[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 221 (Tuesday, December 29, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7965-S7966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there was then the drama around the COVID-
19 relief bill.
  It was hard to describe what we went through in the last week to 10 
days with messages from the White House. I wish that the President and 
those around him, advising him, would have called to mind the 335,000 
Americans who have lost their lives due to this deadly pandemic and the 
many more who have lost a family member, friend, or loved one. In 
Illinois, we have lost 16,000 lives to COVID-19--tragic, historic. I 
extend my deepest condolences to the friends and families of those who 
have died or who are fighting this virus. Many are my friends.
  More than 121,000 Americans spent last night in the hospital--a grim 
new record of hospitalizations as our heroic nurses and doctors face 
unrelenting stress from this crisis. I just think, as I reflect on the 
interviews of these men and women who are on the frontline of 
healthcare, how stoic they usually are, how controlled they usually 
are, and how they are losing it now. With the overwhelming numbers they 
are facing and the terrible prospect of someone's dying with a member 
of the family being unable to even enter the room in the last minutes 
of one's life has got to be heartbreaking on a scale that none of us 
can imagine. Think about doing that every single day. They have done 
it. I will tell you we will never be able to repay them with our 
gratitude. They are true American heroes.
  Many of us returned to Washington this week. As I said, we are 
celebrating the holidays in a fashion like never before with social 
distancing, Zooms, FaceTime, and calls with family and loved ones. It 
is no substitute for the kids being there to open their gifts on 
Christmas morning, but it is the reality of what we face today.
  There is some hope on the horizon, and though I have been many times 
critical of the Trump administration, I do want to give the President 
credit for the Warp Speed Program. It is amazing, as I read the 
stories, of what they were able to achieve in discovering two vaccines 
that can treat Americans and people around the world and keep them safe 
as they face this coronavirus. It broke all the records in the 
discovery of these vaccines. As I read about it, I continue to be 
grateful and want to make sure America recognizes the doctors, the 
scientists, and the researchers.
  Barney Graham--I didn't know his name until yesterday--came out of a 
story published in the New Yorker. He works at the National Institutes 
of Health. He is given a great deal of credit for the breakthrough in 
the first two vaccines that have been approved. There are others just 
like him. I salute Dr. Francis Collins, of the National Institutes of 
Health, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, both of whom have become my friends over 
the years--and what a job they have done for America. So many more 
deserve recognition, and I hope there will be an opportunity to give it 
to them.
  The fact is, these doses of vaccines are starting to move across the 
country. Last week, Illinois--I am proud to say--led the Nation. I 
congratulated our Governor, J.B. Pritzker, yesterday. More than 100,000 
healthcare workers received their first shots last week. I asked him 
why we led, and he said: I don't know. We just put together our own 
program of distribution, and it worked. Thank goodness it did. Lives 
will be saved because of it, but there is so much more to do.
  Progress in administering the vaccine has been slow as we still 
struggle to reach the hardest hit areas. The rosy projections from the 
administration have not come to fruition yet, but the fact is, we have 
two viable vaccines. That is miraculous. I look forward to the new 
administration's--the Biden administration's--new management in this 
effort, and I am glad Congress came together to pass a relief bill that 
included $30 billion for vaccine development and distribution.
  When the President said he wasn't going to sign this bill, I thought: 
How can he say that? He should be taking credit, rightfully, for the 
Warp Speed Program and his role in seeing that program move forward 
instead of complicating the distribution of the vaccines by threatening 
to veto the bill. Fortunately, for us, in the end, he signed the bill.

  On Sunday evening, the President signed the bipartisan annual 
spending bill and the COVID-19 relief bill. There were complaints about 
the size of the bill. Well, the entire Federal budget was included in 
that bill, as well as the COVID-19 relief undertaking, as well as many 
other bills, such as the Water Resources Development Act. All of these 
are major pieces of legislation, and they were combined in one bill 
that went way beyond 5,000 pages.
  Unfortunately, the President delayed in signing the bill and created 
needless uncertainty in America, particularly among the unemployed and 
others who are suffering from this public health and economic crisis. 
This agreement provides much needed support for many of them, but they 
will have some delay in receiving their checks because of the 
President's period of indecision. Enhanced unemployment benefits of 
$300 a week and an extension of the unemployment program, created under 
the CARES Act, through March 14 will bring more relief to many millions 
of families.
  Possibly the largest single item in the COVID relief bill--$325 
billion--went to provide our Nation's ailing small businesses another 
chance at survival. The Paycheck Protection Program worked in the 
initial CARES Act, and it was renewed in this undertaking.
  An extension of the Federal eviction moratorium through January 2021, 
coupled with $25 billion in emergency rental assistance, will literally 
mean that people will not be evicted right after Christmas. 
Approximately, $850 million is going to Illinois to help keep families 
in their homes during this pandemic.
  The 15-percent increase in nutrition assistance is certainly needed. 
It goes through the SNAP program, which was historically known as food 
stamps, to make sure that families have something on the table. I can 
tell you that I woke up this morning in Springfield, IL, to look at the 
front page of the newspaper and learn that an anonymous donor had given 
our local food bank $500,000. The people at the food bank were, of 
course, appreciative and said they desperately needed it in my hometown 
and towns all across America. This increase in food stamp assistance is 
long overdue, and I am glad it was included.
  The bill includes a number of important measures, but we have to go 
to work to make sure that we deal with the sharp turn of an emergency 
response to this bill and do more. We address the needs required to 
respond to this pandemic immediately, but more will follow. It was a 
tough negotiation and an honest compromise, and I was happy to be part 
of a bipartisan group of Senators who may have gotten the ball 
rolling--at least we think we did--in order to hand it over to the 
leaders to finish the job. I think what we have achieved, on a 
bipartisan basis, was largely included in the final bill, and it 
addressed the major elements that were necessary.

[[Page S7966]]

  One of the most important items that Congress failed to reach 
agreement on was funding for State and local governments. States and 
localities are struggling with increased costs and decreased revenues 
due to the pandemic. By this summer, my home State of Illinois will 
have lost more than $5 billion in revenues. I can tell you that this is 
going to cause pain and cutbacks. This is not money that was lost in 
our pension system, which has its own share of troubles; it is money 
that was directly attributable to the downturn in revenues because of 
the COVID-19 pandemic. It isn't just happening in Illinois; it is 
happening all around the country--in red and blue States. Our 
neighboring State of Kentucky, to the south of us, is facing the same 
hardships we are.
  Federal funding for States and localities needs to be done for our 
great cities and great States that are struggling, and I certainly hope 
that the next President, when he is sworn in on January 20, will take 
this up as one of his highest priorities. Our Nation's economic 
recovery is slowed down by budget cuts that will be necessary in States 
and localities because of this cutback in revenues.
  Now, the most widely discussed measure of the COVID-19 relief bill is 
a second round of economic impact payments. Just yesterday, the House 
of Representatives passed the CASH Act, which is a measure that would 
increase the direct payments to individuals--adults and children--from 
$600 to $2,000 for those who earn less than $75,000 a year. The measure 
passed in the House by a vote of 275 to 174. Over the past several 
months, we have heard time and again from economists that we run the 
risk of doing too little, which far outweighs the risk of doing too 
much when it comes to this economic recovery.
  The head of the Federal Reserve, Chairman Powell, has really 
instructed us to keep the foot on the accelerator so that our economy 
doesn't slump into a recession. At a time when so many American 
families are laid off, unemployed, and simply struggling to get by, 
there is nothing more invigorating to the economy than to have a cash 
infusion. Those with limited resources who are battling to pay bills 
turn around and spend that money quickly. They don't salt it away for 
some future rainy day. They need it now. That is why we should 
seriously consider this.
  By passing this enhanced measure, we can restore the American 
public's confidence in Washington and by the fact that we are listening 
and working together, on a bipartisan basis, to respond. This measure 
that passed the House of Representatives has the support of the 
President, Speaker Pelosi, House Democrats, as well as many House 
Republicans. Leader Schumer and my Senate Democratic colleagues support 
it. So I hope Senator McConnell--the Republican leader--and his 
colleagues in the Republican caucus will join us and allow us to pass 
this bill quickly this week. Let's step up to the plate and get this 
done. The American people have waited too long for this relief.
  I, for one, am proud of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for 
coming together and passing a meaningful relief bill, but the time for 
patting one another on the back is over. Let's finish the job. Let's 
make sure that we have this authorization bill for the Department of 
Defense and that we come to the rescue of our families across America 
who need defense against the vagaries of this pandemic and this 
economy. We can finally see a slight glimmer of light at the end of 
this tunnel. If we want to address the needs of Americans in crisis, it 
starts with passing this legislation.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered

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