[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6768-S6769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2895

  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I 
ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate 
consideration of S. 2895, introduced earlier today. I ask unanimous 
consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and 
that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Ms. CANTWELL. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.
  Ms. CANTWELL. Mr. President, Senator Scott's bill would prohibit the 
Department of Transportation, Amtrak, Transportation Security 
Administration, or other Agencies from requiring passengers in 
interstate transportation to show proof of COVID-19 in order to travel.
  I appreciate my colleagues--all of whom I serve with on the Commerce 
Committee. I know that they know well--we have had a lot of discussions 
about the impacts of COVID-19 on our transportation sector. They know 
very well that we had to spend a lot of resources keeping our 
transportation sector moving.
  Why?
  Because we have to move goods and services and products. During 
COVID-19, we had to move essential workers, and we had to move product.
  There is no doubt our transportation system needs to have keen 
oversight as it relates to moving in even a pandemic. That is what we 
did. I am proud of the work that we did. But it is not lost on anybody 
that COVID-19, the deadliest pandemic in U.S. history--as of September 
28, there have already been 700,000 COVID-19-related deaths in the 
United States and over 43 million infections. In my State, 7,586 deaths 
and 652,000 cases.
  So the point is here, we have been fighting this pandemic with all of 
these tools and no one has ever suggested the one--that Senator Scott 
nor my colleagues from the Commerce Committee are saying what the 
President might do. That is not what he has suggested.
  In fact, I was very involved in an area of transportation where we 
wanted to get cruise ships back in service to Alaska at a critical 
moment--both for Alaska and a critical moment during the pandemic. Not 
everybody was ready to have that happen; not everybody was ready to 
move. And yet it meant so much to Alaska that we all worked together. 
And in some instances, those cruise ships said: We are going to require 
the vaccine.
  So the point is here, we are not trying to mandate this. Now, if the 
President and the industry feel that it is important to have a 
workforce so that that workforce continues to serve us and conserve the 
growing response to the pandemic--which I mean responding to the 
aftermath of the pandemic--that is why we spent money. That is why we 
are trying to take off. That is why we are trying to return a 
workforce. That is why we are returning

[[Page S6769]]

kids to school. That is why we are trying to get our hospitals staffed. 
That is why we are doing things.
  That is the only thing the President said, is that those people 
should get a vaccine. He has not said, if you want to get on an 
airplane, you have to get vaccinated--maybe if you are flying overseas 
and have to work with another country.
  My colleague from Florida knows all too well because he and I are 
working together to try to get temperature checks in a very broad way 
established at airports through the U.S. We have agreed that is a smart 
thing to do. It has been done on an international basis for a long time 
and it prevents people from getting on a plane who are sick. The 
President has not said this.
  To now put a bill through that might have prohibited the cruise ship 
industry reestablishing service up to Alaska because now, all of a 
sudden, you are going to have all of these things is not the way I want 
to go.
  I like what we have been able to achieve. It has taken hard work and 
working together. It does not take us passing this bill by Senator 
Scott.
  I object, and I hope my colleagues understand that we are willing to 
work on anything related to the transportation sector so it can keep 
our U.S. economy moving.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. First off, I am disappointed my colleague 
objected. I think No. 1 is this is unconstitutional. First off, 
President Biden promised he wouldn't be doing this. This is 
unconstitutional.
  Here is what it is going to do. If you talk to businesses around this 
country, they are already struggling to get people back to work because 
of excess funding that has been provided. And now we are going to tell 
a bunch of people that you can't come back to work because you haven't 
been vaccinated. We are going to tell people, you can't get on an 
airplane because you haven't been vaccinated.
  This is wrong. This is not what the Federal Government ought to be 
doing. They ought to do what I did when I was Governor. You give people 
the information and feel comfortable that the American public will make 
a good decision.
  I think this is a mistake. I hope my colleague will change her mind. 
And I hope this President will not continue down the path of requiring 
Americans to get vaccinations, because I don't think it is fair to 
Americans and I think it is unconstitutional.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.