[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 214 (Thursday, December 17, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7564-S7565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Madam President, we need to pass a COVID relief bill.
  I was happy to join a group of 10 Senators--5 Democrats and 5 
Republicans--3 weeks ago. We met for dinner one night--safe social 
distancing--in one of the Member's houses and spent several hours 
talking about our frustration that we hadn't passed a COVID relief bill 
since March, when we passed the CARES Act. And we know that things have 
gotten worse in this country, not only with the pandemic but also with 
the state of the economy. For some reason, we just couldn't reach an 
agreement--the two parties.
  Well, this mixed group of Senators of both political parties had a 
bold idea: Let's try to do it ourselves. So we sat down, and in the 
course of 3 weeks, I cannot tell you how many hours we spent on the 
phone--zoom calls, other conference calls, and calls were even taking 
place on Thanksgiving Day--talking about what a COVID relief bill might 
look like. Some of the items we debated long and hard. Most of them we 
agreed on.
  This last Tuesday, this week, we reported our bill to the U.S. 
Senate, to the floor of the Senate, and to the leaders. And we didn't 
just give them a memo with concepts. We gave them an actual bill that 
could be introduced today.
  The bill itself is significant in that it has $748 billion in 
spending.
  The areas of spending are fairly predictable: extending unemployment 
insurance benefits with a $300-a-week Federal supplement; $300 billion 
for business loans for those that are struggling to survive; an 
additional $13 billion for the food stamp program, now known as SNAP, 
so that people who are relying on that, perhaps in the midst of 
unemployment, will have enough to eat; $13 billion for our farmers; $25 
billion for emergency rental assistance to avoid evictions; $34 billion 
to hospitals and clinics for help as well, with a portion of that set 
aside for rural hospitals; $16 billion for testing and tracing and the 
logistics of delivering the vaccine across America; $12 billion for a 
CDFI project for minority businesses.
  There is $5 billion for additional help with mental health 
counseling, and we know that this pandemic and the economy have taken 
their toll on the mental health of America.
  There is $82 billion for education, $20 billion of that for higher 
education, school districts and schools--universities too. They have to 
spend a lot of money because of COVID-19, and we want to help them get 
back on their feet.
  There is $10 billion for childcare, a critical element for many 
families. If they can't find childcare, many people can't go back to 
work. We want to give them help.
  There is $10 billion for broadband. Expanding broadband became 
critically important when kids relied on it to continue their education 
on remote learning.
  There is $45 billion for transportation, everything from the airline 
industry to Amtrak, to transit, to buses. They have all been hit hard, 
and we need them to come back with our economy.
  There is $10 billion for our Postal Service, and, boy, have they 
worked hard during this pandemic to keep up with the demands.
  And there are extensions of opportunities to use CARES money into the 
next fiscal year--the next calendar year, I should say.
  There were more. We reached agreement on all of these and came up 
with a bill that we presented to the leadership of both the House and 
the Senate, both parties. The good news is they didn't ignore it; they 
embraced it and started their own negotiations at the very highest 
levels of leadership in the Congress.
  Fingers crossed, we may come up with a bill today, a COVID relief 
bill. So from the time of our press conference on Tuesday to the 
delivery of a product as soon as today is an amazing accomplishment 
when you consider all the time that we have spent waiting in hopes that 
we could find that solution.
  We have made significant progress. Funding the government is basic to 
our work in Congress, and this COVID relief bill is essential as well.

[[Page S7565]]

  Now, I am disappointed in our work product. There is pride and 
disappointment. The disappointment is the fact that we didn't reach an 
agreement on State and local government assistance. I favor that 
strongly, and I hope we turn to that issue as soon as we return in 
January.
  Also, there was a question of liability and lawsuits during the time 
of COVID-19. We offered several alternatives. The Republicans countered 
with theirs. We never had a meeting of the minds on that issue. I hope 
that we do return to it at some point soon.
  We need to put government spending on a course that makes sense for 
the next year that we are going to be tackling as soon as January. From 
the military and the FBI, public housing and transportation, to medical 
research and cybersecurity, in any way that we approach it, governing 
by CR is the worst possible way to do business.
  Continuing resolutions impede our government's ability to operate 
efficiently and, frankly, waste money. Taxpayers deserve better. The 
continuing resolution would leave us operating under funding levels 
before we faced this national emergency, which affects every part of 
America today.
  It would restrict agencies from shifting dollars around to meet the 
challenges, and it would hurt their ability to plan ahead, hire and 
train new employees, start new projects.
  Continuing resolutions cause delays in contracts and grants when we 
need them the most. There are many examples of these, such as funding 
for medical research. I don't think there is an American alive today 
who doesn't value medical research today more than they did a year ago.
  The Warp Speed project appears to be a dramatic success. I pray that 
it will be. Although I have been a frequent critic of this 
administration, I want to give them credit for organizing this 
effectively and delivering a vaccine in a timely way--an almost amazing 
timely way--in this pandemic that we face. I thank all who were 
involved in it, especially the scientists and researchers who didn't 
give up until they found these vaccines.
  We know that FEMA would be prohibited from awarding Homeland Security 
grants to State and local governments unless we do our business of 
passing a budget. Safety and efficiency improvements in our 
transportation programs, such as bridge repairs, need to be timely and 
implemented. States and cities would not receive their community 
development block grants, which they desperately need. The list goes on 
and on.
  Our constituents elected us to do a job, and part of that job is to 
create a budget for this government. Months of bipartisan committee 
work and weeks of bipartisan negotiations should not be cast aside. I 
am hopeful that we will finalize a deal today and vote on it as early 
as today or tomorrow at the latest.
  We can't expect people to wait with any patience. We have waited too 
long ourselves.