[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S1434]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on the American Rescue Plan, later 
today, the House of Representatives is set to approve the American 
Rescue Plan and send it straight to President Biden's desk for his 
signature, capping a monthslong effort by the Democrats to pass bold 
COVID relief to defeat the pandemic and boost our economy. Once 
President Biden signs the bill into law, it will immediately become the 
most sweeping Federal recovery package in recent history.
  Even a cursory reading of the headlines gives you a sense of the 
historic nature of this bold and so helpful legislation.
  Here is one from yesterday from the New York Times:

       Growth in the U.S. could surge on the stimulus plan and a 
     rapid vaccine rollout.

  Wouldn't that be great? We think there is a very good chance of its 
happening.
  Forbes:

       U.S. Economy Will Recover Twice as Fast Thanks to $1.9 
     Trillion Stimulus.

  That is from Forbes, a conservative publication.
  The Associated Press:

       COVID bill to deliver big health insurance savings for 
     many.

  This is something so many Americans desperately need and want.
  Here is another from the New York Times:

       In the Stimulus Bill, a Policy Revolution in Aid for 
     Children.

  A policy revolution.
  Simply put, the American Rescue Plan is one of the most significant 
Federal relief efforts that Congress has seen in a very, very long 
time. I am greatly looking forward to its becoming law.
  Now, I have spent a lot of time talking about all of the different 
provisions of the bill today and in previous remarks on the floor of 
the Senate. That is because the American Rescue Plan is a truly 
comprehensive effort. COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of 
American life. So we had to craft legislation that spanned the gamut: 
schools, businesses, families, jobs, healthcare. Because this bill is 
so wide-ranging, I haven't spent enough time on the significance of the 
individual programs.
  I want to rectify that over the next several weeks. This morning, I 
want to focus on two initiatives: first, the child tax credit and, 
second, agricultural assistance for disadvantaged farmers.
  According to the most recent data, more than 10 million children live 
below the poverty line in America--10 million children. A child 
starting out in life, through no fault of his or her own, lives below 
the poverty line, and we know what that means in terms of food and 
healthcare and housing and education. Compared with other nations 
around the world, the United States dedicates a relative pittance--a 
pittance--to fixing that terrible injustice.
  Listen to this. This is something that should make us both ashamed 
that the United States has been in this position for so long and proud 
that the American Rescue Plan will help rectify that injustice. Here it 
is: The United States ranks next to last among the world's 37 most 
developed economies in terms of family benefits--barely ahead of 
Turkey--nothing that can make Americans proud.
  Of course, the pandemic has made the problem of child poverty even 
worse. It has forced parents to serve as childcare providers and 
surrogate teachers while trying to keep up with their own jobs. For 
millions of Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their 
own, the pressure only increased. The difficulty of childcare during 
the pandemic is likely one of the main reasons there has been a 
disproportionate share of women who have fallen out of the workforce. 
The pandemic has left mothers and fathers with impossible choices, 
between keeping their jobs and incomes or leaving work to care for 
their children, stuck at home, whom they so dearly love
  Democrats decided to tackle this problem head on in the American 
Rescue Plan. We expanded the child tax credit to provide up to $3,000 
per child, ages 6 to 17, and $3,600 per child under the age of 6 for an 
overwhelming majority of families in this country. Analysts predict 
that this policy will cut childhood poverty in half--in half. That is 
an astounding statistic. It will cut childhood poverty in half. A goal 
of so many who have studied the frailties in some of our policies for a 
decade, for a generation, has been to remove people--young children--
from poverty, and half will be so removed.
  That is just one reason reviewers have called the American Rescue 
Plan one of the ``most far-reaching anti-poverty efforts in an [entire] 
generation.''
  A salute to Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, and Cory Booker, who 
really spearheaded this, along with Congressman Neal in the House; Ron 
Wyden and his committee that worked on drafting it; and my staffers who 
spent so much time on making this work as well. A salute to them.
  Now, another provision that has received too little attention is the 
support this bill will provide to disadvantaged farmers. Across nearly 
every statistic, farmers from socially disadvantaged communities fare 
worse than their White counterparts, suffering from generations of 
systemic discrimination, land loss, and what Secretary Vilsack calls a 
``cycle of debt.'' It is almost something that recalls the days of 
slavery and sharecropping and tenant farming. Recently, these farmers 
have suffered again, disproportionately, from COVID-19.
  The American Rescue Plan provides more than $10 billion to support 
our Nation's agriculture and sets aside, roughly, half of it--half of 
it--for disadvantaged communities, particularly Black farmers, for debt 
relief, education, training, and land acquisition. Though it is only a 
small fraction of the overall bill, experts have called the American 
Rescue Plan ``the most significant legislation for Black farmers since 
the Civil Rights Act.''
  It is amazing what we can do when we put our minds to it. The 
hangover from the horrible treatment that rural African-American 
farmers have gotten since the days of slavery can, in part--in decent 
part--be undone by this legislation.
  I want to thank some of my fellow Senators who did such work on this 
bill. The provisions I have mentioned owe a great deal to the members 
of the Agriculture Committee and the Finance Committee. Senator 
Stabenow was relentless in pushing this issue. Senator Wyden, chair of 
the Finance Committee, helped out a great deal, and Senators Warnock 
and Booker pushed very hard as well.
  The American Rescue Plan is going to have an immense impact on nearly 
every community in America. In the weeks and months to come, I will be 
highlighting how much good it will do.
  I have a few housekeeping things to do.

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