[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7516-S7518]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Coronavirus
Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I want to start by thanking all of the
Members--and I mean all of the Members--who have worked so diligently
to produce this product.
This is the product we produced with the so-called Gang of 8, but it
turned into a bigger gang than that because more and more people want
to work in a bipartisan way in the Senate. I have said: It is alive and
well; we just have to exercise it more.
We did that. We brought over the bicameral group, the Problem
Solvers, and they were tremendously instrumental in being involved in
this process. I am so pleased to have that bicameral work, bipartisan
work. We need more of it, and we are going to basically demand more of
it. But with this product right now, as the ``four corners'' are
working, this is the template they have used.
Leader Schumer has said that this is what they have used because the
legislative language has already been produced. There might be some
tweaks to it, but there are so many people.
Let me tell you how it started. My dear friend Senator Durbin is
here. After the election, we called each other back and forth, a few of
us, saying: Something has to be done. Nothing is moving. People are
hurting.
We heard that all during the election, and they couldn't figure out
why we hadn't done anything. I had no good explanation because,
basically, the two leaders on both sides of the aisle were locked, and
I said we didn't know how to break it. The only way we could break it
is by doing something showing we could come together.
We did that. We did that in a way that--we had a dinner. Senator Mark
Warner from Virginia said: Let's have a dinner. Senator Lisa Murkowski
said: Come to my house. So we go to
[[Page S7517]]
Lisa Murkowski's house, and there were eight of us. We had four R's and
four D's, and we grew from there. On our side, there was Senator Mark
Warner, Senator Dick Durbin, Senator Jean Shaheen, myself. On the
Republican side, there was Senator Lisa Murkowski, Senator Susan
Collins, Senator Bill Cassidy, and Senator Mitt Romney. From there, it
grew. Then we brought the bipartisan group over--Congressman Josh
Gottheimer and Congressman Tom Reed and the Problem Solvers--and we
kept growing from there, and we had more Senators coming in. So we got
input from every quadrant we could possibly in order to do what we did,
but it took quite a while.
The biggest hurdle we had was how much we could agree that we need as
an emergency. Democrats were at 1.2, 1.3. The Republicans were at 5 or
6. We couldn't move off of that, and it took us a while to say: Let's
look at emergencies and everything that basically is going to run out
of time in December and be nullified. People are going to lose their
lifelines.
We started putting all those figures together and came up with the
$900 billion figure. That is where 908 came from. I understand they are
still at the 900, which we appreciate very much. I am hopeful that we
can help break that deadlock and be a part of this, but there is so
much more that has to be done, and there is so much more need out there
that will need to be done. We must all come together behind President-
Elect Joe Biden to make sure that we do it and look at the need of
America, not the greed of America.
Trust me, if you are sending checks, everyone is in line, but if you
are really getting to the people who are on the frontline, they need
it.
I have people who have said and we have all said: We are not going to
go home. We can't go home until we do something. Guess what. If we
don't do anything, a lot of people won't have a home to go to this
holiday season. They truly won't. They are being evicted. They are
losing their lifeline. They are losing their shelter.
Food assistance--my goodness. Think about all the people in need.
Have you ever seen the lines of people whom you have never seen before,
who have never been to a food give-out or a food bank or a food line?
These are the things that we addressed, and we addressed them in the
most compassionate way. That is our job.
I understand that our four corners are very close to a deal. I think
it will be done. I know it will be done because we have to do it.
Failure is not an option. So we are going to work very hard to continue
to do that.
Let me tell you, we have unemployment assistance for people who lost
their jobs, food assistance, shelter assistance. We have small business
debt relief. We have student loan forbearance. We have so many other
things, and people are depending on us. We include $300 a week. I am
not sure what the final bill will be on the safety net realm there. We
had $13 billion for food assistance. We had SNAP benefits, helping
people who are falling into that chasm of welfare who need help, and
$35 billion for healthcare providers. We had 20 percent set aside for
the rural hospitals and rural clinics. We had $16 billion for testing
and tracing, and I understand they are increasing that, which is
needed; $12 billion for community development financial institutions;
$5 billion for emergency funding for substance abuse prevention and
treatment and mental health services; $82 billion for education,
including $20 billion for basically higher education; $10 billion to
support childcare; $10 billion for broadband, including $3 billion for
education and distance learning; and $45 billion in emergency funding
for transportation. There are so many needs that we have out there.
We have a second bill too. I am understanding that was a little bit
more controversial, but I can tell you one thing: There was no
controversy on the first bill--$748 billion; 100 percent Democrats and
Republicans--all had input to make that happen.
Again, I say the staffs have worked a yeoman's job over day and night
for the last month. They have done a terrific job.
Now for State and local, I really believe personally there is a need
because I have seen the frontline workers and the amount of revenue we
might lose for people not to have those services that are essential.
They are depending on it. We might lose it because the States or the
localities don't have the revenue. So we have to come back and address
that. If we don't do it now, we have to do it as soon as President-
Elect Joe Biden takes over, look at it again to try to help those in
need, and we will do that.
So we have come together. We have come together. Also what we are
saying is the money that the Governors and everyone has left over, they
are going to be able to have extensions on how that is used, and we
have some direction.
We want to make sure that the locals have some opportunities too.
Some of the local communities and local municipalities or local
counties did not get the revenue that they should have gotten in the
first tranche of money, so we are hoping that is taken care of also.
So all these protections that we put in there, we are trying to help.
We are trying to get a pathway forward to bring our economy back, to
make sure we are able to. But this is the product that got it all
going, and this is the group of people who made it happen, the
bipartisan group who worked day and night, and I can't thank them more.
I couldn't be more proud to be with a group whom I consider true
Americans who stepped up to the plate and got something done when we
didn't think it could be done.
But, again, I want to thank all of my colleagues, my Republican
colleagues and friends and Democratic colleagues who worked so hard,
and everybody who is going to benefit. I think it can be a merry
Christmas. It can be a much happier Christmas for sure when we all go
home and look at our constituents and say ``We have done everything we
can to get you through the most challenging time,'' which will be the
first quarter of 2021, and this bill is an emergency bill that goes
through April 1.
I would note--oh, we are ready to go.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. All postcloture time has expired.
The question is, Will the Senate advise and consent to the Crytzer
nomination?
Mr. JOHNSON. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi), the Senator from Nebraska (Mrs. Fischer), the
Senator from Georgia (Mrs. Loeffler), and the Senator from Georgia (Mr.
Perdue).
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Ms. Harris)
is necessarily absent.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Daines). Are there any other Senators in
the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 48, nays 47, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 268 Ex.]
YEAS--48
Alexander
Barrasso
Blackburn
Blunt
Boozman
Braun
Burr
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Gardner
Graham
Grassley
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
McConnell
Moran
Murkowski
Paul
Portman
Risch
Roberts
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Sasse
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Wicker
Young
NAYS--47
Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hirono
Jones
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Leahy
Manchin
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Udall
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wyden
NOT VOTING--5
Enzi
Fischer
Harris
Loeffler
Perdue
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to
reconsider is considered made and laid
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upon the table, and the President will be immediately notified of the
President's action.
The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory
quorum call be waived.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
____________________