[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 80 (Monday, May 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2397-S2398]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              CORONAVIRUS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, like all of my colleagues, I spent 
last week traveling my home State. I spoke with Kentuckians about where 
we have come over the past 15 months, where we are today, and the 
bright future we should have ahead.
  More than 1.8 million Kentuckians have received COVID vaccines. These 
medical miracles were created in record time by genius scientists plus 
Operation Warp Speed. And they are proving the pathway back to normalcy 
that we had hoped for.
  I was happy to get to visit the Baptist Health Hardin Memorial 
Hospital in Elizabethtown to hear about their vaccination program and 
to thank the staff for all of their work.
  We should be on track for a fantastic American comeback summer, full 
steam ahead. From vaccinations to job growth, the new Biden 
administration inherited favorable trends in every direction, thanks to 
the five bipartisan rescue packages that Congress passed just last 
year.
  But in several important ways, the decisions of elected Democrats 
have contributed to slowing the return to normalcy. We have seen some 
State and local officials bow to Big Labor and soft-pedal the clear 
science on school reopenings. And the big bill that Washington 
Democrats pushed through a couple of months ago did not require schools 
to reopen in order to receive even more extra funding.
  The President and his team keep sending mixed messages about 
gatherings and wearing masks that sometimes break from their own CDC's 
guidance for vaccinated Americans. Again, there almost seems to be some 
reluctance to let go of emergency measures, even to the point of 
clashing with science.
  And what about our economic recovery? Back in March, Democrats rammed 
through their so-called American Rescue Plan with a $2 trillion 
partisan spending spree. It is packed with policies that seem designed 
for March 2020, not March 2021; for example: continuing to use taxpayer 
dollars to pay a special bonus for unemployed people to stay home 
rather than filling one of the growing number of job openings around 
the country.
  Republicans had this crazy idea that with vaccines flooding the 
country, with COVID-19 in retreat, it was time

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to actually reopen our country instead of spending even more of working 
families' tax dollars to keep things shut down.
  Well, a few days ago, experts were stunned by a monthly jobs report 
for April that came in way below expectations. It was the first full 
month of data collected after the Democrats passed their so-called 
rescue plan. This bill they sold as a fast-acting, urgent, emergency 
measure that was going to bolster our economy right away. This report 
was expected to show that more than a million American workers had 
gotten jobs back in the month of April. Instead, we added about one-
fourth that many jobs.
  Now, I had just spent the prior week talking with Kentuckians. I 
spoke with workers and employers at nearly every size of business from 
just about every kind of industry, all across the spectrum. And from 
big national companies to local chambers of commerce, to businesses 
like Manchester Tank in Campbellsville, we heard optimism but also real 
concerns--concerns about inflation and runaway costs, concerns about 
backed-up supply chains.
  And as Washington pays workers a bonus to stay unemployed, virtually 
everyone discussed very real concerns about their difficulties in 
finding workers who are willing to come back and fill these open 
positions. Almost every employer I spoke with specifically mentioned 
the extra generous jobless benefits as a key force holding back our 
recovery.
  Now, I have heard some Democrats say that whatever incentives 
Washington creates, the responsibility really falls on workers. But my 
friends on the other side can't use the American people to shield their 
own bad ideas from scrutiny. Policy matters. Incentives matter.
  It is May of 2021. Vaccines are available nationwide. There are 
millions of jobs open, ``Help Wanted'' signs from coast to coast. We 
should not still be taxing the Americans who are working to fund 
continued extra benefits for those staying home.
  It is not March of 2020 anymore. It is May of 2021. Kentuckians and 
all Americans need our Democratic friends to govern accordingly.

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