[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 218 (Monday, December 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7915-S7922]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I have just recently been talking about 
a number of pieces of legislation that have come through the 
Environment and Public Works Committee: the water resources act, the 
USE IT Act, the act called DERA to eliminate and reduce emissions from 
diesels, as well as additional legislation on HFCs.
  My partner in all of those is here on the floor now, and I would just 
like to ask him if he would--since he has been such a great partner for 
the last 4 years that I have chaired the committee--talk about this as 
an accomplishment for the environment, for the committee, and for the 
Senate and for the country.
  So I am just kind of curious, from his standpoint, where he sees 
things as a sign of success.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, if my colleague will yield.
  As Senator Casey leaves, I thought his point about longest night and 
every day that follows will be brighter, and some of the provisions 
that Senator Barrasso and I, along with John Neely Kennedy, have 
included in the Nation's major budget piece of legislation ensure that 
it will be brighter.
  One of the pieces of legislation, as Senator Barrasso knows, deals 
with the phasedown of HFCs, hydrofluorocarbons. They are 1,000 times 
worse for climate change than carbon dioxide. Under the legislation 
that we have offered, it will phase down their utilization over the 
next 15 years by 85 percent. What is that worth? It is worth a half a 
degree Celsius--just this one thing, just this one provision.
  A lot of people on this planet think the biggest challenge that we 
face on this planet right now, an existential threat, is the fact that 
our planet is getting warmer and that we need to do something about it. 
In this legislation, we do take a big bite out of it.
  And my hope is what it will be is that it will serve as a source of 
encouragement for other Democrats and Republicans, maybe an Independent 
or two, to take other steps as we come back into the new year with the 
new administration and make further progress.
  One of the great things that I love about our HFC legislation--
thanks, colleague.
  One of the great things, Mr. Chairman, that I love about our HFC 
legislation is that it shows that you can do good things for our planet 
and create jobs. That is what I said: do good things for our planet in 
the battle against climate change and create jobs. How many jobs? Tens 
of thousands of jobs--in this country, in this country; billions of 
dollars' worth of economic growth--in this country--and at the same 
time doing good things with respect to climate change.
  Interestingly, it is not every day you find legislation supported by 
the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber of 
Commerce, most major environmental groups, and cosponsored by, gosh, 
two-thirds of the Senate--Democrats and Republicans alike.

[[Page S7916]]

  In that case, we have done it. We threaded the needle. I just want to 
thank the chairman for his leadership and for his patience and the 
staff in working with us. And our thanks to Rich Russell, your staff 
leader on the majority side; Mary Frances Repko, the staff leader on 
our side; and everybody who worked with her.
  But more than a decade ago, I remember standing next to my colleague 
John Barrasso--I remember standing right over close to where he is 
standing tonight, and a guy named George Voinovich came up to me--from 
Ohio. He and I had been Governors together for a number of years. Love 
the guy.
  He said: I am looking for a Democratic cosponsor for a bill. He said: 
Do you want to think about it? I said: Well, what is it? He said: It is 
a proposal that fosters collaboration between businesses, folks who 
have buses with diesel engines, trains with diesel engines, boats with 
diesel engines, trucks with diesel engines; and it uses some Federal 
money, some government money, in order to use technology that is 
available to reduce the emissions from those diesel engines by more 
than 80 percent.
  I said: Tell me more. And he told me more, and about a day or two 
later we signed on and introduced the legislation. He was kind enough 
to let me be his Democratic lead.
  One month later, it was enacted. I have been here 20 years; I have 
never seen legislation with that kind of effect go through just like 
that. It was pretty amazing. Every so often, we reauthorize it; we 
increase the authorization. We have done it again with respect to 
reauthorizing the Diesel Emission Reduction Act.
  One of the things I love about it is that it gets a lot of different 
stakeholders involved, and for a limited amount of Federal dollars, we 
can have a multiplier effect that can be, for every Federal dollar, $5, 
$6, $7, $8 that have come in from the private sector. That is the way 
we ought to do it.
  The last one is USE IT. Not many people think Delaware is a farm 
State, but we raise a ton of chickens. I think for every person in my 
State, there are like 300 chickens or more. Those chickens eat corn and 
soybeans. We raise corn and soybeans. Our farmers have land that is 
close to the beach. We have five-star beaches in Delaware: Rehoboth, 
Bethany, Dewey, and others. There is always pressure for development 
and encroachment on our farms, and developers are trying to buy out the 
farmers and pave paradise and put up a parking lot. What we have 
figured out how to do is--and it is not just--we haven't figured out 
through this legislation, the so-called USE IT Act, but what we do is--
the idea is to take carbon out of the air and to use it for a better 
purpose.
  One of those better purposes is to replenish the soil in my State, in 
Wyoming, in Montana, and other places so that our farmers will be less 
inclined to leave the land. They will stay on the land. They will be 
able to make money, support themselves and their families. It creates a 
virtuous cycle. That is a wonderful thing.
  I don't think we are going to be joined here yet--I called him just 
to give him a heads-up, but I don't think he is able to get here that 
quickly, but John Neely Kennedy from Louisiana was a big part of the 
work we did on HFCs. I just want to say, in his absence, a real big 
thank-you to him. I want to thank--gosh, I think 70-plus Senators--
Democrats and Republicans alike--who cosponsored our HFC bill. I want 
to thank our leadership, especially on our side but on both sides, for 
pushing to make sure these three bills would be included in the final 
compromise.
  In addition to all the other things that were accomplished--and 
Senator Casey and others talked about that--we have actually done some 
good things for our planet. Senator Barrasso is going to move over and 
be the senior Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee 
come January. I will remain on Environment and Public Works, be the 
senior Democrat. I want to say that this has been a wonderful 
partnership, just a wonderful partnership--fun, funny, serious when we 
had to be, collegial, and really focused on getting things done for 
Wyoming, for Delaware, for the other 48 States as well.
  So you are not going to be too far, and I will still be around. We 
will have a chance to work on other things. It has been a real joy to 
work with you on these three items, and hopefully in the future we will 
have many, many more.
  Mr. BARRASSO. I thank Senator Carper. I appreciate it.
  You know, it is interesting: Senator Alexander recently gave his 
speech, his farewell address, and he said that sometimes politics is 
like a split-screen television set. On the one half, you see all the 
fighting and contention and the dysfunctional side. And on the other 
side of the screen, you see the functioning side. But not many people 
look at that functioning side.
  What we have been able to do as a partnership on the Environment and 
Public Works Committee was functional--in a bipartisan way, coming up 
with solutions. As you mentioned, there were over 70 cosponsors on the 
one piece of legislation. All of them, I think, got through the 
committee unanimously. That is something that made no news because 
there wasn't a fight. There was cooperation for the betterment--to make 
sure we protected the economy and, at the same time, preserved the 
environment. That is what we need do: Continue to make sure that we can 
protect both and continue with economic development as well as 
environmental stewardship for our Nation.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                             Appropriations

  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, I come to the floor tonight to talk 
about many provisions that are currently moving their way through the 
House of Representatives and on our way to us. Obviously, our 
colleagues here are, I think, relieved that we have been able to give 
relief to the American people; that is, that we have been able to 
extend unemployment benefits and add bonuses to those unemployment 
benefits in the amount of 300 extra dollars per week, and we have been 
able to expand the COBRA tax credit programs to help people who have 
been unemployed and not been able to continue their insurance be able 
to continue health insurance. This is very important for laid-off 
workers in the State of Washington, like the aerospace workers.
  We are very glad that we were able to give a stimulus check of $600 
per individual and $1,200 for married couples; that we were able to get 
the PPP program that helps small businesses so that they can continue 
to try to make ends meet as we continue to work our way through this 
pandemic; and that we have been able to give $9 billion to healthcare 
workers who are stretched so thin on these battle lines, who need every 
support that we can give them.
  I want to talk about the rental assistance. We are at a point where, 
if we didn't act tonight, if we didn't act before we left here, many 
more people were going to be without homes. It is so important for us 
to have these provisions and programs like SNAP, the additional money 
for broadband, for healthcare, and for other things that are essential 
in helping to communicate during this pandemic for both healthcare and 
for education.
  I also wanted to mention work that was done in tandem with this 
legislation, specifically on the affordable housing tax credit. The 
affordable housing tax credit was always important. Affordable housing 
was always important, but in a pandemic, in a COVID crisis, it becomes 
even more important. The affordable housing tax credit is something 
that Senator Young and I worked on with Senator Wyden and Senator 
Isakson, and we wanted to say that we needed to do more than what our 
current Tax Code could do in helping build more affordable housing.
  The affordable housing tax credit has provisions that have been in 
law since 1986, but, actually, using the tax credits and how they 
worked have been a fluctuating rate, so the consequence is that the 
historic rate of what people could get to use the tax credit has 
changed, and this legislation will put a floor of 4 percent in to give 
investors a

[[Page S7917]]

bigger idea of what this investment can do for the market.
  We believe that it will add, in the State of Washington, more housing 
that is needed immediately, more housing that is needed on the national 
basis, and help us stabilize things in the near term so that we can 
work on affordable housing and how we can put more incentives for 
people to build affordable housing.
  People know affordable housing doesn't just get built. People don't 
just go out and say: I am going to build housing at this low rate.
  The tax credit is a tax credit that helps people do it by giving 
those borrowers the ability to work with the tax credit. But the 
American people have been greatly impacted by so many trends--baby 
boomers reaching retirement age, not being able to save, people being 
pushed out of the last economic crisis into a rate of unaffordability. 
It really has been a dramatic increase.
  According to the Hudson Institute, 60 percent of our affordable and 
low-cost housing was lost from the housing stock between 1985 and 2013. 
That is the housing that we had that was affordable. Basically, the 
time period ends, and they end up being swallowed up, like so many 
places in Puget Sound, into market-based rates. Literally, people are 
pushed out of their housing, and then there is no other affordable 
housing in the region.
  These tax credits can help us build more affordable housing for the 
long run. Over the next decade, nearly 500,000 low-income housing tax 
credit unions and 655 other subsidized units will reach the end of 
their affordability period. Just like I was saying, they are going to 
get to a point where they are no longer in a protection of affordable 
housing, and the consequence is that growth and demand are pushing us 
even higher.
  For example, seniors--10,000 baby boomers retire each day. That means 
that those low-income seniors, those woefully inadequate to pay for 
increasing housing costs, are going to be growing every single day and 
putting more demand on the system.
  For veterans, nearly 2.5 million older veteran households--almost a 
quarter of men and women who helped protect our country--are cost-
burdened. That means they spend more than 30 percent of their income on 
housing. The lack of affordable housing in our country has been a 
longstanding crisis, but the COVID crisis has made it much worse. One 
in five renters is behind on their rent, and the eviction moratorium 
expires in less than 2 weeks.
  As I said, I am pleased that we are voting tonight, hopefully, on 
this legislation that includes a 1-month eviction moratorium and $25 
billion for rental assistance and that we will continue to work on 
these issues. And I am glad that we are working on the passage of not 
just the low-income housing tax credit fix of a 4-percent floor but 
also that we will continue to work across the aisle on this legislation 
moving forward.
  At a minimum, the 4 percent could increase affordable housing 
production by at least 130,000 affordable homes over the next decade. 
That is critically important--130,000 more affordable homes over the 
next decade. It could generate and help us with job growth--162,000 
jobs and about $18 billion in wages and impacts to the economy.
  Building more affordable housing helps us solve lots of problems. We 
have an increase in demand, as I just articulated, and a COVID crisis. 
Investing in affordable housing is very good for us in helping our 
economy grow and putting a roof over people's heads.
  I would also like to mention as part of the small business package, 
the Paycheck Protection package, a provision that was supported by so 
many of our colleagues to help make sure that we continue to get local 
news and information out to the public. People understand that local 
news has been threatened ever since the transition to an information 
age and has certainly been challenged by what I think are unfair 
practices by tech companies and the compensation for material and 
proper reimbursement on advertising.
  The issue for us is that COVID has created an environment where we 
absolutely need to get the news, and we absolutely need to get the 
local news. It is imperative that we do what we can in this legislation 
to help small newspapers, small broadcasters, small radio stations that 
didn't previously get helped in the last COVID package so they can 
continue to communicate important local news to people throughout the 
United States.
  I want to thank Senators Schumer, Cardin, and, obviously, I want to 
thank specifically Senator Boozman for working so hard on this 
legislation with me and introducing legislation. I want to thank 
Senators Klobuchar, Ernst, and many of our other colleagues who signed 
on to that legislation, as well as our House colleagues, 
Representatives Velazquez and Cicilline and Sensenbrenner, who also 
worked hard on getting this provision in, and Senators Rubio and 
McConnell for helping us in this process.
  These provisions are important to help make sure that large public 
institutions, like the University of Washington and others, continue to 
also get information out to the public.
  This news information and local information isn't going to go away 
with the help and support of this bill, but it may be a lifeline in 
helping us continue to make sure we have critical public health 
information available to the public at all times, and, hopefully, we 
will then go on to really understand what has happened to local news 
and information and do something in the future Congress to help fix the 
inequities that are existing today.
  If I could, I also just mention quickly the issue about broadband. 
This legislation that we are going to be voting on includes $7 billion 
for more broadband priorities, $1 billion for connectivity issues for 
Tribal country. I know, as the Presiding Officer knows, that Indian 
Country needs a lot of connectivity. So getting more broadband into 
those communities will be very helpful.
  The COVID package also contains money, additional funding, that I 
know Senator Wicker and others worked on for telehealth. Telehealth is 
a critical path during the COVID crisis to make sure communities have 
the ability to get expert advice into our homes, into our communities, 
to connect people with information.
  This telehealth grant is a very important program in the State of 
Washington. I think we probably got something like $8 million 
previously from telehealth, and this will help us continue.
  I am disappointed that we did not include priorities in here for the 
E-rate program to help close the homework gap. This is something 
Senator Markey and others worked on very hard, and it is very 
disappointing that we can't come to an agreement on something as 
important as E-rate. This legislation provides the ability for hotspots 
for people who may be going to college and not going to classes, but 
are in or around a university.
  I think that is a good idea, but we were prohibited from doing the 
same thing for students at the K-12 level. One thing the pandemic has 
shown us is that students are at home and need to be able to connect to 
stay connected to their education schedule, to do their homework, and 
to be part of the education system. I hope that we will address this 
inequity in the bill in the future.
  I am pleased that, working with Senator Wicker, we were able include 
language that gives the Federal Trade Commission new authority to seek 
civil penalties for scams and deceptive practices related to the COVID 
pandemic. You probably think this is already something that was on the 
books, but in reality, the way the Federal Trade Commission has 
operated, they had to give a warning first, almost like a cease and 
desist. The next thing you know, the same practice would pop up over 
here, with somebody making a claim about how safe their product was or 
how this would stop COVID or something of that nature.
  In my home State alone, the FTC reports that consumers have been 
scammed out of nearly $5 million since the pandemic and the number is 
over $200 million nationwide. These scams can range in everything from 
straightforward identity theft to making all sorts of accusations on 
people during the quarantine period.
  I want to thank Senator Wicker for working with us on this important 
legislation. Now the FTC will be able to go after and find these people 
on first-

[[Page S7918]]

time offenses. I think this is so important to do to make sure that we 
are policing an environment where public health is so important.
  I also want to thank Representative Schakowsky for leading this 
effort on the other side of the Capitol.
  I also want to talk about very important aviation legislation that we 
were able to include as part of the larger omnibus package that is 
moving through the House, as I said, tonight.
  It is so important that we make safety a No. 1 priority in the United 
States. If we want to be No. 1 in aviation, we have to be No. 1 in 
aviation safety. Chairman Wicker and I worked with our colleagues on 
both sides of the aisle to produce important legislation that improves 
the safety reforms needed at the FAA--the safety reforms of oversight 
of manufacturing and the certification process, and reforms that will 
help us here in Congress better stay on top of the information as far 
as the certification process.
  This is so critical after the crash of the Lion Air 610 and Ethiopian 
Flight 302, both involving Boeing 737 Max aircrafts and the loss of 346 
lives.
  I can never say how painful this incident has been for those 
families. I can never say how much they have suffered in this horrific 
tragedy that has befallen them, but I know that these reforms are what 
are needed, and their help and support in passing this legislation has 
been critical.
  I want to thank all of the families who helped us in communicating 
why the safety reforms are important, but I want to thank, 
particularly, Michael Stumo and his wife, Nadia Milleron, who lost 
their daughter Samya Stumo in the Ethiopian air crash, and to let them 
know that, even though we are putting a big down payment on safety 
reforms in the U.S. Congress by passing this legislation, this process 
does not stop with the passage of this legislation.
  We need to continue to do more to improve aviation safety and to 
continue to act, even on a global basis, to be leaders--the United 
States leading the way on what aviation safety needs to be.
  I also want to thank our staff: Doug Anderson, Ronce Almond, David 
Martin, Laurence Wildgoose, Jonathan Hale, Melissa Porter, and David 
Strickland for their work. And on the other side of the aisle: Mike 
Reynolds, James Mazol, Simone Perez, MaryAsa England, and John Keyes.
  Many Members participated in the formation of this legislation. I 
want to thank Senator Duckworth for her work with us on the NTSB 
recommendations and flight deck alert system, which were part of this 
package of bills to reform the FAA and the FAA process.
  I want to thank Senator Moran for his focus on helping us build those 
standards that we are talking about as far as the FAA going to ICAO and 
saying: These are the continued standards for improvement in aviation 
safety.

  I want to thank Senator Blunt for his leadership on the Air Grants 
Program, a very important program that we think will help build up the 
expertise and knowledge of very, very technical subject certification 
for people here throughout the process of oversight and legislating and 
the executive branch.
  I want to thank Senators Cruz and Blumenthal for working on such 
critical elements in the legislation as to how the certification 
process itself works and what we needed to do to continue to bolster 
it.
  Tonight, we are sitting one step closer to reforms that really will 
be meaningful. It will return the FAA to being in charge of what are 
the oversight members of manufacturers who are doing the work of the 
certification process. It is clear that the individuals who are part of 
this unit report to the FAA. They are supervised by the FAA. You can no 
longer have incentives at the FAA for expediting work. You, basically, 
now have a new whistleblower protection, thanks to my colleague Senator 
Wicker and his incredible work on this legislation. You have better 
accountability on misconduct. You create new safety reporting standards 
for the FAA employees.
  We repeal authorities that would permit a certification by industry. 
That industry could continue to make recommendations about the 
certification process is something, in specific provisions, that are 
repealed here.
  We also prohibit interference with FAA designees. That is, no one can 
try to influence a manager or someone directly involved in the 
certification of the process. We also tried to make sure the process 
itself worked better. And, again, many of my colleagues played critical 
roles in this.
  On required safety system analysis on any plane coming through the 
process--whether it was new or a derivative--you still have to do a 
safety system analysis. You have to have regulations that are the most 
up-to-date as it relates to making sure you comply, as we said in this 
legislation, with the NTSB recommendations on flight crew alert systems 
and to mandate a safety management system for manufacturers. This is 
something that is long overdue. And in some instances, people said: Oh, 
the OMB and executive branch don't think we need to do these things. 
Oh, these things are cost prohibitive. These are regulations we don't 
need to put in place.
  Trust me, having a safety management system is essential, and we 
should make sure that this is in place as this legislation requires 
within the next few years.
  This legislation also requires disclosure of safety critical 
information. This was something, as I said, our colleagues, Senators 
Blumenthal and Cruz and many others, worked on as part of this 
legislation.
  It also provides expert teams of panels. At the beginning of any kind 
of certification process, the FAA will be assisted by the best experts 
in aviation, whether they come from NASA or the Air Force or outside 
individuals who understand the latest and greatest technology. Why do 
we have that? Because we know that we are in an era of unbelievable 
technological change in which now the human interface with technology 
is so critical. Whether you are going to be in driverless cars or 
whether you are in Amtrak with positive train control or you are in the 
flight deck of an airplane and the software that is working with it, we 
need to understand how people are going to respond to human factors.
  We all get frustrated with our own computers and our own software, 
but we need to put safety first when it comes to a pilot interacting 
with that software in the cockpit of an airplane.
  It also helps us make sure that the process for the certification 
appeals are strengthened and that we tighten the process. We need to 
listen to the engineers on the ground. The engineers are telling us 
what we need to do, and we need to listen to them. I hope that the 
leaders, both within manufacturing and the FAA, will do that.
  As I mentioned, this legislation establishes a National Air Grant 
Program. Some of you can think of it here on Capitol Hill as similar to 
the Sea Grant Program, a program that was long-established to give us 
technical expertise on OSHA and maritime issues here in Congress. We 
want the same thing for aviation to exist.
  It is too important of a sector and safety is too important to not 
have a technical skill set here that can stay on top and replace 
individuals as retirements happen throughout the aviation system.
  It requires disclosures to Congress of post-crash assessments. If the 
FAA goes and investigates a crash, you have to notify Congress of that 
information. Why? We want to stay more on top of that information. It 
requires an identification of safety trends. I have no doubt that we 
are going to hear--when it comes back as these annual reports for the 
next several years--that this issue of human interaction in a 
technology cockpit is going to continue to be the largest safety trend 
issue, just as it is going to be in the automotive area and just as it 
is going to be in transportation.
  Those are just some of the highlights of a very comprehensive safety 
reform legislation.
  I want to thank my colleague Senator Wicker for his help, his 
leadership, his most recent report on whistleblower activity, and 
helping us get this legislation over the goal line.
  I also, as I said, want to thank, again, those families. Our hearts 
and sympathies are still every day with you as you continue to face 
moving forward. We are not going to forget. We are going to continue to 
put safety as the biggest priority for us here in the U.S. Congress and 
continue to move

[[Page S7919]]

forward on a process that puts the individual engineers on the line 
responsible for safety to make sure everyone continues to listen to 
their directives and their recommendations.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.


                        Remembering Allan Weber

  Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, I rise out of respect and in memory of Gove 
County Sheriff Allan Weber, who served his community faithfully over 
the last two decades.
  Allan was born and raised on his family's farm near Park, KS, and he 
went on to marry Connie, his high school sweetheart. The couple has 
three children--Andrea, Brandon, and Cory. To those who know Allan, it 
was always clear that his family meant everything to him. His many 
grandchildren were his pride and joy.
  In 1996, he ran for Gove County sheriff and served his community 
faithfully for over two decades since first elected. Gove County is out 
in Western Kansas. It is flat. It is the prairie. It is windy. It is 
hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It is farmers and ranchers. 
It is often a struggle to earn a living in Gove County. I know the 
county well. Despite those challenges, it is made up of people who work 
hard, care for each other, and try to make good lives for themselves 
and their families.
  In rural areas like Gove County, the sheriff oftentimes wears 
multiple hats, and Sheriff Weber was no different. In addition to 
serving as sheriff, he was also the public information officer and the 
emergency operations center community liaison.
  Kansans also never fail to step up to help their neighbors in hard 
times, and Allan did the same. After the tragic death of a neighboring 
county's sheriff, he stepped up to serve as the interim sheriff in 
Sheridan County, making him the first person ever to serve two counties 
as sheriff at the same time--a first in Kansas's history. He saw his 
brothers and sisters in blue as an extended part of his family, and he 
held them in the highest regard.
  His colleague in law enforcement, Sheriff Tim Morse of Jackson 
County, which is on the other side of the State, wrote this:

       Kansas has lost a great sheriff. Gove County Sheriff Allan 
     Weber has spent the last couple of months fighting COVID-19 
     in a Denver hospital. Today, Sheriff Weber was escorted back 
     to Gove County by Colorado and Kansas Highway Patrols along 
     with countless Kansas Sheriffs and law enforcement officers 
     for one last time . . . Sheriff Weber was an honorable man 
     who was respected by all. He will be greatly missed.

  He respected those in blue, and those in blue respected him.
  He was a dedicated public servant both in his home community and at 
the State level. He served the Kansas Sheriffs' Association on its 
board and as its president. I talked to the Kansas Sheriffs' 
Association today, and they wanted me to recognize Sheriff Weber's 
professionalism and his dedication and that he served as president of 
the Association for two consecutive terms, which is a rare circumstance 
and speaks to his effectiveness in the role and the admiration that his 
colleagues held for him.
  His community also loved and respected him. They came together to 
welcome him home one last time with an honor parade down Highway 212, 
in Quinter, this past Saturday night, with hundreds of cars and people 
lined up to recognize his service and sacrifice over a lifetime.
  Connie, his wife, said:

       It was such a beautiful homecoming. I know he was bursting 
     with pride and love. After the November election, when he 
     woke up in the intensive care unit, I told him he was sheriff 
     for the next 4 years, and he gave me a small smile and nodded 
     his head. He loved the Gove County community's mind and was 
     always ready to give the ultimate sacrifice if he had to. 
     There were times that his heart broke doing his job, but he 
     did what was right. He lived life day-to-day and enjoyed it 
     and everyone. He worked hard and loved gently. He will be 
     missed by many.

  The outpouring of love, support, and shared memories on their Quinter 
Community Facebook page has been constant and speaks to the 
interconnectedness of a small community.
  I should tell you that the population of Gove County is about 2,612, 
and the county seat of Gove has a population of 70. It is in places 
like Quinter, like Gove, and like Gove County where the sheriff is 
known by everyone, and the sheriff is interwoven into the life of the 
community and the county.
  So many of his friends and family have remarked on Allan's contagious 
smile, how ornery he was, but, most importantly, as to the selfless way 
he served people. Those of us in public service ought to look to Allan 
as a role model in that selfless service of others. Sheriff Allan Weber 
embodied so many values in Kansas--faith, family, fellowship, service, 
and good old-fashioned hard work. He will be missed by many.
  Robba and I extend our deepest sympathies to his family--both his 
loved ones, which includes one of my staff members, Chelsey Ladd, his 
cousin, and his brothers and sisters in blue.
  May God bless Allan Weber. May we praise him for the life he lived, 
and may we look to him as a role model to try to do what he has done.
  I offer my condolences and respect, on behalf of the U.S. Senate, to 
the family of Sheriff Allan Weber.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kennedy). The Senator from Maine.


                              Coronavirus

  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, later tonight, the Senate will vote on 
comprehensive legislation to fund the government throughout the 
remainder of fiscal year 2021 and to provide additional, long-overdue 
funding to address the ongoing emergency needs of our country during 
the persistent COVID-19 pandemic.
  I am proud to have helped lead a bipartisan, bicameral coalition that 
literally worked night and day to develop a commonsense plan that 
provided the foundation for this final agreement.
  There are many important components of the package before us, 
including assistance for struggling families; additional funding for 
testing, vaccine distribution, and healthcare providers; resources to 
help our schools operate safely in a COVID environment; and aid for the 
Postal Service and for airlines, airports, mass transit, and motor 
coach companies that keep our country moving.
  I come to the floor tonight, however, to focus on one aspect of the 
agreement, and that is the extension and expansion of the Paycheck 
Protection Program, better known as PPP.
  As the Presiding Officer well knows, the PPP has been a critical 
lifeline for more than 5 million small employers, at one point helping 
to sustain the jobs of upwards of 50 million Americans. It was one of 
the most successful programs in the CARES Act. It was so successful 
that it went through the initial allotment of money in just 13 days, 
and then we had to pass additional legislation replenishing it.
  In the State of Maine, the PPP has provided nearly $2.3 billion in 
forgivable loans to 28,000 small businesses--that is 3 out of 4 of the 
small businesses in my State--and has helped sustain more than 250,000 
jobs.
  In its original form, the program provided one-time loans sufficient 
to support 8 weeks of payroll, plus a limited amount to help cover 
certain overhead expenses. All of this was completely forgivable as 
long as the borrowers retained and paid their employees and kept within 
the other parameters of the program. Our whole purpose was to help our 
small businesses save jobs and pay their workers, keeping the employer-
employee relationship alive so that they could reopen and Americans 
could quickly return to work when the pandemic subsided.
  When Chairman Marco Rubio and I, together with Senators Ben Cardin 
and Jeanne Shaheen, put the PPP together at the onset of the national 
emergency, none of us could have imagined that the pandemic would still 
be forcing shutdowns and curtailing operations and that extreme 
mitigation measures would be necessary these many months later. Yet, 
sadly, the virus is still spreading, and many of the steps taken to 
fight it, although they may be necessary to protect public health, 
threaten catastrophic damage to many of our small businesses and their 
employees--small businesses that have now spent their PPP loan funds 
but are still unable to return to normal operations.
  I talked with a restaurant owner in Bangor, ME, where I live, who 
told me that he, because of the size of his restaurant and to comply 
with the public health spacing and social distancing guidelines, can 
only have four tables a night. Because the Governor of Maine has 
imposed a 9 p.m. curfew, he can't turn over those tables to compensate

[[Page S7920]]

for the reduced number of people he can serve at one time. It is so 
tough, and I could hear the pain in his voice when he talked about 
having to lay off some of his longstanding staff in order to just stay 
alive.
  That is why the $284.5 billion provided in this bill to extend and 
expand the PPP is so vital. The program improvements in this bill are 
the result of months of work on the part of Chairman Rubio, Ranking 
Member Cardin, Senator Shaheen, and myself. I am pleased to see that so 
much of the Continuing the Paycheck Protection Program Act that 
Chairman Rubio and I introduced this fall is reflected in this final 
bill.
  The final bill also reflects the very hard work that our bipartisan, 
bicameral coalition put into assistance to small business. Senator 
Jeanne Shaheen and I had countless meetings, Zooms, and phone calls to 
work out the details in conjunction with the rest of the members of our 
group.
  I would like to take a moment to outline a few of the key features 
that are included in this package.
  First, the bill will allow the hardest hit small businesses to 
receive a second forgivable PPP loan. To ensure that assistance is 
targeted to those most in need, eligibility for these second loans is 
generally limited to small businesses with 300 or fewer employees that 
have seen their gross revenues drop by 25 percent in some quarter this 
year compared to an identical quarter in 2019.
  Second, recognizing the severe impact that the COVID-19 mitigation 
measures have had on our restaurants and hotels, the bill maintains the 
general terms for the loans for these entities but with an important 
enhancement. The maximum forgivable loan size for hotels and 
restaurants is increased to 3.5 times their average monthly payroll 
costs compared to 2.5 times for other borrowers. This increase in the 
loan amount will be so critical to the very survival of businesses like 
Simones' Hot Dog Stand and Restaurant in Lewiston, ME, and the Angler's 
Family Seafood Restaurant, which has locations in Hampden, Searsport, 
and Newport. These small businesses all received forgivable PPP loans 
during the first round, but, faced with continuing dining restrictions 
and a long, cold winter, they are really worried about their survival 
and about being able to retain and pay their valued employees.
  Third, forgivable expenses under the program are expanded in very 
commonsense ways. Supplier costs and investments in facility 
modifications and personal protective equipment needed to operate 
safely during the pandemic will now be part of the forgivable overhead 
expenses. This is especially important to restaurants struggling to 
adapt dining restrictions or to get a high-quality food supply because, 
through no fault of their own, they have fallen behind on their bills.
  Fourth, the bill extends the PPP to small 501(c)(6) organizations 
that are not lobbying groups and that have 300 or fewer employees, such 
as local chambers of commerce and economic development organizations.
  Fifth--and I want to give credit to our colleague Senator Cramer for 
this concept--the bill greatly simplifies the loan forgiveness process 
for small borrowers with loans of no more than $150,000 and directs the 
Small Business Administration and the Treasury Department to develop a 
simplified loan forgiveness form for these borrowers. I remember when 
the first form came out and it was 14 pages long and so complicated 
that you would need an advanced degree in economics or a CPA to help 
you figure it out, even if you had a very small loan.
  The bill, to guard against fraud and abuse, also provides the SBA 
with $50 million in additional audit funding.
  Finally, the bill sets aside funding for smaller businesses and 
borrowers in underserved communities to ensure that they get the help 
they need through, for example, CDFIs and minority business 
associations and depository institutions. It also includes $25 million 
for the Minority Business Development Agency.
  Mr. President, the Paycheck Protection Program is the result of a 
bipartisan commitment to support our small businesses and their 
employees, to keep them afloat, the businesses afloat, and the 
employees paid during this pandemic. It has been by any measure a 
tremendous success, but many of these hardest hit small businesses 
require more help now in order to survive, and this bill aims to 
provide that help.
  Before I close, I want to talk briefly about another provision of the 
bill, and that is the grant assistance provided for live venues, 
museums, and movie theaters. Let me make clear that I support funding 
for our community-based live venues. I know they have really been hurt. 
They have had to cancel their seasons. They have lost all their ticket 
revenues. They are in real danger.
  I have enjoyed these throughout Maine, like the Ogunquit Playhouse 
and the Center Theater for the Performing Arts in Dover-Foxcroft. They 
are the heart and soul of our smaller communities.
  I was disappointed to see that the final bill had stripped provisions 
from our bipartisan, bicameral group that we included in our package to 
try to keep the focus of these grants on these smaller entities. 
Specifically, our proposal would have limited the grant amounts that 
related entities could receive to no more than $10 million and excluded 
museums with endowments larger than $75 million--commonsense 
safeguards. Now, I do appreciate that the legislation sets aside $2 
billion for entities with 50 employees or fewer, but I am concerned 
that, as drafted, many venues and museums with significant endowments 
and other resources could be the largest beneficiaries of this section 
because of the safeguards that were stripped out by the negotiators.
  For example, a museum in New York City, say, with a billion-dollar 
endowment could receive an outright grant as long as the museum has an 
auditorium and meets the other eligibility requirements. That surely 
does not seem like an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars to me and was 
clearly designed to help large city venues that will survive without 
our help.
  Nevertheless, I am pleased to support this package. This COVID relief 
is vitally needed for our struggling families, for our hard-hit small 
businesses, for our challenged schools, for our stressed healthcare 
system, to promote the distribution of the vaccine and more testing, 
and to help our overwhelmed Postal Service. I urge support for the 
package.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to complete my 
remarks before the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection.


                        Year-End Acknowledgments

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, with the Senate poised to complete some 
major business for the country and wrap up a most unusual year, I want 
to express some gratitude to the men and women behind the scenes who 
make our work possible.
  Passing a historic rescue package and a full-year funding bill would 
be a serious undertaking even in ordinary circumstances. And, of 
course, this pandemic year has brought anything but ordinary 
circumstances to the Senate, just like everywhere else.
  For about 10 months and counting, COVID-19 has imposed new challenges 
on hundreds of people who are already plenty busy enough.
  After much of the Senate worked remotely in April, we came back to 
work in early May--like the essential institution that we are. Month 
after month, we have taken smart and careful precautions and remained 
an exemplary safe workplace. All along, we have not just continued to 
govern but completed landmark confirmations and historic legislation 
for the American people. None of this would have been possible without 
many people beyond the 100 of us with our names on these desks.
  I want to thank the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, led by 
Julie Adams and Mary Suit Jones. This team encompasses everyone from 
the talented professionals who sit on the dais to the Official 
Reporters of Debate, to Disbursing and many other offices.
  Thanks to our Parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, who faithfully 
calls the balls and strikes. She won the admiration of our temporary 
presider, Chief Justice Roberts, before we reclaimed her as the 
Senate's own.
  Thanks also to Senate Sergeant At Arms--Mike Stenger and Jennifer

[[Page S7921]]

Hemingway and their whole team, from the doorkeepers to the IT team 
that stood up enormous telework capabilities almost overnight, to the 
workers who clean offices, move furniture, and keep this place running 
in hundreds of ways.
  Our Architect of the Capitol, Brett Blanton, assumed his role just 
before the pandemic hit. He never missed a beat. His team tackled 
cleaning in a way that exceeded industry standards, reconceived the 
food services, and, again, physically kept the Capitol functioning.
  Of course, very special thanks are due to our Attending Physician, 
Dr. Brian Monahan, and the entire team he leads. Believe me, they 
already had a full-time job caring for Members of Congress and the 
Supreme Court. We have leaned on Dr. Monahan in countless ways all year 
long. His expertise and wise counsel have been a credit to the Senate 
throughout the pandemic.
  Here in the Chamber, I want to thank our cloakroom teams, led by Gary 
Myrick on the Democratic side and Robert Duncan on ours. Duncan had 
only just stepped into his current role when the crisis began to 
unfold. He navigated about 10 years' worth of big challenges in his 
first 10 months in the top job. Thanks to him and his capable deputy, 
Chris Tuck.
  Another key group these past months has been our Rules Committee, led 
by Chairman Blunt and his staff director, Fitzhugh Elder. The committee 
has run point on coordinating many of the changes and adaptions that 
have helped keep this body safe. They have done an outstanding job 
without enough recognition or thanks.
  We are grateful to the men and women of the Capitol Police, led by 
Chief Steven Sund, who have stood their posts even when most of the 
rest of us have worked remotely. They have stood strong during this 
pandemic, during protests both peaceful and otherwise, and during the 
other daily operations that they handle with courage and 
professionalism.
  Across the board, I want to thank all of our Senate staff. Both the 
smaller footprint who have continued physically working at the Capitol 
and those who kept up their hard work remotely have confronted all 
kinds of novel challenges. Our institution and our country are grateful 
to you all.
  Last but not least, I want to thank my own team. My personal office, 
led by departing chief of staff Phil Maxson, has fought every day for 
Kentuckians' needs and priorities throughout this crisis. Our State 
offices, steered by Terry Carmack, kept us connected to our 
constituents in new ways. My communications director, Robert, Steurer, 
and all their colleagues who staff these operations are invaluable to 
me and to Kentucky.
  Here in the Capitol, my leadership staff has given an incredible 
amount of themselves to me, to our team, and to the Senate the entire 
year.
  Remember, this is somehow still the same calendar year that began 
with an impeachment trial, continued through the CARES Act, other major 
legislation over the summer, a Supreme Court vacancy and confirmation 
this fall, and finally the all-out legislative sprint since 
Thanksgiving.
  First, my two deputy chiefs of staff. Stef Muchow runs our operations 
in an incredibly historically complex time to handle operations. She 
has worn about 10 different hats all year long--as usual. Scott Raab 
handles policy. He has led his colleagues through a legislative year 
like no other, from mammoth negotiations and historic rescue packages 
to our most particular priorities and everything in between. We have 
all leaned on Scott heavily, and he has been indispensable.
  Beneath them, within our operation, are a lot of talented folks I am 
lucky to have. I want to name them very briefly.
  My chief counsel, Andrew Ferguson, offers brilliant advice, from 
impeachment to policy to the judiciary.
  Robert Karem, my defense policy expert, has brought critical 
institutional leadership as 2020 tested everything from national 
security to continuity of government.
  Jane Lee handles her massive portfolio--and more besides--with 
incredible effectiveness and calm under fire, and she sings the best 
Christmas carols in the office.
  Terry Van Doren is a policy master who delivers for Kentucky and the 
country every time.
  Erica Suares and Jim Neill are expert liaisons and advisers who keep 
me connected inside the Senate and beyond.
  Steve Donaldson has been my point man for all things election law 
during this election year.
  John Chapuis is a seasoned Senate veteran who picked quite the time 
to join our team and cover economic policy.
  Jody Wright fights to get good people in good positions with good 
cheer.
  Andy Quinn is a master of words and ideas.
  David Popp heads my press team. He, Doug Andres, Scott Sloofman, and 
their whole operation keep my message and the Republican conference's 
message front and center.
  Sarah Steinberg manages my days, and Alex Jenkins manages my office--
both with great humor and even greater professionalism.
  Moon Sulfab keeps our technology systems running and our spirits 
high.
  I have to mention our healthcare expert Jen Kuskowski, who worked 
remotely this spring while expecting her baby boy and has been cheering 
us on while on maternity leave. We can't wait to get her back.
  Thanks to Grace Graham and Peter Oppenheim, whom Senator Alexander 
generously shared from his HELP Committee staff to help us in Jen's 
absence.
  Rounding out our leadership team are crack researchers Robert Utsey 
and David Hauptmann; skilled communicators Dylan Vorbach, Valerie 
Chicola, Suzanne Youngblood, Emily Hauck, and Katherine Grayson.
  Our frontline troops, the jacks-of-all-trades who keep everybody in 
line, are Victoria Mason, Elise Stebick, and Spencer Abraham.
  Finally, at the head of this entire team is our fearless leader, our 
chief of staff, Sharon Soderstrom. Everybody on Capitol Hill and 
everybody in Washington knows that Sharon is one of the smartest, most 
dedicated, and most effective staff leaders working at any level in any 
branch of government. She is my first call and my last call on every 
subject. She was in the leader's office before I was. She supported 
both Trent Lott and Bill Frist. So I count my blessings on a daily 
basis that I am lucky No. 3. Sharon bears the weight of the world on 
her shoulders and not only delivers but somehow prioritizes lightening 
everybody else's load while she is at it--a walking master class in 
leadership.
  I am proud of all that we have accomplished for the country in this 
challenging year, and I couldn't be gladder to be heading into 2021 
with these talented professionals at my side. So I thank them, Mr. 
President. I thank them, one and all.


                       Vote on Soskin Nomination

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is, Will the Senate advise and 
consent to the Soskin nomination?
  Mr. McCONNELL. 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 legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi), the Senator from Georgia (Mrs. Loeffler), the 
Senator from Georgia (Mr. Perdue), and the Senator from South Dakota 
(Mr. Rounds). -
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Ms. Harris) 
is necessarily absent.
  The result was announced--yeas 48, nays 47, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 288 Ex.]

                                YEAS--48

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Romney
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--47

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey

[[Page S7922]]


     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
     Harris
     Loeffler
     Perdue
     Rounds
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

                          ____________________