Congressional Record, Senate (Feb. 22, 2021): Coronavirus, remarks of Sen. Charles E. Schumer

Summary

Remarks of Sen. Charles E. Schumer on the coronavirus, printed in the Congressional Record, Volume 167, Number 33, for Monday, February 22, 2021, at Page S756. Schumer says the United States will that day surpass more than 500,000 deaths from COVID-19 and asks how a nation comprehends a number that big: five of the largest football stadiums filled and wiped out, the city of Atlanta or Sacramento erased overnight, a 9/11 attack every day for 169 days in a row. He says the milestone must not wash over the country as another statistic but be treated as 500,000 individual tragedies, from the empty chair at the dinner table to grandchildren in protective gear waving goodbye across a hospital room, and he closes by committing to a future in which such milestones are behind the country.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 33 (Monday, February 22, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                              Coronavirus

  Madam President, on another matter entirely, today, the United States
will surpass more than 500,000 deaths from COVID-19--a half a million
souls.
  How as a nation do we grapple with this enormous tragedy? How do we
even comprehend a number that big or a loss that great? Do we imagine
five of our largest football stadiums, filled to the max, wiped out in
an instant? The city of Atlanta or Sacramento erased overnight? A 9/11
attack every single day for 169 days in a row?
  They say a single death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a
statistic. We must not let this tragic milestone wash over us like just
another awful statistic stacked on top of a year's worth of awful
statistics. Instead, we must treat this moment as 500,000 individual
tragedies: the empty chair at the dinner table; the empty half of the
bed at night that people are suffering through; the unplayed pianos and
uncelebrated birthdays and funerals that were never held; the neighbors
and colleagues and friends and family who died without a chance for
their loved ones to hold their hands; the grandchildren, wrapped in
protective gear, waving goodbye to grandparents from across the silence
of a hospital room--500,000 American souls and counting.
  There is no way--no way--to properly account for the loss of so many
lives in so short a time, but I would ask my fellow Americans to mark
this terrible day by doing two simple things.
  First, keep in your hearts the families who have lost a loved one.
Reach out to that colleague or friend, and offer sympathy and support.
Stop for a moment and grieve for your fellow citizens or for someone
you have lost personally. We all know someone who is gone. I learned of
another one yesterday.
  And, second, let us strive to end this pandemic as swiftly as
possible. For us in the Congress, that means moving forward with
legislation to speed vaccine distribution and help the American people
during this time of economic crisis, which is what the American Rescue
Plan is all about, but every American can contribute by continuing to
follow the guidelines and staying safe, by not losing hope or patience
as we round the final corner.
  We will--we will--get through this, but, today, let us mourn the
500,000 Americans we have lost and commit ourselves to a future when
the days of these tragic milestones are finally and firmly behind us.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.

                          ____________________

File and source

File

CREC_crec-2021-02-22_crec-2021-02-22-pt1-pgs756-4.htm

Size

2,933 bytes

SHA-256

7a1dc28eedb944c6ccc5c64a71e9775eb7bd3c38894a02ab2b310a16b232e031

Our copy

CREC_crec-2021-02-22_crec-2021-02-22-pt1-pgs756-4.htm

Original

www.govinfo.gov