Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., May 11, 2020)

Summary

A page of the Congressional Record for Monday, May 11, 2020, Vol. 166, No. 88, starting with the Senate proceedings. The House was not in session, and the Senate met at 3 p.m., when the Chaplain offered a prayer. Under Coronavirus, Mr. Grassley speaks on the pandemic's disruption of the food supply and Iowa's Pass the Pork program. Mr. McConnell says the Senate is back for its second week in session and praises essential workers, including Leilani Krause, a nurse in Kentucky. Mr. Schumer says a hearing with Mr. Mnuchin on the 19th comes almost 2 months after a bill that released lending authority.

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“Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., May 11, 2020).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-05-11-crec-2020-05-11-pt1-pgs2331-8-8caa2c4d8f/, SHA-256 afbc3590421a10de3658d36613fd4b09b5941d22dfdfea58d01dfc22e422679e.

Full text

Congressional Record
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116 th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE

Vol. 166 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020 No. 88

House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at 12 p.m.

Senate
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

The Senate met at 3 p.m. and was CORONAVIRUS RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY
called to order by the President pro LEADER
tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the
pandemic has disrupted just about ev- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
jority leader is recognized.
f erything Americans take for granted in
life, including our food supply. Empty f
PRAYER grocery store shelves have greeted U.S. CORONAVIRUS
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- consumers, perhaps for the first time Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, the
fered the following prayer: in their lifetimes. The pandemic shines Senate is back for its second week in
Let us pray. a national spotlight on the ‘‘farm to session, and we have more important
Marvelous Redeemer, You alone are fork’’ supply chain. Market disruptions work to do for the American people.
God, keeping Your covenant with hu- are forcing farmers to make tough While our Nation fights the
manity throughout the generations. choices—milk being dumped, eggs de- coronavirus pandemic, many of our fel-
Bless our Senators. Enable them to stroyed, and market-ready hogs may low Americans have been taking new
find shelter in the shadow of Your have nowhere to go. Farmers are shoul- safety precautions but continue to
wings. Lord, bless their plans as they show up to perform essential work. Be-
dering a heavy burden, with profound
seek to do Your will on Earth, and em- cause of delivery drivers and grocery
impact to their livelihood and mental
power them to succeed. Use them to clerks, families can keep food on their
bring comfort and healing to a troubled health.
shelves. Because of utility workers,
nation and world. Keep them aware of As a champion for American agri- people hunkered down at home have
the constancy of Your presence, inspir- culture, I am leading efforts to help power. Because of pharmacists man-
ing them to give primacy to prayer and our farmers get through these tough ning their counters, Americans have
praise as they work for Your glory. times. There is a lot of help coming been able to keep getting the medi-
We pray in Your majestic Name. from other people as well. cines they need so this health crisis
Amen. does not compound itself. Then, of
As always, Iowa pork producers want
course, there has been the selfless work
f to do what they do best, which is put
of so many doctors, nurses, and other
food on our tables. They are teaming
healthcare professionals.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE up with local meat lockers and food Frankly, even the word ‘‘essential’’
The President pro tempore led the banks to do what is called Pass the does not do full justice to all the new
Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: Pork, a statewide initiative launched American heroes we have met these
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the by Iowa Governor Reynolds. The Pass past weeks.
United States of America, and to the Repub- the Pork Program aims to stock food In my home State of Kentucky, we
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, pantries with hogs donated by local met people like Leilani Krause. She is
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. farmers and from financial contribu- a 30-year nursing veteran who now
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. tions to cover the costs of processing oversees care at a senior living facility
HAWLEY). The Senator from Iowa. and distribution. Where there is a will, in Louisville. A few weeks ago, she her-
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask there is a way. We all know it. self contracted the coronavirus. Even
unanimous consent to speak for 1 as she stayed home to recover, she
minute in morning business. I salute Iowans pulling together the never stopped working. She still did all
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without Iowa Way. she could to coordinate her patients’

SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
objection, it is so ordered. I yield the floor. care over video calls. As soon as she

∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.

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S2332 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 11, 2020
felt better and doctors gave her the all- We are also going to take up impor- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
clear, she checked right back into work tant legislation this week. While objection, it is so ordered.
right on the frontlines. COVID–19 rightly dominates headlines RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER
I want to thank all of my Senate col- around the world, the United States of The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
leagues as we continue to perform our America also faced many serious Democratic leader is recognized.
essential responsibilities to serve citi- threats before this virus began to CORONAVIRUS
zens like Miss Krause and so many spread, and they are still with us Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the
other American heroes all across our today. United States has well over a million
country. Of course, much of the work Later this week, we will turn back to confirmed cases of COVID–19. We are
before us relates to the pandemic itself. reauthorizing important authorities quickly, unfortunately, approaching
Our committees of jurisdiction are at- under the Foreign Intelligence Surveil- 80,000 fatalities.
tacking COVID–19 and its effects from lance Act. This is urgent because the Alongside this great crisis of public
every angle. House refused to take up the Senate’s health, this shocking and heart-
This week, Chairman ALEXANDER and short-term extension of important breaking loss of life, there is a looming
our colleagues on the HELP Committee counterterrorism and counterintel- economic catastrophe. There are now
will hold a major hearing on smart and ligence authorities before they left more than 30 million newly unem-
safe ways for Americans to get back to town. House Democrats let these tools ployed Americans, over one-tenth of
work and back to school. They will expire, so we must act quickly to clean the population in the United States
hear expert testimony from the very up their mess and renew these authori- and the highest number since the Great
top leaders: Dr. Fauci, Dr. Redfield, Dr. ties, which our government needs to Depression. Many believe this number
Hahn, and Admiral Giroir from HHS. fight terrorists and check the agents of underestimates the real total.
Chairman CRAPO and the Banking
China and Russia. Once this crisis is over, there is no
Committee will hear from representa-
The bipartisan bill we will take up guarantee that these millions of newly
tives from the Federal Reserve and the
was negotiated exhaustively by House unemployed Americans will be able to
FDIC on financial regulation. Obvi-
Republicans and the Attorney General resume their old jobs. How many peo-
ously, that is an essential topic as the
of the United States. Determined advo- ple will find new jobs? At what salary?
government continues to push out bil-
cates for reform after the shameful Even the most optimistic scenarios
lions and billions of dollars in emer-
abuses of 2016 sat down with deter- predict a period of extended high un-
gency liquidity following the CARES
mined defenders of the good parts of employment. Others suggest we are
Act.
With huge numbers of Americans these tools, and they hammered out a looking at the kernels of a second
working, teaching, and learning from strong compromise. The legislation Great Depression.
home and with telemedicine more im- will introduce more daylight and more Here on the Senate floor, for the sec-
portant than ever, the Commerce Com- accountability into the FISA process ond week in a row, we are living in the
mittee will hear from experts about ac- where appropriate, but it will ensure alternative reality of Republican Lead-
cess to broadband internet during the that the embarrassments of 2016 do not er MCCONNELL’s making. He has sched-
crisis. jeopardize these essential national se- uled no legislative business here on the
The Judiciary Committee will hold curity tools altogether. floor related to COVID–19—none—no
an important hearing on issues of legal I hope the Senate will be able to dis- measures for the unemployed, no relief
liability during this unprecedented patch the amendments that we will for renters or homeowners, no legisla-
time. It is crucial that as we continue consider and pass this important legis- tion to increase testing capacity, no
to fight the pandemic itself, we ensure lation on a bipartisan basis to keep the proposals to help State and local gov-
it is not followed up by a second job- American people safe. ernments retain teachers, firefighters,
killing epidemic of frivolous lawsuits. f busdrivers, and police officers.
This would be just about the worst Looking at the Senate calendar, you
RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME would never know that we are working
time in living memory to let trial law-
yers line their pockets at the expense The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under in the midst of a national crisis. It
of the rest of our country. The Senate the previous order, the leadership time looks like any other session—a few ex-
is going to play a strong role in ensur- is reserved. ecutive nominations, hearings on
ing that does not happen. f rightwing judges, and legislation from
While our committees are working previous months that the leader should
away, here on the floor, we will start CONCLUSION OF MORNING not have delayed. It is just totally, to-
this week by confirming two more BUSINESS tally divorced from reality.
qualified nominees to important posts The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning Despite the obvious health risks,
that should not remain empty at this business is closed. Senators are ready to do our jobs. Why
time. We will begin with Brian Mont- f don’t we actually do our jobs and focus
gomery of Texas, named by President on COVID–19? For the sake of common
Trump to serve as Deputy Secretary of EXECUTIVE SESSION sense and the good of the Nation, the
Housing and Urban Development. Then Senate should be focused on COVID–19.
we will turn to Troy Edgar of Cali- We should be holding multiple serious
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
fornia to be Chief Financial Officer at oversight hearings every week. Several
the Department of Homeland Security. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under of my colleagues on the other side, in-
I understand some of my distin- the previous order, the Senate will pro- cluding the Republican leader, have
guished Democratic colleagues com- ceed to executive session to resume said they want to see how the legisla-
plain that the full Senate should not consideration of the following nomina- tion we have already passed is working
have to spend more time on these sorts tion, which the clerk will report. before doing anything else. At the
of uncontroversial executive branch The legislative clerk read the nomi- same time, the Republican majority is
nominees. I agree. But as long as their nation of Brian D. Montgomery, of slow-walking the hearing process.
own Democratic leadership continues Texas, to be Deputy Secretary of Hous- Finally, after a lot of Democratic
to hold important posts open for as ing and Urban Development. pressure from myself and many others,
long as possible in order to just spite Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I the leader is sort of eking out, week by
suggest the absence of a quorum.

SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
the White House, as long as the minor- week, hearings. We have just heard
ity continues to break from long- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The that we will hear from Powell and
standing Senate precedent to obstruct clerk will call the roll. Mnuchin on the 19th. That will be al-
even the least controversial nominees, The legislative clerk proceeded to most 2 months after a bill that let $4
then, frankly, they will have to con- call the roll. trillion of lending authority be re-
tinue to show up and vote on them. The Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask leased before there is a hearing.
floor votes they say they dislike are unanimous consent that the order for Why didn’t we hold a hearing 3 weeks
the direct result of their own tactics. the quorum call be rescinded. ago, 5 weeks ago, or last week? It is

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