Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., May 18, 2020)
Summary
Page S2469 of the Congressional Record for Monday, May 18, 2020, Volume 166, No. 93, headed Coronavirus. The House was not in session, with its next meeting set for May 19, 2020 at 10:30 a.m., and the Senate met at 3 p.m. with a prayer from the Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black. Mr. Grassley speaks about the graduating class of 2020, and another speaker praises medical professionals, grocery store workers and volunteers as a new generation of heroes. A speaker says more than 35 million Americans are out of work, which is that speaker's view, and urges more support now to avoid a slower recovery.
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“Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., May 18, 2020).”
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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 18, 2020 No. 93
House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2020, at 10:30 a.m.
Senate
MONDAY, MAY 18, 2020
The Senate met at 3 p.m. and was The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without A new generation of American he-
called to order by the President pro objection, it is so ordered. roes—from medical professionals, to
tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). f lab researchers, to grocery store work-
f ers, to custodians and janitors, to com-
GRADUATING CLASS OF 2020
munity volunteers—has been called up
PRAYER Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, this to the frontlines to serve its neighbors
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- time of year is typically spent cele- and our country. So, for several weeks
fered the following prayer: brating students of all ages as they now, the Senate has counted ourselves
Let us pray. graduate on to their next endeavors. among those ranks of essential work-
Eternal Master, the Father of us all, Most graduations have a different look ers. They are showing up for our coun-
we thank You that, through Your Spir- this year due to the pandemic, but the try, so we are showing up for them.
it, You have provided our legislative occasion has not lost its significance. With respect to the pandemic itself, we
body with the talents and capabilities Graduations are a time to celebrate the are conducting rigorous oversight of
to fulfill Your purposes. hard work and dedication students put the Senate’s historic CARES Act res-
May our Senators remember that into their educations. cue package and are helping to plan
this body has many parts, each making I congratulate all Iowans who are the pivot toward reopening.
its distinctive contribution to the suc- graduating this spring as you begin Last week, Chairman ALEXANDER and
cess of the whole. As our lawmakers new chapters in your lives. Barbara the Committee on Health, Education,
acknowledge and honor the value added and I wish you all more years of con- Labor, and Pensions engaged with Dr.
by each Member of this body, unite tinued success. Fauci, Dr. Redfield, Admiral Giroir,
them with faith, civility, courage, and f and other top experts to discuss paths
gratitude. RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY for schools and businesses to reopen,
And, Lord, we pray for the first re- LEADER and numbers of our colleagues are join-
sponders and healthcare workers, who The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- ing me and Senator CORNYN in think-
stand on the frontlines during this jority leader is recognized. ing proactively about the issue of legal
global health crisis. liability that could crush the recovery
f
We pray in Your unifying Name. on the runway. We need strong legal
Amen. CORONAVIRUS protections to ensure that our historic
f Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, the recovery efforts are not drained away
COVID–19 pandemic continues to hold from healthcare workers, schools, and
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE our Nation on high alert. universities or small businesses in
The President pro tempore led the More than 1.4 million Americans order to line the pockets of trial law-
Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: have been infected; more than 80,000 yers.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the lives have been tragically lost; and the At the same time, we have kept our
United States of America, and to the Repub- livelihoods of tens of millions of work- eye on the ball on other significant
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, ing families have been turned upside global challenges. Last week, on a bi-
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. down in what seems like the blink of partisan basis, the Senate reauthorized
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. an eye. Our Nation’s healthcare system critical surveillance authorities for our
HAWLEY). The Senator from Iowa. has not been stressed by contagion on national security professionals. We
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask this scale in over a century, and unem- also made sure to include important
unanimous consent to speak in morn- ployment has not been this high since new reforms to begin to address the
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
ing business for 45 seconds. the Second World War. abuses that marred the 2016 election,
∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
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S2470 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 18, 2020
the disturbing details of which are con- evolving threats from Russia to China, fault of their own. Almost 1.5 million
tinuing to come to light every day. Our to terrorist groups, and for ensuring Americans are sick, and nearly 90,000
action on that subject is not finished. the intelligence community’s impor- have died. Yet Senate Republicans
Thanks to leadership from Senator tant work is not tainted by partisan have decided to take the month off
RUBIO, we passed legislation to con- bias or political weaponization. from the coronavirus.
tinue ratcheting up the pressure on the We have a busy week ahead of us. The American people may be won-
Chinese Communist Party. In this case, This pandemic is not going to defeat dering: What is the Republican-led
our bill will shed new light and impose itself; a careful reopening will not plan Senate doing instead of addressing this
new consequences for the egregious itself; and our Nation’s other chal- urgent national crisis? What could be
abuses against the Uyghur people and lenges are not about to politely step more pressing? What is the Republican
other Muslim minorities. We also con- aside in the meantime. All kinds of Senate doing in the midst of the crisis?
firmed well-qualified nominees to im- American heroes across the country Well, Leader MCCONNELL has sched-
portant roles at the National Counter- are tackling the coronavirus head on. uled five rightwing judges for the floor
intelligence and Security Center, the We are going to do all we can to keep of the Senate, and the Republican
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the them safe and supported while they do. chairman of the Homeland Security
Department of Homeland Security, and Committee will be holding a hearing
f
the Department of Housing and Urban designed to slander the family of the
Development. RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME President’s political opponent. Is the
In other words, we have done more The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under chairman of Homeland Security calling
for the American people in 2 weeks on the previous order, the leadership time in FEMA to find out if our hospitals
this side of the Capitol than the House have enough PPE? No. He wants to
is reserved.
of Representatives has done in the last echo Kremlin-backed conspiracy theo-
f ries in order to go on a fishing expedi-
2 months. In the two months that the
House Democrats have spent away CONCLUSION OF MORNING tion to smear Joe Biden’s son.
from their duty stations, they have BUSINESS We all know this is what the Presi-
seemingly given themselves just one dent focuses on instead of the COVID
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning crisis, but must our Republican col-
assignment—to draft an enormous po- business is closed.
litical messaging bill and brand it as leagues gamely follow such an absurd,
f diversionary, and untruthful agenda? I
coronavirus relief.
Yet, even on this basis, they have guess so. It is a shame.
EXECUTIVE SESSION Even more shameful, the company
failed. The 1,800-page doorstop that
Speaker PELOSI dropped last week was --- that the Senator from Wisconsin wants
appropriately greeted as the legislative EXECUTIVE CALENDAR to issue a subpoena for is voluntarily
equivalent of a standup comedy. There cooperating and providing relevant
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under documents to the committee. Did you
were tax hikes on small businesses in the previous order, the Senate will pro-
the midst of a small business crisis, hear that? They want to make a big
ceed to executive session to resume show of subpoenaing, but the company
and there were targeted tax cuts for consideration of the following nomina-
the wealthiest people in the bluest says it will cooperate. It is a show. It is
tion, which the clerk will report. a sham. It has nothing to do with
States. There were two separate tax- The legislative clerk read the nomi-
payer-funded studies on diversity and COVID and everything to do with
nation of Scott H. Rash, of Arizona, to Kremlin-backed rumors that they want
inclusion in the market for marijuana. be United States District Judge for the
In sum, it was a $3 trillion wish list to use to divert attention from the
District of Arizona. President’s poor showing on COVID.
slapped together in a clumsy effort to Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
never let a good crisis go to waste—se- The subpoena is just for show. It is not
suggest the absence of a quorum. necessary because the company will co-
rious work here in the Senate and par- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
tisanship pointlessness over in the operate. It is a way to kick up dirt for
clerk will call the roll. exclusively partisan purposes.
House. The legislative clerk proceeded to
The Senate will stay on course and It would be bad enough if they were
call the roll. doing this when COVID–19 wasn’t rag-
continue our serious work at this seri-
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask ing, but with COVID–19 raging, to
ous time. Tomorrow morning, our col-
unanimous consent that the order for spend time doing this instead of focus-
leagues on the Committee on Banking,
the quorum call be rescinded. ing on the way to get relief to people—
Housing, and Urban Affairs will hear
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without unbelievable. It is a low point for that
from Secretary Mnuchin and Fed
objection, it is so ordered. committee, a low point for the Senate.
Chairman Powell on the latest status
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER This is what is on the Senate Repub-
of the CARES Act implementation ef-
The Democratic leader is recognized. licans’ agenda in the midst of historic
forts. The Homeland Security and Gov-
CORONAVIRUS unemployment and a national crisis:
ernmental Affairs Committee will meet
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, five rightwing judges and the exploi-
this week to consider the nomination
for the third week in a row, the Repub- tation—a show, mock hearing for par-
of Brian Miller to serve as Special In-
lican majority in the Senate has no tisan mudslinging. America is in crisis,
spector General for the pandemic re-
COVID-related business on the agenda. and Senate Republicans are rear-
covery programs. The Special Com-
For the third week in a row, Leader ranging the Nation’s deck chairs and
mittee on Aging will be examining the
MCCONNELL has scheduled zero votes on trying to put them in a political as-
challenges facing American seniors
legislation having to do with the crisis. sembly.
during this pandemic as both the virus The Chairman of the Federal Re-
itself and the social distancing meas- Senate Democrats have had to re-
serve, Jay Powell, appointed by Presi-
ures take a heavy toll on older Ameri- lentlessly pressure our Republican col-
dent Trump, said last week that we are
cans. Of course, we will continue to up- leagues to secure even the most rou-
looking at the worst recession since
hold our responsibilities beyond the tine oversight hearings on the pan-
World War II. Yesterday, Mr. Powell
scope of COVID–19. We will consider demic. If we had not pressured them, I
warned that layoffs would continue for
more nominations to the Federal Elec- doubt there would be any hearings at
several months and that unemploy-
all, and they are few and far between.
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
tion Commission and to the Federal ment could reach 20 or even 25 percent.
bench. The hearings will be the only work we
He said:
Tomorrow, our colleagues on the In- will have done in the Senate on
If we let people be out of work for long pe-
telligence Committee will vote on re- COVID–19 in the entire month of May,
riods of time, if we let businesses fail unnec-
porting the nomination of JOHN and the Republican majority has had essarily, waves of them, there’ll be longer
RATCLIFFE to serve as Director of Na- to be pressured into doing even those. term damage to the economy. The recovery
tional Intelligence. This role is essen- There are now more than 35 million will be slower. The good news is we can avoid
tial for monitoring and countering Americans out of work through no that by providing more support now.
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