[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 27, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S158]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on COVID, as I mentioned yesterday, 
the Senate will soon begin the process of considering legislation to 
help the country defeat COVID-19 and provide relief to those Americans 
who are still suffering great economic hardship.
  There has been a lot of action in Washington recently. We inaugurated 
a new President, a new administration is getting off the ground, and an 
impeachment trial of the former President will commence in a few weeks. 
But COVID-19 hasn't gone anywhere, unfortunately. Americans are still 
losing their jobs. American businesses are still closing. Americans are 
still getting sick. Americans are still dying.
  The needs in our country are still great, and the Congress must 
pursue a bold and robust course of action to defeat the disease and get 
our country back to normal. We must not--we must not--repeat the 
mistakes of 2008 and 2009, when Congress was too timid and constrained 
in its response to the global financial crisis.
  The Congressional Budget Office has told us last fall that COVID-19, 
the pandemic, has taken more than $17 trillion out of our economy--$17 
trillion out of the economy. The danger of undershooting our response 
to COVID-19 is far greater than overshooting it. So Congress must 
pursue a bold response to the prevailing crisis of our time.
  Here in the Senate, we want that work to be bipartisan. Let me say 
that again. We want the next legislative response to COVID-19 to be 
bipartisan. We want to work with our Republican colleagues, if we can, 
to include their ideas and input if they will offer them. That is our 
preference. But if our Republican colleagues decide to oppose the 
necessary, robust COVID relief that is needed, we will have to move 
forward without them. It is not our preference, but dealing with this 
crisis in a bold and sufficient way is a necessity. The Senate is going 
to respond to the country's needs and deliver help to the American 
people fast.

                          ____________________