[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 101 (Thursday, June 10, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4035-S4036]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           COVID-19 Vaccines

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I rise today to say thank you. I rise 
today to say thank you to President Biden and Secretary of State 
Blinken. They have both announced today, though it had been rumored for 
several days, that the United States of America is about to make 
available 500 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to our friends 
and neighbors across the world. And I hope the President and the 
Secretary are willing to offer even more, if necessary.
  We have learned a lot about the virus and the disease that it causes. 
I will mention three things. No. 1, we have learned that the virus came 
from China; No. 2, we have learned that the best vaccines for the virus 
came from the United States of America; and No. 3, we have learned that 
the pandemic is not over.
  Yes, things are better in the United States. And we are so blessed in 
that regard, and I am so thankful. That is a combination of Americans 
receiving the vaccine; it is a combination of Americans being careful 
in their behavior. Our coronavirus rates are a combination of people 
who contracted the disease and therefore have the antibodies, and that 
is why our numbers are going down, and we are also thankful for that.
  But that is not the situation in other parts of the world. If you go 
to South America, if you go to Central America, if you ask anyone--if 
you ask Sub-Saharan Africa about how things are going in terms of the 
pandemic, it is alive and well and raging. And our friends and 
neighbors need the help, and I am grateful today that President Biden 
and Secretary of State Blinken are going to make that help available.
  For a couple of reasons, it makes sense to show the world what U.S. 
leadership really means. No. 1, it is the right thing to do. It is the 
moral thing to do. We developed a vaccine. We need to share it. That 
doesn't mean that we have to require pharmaceutical companies to share 
their patented and protected information. I think that is a real 
mistake. We can accomplish everything through licensing agreements. But 
we do need to share.
  No. 2, this makes sense in terms of our national security. It is not 
the most important reason to do this but in terms of national security 
and the rest of our neighbors throughout the world understanding that 
the American people are generous and that we help other folks when they 
are down.
  No. 3, it makes sense for the President and the Secretary to do this 
in terms of geopolitical terms. China is trying to do the same thing 
that we are going to do in terms of making vaccines available 
throughout the world. And I thank China for that, and I thank the 
Chinese people. The Chinese people are wonderful people. Their 
leadership, not so much.
  The Chinese people--let me say it again--the people of China are 
wonderful. The leadership of the Communist Party of China is a bunch of 
pirates. But I am thankful they are willing to make vaccines available. 
The problem is, they are making their own vaccine available, which is 
inferior to the American vaccine, and, No. 2, in many cases, their 
vaccine diplomacy--``their'' meaning, of course, the Chinese Communist 
Party's vaccine diplomacy--is tied to conditions.
  Yes, says the Chinese Communist Party, we will share our vaccine with 
you if you will help us take over Taiwan. Yes, we will share our 
vaccine with you, say members of the Communist Party of China, if you 
will join with us in saying that the Communist Party of China is doing 
nothing wrong in hiding the origin of the coronavirus.
  That is not what we are doing.
  Our gift, as Americans, to the rest of the world is unconditional. It 
is firm. It is categorical. It is the moral thing to do. It is the 
smart thing to do, in terms of our own national security. We can't 
completely recover until the world recovers. And No. 3, it makes 
perfect sense, in my judgment, in explaining to the rest of the world 
the difference between communism and the free enterprise system and the 
hearts that lie behind both of those systems.
  It is also, and I will close on this point--it is necessary. There 
are very few countries in the world--we are blessed to be one of them--
that have the ability to manufacture, to store, and to distribute the 
vaccine. Yes, it is wonderful to talk about, well, we are going to help 
other countries with their--let's say, their manufacturing needs. We 
should do that, but we don't

[[Page S4036]]

have enough time. We just don't have enough time because in the 
developing world, when time is of the essence, they just don't have the 
ability that we have to manufacture a vaccine, which is only part of 
it; to store that vaccine, and these vaccines require very careful 
protocol in terms of storage; and No. 3, to distribute it. We can do 
all three, and President Biden, over the last several days, along with 
Secretary of State Blinken, said we are about to show the world what 
American leadership looks like. We are going to share our innovation 
and our vaccines with our world's neighbors, and there are no strings 
attached. And we are doing it because it is the right thing to do.
  I think all Members of this Congress should join with the President 
and should join with the Secretary of State in this effort. If they 
need the resources, I think we should provide them, and let's all get 
back on our feet together as a world.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Cortez Masto). The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.