want. And . . . it's critically 
     important that we deal with these very, very important 
     objectives even if we don't get on either side everything we 
     want.

  That was from the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives.
  Meanwhile, the Democratic whip on the Senate side was part of the 
bipartisan group who suggested dropping the most controversial aspects 
and focusing on those things on which we agree.
  So the answer really lies with Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic 
leader here in the Senate. Are they going to heed the bipartisan calls 
to deliver critical coronavirus funding, or are they going to continue 
to block relief for Americans?
  Around our country, Americans are struggling under the worst wave of 
the virus to date. They need more help. Above all, they need the 
vaccinations that will help bring this pandemic to an end. We can pass 
additional coronavirus relief legislation this week. To quote the 
majority leader, let's ``get it done.''
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.