[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

[[Page S7518]]

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.

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