[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 218 (Monday, December 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7888-S7890]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 9 months ago, in March, we created the 
relief known as the CARES Act, and it passed the Senate by a vote of 96 
to 0. It was a measure intended to address the pandemic and the 
resultant economic downturn in America. I have heard various estimates 
of the total cost, but it is somewhere in the range of $2 trillion to 
$3 trillion. It was the largest single investment in our Nation in our 
history. It was a massive national response to a massive national 
health crisis, and it worked, at least on the economic front. I believe 
that it created demand in our economy that otherwise would not have 
been there, and it gave some businesses a chance to survive. Sadly, all 
did not, and many are still suffering. But it was necessary. It was 
done on a bipartisan basis. It was massive, and I believe it achieved 
its goal.
  It started us on the course of dealing with the COVID-19 coronavirus, 
and one has to look back and say it only had limited success in that 
regard. As of today, we have lost more than 317,000 American lives, and 
millions have been infected. Our hospitals are still overrun with 
patients. But we did the right thing, and we quickly realized what we 
did could make a difference.
  The unemployment compensation, which we provided for millions of 
Americans, was not only the humane thing to do but, as economists would 
tell you, it was the best single thing you could do to fight a 
recession. A

[[Page S7889]]

person who is unemployed, without a paycheck, will spend virtually 
every penny they are given into the economy, not bank it away for 
another day. That spending created consumer demand and gave some 
businesses a fighting chance.
  The Paycheck Protection Program, through the Small Business 
Administration, was the work product of many, but I want to single out 
Senators Ben Cardin and Marco Rubio for their bipartisan effort. I 
later saw Senator Collins and Senator Shaheen working to give it 
another day. But here was a program which extended a lifeline to 
American businesses--forgivable loans if the money were spent on the 
necessities: utilities and rent and mortgage and payroll.
  I will quickly add that we have a responsibility to taxpayers to make 
an honest assessment of how that program was implemented. I am sorry to 
say that I have already heard anecdotal evidence that some of the loans 
were not carefully made. That is to be expected in something of this 
magnitude. But, by and large, this program was essential. Money that we 
put into healthcare made a difference. The CARES Act also protected 
those who were renting from eviction, delayed the payment of student 
loans, and a litany of other measures that made a difference.
  That bill--the CARES Act of March of 2020--was really written with a 
notion that this was a short- to medium-term challenge. Many thought 
that, by the middle of this year, we would be turning the corner. 
Sadly, that was not the case. As of July, it was apparent that the 
worst was yet to come.
  Speaker Pelosi, of the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a 
measure known as the Heroes Act in an attempt to have a follow-on 
relief bill after the CARES Act. It was passed but was not considered 
in this Chamber.
  The Republican leader, who spoke earlier today, said at the time that 
there were two things he wanted to make clear. First, he wanted to 
measure whether it was a needed follow-on bill. Second, he was drawing 
a redline that said unless we provided immunity from liability for 
corporations and businesses, he wouldn't consider another relief act. 
And the matter stalled.
  The Speaker went on to pass another bill, a smaller one in size, but 
nothing happened. She went into conversations with Mr. Mnuchin and 
Senator Schumer on the Democratic side here, but little was produced 
from that exchange. We were stuck, stalled. As of the election day of 
November 3, it wasn't clear that there would ever be another relief 
bill this year.
  I want to say a word about what happened next because I know more 
detail about that than some. It was about 4 weeks ago when a Republican 
Senator and a Democratic Senator invited six of their colleagues for 
dinner. It was a bipartisan group. When Senator McConnell mentioned the 
participants earlier, he only mentioned Republicans. I want to let you 
know who was in on it on both sides, Democrats and Republicans. Yes, it 
was Senator Collins, Senator Murkowski, Senator Cassidy, and Senator 
Romney at the initial meeting; on the Democratic side, Senator Manchin, 
Senator Warner, myself, and Senator Shaheen. Our ranks changed over the 
several weeks when we were debating to include Maggie Hassan of New 
Hampshire, Angus King of Maine, and Rob Portman of Ohio.

  For 3 or 4 weeks, we tried to write a relief bill. We did it by 
phone, by Zoom, and through staff work that was endless. Finally, 
Tuesday of last week, we were able to announce it. Let me get this 
number right, a $748 billion consensus bill for relief. We were unable 
to reach a final agreement when it came to State and local funding, as 
well as the question of liability. We set those aside, but we produced 
this $748 billion bill, much of which is included in this relief 
package we are going to consider today.
  I want to thank my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, for their 
patience and determination to reach that point. I really believe that 
we ended up opening the conversation. The leaders, thank goodness, 
moved in to follow on and make it a reality.
  Today, we are going to seriously consider a measure to keep America's 
economy moving and give us a fighting chance against the coronavirus. I 
think this bipartisan effort, this grassroots bipartisan effort by the 
8 of us--soon to be 10 or 11 before it was all over--will make a 
significant difference in this Nation. We are going to come through 
with dramatic offers of relief across the board. It is in the range of 
$900 billion, is the total. I don't know the exact amount.
  It is going to provide several more weeks of unemployment 
compensation. The final agreement, I am told, reduced the number of 
weeks that we proposed, and I am sorry for that, but it did include a 
cash payment, which, under the right circumstances--I don't know all 
the details--could be a godsend for many families across the United 
States who are desperately trying to survive in troubling and difficult 
times.
  It also extends the PPP program I mentioned earlier for small 
businesses to give them a chance for the kinds of loans and forgivable 
loans that might give them an opportunity to see another day.
  Money is there especially for coronavirus vaccine distribution and 
logistics--testing, tracing, and the vaccine.
  I would say this. In fairness, I agree with the Republican leader, 
who gave credit to the Trump administration for the Warp Speed program. 
That has been a dramatic success. To think that we have come up with 
not just one but two vaccines that work against this COVID-19 is an 
amazing achievement, and I am glad that it received the high priority 
it deserved under this administration and particularly glad that the 
researchers and scientists who spent countless hours exploring 
opportunities for this vaccine were ultimately successful. America owes 
them a great, great debt of gratitude.
  What is going to happen next? There are some parts of this measure 
which, as we study it, we will realize are inadequate. Merely extending 
unemployment benefits for 10 or 11 weeks may not be long enough. We may 
have to return to take a look at it. Whether we have enough money for 
logistical support for vaccines remains to be seen. Whether the 
businesses of Americans need another helping hand, we also have to 
consider that as well.
  Let us hope that in the new year and the new President's 
administration, that we will have a more positive, bipartisan approach. 
This experience this year was disappointing in some respects, but it 
ended well with the bill we are going to consider this afternoon.
  I want to thank all the colleagues, Senators, who joined me in this 
bipartisan effort, who started the conversation on Capitol Hill last 
week. We have more work to be done. We are not out of the woods. We 
have to consider measures that will address the reality of the economy 
in the future. We want to make sure that Americans have a chance to get 
back to work and businesses have a chance to survive in this time of 
COVID-19.
  By the middle of next year, it has been estimated--this is not for 
certain, but I hope it is right--by the middle of next year, all 
Americans who are seeking a vaccination will be able to receive one, 
and that will be a day when we can finally hope that we will have 
reached that magic number of herd immunity and turn the corner on this 
terrible pandemic.
  I want to thank Senator Schumer for coming to the floor and asking me 
to say a word or two more. I want to say this about the Members of the 
Senate, both Democrats and Republicans. There has been more activity on 
the floor of the Senate in the last several days than I have ever seen. 
And it isn't just rollcalls; it is Members standing on the floor to 
discuss the details of this agreement. There were parts we were never 
going to agree on, that is for sure, but so many times, I would step 
into a conversation on the floor where they would be hammering out the 
final details of an agreement. It was heartening. There has been so 
little of that activity on the floor in the past year or two. It is 
perilously close to legislating to have Members of the Senate of both 
political parties working toward agreeable language that can solve 
America's problems. Let's hope we have more of that.
  Unfortunately, the Senate has drifted away from its traditional role 
of deliberation and legislation. This year, for

[[Page S7890]]

example, we have only considered 29 amendments in the entire year in 
the Senate, absent the impeachment proceeding. Twenty-nine amendments. 
The year before, 2019, there were 22 amendments. That is a waste of 
talent.
  The men and women of the Senate should come together, hopefully on a 
bipartisan basis, but regardless, should come together to debate the 
issues and offer their best ideas and, having offered them, be given 
the chance to vote up or down. I think that appetite is strong on both 
sides of the aisle.
  On the Democratic side, Senator Merkley of Oregon has been a leader 
in discussing changes in the Senate rules, and we reached out to 
Republicans as well to engage in that conversation. I think we are a 
better Senate for it if we do it and a better Nation for it if the 
debate becomes relevant to the issues of the day from people across 
America who are watching closely to see if we understand what they are 
struggling with economically and politically
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________