[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1012-S1015]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST--S. RES. 88

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, America is in crisis. Today, 
the Federal debt sits at a staggering $27 trillion, and it has grown by 
more than $4 trillion in just the last year. Now, Congress is debating 
whether to spend another $1.9 trillion, raising our debt to nearly $30 
trillion.
  Less than 10 percent of this massive $1.9 trillion package actually 
goes directly to COVID relief, and just 1 percent is dedicated to 
vaccine-related programs. The rest is filled with wasteful liberal 
priorities.
  Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer, bridges and tunnels have no 
business being included in a COVID relief bill. It is shameful. Only in 
Washington can people throw these numbers and ideas

[[Page S1013]]

around without a care for what it means for our future. It is 
dangerous, and it is time to get serious.
  Congress has the responsibility to thoroughly review how every single 
tax dollar is spent by the Federal Government and make sure we are 
spending wisely. Sadly, this is rare behavior in Washington. Congress 
spends with reckless abandon and rarely considers how today's 
foolishness will impact our children and grandchildren, and we are 
seeing President Biden and Senate Democrats continue this dangerous 
behavior. For them, the Obama-era thinking of ``Never let a crisis go 
to waste'' is alive and well.
  Estimates show that there is roughly $1 trillion in enacted but 
unspent COVID-19 stimulus funding. Last month, I wrote to President 
Biden's Acting Director for the Office of Management and Budget 
requesting any documents related to enacted but currently unspent 
COVID-19 stimulus funding. The response: None. Total silence.
  Here is what that means: The Senate has no idea how States are 
spending their allocated funds, and we don't know what the actual needs 
are. It would be completely irresponsible and an abdication of our duty 
as stewards of American tax dollars if the Senate continues to approve 
further spending without more information.
  That is why my colleagues and I are introducing a resolution calling 
on President Biden to inform the Senate of how much unspent funds are 
left over from the previous COVID spending bills. We want to be very 
clear. This resolution only asks for information from the President 
that will help the Senate make an informed decision.
  I am proud to be joined today by Senator Lankford and Senator Ernst 
to ask for transparency.
  It is pretty simple. Ever since the pandemic started, I have wanted 
the Federal Government to step in and help those who are hurting and 
have lost their jobs. I will completely agree that we need to do more 
to help families and small businesses that continue to suffer from the 
impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. Relief is needed, but it has to be 
targeted. We have to consider our debt and do only what is necessary 
for those in need.
  I grew up in public housing and watched my parents struggle to find 
work and make ends meet. I saw my dad's car get repossessed twice. I 
never want a family to go through what mine did growing up. But before 
another dollar is spent, especially dollars going to liberal 
initiatives that have nothing to do with COVID relief, there needs to 
be a full and clear accounting of all enacted but unspent funding. The 
decisions we make today have serious impacts on our children and 
grandchildren.
  But before I continue, I yield to my colleagues from Iowa and 
Oklahoma and thank them for their effort.
  I now yield to Senator Ernst.
  Ms. ERNST. Thank you to the Senator from Florida as well and for 
sharing his personal story and why it is so important that we have 
transparency on bills like this COVID package.
  Over the course of the pandemic, Congress has worked together--
Republicans and Democrats--to pass five overwhelmingly bipartisan bills 
providing COVID-19 relief to the American people, and I think we would 
all agree that that relief was much needed.
  Now, in March, we passed the largest stimulus package in American 
history. And just a few months ago, we passed the second largest. But 
what the Democrats aren't telling you is that much of the $900 billion 
we passed in the most recent relief package, and even some of the CARES 
Act money, has yet to be spent. And, frankly, folks, we don't even know 
exactly who has spent what money Congress has doled out over the last 
year.
  I have long said, the American taxpayer deserves to know where and 
how their money is being spent. Bottom line, we need transparency and 
to know what has and has not been spent so far.
  This commonsense effort will help us get this information. Until we 
have those details, we should not continue throwing money to Washington 
bureaucrats, and we certainly should not support this partisan $1.9 
trillion package that includes many items that are completely unrelated 
to COVID-19.
  I agree with my colleagues that there is more that we can do to help 
expedite the vaccine distribution and promote access to childcare so 
our parents can return to work. But, folks, this is not Monopoly money. 
This is real money.
  We have a moral obligation to our future generations to spend 
responsibly. Iowans and all Americans deserve transparency before we 
add trillions of dollars to their tab.
  With that, I will yield to the Senator from Oklahoma.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Oklahoma
  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, Senator Scott, Senator Ernst, and I 
are not trying to ask for something that the American people aren't 
already asking for as well and, quite frankly, the Senate and this 
White House haven't already said that they wanted to be able to do: 
basic transparency, efficient spending.
  It is Wednesday afternoon right now. We are about to take up a bill 
for, we think, $1.9 trillion. And I say ``we think'' because none of us 
has seen the text of this bill yet, not one of us on either side of the 
aisle. And the debate was supposed to begin on it today, but none of us 
has seen the text for this.
  Supposedly, we are supposed to start voting on it tomorrow night, 
though no one has seen the text of the bill yet. In addition to that, 
last year, this Congress, on a bipartisan basis, passed five COVID 
relief bills totaling over $4 trillion. Every dollar of that $4 
trillion was borrowed, every dollar. None of that was budgeted. But 
there was bipartisan agreement as we walked through the process to 
determine that this is an emergency; this is a global pandemic. To help 
stabilize our economy from going into free fall, we have to do some 
very difficult things. But in the middle of all of that, we also said 
we don't need to borrow a dollar more than what we need to borrow. 
Let's borrow what we need to but not more than we need to.
  Interestingly enough, of the five bills and $4 trillion that was 
allocated for COVID last year, only $3 trillion of that $4 trillion has 
actually been spent yet. We still have over $1 trillion unspent of the 
money from last year.
  But before that last trillion dollars, which imagine just how big 
that really is--to give you an example, every single Agency in the 
Federal Government, the total budget for a year, is $1 trillion. So 
this ``little $1 trillion'' that is left would cover the total budget 
for every Agency in the Federal Government for all of next year.
  With this $1 trillion that is still unspent, the Biden administration 
and my Democratic colleagues are saying: We want an additional $2 
trillion. Basically, near the end of the pandemic, they want a bill as 
large as what we had the very first month of the pandemic a year ago, 
when we knew we were in economic free fall.
  All we are asking are a couple of things: One is, hey, can we read 
the bill? No. 2, can we get real numbers of what is unspent and 
anything that is unspent that we can reallocate for something in the 
future? Let me give you an example. The best I can tell, we have about 
$6 billion still left in the vaccine line item left over from last 
year--$6 billion just for vaccine, and that is vaccine purchases. There 
is another $17 billion left over just for all the distribution process 
for vaccines. That is a lot of money.
  Just yesterday, President Biden announced we will have all the 
vaccines available for every adult in America by the end of May. It is 
paid for, set aside, ready to go. Yet this bill that I understand is 
coming tomorrow--maybe later today--has tens of billions of dollars 
more in vaccine money. Why are there tens of billions of dollars more 
in vaccine money, when just yesterday the President announced we have 
all the purchases done all the way through toward the end of May to 
vaccinate every adult in America? And there are billions of dollars 
still left over in the two vaccine accounts even after that. Why are we 
asking for tens of billions of dollars more? Where is that money going? 
That shouldn't be an unreasonable question. That should be a question 
everybody should ask. Why are we asking for tens of billions of dollars 
more in vaccine money when we have already purchased everything related 
to vaccines? Is this foreign aid vaccines? We don't know.
  There is $170 billion being requested for education expenses. All of 
us want to take care of education, but $170 billion is twice as much as 
what the

[[Page S1014]]

American people spend on education in a year. The total education 
budget is $67 billion for the entire year for all of the Federal 
education budget--$67 billion. This is now very close to three times 
what the annual budget is for all of spending just for COVID. And, by 
the way, still unspent in the education amount from last year's budget, 
we understand, is about $68 billion. So there is still $68 billion 
unallocated in education entities that hasn't even been touched yet.
  Hey, listen, before everybody jumps up and says, you Republicans are 
just being a blockade, can we just ask a question? How much money is 
unspent, and what is the money going toward that we are asking for? 
That shouldn't be an unreasonable question. That should be a reasonable 
question. We are not trying to be obstructionists; we are just trying 
to get information.
  And, quite frankly, when our team calls over to the White House and 
says: Can you give us the details of what is unspent in this amount--I 
know it is early in their Presidency, and they are still getting 
organized, but most of the time their answer is: We will get back to 
you, and they never do.
  We need to know what is still left over of this $1 trillion that has 
already been allocated before we allocate another $2 trillion, knowing 
every single dollar of that is borrowed from China or somewhere else.
  This is a real issue. We should resolve this before we move to 
spending another $2 trillion. And I thank very much Senator Scott for 
his leadership in this area and asking some very basic questions.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The junior Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I thank Senator Lankford and 
Senator Ernst.
  Passing this resolution will show the American people that Congress 
can be both responsive to the needs of American families and small 
businesses hurt by this pandemic while also remaining fully accountable 
for the proper stewardship of tax dollars.
  This is about basic transparency and getting the facts. If this 
resolution passes and the administration shares the information I have 
been requesting, it will go a long way in helping Congress craft a 
targeted bill that directly addresses the real needs in our Nation 
today.
  I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration 
of S. Res. 88, submitted earlier today. I further ask that the 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the 
motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with 
no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I reserve the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan
  Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I certainly appreciate the Senator from 
Florida's interest in oversight of the coronavirus emergency relief 
funds. This funding has been and continues to be critical to the 
American people throughout the pandemic.
  I also appreciate the Senator's support for the creation of the 
Pandemic Response Accountability Committee when he voted for the CARES 
Act. This was a provision that I authored to ensure that we would have 
strong oversight of coronavirus relief dollars.
  I agree wholeheartedly that we must be faithful stewards of taxpayer 
money. That is why the CARES Act directed the Government Accountability 
Office, our congressional watchdog, to oversee coronavirus spending. We 
are fortunate to receive consistent, detailed reporting and 
recommendations on these issues. The Senator's resolution, however, 
will not strengthen these oversight mechanisms, nor will it deliver any 
form of relief to families who are hurting and small businesses that 
are struggling.
  If the Senator from Florida wants an update on the current status of 
funding from previous coronavirus relief bills, I am happy to provide 
one to him.
  Let's first look at the first coronavirus relief measures, all of 
which were passed in March and April of last year. To date, 
approximately 93 percent of those funds have been obligated and 88 
percent have been outlaid. After accounting for benefits that are, by 
design, continuing to be paid out over time, there is less than $100 
billion of uncommitted funds left, and approximately half of that is in 
the Provider Relief Fund for struggling medical providers, whose needs 
continue to be extremely high.
  For the legislation signed into law on December 27, 2020, more than 
half of this funding has already been committed, but if we set aside 
expanded unemployment benefits, which expire next month; small business 
relief; and the tax credit portion of the economic impact payments, 
which will be disbursed over time, less than 12 percent of the funding 
from December remains unobligated.
  We know the status of funds from past COVID relief bills. This 
information is not being kept secret in any way. In addition to reports 
from the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee and the Government 
Accountability Office, we have a monthly SF 133 report from the Office 
of Management and Budget.
  Coronavirus-related spending is also publicly tracked--publicly 
tracked--on both USASpending.gov and on the website of the Pandemic 
Response Accountability Committee.
  We don't need more reports right now; we need action. We have been 
fighting a public health and economic crisis, neither of which will 
magically disappear without additional Federal action. We can't wait 
until more small businesses close or hospitals run into the red. We 
know how badly Americans are hurting, and they are hurting right now.
  We are a full year into this pandemic that has taken the lives of 
over 515,000 Americans. And this pandemic is not over. It is continuing 
to ravage communities all across our Nation.
  Let's look at where we are right now. Upwards of 2,000 Americans are 
dying each and every day. Daily cases are at the same levels we saw 
during the last surge in July, with over 50,000 Americans testing 
positive for COVID-19 every day. We are also facing the new threat of 
emerging variants like the UK and South African strains, which 
unfortunately could lead to even more cases.
  The economic toll continues to go on. Millions of Americans remain 
out of work. In January, the unemployment rate was nearly double that 
of prepandemic levels, and unemployment claims are still more than 
double prepandemic levels. We all have friends, family members, and 
neighbors who are hurting right now. Small businesses have had to slash 
their hours, cutting into their own bottom line and employees' 
paychecks.
  We need to help struggling families by providing rental assistance, 
stimulus checks, and unemployment benefits. We need to help kids by 
supporting our schools so we can get back to in-person learning. We 
need to invest in the public health infrastructure necessary to combat 
this virus by increasing testing capacity, implementing vaccine 
education campaigns, and tracking and containing the new COVID variants 
that we see springing up.
  We are starting to see a glimpse of light at the end of this very 
long--far too long--tunnel, but we must keep moving forward. The 
American Rescue Plan will finally allow us to control the virus, 
improve the lives of all Americans, and get us out of this crisis.
  We should not be wasting time on partisan resolutions that will 
neither deliver relief nor meaningfully improve oversight of COVID 
relief efforts. We must come together and provide the relief that 
families and small businesses all across our country so desperately 
need.
  Madam President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The junior Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, I am extremely disappointed in 
my colleague's decision to block this resolution. My colleagues and I 
wouldn't be doing this resolution if we were receiving the information 
that my colleague said we were receiving.
  This has nothing to do with whether Senate Republicans want to 
provide relief. We want to provide relief. We want to do it in a 
targeted manner, and we want to make sure that we don't waste taxpayer 
dollars.
  This objection just blocked the Senate from requesting basic 
information

[[Page S1015]]

that will help us do our basic jobs. Senate Democrats just objected to 
transparency. This means they are against giving us the facts, against 
ensuring accountability, and against getting targeted help to the right 
people. My colleague is choosing to prevent the Senate from receiving 
information that is pertinent to our ongoing negotiations.
  Senate Republicans believe in relief of those hurt by COVID-19. We 
want to help our small businesses. We want to help those who have lost 
their jobs. We want to make sure families are able to survive this 
crisis and come out on the other side with their health and livelihood.
  My colleague's objection shows that Senate Democrats are not actually 
interested in finding a bipartisan solution to our Nation's problems. 
Instead, they want to blindly spend money on provisions completely 
unrelated to COVID, as if there are no consequences to racking up more 
debt and spending beyond our means.
  I am thinking about the kids who are just like me, growing up in 
public housing, with parents who are barely scraping by. We need to 
help those families. In order to do that, we need to better understand 
where the need is.
  I am disappointed in my colleague's decision, and I hope he 
reconsiders.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from Utah.

                          ____________________