[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 215 (Tuesday, December 14, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S9128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Now, Mr. President, on the COVID moment of silence, this evening, I 
will join the Speaker and other congressional leaders on the Capitol 
steps to mark a dreaded and sorrowful milestone as 800,000 Americans--
800,000--have now lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic. We will 
hold a moment of silence in their memory.
  As Americans come together for the holidays, as we take stock of the 
long road we have taken this year, many of us carry in our hearts an 
unresolvable contradiction: gratitude for the progress we have made but 
grief for the loss we have endured along the way.
  Thanks to vaccines, tens of thousands of deaths--maybe even hundreds 
of thousands--have been, thankfully, prevented. Across the country, 
Americans are returning to work and once again are meeting at bars, at 
restaurants, at concerts.
  Our country is far better off today than we were a year ago, but on 
this day--this day--we will remember that 800,000 loved ones did not 
make it this far: a lost father or grandfather, mother or grandmother, 
friend or familiar face in the neighborhood. All of us know someone 
whom this disease has taken away. And, of course, we are not out of the 
woods yet. As the Omicron variant makes its way across the country, I 
urge my fellow New Yorkers and all of my fellow Americans to get 
vaccinated and boosted as soon as possible, if eligible. Vaccines 
remain the best--the very best--way to bring this disease to an end.
  I hope the milestone we observe today is the final one in our fight 
against this awful disease. With vaccines, we can rid ourselves of 
COVID and avoid adding to the awful sum that we have reached this week.
  As for those we have lost, today, we remember them. We hold them 
close to our hearts, and we commit to doing our part to bring this 
pandemic to an end.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.