[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7099-S7100]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                         Issues Facing America

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, right now, the end of the pandemic may 
be--I underline ``may be''--within our reach. The Delta surge is 
finally waning. Over the past month, coronavirus case numbers have 
fallen by more than 40 percent, thank goodness. The average number of 
daily vaccinations has increased by more than 25 percent--not an 
unrelated statistic--and COVID death rates are finally starting to 
decline. These are all promising developments, and they demonstrate 
that President Biden's response to the coronavirus is working.
  But as winter approaches, we need to ask ourselves a serious 
question: Will we continue to take the steps that are necessary to save 
lives and beat this virus once and for all? Or will we do nothing, as 
some of our Republican colleagues seem to urge, and allow the pandemic 
to come roaring back for another deadly wave?
  Millions of American families have already suffered the consequences 
of denial, deception, and inaction. A report released earlier this 
month found that since June--just since June--nearly 100,000 American 
lives could have been saved if there were more vaccinations. But we can 
save the next 100,000 lives in America if we rally behind the 
President's call for his vaccination policy. The American people are 
already with him. The majority of people support mandating COVID-19 
vaccinations for students 12 and up.
  Business owners across the country have followed President Biden's 
lead by instituting their own vaccine mandates. They have helped 
increase vaccination rates by more than 20 percent. In Texas, where the 
Governor is seeking to outlaw vaccine mandates, one hospital CEO said 
that requiring his workers to be vaccinated is ``unequivocally . . . 
the best decision we ever made'' and that 98 percent of his staff has 
now been vaccinated.
  President Biden's vaccine policy is supported by parents and business 
owners alike because they recognize a very simple truth: The only way 
to keep our kids in school, keep our economy on the road to recovery, 
and stop the spread of this deadly virus is vaccination. A do-nothing 
strategy is deadly and disastrous for our economy. Yet that is exactly 
what many of our Republican colleagues continue to propose that we do: 
nothing. It is the same response they had earlier this month when it 
came to raising the debt limit.
  Let me reflect for a moment on the effort that is underway by State 
attorneys general. The Republican attorneys general across the United 
States represent 24 different States. They have threatened to file 
lawsuits to try to stop vaccine mandates and mask requirements.
  I think it is fair to take a look at the period of June 15, 2021, to 
September 15, 2021, and ask how the States are doing represented by 
these attorneys general who are fighting President Biden's coronavirus 
policy. Well, we took a look at the average of the 24 States that are 
threatening these lawsuits. Their infection rate is more than twice 
than all the other States'. So the people in their States where they 
are supposedly fighting for their well-being are losing when it comes 
to the infections of coronavirus.
  How about the death rates? Of the 24 States in this period of time 
threatening lawsuits, we have a death rate almost three times the death 
rate in the other 26 States. The vaccination rate is lower in the 24 
States represented by these Republican attorneys general.
  So what are they winning? Some political war? What the heck 
difference does it make who wins a political war when we are talking 
about a life-and-death issue? And that is frankly what we are faced 
with.
  When it comes to the debt limit, we see the same negative default 
approach

[[Page S7100]]

by the Republicans. Senate Republicans were ready to let go of the 
steering wheel and swerve into oncoming traffic with the debt limit. 
Right up until the eleventh hour, they wanted to use the filibuster to 
block Democrats from addressing the debt, the limit of the debt. Do you 
know when that debt was incurred? It was incurred during the Trump 
administration, with many of these same Republicans voting for the 
spending that stands behind it.
  Now the minority leader, Senator McConnell, has once again pledged 
that Republicans refuse to lift a finger to deal with the debt limit 
when it expires in the first week of December. Think for a moment what 
defaulting on the debt would mean to American families. It is fodder 
for even more inflation.
  So don't come to the floor with your posing for Holy pictures on the 
issue of inflation and then turn around and say: I don't care what 
happens to the debt limit. Americans will pay more each month because 
of that for their mortgages and credit card bills and student and car 
loans. Fifteen trillion dollars in household wealth and retirement 
savings would be wiped out if Senator McConnell and the Republicans 
have their way in the first week of December.
  If our Republican colleagues are truly concerned about the economic 
well-being of America, work with us to put together a sensible response 
to the debt limit. Senator Schumer and the Democrats have said to the 
Republicans: If you won't lead, if you can't follow, then get the heck 
out of the way. Democrats, with a majority vote, will enact a new debt 
limit. We understand our responsibility to this Nation.