Congressional Record — Senate, S1796 (March 18, 2020)
Summary
Page S1796 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for March 18, 2020. A roll call list of Senators' names, with a tally of 8 nays and 2 not voting, precedes the statement that the bill, H.R. 6201, was passed. Floor remarks follow, in which a senator says the virus may be a mild cold to some but very serious for the elderly and people with heart or lung issues, and that rural health workers face every person walking in for tests. Another speaker says small businesses back home are cutting hours and wants the production powers fully used.
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“Congressional Record — Senate, S1796 (March 18, 2020).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-03-18-crec-2020-03-18-pt1-pgs1796-2-c4e0381f16/
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S1796 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 18, 2020
McConnell Roberts Sullivan Tester Udall Whitehouse It is a cold; it is a mild flu to them.
McSally Rounds Thune Thune Van Hollen Wicker
Moran Rubio Tillis Tillis Warner Wyden
But for our vulnerable populations—
Paul Sasse Toomey Toomey Warren Young our elderly populations, those with
Perdue Scott (SC) Wicker
NAYS—8
heart issues, those with lung issues,
Portman Shelby Young smokers, diabetics—this can be a very,
Risch Sinema Blackburn Lankford Sasse
Inhofe Lee Scott (SC)
very serious thing.
NAYS—48 Johnson Paul The challenge we face in our
Baldwin Harris Reed healthcare is that every person who
Bennet Hassan Romney NOT VOTING—2
Blumenthal Heinrich Rosen
walks in to get tested is face to face
Gardner Scott (FL)
Booker Hirono Sanders with one of our healthcare workers, es-
Brown Jones Schatz The bill (H.R. 6201) was passed. pecially in rural areas of our State,
Cantwell Kaine Schumer The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under who may be the only healthcare profes-
Cardin King Shaheen the previous order, the motion to re-
Carper Klobuchar Smith sional for that entire county. If that
Casey Leahy Stabenow consider is considered made and laid person—who has not been vaccinated
Collins Markey Tester upon the table. as well because there is no vaccine
Coons Menendez Udall The majority leader. yet—is not able to serve the rest of the
Cortez Masto Merkley Van Hollen
Duckworth Murkowski Warner
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, population, that health situation be-
Durbin Murphy Warren we just passed the bill that came over comes even worse because of dimin-
Feinstein Murray Whitehouse from the House, and it is on its way to ishing care.
Gillibrand Peters Wyden the President. It is a very important We, as Americans, have taken this
NOT VOTING—2 first step, which we are calling phase 2. seriously, as we should. We are paying
Gardner Scott (FL) We continue to work on the next bill attention. The younger population is
to respond to the crisis. I want to re- spending time trying to get away from
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this peat again that the Senate is going to
vote, the yeas are 50, and the nays are other individuals, to self-isolate, to
stay in session until we finish phase 3, self-quarantine—‘‘social distancing’’ is
48. Under the previous order requiring the next bill, and send it over to the
60 votes for adoption of this amend- the new term—to find some way to not
House. be close to someone else so they don’t
ment, the amendment is rejected. Now, Republicans hope, shortly, to
The amendment (No. 1558) was re- accidentally pass the virus on, because
have a consolidated position along with although the virus may be within them
jected. the administration. Then we intend to
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The and they are not personally physically
sit down with our Democratic col- affected much, the effect on someone
clerk will read the title of the bill for leagues to see what we can agree to.
the third time. else could be pretty dramatic. So, out
I would recommend that Senators of respect for others, they are trying to
The bill was ordered to a third read- stay around, close. Just how long it
ing and was read the third time. manage that distance and be attentive
will take to get through these steps is to that.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill unclear, but as everyone knows, we are
having been read the third time, the There have been multiple actions
moving rapidly because the situation from the government over the past sev-
question is, Shall the bill pass? demands it.
Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask for the eral months. There are the travel bans
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- we all know very much about, starting
yeas and nays. ator from Oklahoma.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a with China and now in multiple areas
f of the world, and lots of encourage-
sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient sec- MORNING BUSINESS ment to limit gatherings, first to 250
ond. Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, I and then to 50 and now to 10. Now it is
The clerk will call the roll. ask unanimous consent that the Sen- a series of just keep social distancing,
The legislative clerk called the roll. ate be in a period of morning business, to make sure you are aware of that.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators with Senators permitted to speak There have been emergency declara-
are necessarily absent: the Senator therein for up to 10 minutes each. tions.
from Colorado (Mr. GARDNER) and the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without CMS has changed coverage, as re-
Senator from Florida (Mr. SCOTT). objection, it is so ordered. cently as yesterday, dealing with
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. issues like telehealth, making sure in-
f
BLACKBURN). Are there any other Sen- dividuals who may have other care
CORONAVIRUS needs don’t have to actually go in to a
ators in the Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced—yeas 90, Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, 3 healthcare professional—for their fear
nays 8, as follows: months ago, no one in the country—in of who else is sitting in the waiting
fact, no one in the world—had heard room—but they can get access to tele-
[Rollcall Vote No. 76 Leg.]
the term ‘‘COVID–19.’’ The term health, which is a much needed change.
YEAS—90
‘‘coronavirus’’ was around, but most The FDA has been very aggressive in
Alexander Duckworth McSally giving access to different States to do
Baldwin Durbin Menendez
folks didn’t use that because it was
Barrasso Enzi Merkley connected to SARS or to MERS in the their own testing regimens.
Bennet Ernst Moran past. The CDC has been active in trying to
Blumenthal Feinstein Murkowski In December of 2019, an infection get to a point where they can get a
Blunt Fischer Murphy
Booker Gillibrand Murray started in China, and it spread rapidly testing system that can actually get
Boozman Graham Perdue through the Wuhan region. By Janu- out to the entire country. The chal-
Braun Grassley Peters ary, there were thousands of people af- lenge was, early on, many other coun-
Brown Harris Portman
Burr Hassan Reed
fected before most of the world even tries did tests and developed tests with
Cantwell Hawley Risch knew it existed. Now, almost every a high false-positive rate. The CDC was
Capito Heinrich Roberts country in the world has infections. We very focused on trying to get as accu-
Cardin Hirono Romney have hundreds of thousands of people rate as it possibly could. That meant it
Carper Hoeven Rosen
Casey Hyde-Smith Rounds who have had contact with this virus, took longer, and we don’t have the
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE
Cassidy Jones Rubio and unfortunately we have lost thou- tests out. The tests are more accurate,
Collins Kaine Sanders sands of people worldwide. but we don’t have the tests in the num-
Coons Kennedy Schatz
Cornyn King Schumer
In the United States, the numbers bers we need at the moment we needed
Cortez Masto Klobuchar Shaheen continue to increase as we are con- them, which was last week. So now we
Cotton Leahy Shelby tinuing to increase the number of peo- are still struggling to catch up on test-
Cramer Loeffler Sinema ple we can actually test. Fortunately, ing all over the country.
Crapo Manchin Smith
Cruz Markey Stabenow the vast majority of the people who get Multiple other labs and multiple uni-
Daines McConnell Sullivan this virus have little to no symptoms. versities are also coming on board. In
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March 18, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1797
fact—it is interesting—multiple other closed. Many retailers and res- We need to take action, but we need
countries are also developing their own taurants—many small businesses are to take action that helps people keep
testing processes. In the days ahead, really struggling with how they are their jobs, helps people stay employed,
we will be able to catch up on the test- going to pay for this when they have no and helps us deal with the dip in the
ing so that any American could be able income coming in right now. They are economy right now to help them pull
to get testing, but for now, it is lim- hearing the promise of a Federal reim- back out. My fear is that we didn’t do
ited. bursement coming to them, but they that just now. We might have just
In States like my State of Oklahoma, don’t know when that is coming, and made it worse.
where the virus is beginning its accel- they are literally teetering on the edge There are important things for us to
eration—we were late in actually get- right now. Their struggle: Please don’t do, and many of those things we are
ting the virus coming to Oklahoma, do something that pushes us over the working on this week. We have to get
but now that the virus is there, it edge. We need help, but we don’t need help to as many people as we can, as
starts to accelerate, and testing is ex- a bureaucracy that is going to be slow fast as we can. It is my hope that the
ceptionally important to us, as it is to to respond or a way that is actually Senate will continue to stay in ses-
everyone else. going to get us some help but help that sion—as the leader has already said
The Department of Transportation is comes to us too late. and promised that it would—until we
engaged on things like waivers for I have heard these terrifying words actually come to some proposals where
hours of service to allow the movement from multiple employers: I cannot we have wide bipartisan agreement
of goods all over the country dealing make it with that structure. I am that can get help rapidly to the people
with livestock and with food. going to have to lay people off and who need the help the most: those
There has been a big push from just hope to be able to hire them back when workers, those individuals who are
about every retailer in the country to this all ends. struggling, the folks who are hourly,
make sure they are cleaning facilities For those families who are laid off those folks who are waiters and wait-
more and being open and accessible and and in unemployment now, this is a resses, those folks who work at the cof-
having hours early in the morning for very different day for them. My fear is fee shop and own the coffee shop, and
those in the most vulnerable popu- that some of what pushed some of those folks in retail locations that are
lations so they are not shopping with those individuals over the edge into un- shut down. They need us to stand with
people who may have the virus and employment was a nudge to say we are them, and this is our moment to do it.
don’t even know it. going to add one more mandate to you Let’s do it together.
There has been a shift around the at your worst possible economic mo- I yield the floor.
country to encourage people to ment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
telework or to find ways to separate in The first principle we should have as ator from Massachusetts.
their place of work. Congress is, do no harm. We need to f
All of these things have occurred just step in and help those folks who need CORONAVIRUS
in the last few months. Again, 3 help. There are lots of ideas being ban- Mr. MARKEY. Madam President, I
months ago, none of us knew this term tered around by the Senate and the want to start my remarks by saying to
or this virus existed. All of this is hap- House, from both sides of the aisle, to the people of Massachusetts and fami-
pening extremely rapidly. figure out how we can get help as rap- lies all across the country: Many of
Three weeks ago, Congress and the idly as we can to as many people as we you are making big sacrifices—quaran-
President agreed on a proposal—it was can. tining yourselves, postponing or can-
a wide bipartisan proposal—to deal This is a moment unlike what we celing major events, dealing with
with additional funding for testing, ad- have seen before where it is not that closed schools and daycare. We are
ditional funding for vaccine develop- the economy is crashing because of grateful.
ment, additional funding for State and some economic foundation that is not Right now, our primary goal needs to
local departments of health to make there; it is fear and panic that is glob- be to slow the spread of this virus, and
sure they are taking care of that. My al, that literally we are struggling with we all share in that responsibility. So
own State of Oklahoma has already re- ‘‘what if’’ and the CDC and our own we thank you for everything you are
ceived almost $7 million to help with governments saying to employers: It doing to keep your loved ones and ev-
what is happening in our county, and would be best if you closed for a sea- eryone else’s loved ones safe at this
we are in desperate need of those dol- son. And they, being good citizens and time.
lars to get that done. good neighbors, quite frankly, are com- We are at war with the coronavirus,
Vaccine development is already in plying with that out of fear for their and we need a massive wartime manu-
human trials now. It is in phase 1. It own business and for their own employ- facturing mobilization for coronavirus
will take multiple months to get that ees. testing kits and personal protective
done, but we have already begun that I finished my day yesterday—late equipment for medical personnel and
process. That is important to us. last night—talking to a small business emergency responders. That is why,
The bill that was on the floor today owner in Oklahoma who related to me last weekend, I was the first to call on
dealt with multiple helpful things. It what he is going through right now and President Trump to immediately use
expands SNAP—what some people still the struggles he is having keeping the existing authorities under the Defense
call food stamps, but it is supplemental doors open. Quite frankly, he was fairly Production Act to bring all of the
nutrition. It is assistance for those blunt with me to say: The things that power of the Federal Government to
families. It is an expansion of that. are being passed in the bill tomorrow bear in mobilizing industry to meet
It also deals with unemployment in- will affect me, but my competitors this crisis. It is why I authored the
surance benefits to make sure those that are big companies—it doesn’t af- Senate resolution calling on him to do
are staying consistent and those get fect them. It is already hard enough for so. It is why I spoke directly to Vice
extended to people who are going to me as a small business to compete with President PENCE yesterday to urge the
need them because in the past week, them, and now I have a new mandate administration to take this critical ac-
unemployment has dramatically in- on me that is not a mandate on them, tion, and I am glad they are doing so.
creased all over the country. In the and it makes it even harder, and I The Defense Production Act allows
days ahead, when we see the numbers, don’t think I will have the cash flow to the Federal Government to direct sup-
SSpencer on DSKBBXCHB2PROD with SENATE
we will see the difference between what be able to make this work. plies of critical materials and equip-
is happening this week versus the week Toward the end of the conversation, ment that our hospitals and first re-
before versus the week before that. he paused and literally began to cry, sponders need. It allows us to mobilize
The struggle is, my phones have been and he pulled himself together and industry to expand production and
filled with one other element that is in said: I am having to call people and tell gives us the power to coordinate indus-
that bill, and that deals with a man- them ‘‘I don’t have hours for you next try to respond to this crisis. We need to
date on small businesses for sick leave. week,’’ and these are people I care fully use all of those powers that are
Small businesses in my State are about. provided under this law.
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