[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 124 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S4914]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          American Rescue Plan

  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I just heard the Republican leader refer 
to the American Rescue Plan as a grand socialist experiment. Remember 
that plan? That was President Biden's response to the COVID-19 
pandemic. How many Republicans voted for it? Not one. Not a House 
Member nor a Senate Member of the Republican Member supported it.
  So what was in this socialist experiment? Well, the premiere piece 
was to make sure we distributed the COVID-19 vaccine to every American. 
Obviously, some people think that is socialism. I think it is common 
sense. And the more and more Americans who are immunized, the more we 
escape the grasp of this pandemic; 99.5 percent of those who are 
admitted to the hospital today with serious COVID-19 symptoms are 
unvaccinated.
  So this was socialism? I don't think so. How about the aid we gave to 
small businesses to stay open or reopen? That was in the American 
Rescue Plan. That was Biden's plan. There was not a single Republican 
vote for it.
  Money to help businesses to reopen is socialism? Is that what the 
Senator from Kentucky is suggesting? Or how about the fact that today 
we are going to see across the United States of America help to 
families, middle-income families, working families, low-income families 
to raise their children?
  So when Donald Trump writes a check for $2,000 to every American 
family, that is just fine, but when the Democrats and Biden want to 
give money to families raising children, particularly those who are 
struggling to raise children, that is socialism? I think not. It is 
common sense.
  If we really value families, we are going to invest in their future. 
And the money that is being sent starting today to these families will 
lift half of the children in poverty in America out of poverty for the 
first time. That is a dramatic achievement. It should be a bipartisan 
achievement. Sadly, it is a Democratic achievement because the 
Republicans boycotted the vote over and over.
  There is one thing that the Senator from Kentucky fails to mention 
when he talks about the budget resolution--maybe two things are worth 
saying. First is this budget resolution, which we are going to bring to 
the floor next week, according to the leader, is going to do dramatic 
things across America in terms of pre-K education, 2 years of community 
college and the like. And in this circumstance, it is paid for. It is 
all paid for.
  So to say it is inflationary is to suggest that it is not paid for as 
adding to the debt. Who pays for it? Those making over $400,000 a year 
in income and corporations. That is who pays for it. And the net result 
of it: The biggest tax cut in the history of the United States for 
middle-income and working families. That is the reality.
  I am going to yield the floor. I see the Senator from South Dakota 
has come to the floor and I know he wanted to speak. We have a few 
minutes left. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be able to 
complete my remarks before the vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.