[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on the American Rescue Plan, as early
as tonight, the Senate will move to take up the American Rescue Plan, a
bill designed to immediately deliver help to American families,
workers, and businesses struggling under the weight of the pandemic and
to lay the foundation for our Nation's recovery, so needed.
Every day, we see signs of hope and signs of caution in our fight
against the COVID pandemic. As of today, in good part because the Biden
administration is really doing a good job, over 78 million doses of the
COVID vaccine have been administered in the country and over 100
million have been shipped--well ahead of the rosiest expectations at
the start of the year. Just yesterday, President Biden announced that
there will be enough vaccines for every adult in the United States by
the end of May--by the end of May--far sooner than most had thought.
Again, President Biden and his team are doing a great job in moving the
vaccine out quickly but fairly.
Still, the United States averages 66,000 cases of COVID per week.
That exceeds anything we saw last summer during the worst months of the
spread. So we cannot relax, and the need for the legislation that is
before us is stronger than ever before.
It is a similar story with the economy. There are green shoots, but
unemployment is still over 6 percent and 9 percent for African
Americans. The economy has lost 10 million jobs compared to a year ago.
Tens of millions of Americans report being thousands of dollars behind
in rent and utilities. As Treasury Secretary Yellen and Federal Reserve
Chair Powell have repeatedly warned us, our economy and its recovery
remain deeply uncertain.
There are bumps but mainly because of the stimulus bills we have
done. We did a bill in March, and the May and June numbers looked
pretty good but then sunk again over the summer and fall. We did a bill
in December, and the January numbers looked pretty good. But that is
not evidence that the economy is able to sustain things on its own;
that is evidence that the Federal Government needs to continue its role
to get us back on track.
We have come a long way, but we have a long way to go. The American
Rescue Plan is designed to build on our early progress and finish the
job, to help our country get through the final months of the crisis and
then, equally important, bring our economy roaring back.
We cannot go through the situation we did back in 2009, where the
stimulus wasn't strong enough and we stayed in recession for years. So
just because the numbers are not as bad as they were doesn't mean we
don't need a continued strong push to get us out of this ditch and go
upward and forward.
Now, we had always hoped that this very important work would be
bipartisan. Regrettably, it seems that too many of our Republican
colleagues are resorting to the same predictable objections they raise
about nearly every proposal supported by a Democrat. It doesn't matter
what is in the bill; everything my colleagues oppose is ``a liberal
wish list''. That is what many of them call it.
Let me tell you, this bill is not a liberal wish list; this is an
American wish list. When people want checks to help them get out of the
morass, that is not a liberal wish list; that is what the American
people want. It is an American wish list. When people want resources to
open schools quickly and safely, that is not a liberal wish list; that
is an American wish list. When people want assistance for the hardest-
hit small businesses, that is not a liberal wish list; that is an
American wish list. Funding to keep teachers, firefighters, transit
workers, first responders in Red States and Blue on the job, it is not
a liberal wish list; it is an American wish list.
So many of the people affected by this bill are not liberals or
Democrats. They may be Republicans, they may be Independents, they may
be conservatives, but they are Americans who want some help to get out
of this morass.
Money to expand the testing and speed of the distribution of
vaccines, the cornerstone of ending this crisis once and for all--that
is not a liberal wish list; that is an American wish list. Everyone
wants the vaccine out there. Direct checks, as I mentioned, as promised
to Americans struggling to keep up with expenses, to buy their
groceries, medicine, to pay the rent and utilities--that is not a
liberal wish list; that is an American wish list.
I would ask my Republican colleagues to go ask their constituents
which of these things their constituents oppose. None. That is what the
data shows.
The American Rescue Plan will be the single largest anti-poverty bill
in recent history, with crucial assistance for American families,
particularly those struggling with the cost of childcare. It will give
tax breaks for low-income workers, so when they work hard, they can
afford the necessities of life.
So these things are ``the liberal wish list'' that Republicans are
talking about--support for schools and jobs and families and workers
and the vaccine? No way.
Ironically, the ``liberal wish list'' includes a whole bunch of
bipartisan amendments that were accepted, including provisions to help
restaurants, sponsored by Senators Sinema and Wicker; a vaccine public
awareness program, sponsored by Senators Cardin and Portman; and a
provision to better target direct payments, sponsored by Senators
Manchin and Collins.
Make no mistake, the American Rescue Plan is a very, very strong bill
that will move our country forward in amazing ways. It should come as
no surprise that support of the American Rescue Plan is coming from all
over the country.
Hundreds of business leaders--not the most liberal bunch--have urged
Congress to pass this bill. More than 435 mayors and State leaders,
Democrats and Republicans, have said the same: They want the bill. As
one Republican mayor from Michigan put it, ``The need is real, and not
just in Democratic communities.'' He went on to tell his fellow
Republicans in Washington who oppose the bill to ``talk to some of the
Republican mayors.''
But if my Republican colleagues here in the Senate don't want to
listen to the words of their fellow Republican mayors and Governors,
they can look at the polls, which show the vast majority of Americans,
including a majority of Republicans, support this bill.
It seems like the only people who are dead set against this bill are
Republican Senators--not Republicans out in the country, not Republican
mayors, not Republican businesspeople, not Republican small businesses.
I guess all of this should be expected. COVID-19 is not a Red State
or a Blue State crisis. Our Republican friends should know that. It is
not a Democratic or Republican concern. They should know that too.
COVID-19 is a menace to all of us, and we should be banding together to
fight.
The economic crisis has affected all of us, and the plan that we are
going to vote on this week is going to provide real, robust relief for
all of us.
Whatever our Republican colleagues decide to do, the Senate majority
is intent on going forward and helping the American people with bold
action quickly.
I yield the floor.
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