[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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