Unanimous Consent Request on S. 4143, July 23, 2020 — Congressional Record, Senate
Summary
A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated July 23, 2020, beginning at page S4451, under the heading Unanimous Consent Request on S. 4143. Remarks urge continuing the eviction moratorium with emergency rental assistance to keep renters housed and landlords paid, and criticize extending enhanced unemployment benefits for 6 more months, saying the proposal would likely cost $1 trillion and discourage people from returning to work. Mr. Wyden then asks unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 4143, and the Presiding Officer asks whether there is objection. The page ends with reporting on people navigating Pandemic Unemployment Assistance at a Tulsa convention center.
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“Unanimous Consent Request on S. 4143, July 23, 2020 — Congressional Record, Senate.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-07-23-crec-2020-07-23-pt1-pgs4451-57233f479f/
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July 23, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4451
stop a massive wave of evictions that As a matter of fact, NANCY PELOSI, aisle, they write lots of bills to help
will displace families right in the mid- Speaker of the House, living on Fan- multinational corporations—lots of
dle of a global pandemic. My colleagues tasy Island, wants to extend these for 6 bills to help the powerful and the spe-
understood the stakes in March when more months, all the way until the end cial interests, but as of this afternoon,
Congress passed the existing eviction of January. The CBO and other re- there is not a bill to help those folks
moratorium into law. I urge them to searchers and economists have looked who this weekend are going to be say-
join me now in continuing this life- at this and said this would be a heavy ing: We are not going to be able to
saving protection while providing wet blanket on the economy. It would make rent in a few days. We are not
emergency rental assistance to keep prevent 10 million people from going going to be able to feed our families,
renters housed, landlords paid, and back to work—going all the way until not going to be able to pay for the car
most of all, to keep families safe. the end of January. insurance. People aren’t spending this
I yield the floor. It is likely that such a proposal money on luxuries. They are spending
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- would cost $1 trillion—$1 trillion—and it on essentials. To a great extent, they
ator from Oregon. much of that is we are talking about kept the economy afloat for the last
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 4143 paying people to not work instead of few months.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, as if in helping people work. The other point I want to make is
legislative session, I ask unanimous So I hope my colleagues will join me that this did not have to happen. Not
consent that the Committee on Fi- in better targeting help to the unem- only do we have legislation ready to
nance be discharged from further con- ployed in a way that doesn’t pay people discuss with our colleagues that incor-
sideration of S. 4143; that the bill be more when they are sitting at home porates some of their ideas, we have
considered read a third time and not working than they would make at been reaching out again and again. Yet
passed; and that the motion to recon- work. MITCH MCCONNELL, who took all of
sider be considered made and laid upon We are working on a plan now to pro- July off when he could have been get-
the table with no intervening action or vide additional help for the unem- ting this piece of legislation together—
debate. ployed if they can’t go back to work those big 2 weeks, and he could have
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there because their job isn’t there, isn’t been getting the legislation together—
objection? available; if, for health purposes, they basically, actively—didn’t happen by
The Senator from Wyoming. can’t go back to work; but do it in a osmosis—actively gave short shrift to
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, re-
way that the Democrats have claimed the needs of the unemployed and made
serving the right to object, the CARES
that they want to do but haven’t even no effort, none whatever, even though
Act provides an additional $600 per
proposed. We need to make it much we reached out continually to Repub-
week to those who are receiving,
more closely aligned with lost wages. licans, saying that this weekend—and
through their States, unemployment
So we are going to be introducing the pain that working families have
insurance. In Wyoming we have a gen-
this plan shortly, and I hope my col- this weekend didn’t have to happen. We
erous unemployment insurance pro-
leagues on the other side of the aisle wanted to do everything we can, work-
gram to help people who are out of
will engage with us in that effort. ing with our colleagues, to prevent it.
work, and the CARES Act adds to that,
For these reasons, I object. Now, for purposes of this discussion, I
essentially, a bonus payment of $600
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- want to make sure people understand
additional per week. For a 40-hour
tion is heard. what this discussion really means to
workweek, that comes down to an av-
The Senator from Oregon. working families in this country. I was
erage of about a $15-an-hour bonus for Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am
not being able to go back to work, and at home, at food banks and the like—
going to get into the substance of my lines for blocks—people who had never
that is on top of their regular unem-
colleague’s arguments in a moment, needed to go to a pantry or a food pro-
ployment benefits.
but I just want to be clear to all the gram were waiting in line because they
Well, since the CARES Act has
passed, what we have seen is that this people in America, the 30-plus million had been hit by this economic wreck-
additional $600 per week means that who are having problems making rent, ing ball.
most recipients are paid more for not having problems buying groceries, who There are people who are worried
working than they would make if they in just 2 days—2 days—come Saturday, about losing their homes and losing
actually were on the job working. This are going to be in a position where, their cars, being unable to fill their
fact has been confirmed by news re- based on what they tell me, they are prescriptions. As I mentioned, think
ports, by academic researchers, and by telling their kids: Hey, you probably about what it means when you have to
the Congressional Budget Office. have to eat a little bit less because the tell your kid you ought to eat less be-
Even former Obama administration unemployment is ending. cause they don’t know whether they
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, The fact is, the other body passed a will have enough cash to stock the pan-
along with President Obama’s Chair of bill so that folks would be able to make try next month.
the Council of Economic Advisers, rent and buy groceries. On this side of As I said, Republicans’ response to
agrees that $600 per week on top of un- the aisle, the Democratic leader and I this over the last few days—last few
employment insurance through the introduced legislation to tie the bene- weeks—I went to school on a basket-
States is too much. fits to economic conditions on the ball scholarship, and I remember when
We have ‘‘help wanted’’ signs all ground. One of the reasons we did is my you could basically play stall ball, go
around my State. I talked to the people colleagues on the other side said that into four corners offense, basically run
at unemployment insurance, who run benefits ought to taper off if unemploy- down the clock. And then at the end, as
the program. They tell me that they ment goes down. That is what our bill my distinguished colleague from Wyo-
are having many people who are get- does. ming tried to do, say: Well, it is the
ting paid much more than if they But here is the message that I think fault of the poor people. It is the fault
would work, if they would take the folks who are walking on an economic of those poor people. I am going to
jobs where you have employers out tightrope this weekend need to hear. touch on what this really is all about.
there hoping, looking for employees to On this side of the aisle, we have been When we began the negotiations—and
come and work. ready to go for weeks—essentially, I was the point person for the Demo-
You can’t continue to pay people months—to have bipartisan negotia- crats—in the Finance room—I offered
more to not work than to work. Yet in- tions to work this issue out. As of this basic wage replacement as our position
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
stead of trying to address this identifi- afternoon, with benefits expiring in 2 for dealing with this issue. Secretary of
able and correctible problem, today my days, the other side of the aisle has no Labor Scalia said: It can’t be done. The
colleagues are asking that we vote to piece of legislation on offer. Let me re- States can’t administer it. Western civ-
extend the $600-per-week bonus pay- peat that: no piece of legislation on ilization is pretty much going to end if
ments and continue these untargeted offer. we try to do this. And then he folded
payments for many months into the fu- Let me repeat that—no piece of legis- his arms, and, for days, basically re-
ture. lation on offer. On this side of the fused to negotiate about alternatives.
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S4452 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 23, 2020
Understand that we started with the sociation of State Workforce Agencies ployment system is a proposal designed
approach of basic wage replacement. says that any change can lead to a to fail. That, apparently, is what Sen-
Secretary Scalia said it can’t be done. lapse in benefits. ate Republicans are talking about.
States are stuck with old technology. I I guess my colleagues on the other At a minimum, this delay in the Sen-
didn’t disagree with that. Gave a bil- side walked out there and said: No big ate is going to cause a lapse in bene-
lion dollars to the States to help them deal. It is just a few weeks. Tell that to fits. On top of that, it has been re-
update technology too. I said: We are the people who aren’t going to have ported the Republicans could attempt
not going to tell those workers, Mr. enough money to make rent and buy to cut the benefit by well over 50 per-
Scalia, to pound sand. groceries next week. Tell that to their cent.
I basically said we are going to aver- face rather than just leave town and I just ask, how can anybody look at
age the benefit—$600. Some people will say: We will talk about it another the State of the country and how pow-
get a bit more than they would; some time, and we will see about 2, 3, 4 erful people and special interests can
people are going to get a bit less, but weeks and what people are going to be doing so well and then decide to cut
families are going to have a chance, have to do without this lifeline, which the economic lifeline for working fami-
based on what the State employment I believe is going to be a disaster. lies by well over 50 percent when the
offices told us, to actually get benefits. The lapse that is being forced on this country is in the middle of a pandemic,
I know that it hasn’t worked out too country right now is because Senate when there are 60- or 70,000 new COVID
well in the State of Florida—the Presi- Republicans would not step up. They cases every day and climbing, when
dent of the Senate, and I am sure he would not step up along the way—after there are 800, 900, 1,000 COVID cases
will want to talk about this in the de- the hearing, during the July break. every day and climbing, when the num-
bate—but at least millions of people in They did not step up. The lapse is ber of new unemployment claims,
this country got a chance to make going to lead to eviction; it is going to which before this year had never
rent, buy groceries, pay medicine be- lead to hunger; it is going to lead to crossed 700,000, has been 1.3 million or
cause we said we are going to take a desperation for millions of Americans. higher for 18 straight weeks, and, in
sum of money that the States told us And the only way to avoid it is by act- fact, the number of new claims went up
they can actually, for the most part, ing now, by passing the American this week for the first time since
administer. Workforce Rescue Act that Senator April—a sign that the recovery is going
The Finance Committee held a hear- SCHUMER and I introduced. We just in reverse.
ing on unemployment insurance this tried to pass it. As I mentioned, what I am hearing
summer. I particularly wanted to know If our bill had passed, the people who about at home are businesses that re-
how we might look at administering are going to be hurting this weekend, opened in May and June and are laying
these benefits in the future because I who aren’t going to be able to make off their workers for a second time.
knew that we would all want to hear if rent, who aren’t going to be able to buy One-third of Americans couldn’t
there had been reforms and what the groceries—would have some sense of se- make their last rent payment. Parents
case might be for changes. During that curity. They would be able to go to bed who lost their jobs are wondering how
hearing just a few weeks ago, the Na- at night this weekend, had our bill they are going to feed their children. I
tional Association of State Workforce passed, knowing that there would be an just say to my colleagues who may be
Agencies—the experts on this issue on opportunity to work with the other
who may be following this, this is an
how the benefits are to be adminis- body and get this resolved and get it
unthinkable level of pain and suffering
tered—said that—their words—any re- resolved quickly.
Now those people know one thing, and uncertainty to needlessly inflict on
duction or change in benefits will abso- 30 million Americans.
and that is that they better plan for
lutely lead to a lapse in benefits. It is not just about those who have
yet more uncertainty and more pain.
You would think colleagues on the already lost work. It is about the mil-
As my colleagues say, maybe it will get
other side would say: My goodness. We lions of others who are worried that
worked out in a few weeks—even
don’t want that to happen. These State their pink slip might come in August
though what they are talking about
workforce agencies said there would be or September or October. They need
working out—and remember, there is
a lapse in benefits no matter what you support too. In fact, the papers are full
no bill. We have never seen a piece of
cut, $100, whatever the amount was, of stories of small businesses closing
paper, but they are talking about cut-
there would be a lapse in benefits. The and closing permanently. I expect that
ting the lifeline over 50 percent. That
gap in benefits could last a week or all those people are worried that they
is their proposal—cutting it more than
two, potentially, up to a month. I have 50 percent. haven’t been laid off yet, but a pink
been pointing out to Senators you At a minimum—at a minimum, I be- slip may be coming their way in Au-
can’t eat retroactivity. And yet, every- lieve, that what the Republicans are gust or September or October. They
thing I have heard that colleagues now looking at is some kind of ap- may have a word or two for their Sen-
want to do now—remember, they don’t proach that after Secretary Scalia has ators who are able to find plenty of
have a bill. They do not have a bill. told the Senate that the States can’t time to write bills to help multi-
They are taking the weekend off. We do full wage replacement for individual national corporations but can’t find
have a bill on this side. The Demo- workers; that they are not capable of the time to stand up for unemployed
cratic leader, myself—supported by our doing it; the technology is too old; it folks who are hurting.
caucus—we have a bill. We are ready to can’t get the math; it can’t get individ- Before I wrap up this afternoon, I
talk. They don’t have a bill to do any- ually tailored benefits out in a timely want to touch on this argument that
thing for those people who are going to way—apparently, my colleagues are Republicans have been flogging away
be hurting this weekend. using that model for their so-called on for months now that these unem-
After that hearing, you would have idea that they want to talk about. ployment benefits are way too gen-
thought people—Republican Senators I have already mentioned the fact erous, and, somehow, they are con-
on the other side—would say, you that they believe the argument for this vinced that it makes sense to insult
know, we have to figure out what to do. is that it could be done in a few weeks. the American worker and say that all
We have to make sure that people People are going to be hurting for these workers are sitting around lazily
aren’t going to fall between the cracks, those few weeks. Nobody has an answer at home instead of going back to work.
through no fault of their own. Remem- to that. Everybody ought to under- That argument does not pass the smell
ber, so many of them are at home be-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
stand that I was the first one to offer test.
cause of government policies, the quar- full wage replacement—I would say to I am going to be very specific about
antine, and the—of course, the pattern the President of the Senate—and it was why that argument trotted out again
is particularly ominous now because Secretary Scalia who said it couldn’t by my friend from Wyoming is way off
folks who were furloughed at the begin- be administered and has never changed base.
ning, then got brought back, and now his mind on that point. First of all, the same Republicans
with the spike, they are getting laid off My view is, the proposal that adds a who celebrated the May and June job
again. There you have it—National As- whole lot of complexity to the unem- reports are now talking about how lazy
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July 23, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4453
workers are by refusing to go back to that we negotiated in the Finance he fell into a deep sleep, he would miss the
their jobs. You simply cannot have it Committee room—which, by the way, early-morning handout of tickets for ap-
both ways. were signed off by Secretary Mnuchin. pointments with state agents.
There would be just 400 tickets handed out
Second, not one of my Republican This was not done in the dead of night for that day’s event. When those ran out,
colleagues brought forward real evi- with only one side going along with the there would be 400 more for appointments
dence to suggest that workers across effort. These were negotiated with Sec- the following day.
the country are turning down work. retary Mnuchin, who actually endorsed ‘‘I just didn’t want to be number 803,’’
These anecdotes just don’t hold water. it at a press conference. These super- Jolley said.
According to one recent analysis, more charged unemployment benefits have In the four months since the pandemic
than two-thirds of workers who were been the one thing that has kept mil- began, nearly 50 million workers have filed
hired in June went back to jobs that unemployment claims nationwide, a flood
lions of families—millions of families—
that’s overwhelmed some states, freezing an-
paid less than supercharged unemploy- from being in a position where they tiquated computer systems and jamming
ment benefits. couldn’t feed their families, couldn’t websites and phone lines for days. State ben-
Third, it is an insult to American make rent, and, literally, facing the efit agencies in some parts of the country
workers to say that they would rather kind of despair, the kind of fear that have evoked memories of Great Depression
sit at home than to earn their pay at has made the number of requests for bread lines.
work. mental health services go through the Many have been struggling to get their
If any one of my Republican col- stratosphere because people are so wor- regular unemployment benefits as well as
leagues were to go out and meet the the $600–a-week federal pandemic unemploy-
ried. And this question of their eco-
Oregonians I have spoken to and who ment assistance passed in March that begins
nomic future is just one reason. running out for millions of Americans later
have been furloughed or laid off during Supercharged unemployment bene- this week. Congress returned Monday to
the pandemic, they will hear from peo- fits have helped keep the economy begin hammering out the details of another
ple who desperately want to go back to afloat and have helped prevent true massive coronavirus bill, with Republicans
their jobs when it is safe. These are economic meltdowns. And even with assembling a $1 trillion package that prob-
people who believe in the dignity of the lifeline, so many are barely hang- ably will extend but reduce the size of that
work and people who want to provide ing on. They fall behind on their bills. benefit. Democrats are backing a more wide-
for their families. It is an insult to call I mentioned the threat of hunger. Sen- ranging $3 trillion relief bill passed by the
them lazy. House in May.
ator BROWN just talked about how im- In Oklahoma, one of the poorest states, un-
I want to inject a note of reality into portant it is to act on housing assist- employment—which reached a record 14.7
this because my Republican colleagues ance. percent in April—has pushed many to the
have been so fixated on this argument. It would be a historic failure, mor- point of desperation, with savings depleted,
I have talked to a lot of unemployed ally and economically, to slash this cars repossessed and homes sold for cash.
workers. I said: Back east, the Senate lifeline that is so important to getting Even though the unemployment rate
Republicans say all unemployed folks workers through a pandemic. The dropped to 6.6 percent in June, the backlog
are lazy, and they don’t want to work Democratic leader, Senator SCHUMER, has created unprecedented delays. Oklahoma
and all the rest. had approved 235,000 of about 590,000 filed
and I listened carefully to all sides. We
claims by June 21—a total $2–4 billion pay-
So many of the unemployed look at thought about the need, given the fact out, far more than in previous years. About
me incredulous, and they say: Ron, ask that there are predictions of high un- 6,000 state claims are pending.
them how in the world have they came employment for some time to come. The Oklahoma Employment Security Com-
up with that completely wrong idea. We said: Let’s come up with a depend- mission staff has tried to combat the delays
They usually say: If I am given a able safety net that provides some by holding mega-processing events at large
choice between unemployment or the measure of predictability with respect arenas in Oklahoma City and Tulsa this
chance to have a job in the private to how the government is going to ap- month, with masks and social distancing re-
economy, where I have a future and quired. So far, they’ve managed to help 6,200
proach these issues in the future. people. Jolley’s unemployment claim was ap-
where I can build upward economic mo- My colleagues have said that they proved in March but had been stalled, a prob-
bility—they usually say: Ron, tell want a system that has the benefits lem that hadn’t been fixed after nine phone
those Republicans in Washington, DC, taper off as unemployment goes down. calls and hours on hold with the OESC.
it is a no-brainer; of course, I am going Well, what the Democratic leader and I The 58-year-old single father arrived in the
to take the job that gives me an oppor- have proposed does exactly that. parking lot of the River Spirit Expo center
tunity for a future, the chance to work I believe that yesterday there was a in Tulsa around 9 p.m. on a sultry night with
in the private sector and climb the lad- story in the Washington Post where, I a heat index approaching 100 degrees. The
der of economic mobility. I am going think, they were talking about unem- landmark 75-foot statue of the Golden
Driller—a nod to Tulsa’s oil and gas hub—
to take that every time, rather than ployment at 15 percent. When unem- towered over one side of the dark parking
unemployment, which has been uncer- ployment reaches those kinds of lev- lot, his face painted over with a surgical
tain. els—and we saw that story of people mask.
That is my response to the off-base waiting and waiting for hours. In fact, Dozens more sat in the parking lot over-
kind of argument presented by Senator I don’t have the exact percentage. night with Jolley, unable to get their ques-
BARRASSO. If Republicans want to go Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- tions answered through the unemployment
home this weekend and insult the work sent that the story about the unem- agency’s overloaded phone system. Some
ethic of millions of Americans who be- ployment calamity in Oklahoma be said they had been notified that their claim
lieve in the dignity of work, that is was denied as fraudulent. Jolley quickly
printed in the RECORD at this point.
bonded with the woman in the next car over,
their constitutional right. There being no objection, the mate- a manicurist named Cindy La, 60, the two
The country, obviously, is nowhere rial was ordered to be printed in the swapping tips on how they thought the event
near the end of this pandemic. Busi- RECORD, as follows: would unfold.
nesses are going to keep closing—some [July 20, 2020] That afternoon, as Jolley gathered up the
temporarily, others permanently. We ‘A VERY DARK FEELING’: HUNDREDS CAMP paperwork he’d need for his claim, he felt a
are looking at the worst unemploy- OUT IN OKLAHOMA UNEMPLOYMENT LINES sense of sadness as profound as anything he’d
ment crisis since the Great Depression. (By Annie Gowen) felt since the pandemic began.
The benefits we put together ini- ‘‘It’s a very dark feeling,’’ he said. ‘‘You
TULSA.—John Jolley never thought he’d be
just kind of feel like you’re in a boat without
tially, the supercharged unemployment sleeping in his car awaiting unemployment
a rudder and you’re riding the waves. After
benefits—and I am especially proud benefits. But there he was, the owner of a
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
all these years you worked hard at your
that we said that as for the law, which once-successful advertising agency, taking a
company, tried to be a good guy and be fair
really hadn’t been updated since the sweaty nap in a Subaru wagon in a conven-
to your clients, you just feel like you’re los-
1930s, that we would modernize the law tion center parking lot at 1:45 a.m. on a
ing control of your future.’’
Wednesday.
and allow gig workers and the self-em- The pandemic sent his business into a free OLD COMPUTERS, NEW CAREERS
ployed and independent contractors fall, and now Jolley wanted to be first in line At 4:30 a.m., several OESC staffers emerged
and part-timers to be brought into the for an unemployment claims event beginning from the convention center to hand out the
system. Those supercharged benefits in five hours. He barely dozed, afraid that if appointment numbers. The process quickly
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S4454 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 23, 2020
degenerated into a free-for-all, the crowd sistance for the first time, such as Sarah What then?
growing restive, pushing and shoving to get Miller, 29, a single mother of three who was Mr. WYDEN. I close by way of saying
the limited supply of appointment tickets. told not to come back to her job as a nursing that I came to the floor some time ago
Jolley moved to the front of the line, trying home aide after she experienced symptoms
to protect his new friend, La, by reaching consistent with covid–19 in March. Her un-
to ask unanimous consent to make
down and plucking two tickets—No. 69 for employment claim has been pending since sure that this weekend, when millions
her and No. 64 for him. April 12. of people are hurting—remember, the
Others were not so lucky. The numbers ‘‘I need this. I need it,’’ she said. ‘‘I’ve suffering starts in 2 days. It starts on
quickly ran out, and people were told they never been one to do unemployment, but Saturday—2 days in Florida, in Oregon,
had to return the following day. Eventually, with all that’s going on, I don’t really have in Wyoming, and all over the country.
staffers referred people to the three new any other option. I have to be home with my MITCH MCCONNELL’s response was:
events added for the coming week because of kids; I can’t afford to pay a babysitter or do Let’s take a break; we can take off. He
the demand. day care. Got to do what I got to do.’’
Ashley Love, 31, a former customer advo- didn’t seem to see those hurting people
‘WE’RE ALL GLITCHES’
cate for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, had risen at in Kentucky. Maybe they will have
Jolley had time to go home before his 6:30 something to say to him this weekend.
4 a.m. to take her 2-year-old daughter to her
a.m. appointment, shower and change into I will tell you, I think it is a big mis-
mother’s home before heading to the conven-
cargo shorts and a shirt printed with tiny
tion center, only to be told she had to come
steaks and barbecues. He was among the
take for Senate Republicans to have
back the next day. She was laid off in March, frittered away weeks on end, when we
first into the cavernous Expo center, where
when the pandemic nearly obliterated the could have had a dialogue and we could
claims seekers sat down in folding chairs six
travel industry. Her benefits inexplicably
feet apart. have talked about ideas.
stopped four weeks ago, the agency website
Staffers handed out bottles of water, Kind The Presiding Officer has talked to
saying only she was on a ‘‘verification hold.’’
‘‘It’s appalling, I don’t understand how granola bars and a flier that advertised me a number of times since he has been
they can do this to people,’’ Love said. ‘‘One drive-up distribution at the local food pan- here about healthcare. I enjoy talking
day, I called 15 times in two hours, and they try, ‘‘Soup’s On at the Community Kitchen.’’ to my colleagues and working on ideas
Jolley tucked the flier along with other doc-
either don’t answer or take your calls and to try to find a way to address concerns
hang up on you.’’ uments in a blue folder he labeled ‘‘Unem-
ployment.’’ and solve problems. There wasn’t one
Love was getting down to the last she has, single effort—not one—to pick up on
having run through $4,000 in savings. Even As he waited for his name and number to
be called, Jolley looked around at the others any of the ideas that I have been dis-
before her benefits froze, she was getting
only about $137 a week, plus $600 a week from sitting in their socially distanced chairs and cussing here. In fact, I tried to reach
the federal government’s pandemic emer- was reminded of the animated Disney movie out to colleagues on the other side and
gency assistance program, due to expire ‘‘Wreck-It Ralph,’’ which he watches with told them that I heard them say re-
around the end of the month. Her regular his 7-year-old, Pearl. In it, Ralph is a lum- peatedly that benefits should taper
monthly bills—rent, car payment, insur- bering video game villain who hopes to re-
down as the unemployment rate goes
ance—are $2,091. start his life by helping a video game prin-
cess stuck in a computer glitch. down. Well, that is the heart of our bill
She has continued her search for a job, on this side.
even contemplating whether she should In a way, everyone in this room is a glitch,
he said, just like Princess Vanellope in the The hurt and pain that working fami-
‘‘Find Something New’’—as the White
House’s new ad campaign suggests—re- movie. lies are going to face this Saturday and
searching how she could get certification to ‘‘People that are here, we’re all glitches,’’ Sunday—2 days from now—did not
start a career in teaching. he said. ‘‘We fell through the cracks. The have to happen. It didn’t have to hap-
Shelley Zumwalt, the interim director of computer system didn’t work for us.’’ pen. Our side has a bill to work on. The
Oklahoma’s unemployment agency, said the Jolley has a degree in petroleum engineer- other side, I gather, has some ideas. We
state’s system uses a mainframe computer ing but started Big Guys Inc. advertising in
1995 as a hedge against the ups and downs of
have not seen a single piece of paper,
from 1978 that was quickly overwhelmed by but I know that all those people who
the volume of claims. ‘‘My first day, I sat the oil market. For a long time, the com-
down with one of the claims agents and said, pany provided a good living, even during the are hurting can’t eat retroactively.
‘Show me what you do,’ and a green screen 2008 recession. He sells ad space for mom- They can’t eat all the Republican theo-
popped up and she pushed F9,’’ Zumwalt said. and-pop businesses—tree trimmers, DUI law- ries about delay and haggling.
‘‘That was the clearest thing to me that I yers—posted in bathrooms in airports, res- I believe these working families de-
was dealing with a technology that was older taurants and concert venues. serve a whole lot better. They deserve
than I am.’’ ‘‘It’s a captive audience with disposable in- some predictability and certainty that
She launched the series of more than a come,’’ he quipped, that old joke. ‘‘Or it was
when they are hurting—through no
dozen mega-events July 1 after several days before this.’’
He had always thought he would do this fault of their own—their government
in June when desperate people began show-
until he retired, especially after life dealt isn’t going to turn its back on them
ing up to the OESC office in Oklahoma City
and waiting in line with coolers, camp chairs him the surprise of Pearl and he became a and say: We don’t care if your kids
and tents. single dad at 50. Now, he was just hoping his can’t eat and you don’t have a roof
‘‘I’m not okay with people having to camp misfortune would be temporary, that busi- over your head. Our country has al-
out to get their claims processed,’’ Zumwalt ness would revive as things normalized, with ways been better than that.
said. concerts and other events supposed to re- I yield the floor.
Some who showed up at the event had re- start in Oklahoma in August. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
ceived notes from the OESC that they had When his name was called, he went behind
jority leader.
been approved for unemployment benefits black curtains where claims agents were
CARES 2
when they hadn’t yet applied, convinced working on their ancient computer program.
they had been victims of fraud. Zumwalt said He gave a written summary of his many con- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, as I
that about 90,000 claims have been flagged as tacts with the agency to Ashley Testerman, said on Tuesday, our Nation stands at
fraudulent. an agent in a black cotton mask. a critical midway point in our fight
Last month, the U.S. Labor Department’s ‘‘I brought a cheat sheet,’’ he said. against the coronavirus. We made it
Office of Inspector General, working with the ‘‘You have no payments; let’s see if you are through the springtime lockdowns.
OESC, said it had stopped payment on 3,800 in the system,’’ she said. Americans’ sacrifices saved our med-
unemployment insurance claims, including In the end, after all that—the numerous
phone calls, the hours wasted on hold, the
ical system. The Senate’s historic
1,300 filed from IP addresses in London, sav-
ing the state nearly $16 million. evening spent sleeping in his car—all he CARES Act helped millions of families
Many real Oklahomans in need of assist- needed was a working PIN number, and make it through, but this terrible virus
ance are suffering through the complicated Jolley was able to file claims for all the is still with us. It kills more Americans
unemployment process, too. The state has weeks he had missed since April. every day. Some areas that have re-
rejected more than half of the unemploy- ‘‘I feel so relieved,’’ he said afterward, jok-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
opened have seen cases spike. Our hos-
ment claims filed through June 21, some for ing that he might do a Jed Clampett-like jig pitals, healthcare providers, and espe-
gig or self-employed workers who must be in the parking lot on his way out the door.
cially our vulnerable citizens are no-
denied regular unemployment insurance be- But the joy would be temporary. His last so-
fore they can qualify for the federal govern- bering exchange with the claims agent stuck where near out of the woods.
ment’s Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, in his mind. Meanwhile, although the early days
Zumwalt said. ‘‘We don’t know what the future holds,’’ he of our economic recovery have beaten
Many who showed up at the Tulsa conven- had said. ‘‘What happens if everything shuts expectations and surprised the experts,
tion center were navigating government as- down again?’’ we have really only begun to repair the
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