Coronavirus and Small Business Provisions — Congressional Record, Senate, April 21, 2020
Summary
Page S2180 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for April 21, 2020, headed Coronavirus and Small Business Provisions, in interleaved columns. A speaker says Congress has backed away from its lawmaking responsibilities for decades, ceding authority to courts and executive agencies, and that the Senate cannot legislate from recess, which is that speaker's view. The speaker notes the Senate is not scheduled to return until May 4 and lists testing, masks, liability and leave as issues needing action. Another passage says the number of people who developed antibodies is 25 to 50 times higher than reported.
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“Coronavirus and Small Business Provisions — Congressional Record, Senate, April 21, 2020.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-04-21-crec-2020-04-21-pt1-pgs2180-c557599641/
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S2180 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 21, 2020
five, six decades, Congress has been leave up to just a few staff meetings uled to come back until May 4. When
sort of backing away from its law- behind closed doors. We have got issues we come back on May 4—which I hope
making responsibilities. We have ceded involving testing, masks, healthcare we do—I hope the force will be with us,
voluntarily—sometimes willfully—the policy, liability, leave, regulatory re- but we have got to get back together
responsibility for making law, in some form, immigration, and the judicial even sooner than that because we can’t
cases, to the courts—in many, many system, just to name a few. All of these legislate without our Members here.
cases to executive branch agencies. things require serious legislative ac- We can’t do that from recess.
This, for many, is a feature, not a bug, tion. We can’t just give those issues The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
but it is an unconstitutional feature. It the attention that they deserve simply ator from Maryland.
is something we should dismiss and by sitting in our respective homes. f
render a bug. You see, we can’t dele- Now, look, I am not saying that CORONAVIRUS
gate that power. It is supposed to be- Members aren’t working. I and most of
long only to us, and that means we are the Members I know have been working Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am
not supposed to enact law saying, Enti- as hard as ever in the last few weeks, pleased that we are ready to act and we
ty X, Y, or Z shall enact good law in but we can’t do that which is uniquely will be able to pass legislation in a few
the area of expertise of that agency. our job—sure, we can have meetings. moments that will help deal with this
But in this crisis, we have doubled We can make phone calls. We can help pandemic. Like my colleagues, I have
down on that decades-long bad habit. solve problems just like any other been in teleconferences with different
In many cases, within Congress itself, American could, but we cannot do the groups in Maryland, and I have seen
we have empowered party leaders to job for which we were elected without the pain caused by the coronavirus. In
negotiate in secret, sort of asking us to actually being here. Maryland, we are losing around 30 citi-
rubberstamp out these take-it-or- You see, the reason Congress works zens every day to the coronavirus. Over
leave-it proposals without individual so little, even in moments like this the last week, our Nation has lost over
Members being able to read them, let one, is because Congress has chosen to 15,000 to the coronavirus. This pan-
prioritize its own convenience. demic is with us in a very serious way,
alone have meaningful input in their
The 31⁄2-day legislative workweek, and we need to respond.
negotiation, and reducing the role of
blocking tough amendment votes, nu- I am pleased that, this afternoon, we
each individual elected lawmaker in will be providing additional resources
the law-making process through a se- clear options, things like this are all
to our healthcare providers, particu-
ries of tweets and press conferences. reminders of the fact that we have to
larly those that are on the frontlines,
This isn’t legislating. get back to work, especially if we are
in dealing with the coronavirus and
I was interested a few minutes ago going to have a debate about when ev-
that we will be passing legislation to
when Senator Schumer was talking, as eryone else will be able to return to
establish a national strategy on test-
he was referring to provisions that work. If it makes anyone feel better,
ing, working with our States to make
were negotiated successfully just last remember the Senate floor is often
sure all communities have adequate
night to add this or that provision into empty—just as it is at this very mo-
testing so that, when we reopen our so-
this deal. Well, most of us were not ment—making it perhaps the safest
ciety, we can do so in a safe manner.
part of that process. Most of us saw place in America. We can, in fact, I am also pleased that we are acting
this legislative package, this bill, only structure our votes in such a way that on the small business provisions. The
within the last few hours. That isn’t a we can distance ourselves. We have programs that we passed in the CARES
true negotiation, and it is not a true proven that in recent weeks. We can do Act that provide help to small busi-
legislative process. Now, I understand it again. nesses was very popular and was over-
that we are in unusual circumstances, In closing, we have to remember that subscribed. I am particularly pleased
but we can’t let it happen this way challenges don’t, themselves, build that we are able to pass today provi-
again. This is not acceptable. We character. They reveal it. Our char- sions that are greatly improved from
should not be passing major legisla- acter is revealed rather than built on when I was last on the floor a little
tion—especially legislation providing challenging times. The character of our over 1 week ago when the majority
nearly a half trillion dollars in new institution is on the line here. It is leader made the unanimous consent re-
spending—without Congress actually being exposed and revealed for all the quest that would have included only
being in session, without Members ac- world to see. additional money for the Paycheck
tually being here to debate, discuss, COVID–19 certainly has revealed to Protection Program,—$250 billion—and
amend, and consider legislation and us the character of the Chinese Govern- would not have dealt with the
vote on it individually, rather than on ment and its lackeys inside the World healthcare issues or the challenges
an absentee basis, rather than by dele- Health Organization. It has revealed that I expressed on the floor at that
gating that power to someone else. the character of America’s doctors and time in regards to the small business
This crisis is too big to leave up to a nurses, our priests and our pastors. Our provisions. The reason that we now
small handful of people. Different parts families and our communities have have a bill that we can be very proud of
of the country will face different kinds pulled together. Many State and local is because this has been negotiated
of threats and, therefore, have different leaders have proven themselves to be with all Members of the Senate being
kinds of needs. Different industries will up to the challenge, especially, I say involved through a bipartisan process,
need different kinds of help in order to with great pride, both Democrats and rather than just being brought to the
recover the health of the economy. As Republicans in my home State of Utah. floor by the majority.
long as Congress remains in recess, Congress stepped up before we re- We saw that happen on the CARES
Democrats are free to politicize and cessed to appropriate money for work- Act originally. The original bill that
stifle legislation with impunity as they ers and businesses who were facing an was brought to the floor by the major-
did just a couple of weeks ago. Only re- unprecedented monumental crisis, but ity leader that he attempted to pass
turning to work and indeed actually that was weeks ago. That was literally did not include major help for our
working will give the American people 20 million lost jobs ago. There is more State and local governments, did not
the government they deserve. to do—there is a lot more to do—more include major help for our healthcare
The American people need to know than we have ever faced. The country institutions, did not provide funds for
who is helping them and who is simply is changing along with the rest of the many of our programs that are criti-
playing politics. We can’t allow them world, and we need policy to change cally important to our local commu-
to know that if we are not in session. with it. nities. We were able to improve that
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We can’t just spend another half tril- Unlike millions of our constituents, program because we worked together.
lion dollars every week or 2 or 3 and Members of Congress are still receiving Democrats and Republicans have pro-
hope and pretend that it is going to paychecks. It is time for us to earn duced a bill that we can be proud of.
turn out okay. them. It is time to do our job. It is As I said when I was last on the floor
The upcoming challenges are far too time to return to Washington and get in regards to the small business provi-
numerous and onerous and complex to to work. We are not currently sched- sions, we have a bipartisan process.
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April 21, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2181
Senator RUBIO and I have been working payroll. He says, ‘‘That’s the best thing want to help. The original UC did not
closely together to develop the tools about the PPP.’’ have that. We now have funds in it.
for small businesses. Yes, I do acknowl- I couldn’t agree more. That is what This package is much better to reach
edge the work with Senator COLLINS we are trying to do. It is paycheck pro- those small businesses that desperately
and Senator SHAHEEN because we have tection—keep workers employed so need help.
come together to try to put together a small businesses don’t have to go back I brought this to the attention of
package that could work. out when this virus is over and try to Secretary Mnuchin shortly after our
What I had mentioned on the floor find a workforce in order to be com- conversations on the floor last time,
when the last UC was made was that petitive. They can keep their work- and I want to thank Secretary
there were problems with the original force in place and, by the way, keeping Mnuchin. When I explained to him the
request made by the majority leader, the pressure off our unemployment EIDL program and I explained to him
and I pointed that out. Underserved compensation system. how these programs work for smaller
communities have not been able to get We were able, through the change we small businesses, he showed interest,
in, in the same number as those larger were able to make—and I applaud Sen- and I am glad that we were able to ne-
small businesses who have relations ator SCHUMER and Speaker PELOSI for gotiate with him the additional $60 bil-
with banking institutions. I pointed sticking to the principle that all small lion going into those programs. It is a
that out to the Secretary of the Treas- businesses needed to be included, and better package thanks to the bipar-
ury and to the Small Business Admin- as a result, this package now includes tisan process.
istrator on April 7 by a letter I au- these allocations that will get to our I do want to mention one additional
thored along with Senator SCHUMER minority and underserved commu- issue that we need to deal with, and
and the Democratic members of the nities. that is accountability. We need to get
Small Business and Entrepreneurship There is a second issue I raised on information on how these programs are
Committee. We pointed this out 2 days the floor 10 days ago, and that is the working, and I would hope we would
before we had the original UC request. Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the get bipartisan support for that.
Quoting from that letter to the Sec- EIDL loans. It ran out of money before On April 17, I authored a letter with
retary and the Administrator: the PPP program ran out of money. It Senators SCHUMER, WYDEN, and SHA-
We believe that more can be done to reach was not part of the unanimous consent HEEN to Secretary Mnuchin and Admin-
out to and authorize those lenders, such as request by the majority leader, as well istrator Carranza in which we asked for
Community Development Financial Institu- as the grant program that was created the PPP to give us the numbers and
tions, Minority Depository Institutions, and under CARES. amount of loans disbursed to small
mission-based non-profit lenders, which are Smaller small businesses use these businesses, including a breakout of
best positioned to bridge the trust gap be- disaster loans. Why? Because it gives loans by State, demographics, indus-
tween many underserved communities and
them working capital so they can stay try, and loan size; the number and
the traditional financial sector. For exam-
ple, a survey conducted by the Association in business. PPP covers payroll, but amount of loans disbursed to busi-
for Enterprise Opportunity found that more they need more than payroll. These are nesses under the NAICS 72 exception—
than half of Black respondents indicated longer-term loans with no payments that is the one for restaurants and the
they felt unfairly treated by financial insti- during the first year so that businesses hospitality field; including a breakout
tutions, compared to only 26 [percent] of can stay afloat after a disaster, and we of loans by State, demographics, and
White respondents. qualify the coronavirus as one of those loan size. Give us a number of loans
We knew we had to do something to disasters. This is a critically important provided to nonprofits—nonprofits
bridge that gap. When the request was program in our State and in our Na- were for the first time eligible for
made 10 days ago, it did not include tion. We added to it by providing a these 7(a) loans—and religious institu-
any help for these minority businesses grant program up to $10,000 in grants, tions, including a breakout of the loans
or the rural areas or women-owned not loans, to small businesses. by State, industry, and loan size; and
businesses that have been shut out in In my State of Maryland, we had the number of loans disbursed by lend-
great numbers to the first requests 12,000 small businesses that applied for ing institutions, so we could find out
under the Paycheck Protection Pro- that grant. We had 26,000 apply for the what the concentration is of these
gram. PPP. I am just pointing out how pop- loans. We asked for similar informa-
What this bill that we now have on ular this program is. The grant pro- tion in regards to the Economic Injury
the floor does corrects that. It corrects gram is $10 billion. The PPP program is Disaster Loan program, the numbers,
that by providing $60 billion, in addi- $349 billion. It ran out of money before et cetera, giving us that information,
tion to the $250 billion. We are now up the PPP grant program. We need to put including those who received the
to $310 billion more going into the Pay- more money in that grant program. grants.
check Protection Program; but $60 bil- The unanimous consent agreement Lastly, we ask for information about
lion is dedicated to dealing with minor- didn’t do that. Thanks to the negotia- the loan forgiveness program because
ity communities, rural communities, tions of Senator SCHUMER and the there is another program under the
and women-owned businesses by having Democrats, we were able to get $50 bil- CARES Act that allows for a 6-month
more funds going out to the commu- lion put into the EIDL, the Economic forgiveness of repayment of existing
nity banking institutions and minority Injury Disaster Loan program, which 7(a) or 504 loans, and we need informa-
banking institutions and mission-based will be able to leverage about $300 bil- tion on that in order to carry out our
nonprofit lenders so that we can get lion of additional loans under that pro- responsibility of accountability. We
more of the funds into the hands of gram that will help the smaller of the have a responsibility to make sure the
those small businesses that are in des- small businesses. We were able to get money is getting to the right places.
perate need: the smaller small busi- $10 billion put into the EIDL grant pro- I had a communication with Senator
nesses. gram so that they can open, once RUBIO this week in which we both
I have numerous examples. I will just again, applications from small busi- agreed that we are concerned that we
use one, if I might, from a business in nesses that want to get the cash grant might be seeing some large chains get-
Maryland, e-End Frederick, that writes from the Small Business Administra- ting more money than we think we in-
to us and says that thanks to this pro- tion. These loans and grants are made tended under the act. We intended
gram—this employer has 20 employees. by SBA, not by financial institutions, there would be a $10 million cap; yet we
This is a small business, 20 employees. so all small businesses have access. see reports where certain businesses
What he says basically is: I was look- I did some rough calculations, and if were able to find a way to get more
dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with SENATE
ing to how I could transition my em- my math is correct, in Maryland, the than $10 million. We also had self-cer-
ployees to unemployment because I average size of the business that quali- tification that there is need. You have
couldn’t afford to continue to keep fied for the EIDL grant was between to show that you were damaged by the
them on payroll, but now, thanks to four and five employees. These are coronavirus. We think we should exam-
the Paycheck Protection Program, I really the smallest of small businesses, ine whether there was any false certifi-
am able to keep my employees on the and that is the group I hope we would cation.
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S2182 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 21, 2020
The first thing we want to do on the than the number that is being reported cumvented the redtape to get testing
Small Business and Entrepreneurship as infected. This is great news. This done quicker.
Committee on a bipartisan basis is do study means that the mortality rate Over the years, the U.S. has accumu-
our oversight to make sure that, if may well be 25 to 50 times less deadly lated more than $23 trillion in debt,
there is abuse, that we put a spotlight than previously thought. spending money that we do not have
on it and correct it to make sure that The virus is still dangerous, and we and borrowing from our kids’ and our
the moneys go to the small businesses shouldn’t ignore the risks, but we grandkids’ future. The gargantuan Fed-
that we intended to receive help. should put those risks in perspective. eral bailout that just passed over $2
We need now to work on the next These randomized tests indicate that, trillion brings us closer and closer to a
stimulus package. I was glad to hear instead of a 3.4 percent mortality, that point of no return, a point in which the
the President talk about this. Senator the rate could be as much as only 0.1 world loses confidence in the dollar and
SCHUMER talked about it. Yes, our first percent or 0.2 percent. We now have a point in which our debt becomes an
priority should be the health and wel- scientific evidence from randomized existential threat to our security. The
fare of the American people in dealing studies that we can manage this dis- United States is already having to bor-
with the coronavirus itself, and we ease without continuing the draconian row simply to pay our promises to sen-
need to do more. We clearly need to do lockdown of the economy. ior citizens.
more with State and local govern- The question before us isn’t to do The U.S. is borrowing about $1 tril-
ments. That is going to be a critical nothing or to print endless amounts of lion a year just to pay for everyday ob-
part of the next package. But we also bailout cash. The debate should now in- ligations. This is before the pandemic
need to look at improvements in the clude the one choice that will get our bailout. The U.S. is already borrowing
small business package. We know that, economy growing again: reopening nearly $2 million every minute. With
through this 8–week period for repay- American commerce. the recent $2 trillion bailout, we are
ment, many of us have heard that they Today, I rise in opposition to spend- borrowing faster than we have ever
need additional flexibility. After all, ing $500 billion more. The virus bail- borrowed before.
how do they predict when they can re- outs have already cost over $2 trillion. Had we practiced sound budgeting in
open if government has told them they Our annual deficit this year will ap- the past, we would have been in a sig-
have to stay closed? We need to give proach $4 trillion. We can’t continue on nificantly better position to weather
some degree of flexibility in the 8–week this course. No amount of bailout dol- this storm. Congress’ failures of the
period. lars will stimulate an economy that is past, coupled with the pandemic prices
We have different small businesses being strangled by quarantine. of the present, could seriously jeop-
that want us to consider their eligi- It is not a lack of money that plagues ardize our economic future. In this mo-
bility. What happens after 8 weeks? If us but a lack of commerce. This eco- ment, we need to think carefully about
we are still seeing our economy not up nomic calamity only resolves when we what we do next.
to full speed, we need to talk about begin to reopen the economy. Opening To stop the spread of this virus, com-
how we transition after 8 weeks to the economy will require Americans to merce has been disrupted, businesses
make sure these small businesses can rise above partisanship, to understand have closed, and millions have lost
succeed. that deaths from infectious disease will their jobs. Right now, the number is 20
The lessons learned on the CARES continue, but that we cannot indefi- million unemployed. The job losses will
Act, the lesson learned on this legisla- nitely quarantine. continue no matter how much money
tion we are taking up this afternoon is, Make no mistake about it, this has you throw at it until you reopen the
when we work together, when we nego- been a difficult month for our country. economy.
tiate together, when we do a bipartisan For many of us, we have not seen a Our government has intervened with
package which the American people ex- greater challenge. I am encouraged to unprecedented scale to prop up our
pect us to do during this national see how our communities are respond- economy. We have injected $2 trillion.
emergency, we get a better product, ing. In Kentucky, we have seen tremen- I do believe it makes sense for the gov-
and we can do it quicker. I urge us all, dous collaboration. People from all ernment to provide support to busi-
as we move on to the fourth stimulus walks of life have come together to nesses and families who can’t make it
package, let’s start from the beginning help each other. We have worked to through this. I supported expanding
in a bipartisan way so that we can get identify and supply additional protec- unemployment benefits for workers
the very best product for the American tive gear, masks, and gloves to protect displaced by government quarantine,
people and deal with this national cri- our doctors and nurses who risk their including self-employed individuals
sis. lives on a daily basis. that have lost their businesses. But
I yield the floor. UPS has set up an airlift operation make no mistake, the massive eco-
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. LEE). out of Louisville that includes a nomic calamity we are experiencing
The Senator from Kentucky. healthcare facility for FEMA. This lets right now was caused by government.
f FEMA make overnight deliveries from Passing out $1,200 checks indiscrimi-
anywhere in the country. Over 3 mil- nately to people who haven’t lost their
REOPENING THE ECONOMY lion pounds of masks, gloves, and other jobs will do nothing to rescue the coun-
Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, no amount equipment have been shipped to the try. If we were going to make discrete
of money—not all the money in Louisville airport by UPS. direct payments, the criteria should
China—will save us from ourselves. Our We have worked with some of our have been sending checks to people
only hope of rescuing this great coun- bourbon distillers to assist them in who needed it, people who lost their
try is to reopen the economy. If you transitioning to producing hand sani- jobs, people furloughed, people who had
print up billions of dollars and give it tizer. We helped repatriate Americans wage cuts. Instead of directing help to
to people, they are unlikely to spend it trapped overseas. We also have seen the unemployed, though, some of these
until you end the quarantine. how our communities have banded to- bailout checks will go to couples who
The good news, though, is that the gether to support neighbors, busi- earn nearly $200,000 a year. But you
scientific community finally has facts nesses, and those in need. could give everybody in the country
instead of conjecture. The models that When protective equipment was in $12,000, and it wouldn’t end this reces-
used 3.4 percent mortality were, fortu- short supply, we discovered a way to sion. Our recovery only comes when
nately, very wrong. Random samples of use industrial masks, and we supported the quarantine has ended.
thousands of people have now been legislation to allow us to bring ap- Experts will disagree on the exact
dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with SENATE
tested for antibodies or immunity to proximately 30 million masks into the date that we should reopen the econ-
coronavirus. Two large randomized medical community. When the FDA omy, but sane, rational counsel should
studies in California show similar re- wouldn’t approve COVID–19 tests other continue to push for the quickest end
sults. The number of people who al- than the CDC’s—a test that initially possible. Opining about never shaking
ready developed antibodies to the failed—we introduced legislation that hands again is a recipe for keeping the
coronavirus is 25 to 50 times higher circumvented the FDA and cir- economy closed until no one dies from
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