[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 41 (Thursday, March 4, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1049-S1051]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I will try to be relatively brief here. I 
understand the bill is being printed now, and we will have a vote here 
fairly shortly.
  I just want to set the stage for my view--my point of view. I think I 
speak for most people in our conference on what we are trying to do 
here.
  Up until now, we have been able, as a body, to work together on COVID 
relief. And the question is, Why can't we do it again? I think I know 
the answer, but I want to remind people what we have done in a 
bipartisan fashion.
  On March 5, 2020, when we had President Trump, a Republican Senate, 
and a Democratic House, we approved $8 billion, 96 to 1, and we were 
just beginning to understand the virus; March 18, a few weeks later, 
$355 billion, 90 to 8; March 25, $1.9 trillion, 96 to 0.
  So from March 5 to March 25, we passed three bills, well over $2 
trillion, 96 to 1, 90 to 8, and 96 to 0. So I would argue to the 
American people that it is not like the Republican Party and the 
Democratic Party can't work together when it comes to COVID relief.
  But now that the Democrats have the House, the Senate, and the White 
House, there seems to be no desire to go down that road, and I will 
talk about that in a minute.
  April 21, 2020, we did $355 billion more. That was by voice vote. 
Spending $355 by voice vote is pretty astonishing; $1.9 trillion, 96 to 
0 is pretty astonishing. September 30, 2020, 84 to 10. December 21, 
just a few months ago, we spent another trillion, 92 to 6.
  Why do I bring this up? I bring it up to show there is plenty of 
bipartisanship around COVID relief, and that bipartisanship has 
stopped. President Biden made a big deal about wanting to bring the 
country together and find common ground. In the one area that we 
actually had common ground, we have abandoned common ground to deal 
with a $1.9 trillion package just months after we authorized $1.04 
trillion.
  Here is the problem I think Republicans have. Of the $1.9 trillion 
being proposed now, about 90 percent of it has very little to do with 
COVID. It is a liberal wish list. The reason I know it is a liberal 
wish list is that Senator Schumer said 15 times yesterday--about 15 
times--that it wasn't a liberal wish list. If Senator Schumer is saying 
it is not a liberal wish list, it is a liberal wish list. I will be 
able to prove that in more detail.
  That is the history of bipartisanship. That bipartisanship has been 
destroyed. We had 10 Republicans, I think, go to the White House to 
offer around $700 billion that would extend checks, that would do 
vaccines, would do a lot of things that we think we need to still do, 
but that went nowhere.
  Another point for the American people: We are going to a partisan 
approach to COVID for the first time. I went over the amount of money 
we have appropriated to the COVID problems the country has experienced, 
and here is what I want you to understand. We are going to spend $1.9 
trillion in a partisan fashion. I think a lot of it is very much 
unrelated to COVID simply because they have the power to do it.
  They now have the power of the Federal Government, complete power--
control of the Senate, control of the House, control of the White 
House. They have abandoned bipartisanship. We had the Presidency and 
the Senate; they had the House. We were able to work together. Now they 
have it all. They are running us over, literally, legislatively here.
  I think we have made reasonable offers. Nobody is willing to 
compromise. They see this as a moment to do a lot of things they have 
been wanting to do for years that have nothing to do with COVID.
  Another problem they have, in my view, is you are appropriating $1.9 
trillion, most of it not related to COVID, and we haven't spent the 
money we have allocated in the past. So administrative actions--there 
is still $200 billion that we haven't spent. Legislative actions, $3.1 
trillion we have spent. We have appropriated $4.1 trillion. There is 
still $1 trillion that hasn't been spent yet.
  The Federal Reserve actions allowed $5.9 trillion to be allocated to 
help businesses that were failing. They spent $2.8 trillion.
  The vaccine is getting out by the day. We are hopeful that we can 
change the course of the virus, get people back to work.
  In this bill, they do a lot of things unrelated to COVID because they 
can. Why are we opposed to this? Because it is a lot of money that is 
being spent on things unrelated to COVID. We haven't spent the money we 
appropriated in past efforts yet, but we are going to spend $1.9 
trillion more. I think it is very unfortunate, and I hope the American 
people understand that this is spending money for the sake of spending 
money, not to combat COVID.
  Let me give you some examples of what is in this bill. The minimum 
wage dropped out. Now is the worst possible time, I think, to go to 
$15-an-hour minimum wage. Just think about your own communities. How 
many restaurants and hotels have had to reduce or close down because of 
COVID restrictions? We are finally beginning to come out of it a bit. 
To add a $15-an-hour mandate, doubling the minimum wage, would be 
increasing the cost of doing business after the government at the State 
and local levels shut the businesses down.

[[Page S1050]]

So the business has been reduced in terms of revenue because of COVID 
restrictions, and now the Federal Government is going to mandate a 
doubling of the minimum wage that the business has to absorb and pass 
on to consumers. That is out. We can raise the minimum wage in a 
responsible fashion once we get COVID under control.
  There was $100 million for a Silicon Valley underground rail project 
that didn't pass the smell test. The only reason that is out is we made 
a big deal about it. But they saw the COVID package as a chance to put 
$100 million into a Silicon Valley underground rail project, which 
shows you their mindset toward this bill.
  This bill is not about fighting COVID. It is about a chance, in a 
partisan fashion, to do things they couldn't do otherwise. There was 
$1.5 million from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund regarding the 
Seaway International Bridge in New York. The Silicon Valley underground 
rail project may make sense. Senator Schumer's bridge project may make 
sense. We are going to do an infrastructure bill. It seems to me that 
we would take these infrastructure projects and put them in an 
infrastructure bill and try to have a COVID bill related to fighting 
COVID.
  But, clearly, they are taking an opportunity, my friends on the other 
side, of loading this bill up with a liberal wish list--parochial 
interests--because they can.
  I hope the American people will understand what is going on and bring 
back a balance of power in Washington in 2022 because if you let them 
have it all, this is a sign of things to come. But we will talk about 
that later.
  There is $20 million in the bill for the preservation and maintenance 
of Native American languages. That might be something that makes sense, 
but we are dealing with a COVID package. There is $20 million for the 
preservation of maintenance of Native American languages and $135 
million for the National Endowment for the Arts.
  I am an appropriator. This isn't an appropriations bill. It is not a 
COVID bill. In the committees I am on, we actually vet this stuff to 
see if it makes sense to put it in the normal appropriations cycle. 
They take a COVID problem--and it is a real problem still to this day--
and they load it up with things unrelated to COVID because they can.
  We can't stop them now. Maybe one day we can stop them and go back to 
the old way of doing business where we sit down and work together as 
Democrats and Republicans to spend over $4 trillion to combat COVID. My 
hope is that we will have some balance in the future that we don't have 
today.
  So $135 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities--what 
has that got to do with COVID? There are people really suffering out 
there. And $135 million for the Endowment for the Arts and $135 million 
for the Endowment for Humanities, that is still a lot of money where I 
come from
  There is $200 million for the Institute of Museum and Library 
Sciences. I am sure there are needs out there for museums and library 
sciences, but it should go through the appropriations process where we 
will have a chance to make a case for it or against it rather than it 
being crammed into a bill that is being printed while I speak.
  We are talking about a $1.9 trillion COVID package with 90 percent 
unrelated to COVID being printed while I speak. Now, if that is good 
government, count me out.
  Funding for Planned Parenthood. What has that got to do with COVID?
  PPP loans for labor unions.
  Paid leave for Federal employees.
  An $86 billion bailout for union pensions. Maybe that is something we 
want to look at, but in a COVID bill?
  This is why people are so turned off to Washington because we take a 
crisis, a problem facing your family and your community, and they turn 
it into a spendfest, a liberal wish list, indeed, come true.
  A new taxpayer-funded executive branch employee emergency leave 
program.
  Money for schools. We haven't spent the money we have allocated for 
schools yet. We are trying to open schools. The money that has been 
allocated for schools is still--most of it--a lot of it has been 
unspent. In this bill, we have $68 billion for K-12. The money should 
be given to people opening schools, and only $5 billion of that will be 
spent this year. Most of the money for K-12 assistance is in 2022 and 
the years that follow. That is not an emergency COVID package. That is 
just putting money into the education system in a fashion they like and 
we don't have any input over. It really has nothing to do with fighting 
the COVID crisis and getting our schools reopened. Of the $129 billion 
for K-12 in this package, $6.4 billion is to be distributed this year. 
The $68 billion was in the last round and only $5 billion this year, so 
most of the money for schools is spent in the out years. Again, that is 
just an opportunity to be taken by them.
  Of the $129 billion, $122 billion for K-12 schools will not be spent 
until years 2022 through 2028. God, I hope we don't have to deal with 
COVID in 2028.
  We have approved six COVID bills. We have spent over $4 trillion--
appropriated over $4 trillion. A trillion is yet unspent, and we are 
doing $1.9 trillion where 90 percent of it has nothing to do with 
COVID. Why are we doing this? Because they can.
  They have abandoned the bipartisan model that worked. They have 
chosen a partisan model. No matter what they tell you, my friends on 
the other side, this is a liberal wish list. This is very much seizing 
the moment, taking a crisis, a problem in America, and using it to 
advance causes completely unrelated to COVID, spending money that 
hasn't been vetted, spending money that has nothing to do with COVID 
because they can.
  The only thing I can tell you about spending money--count me in for 
helping people get back on their feet. I have always been for a direct 
payment. Count me out for a $1.9 trillion spendfest unrelated to COVID 
in a partisan fashion.
  This is everything President Biden said he wouldn't do. The inaugural 
speech rings hollow when it comes to this provision, the $1.9 trillion 
COVID package. Everything President Biden said he wanted to do for the 
country, he abandoned. It is not like there are plenty of Republicans 
that would sit down and work with our Democratic friends to do another 
round of COVID relief, but it has to be related to COVID, and we want 
to spend the money we have appropriated in the past first. Maybe that 
is an odd concept in Washington, but I will make a bet that most 
Americans find it odd that we would appropriate money for a problem 
when we haven't spent the money we had already appropriated in the 
past. We can get that out the door to see what needs to be done in the 
future.
  I think most Americans believe now is not the time to load a bill up 
with a bunch of stuff unrelated to COVID because we need every dollar 
to hit the mark. But we will have a chance to talk about that in the 
coming months, and there will be another election coming before you 
know it.
  The only thing I can leave with the American people here is that they 
have it all in terms of power. This is what they have chosen to do. 
They have chosen a partisan path, rejecting the bipartisan path. They 
have chosen to put most of the money in the bill for things unrelated 
to COVID simply because they can.
  The last election was about what would happen to our country if 
Democrats got in charge of everything. Many of us on our side said it 
would be one of the most liberal agendas in the history of American 
politics and would come forth pretty quickly. I had no idea it would 
come forth this quickly. I had no idea they would abandon a bipartisan 
approach to COVID because it seems to be the one area that we have had 
success regarding working together.
  During the campaign, I said that there would be two areas I thought 
we could do bipartisan legislation: One was COVID; the other was 
infrastructure.
  Boy, was I wrong about COVID. I am hoping that the American people 
pay some attention to this debate. We are going to have some really 
good amendments on our side that talk about how we would spend the 
money differently and why we would choose not to spend some money on 
this bill because it simply has nothing to do with COVID.

  The American people have suffered during the COVID pandemic, but 
there are better days ahead. I want us to do

[[Page S1051]]

as much as we can for vaccinations and helping people get back into 
school. I am willing to help people who are struggling out there, but 
you shouldn't be giving a $1,400 check to people who make $200,000 as a 
couple. They changed that. They have taken the Silicon Valley railway 
out. They have also taken the bridge out because they had to, not 
because they wanted to.
  We are going to have a lot of amendments to show what we would do 
with your money versus what they would do with your money. We are going 
to have a lot of amendments that would show what we would do with COVID 
and how to fight COVID versus what they would do with COVID. That is 
what democracy is all about--working together when you can and showing 
differences when you must.
  There are going to be a lot of differences in this debate, and I 
think this will not be the last time you hear about this bill. I think 
this bill is going to resonate for months and years to come in all of 
the wrong ways.
  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. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________