HEALS Act (Cong. Rec., July 29, 2020)
Summary
A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated July 29, 2020, at page S4575, under the heading HEALS Act. The Senate considers the nomination of Lauren McFerran to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board for the term expiring December 16, 2024, with a cloture motion read, a request by Mr. Whitehouse for the yeas and nays, and Mr. Thune announcing absent Senators. Mr. Portman then speaks on steps Congress should take in response to the coronavirus pandemic, praising tax credits and deductions in the McConnell proposal that encourage safe hiring of new workers. The page ends with remarks on Chinese theft of research, citing the FBI Director and the Attorney General.
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“HEALS Act (Cong. Rec., July 29, 2020).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-07-29-crec-2020-07-29-pt1-pgs4575-2-ca962b121a/
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July 29, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4575
Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby EXECUTIVE CALENDAR HEALS ACT
move to bring to a close debate on the nomi- Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I am
nation of Lauren McGarity McFerran, of the
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
clerk will report the nomination. here on the floor to talk about some of
District of Columbia, to be a Member of the the steps that Congress should take in
National Labor Relations Board for the term The legislative clerk read the nomi-
nation of Lauren McGarity McFerran, response to the coronavirus pandemic.
of five years expiring December 16, 2024. (Re-
appointment) of the District of Columbia, to be a I am going to start with talking about
Mitch McConnell, Joni Ernst, John Member of the National Labor Rela- the legislation that the majority lead-
Thune, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roy Blunt, tions Board for the term of five years er, Senator MITCH MCCONNELL, intro-
John Cornyn, Marsha Blackburn, Deb expiring December 16, 2024. (Reappoint- duced yesterday.
Fischer, John Barrasso, Shelley Moore One of the aspects of it that hasn’t
ment)
Capito, Todd Young, John Boozman, gotten much attention and that, I
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
Lamar Alexander, David Perdue, Kevin think, is very positive and a very effec-
Cramer, Tim Scott, Michael B. Enzi. the previous order, all postcloture time
tive way to get the economy moving in
is expired.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unan- The question is, Will the Senate ad- a safe way is with some tax legislation.
imous consent, the mandatory quorum These are tax credits and tax deduc-
vise and consent to the McFerran nom-
call has been waived. tions that help to encourage the hiring
ination?
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I ask for the yeas of new workers but that also do so in a
The question is, Is it the sense of the
and nays. safe way. These are the kinds of things
Senate that debate on the nomination
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a that make a lot of sense and that have
of Lauren McGarity McFerran, of the
sufficient second? a lot of bipartisan support and appeal,
District of Columbia, to be a Member
There appears to be a sufficient sec- so I think it should be part of whatever
of the National Labor Relations Board
ond. final package we end up with.
for the term of five years expiring De- The goal of these tax incentives is to
cember 16, 2024, shall be brought to a The clerk will call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators say that we want people to reenter the
close? workforce but to do it in a safe and
are necessarily absent: the Senator
The yeas and nays are mandatory sustainable way. For example, in the
from Missouri (Mr. BLUNT), the Senator
under the rule. McConnell proposal is legislation I
from North Carolina (Mr. BURR), the
The clerk will call the roll. Senator from Texas (Mr. CRUZ), and the have introduced, called the Healthy
The senior assistant legislative clerk Senator from Kansas (Mr. MORAN). Workplaces Tax Credit Act. It is very
called the roll. Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the simple. It says there will be a credit on
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators Senator from West Virginia (Mr. the employer’s side of payroll taxes
are necessarily absent: the Senator MANCHIN) is necessarily absent. against qualified employee protection
from North Carolina (Mr. BURR), the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there expenses and workplace reconfigura-
Senator from Texas (Mr. CRUZ), and the any other Senators in the Chamber de- tion expenses to ensure employers can
Senator from Kansas (Mr. MORAN). siring to vote? afford additional safety measures.
The result was announced—yeas 53, As I travel around the State of Ohio,
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. I see the Plexiglas dividers. You have
CRAMER). Are there any other Senators nays 42, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 151 Ex.] probably seen those in offices where
in the Chamber desiring to vote or to there are more open settings. You see
change their vote? YEAS—53
Alexander Gillibrand Reed
it in a lot of retail places now. There is
The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 56, Baldwin Graham a cost to that, but there is also a cost
Rosen
nays 41, as follows: Bennet Harris Sanders to personal protective gear—the masks
[Rollcall Vote No. 150 Ex.] Blumenthal Hassan Schatz and the gowns and the gloves and the
Booker Heinrich Schumer
YEAS—56 Brown Hirono
other things that people are needing in
Shaheen
Cantwell Jones Sinema
order to have a safe workplace. As I
Alexander Feinstein Peters
Baldwin Gillibrand Reed
Cardin Kaine Smith have been in some of the factories
Carper King around Ohio, I have also seen that they
Bennet Graham Rosen Stabenow
Casey Klobuchar
Blumenthal Harris Sanders Collins Leahy
Sullivan have had to reconfigure the factory
Blunt Hassan Schatz Tester spaces in order to provide more social
Coons Markey
Booker Heinrich Schumer Udall
Brown Hirono
Cornyn Menendez
Van Hollen
distancing. At one plant, in its floor
Shaheen Cortez Masto Merkley
Cantwell Jones Sinema Warner plan, it had expanded the lunchroom in
Daines Murkowski
Cardin Kaine Warren order to provide more social
Smith Duckworth Murphy
Carper King
Casey Klobuchar
Stabenow Durbin Murray Whitehouse distancing, and that, of course, meant
Sullivan Feinstein Peters Wyden there was less space for manufacturing.
Collins Leahy
Coons Manchin Tester These are costs, and these are the
NAYS—42
Cornyn Markey Udall
Van Hollen Barrasso Hawley Risch kinds of things that could be part of
Cortez Masto Menendez
Daines Merkley Warner Blackburn Hoeven Roberts this credit.
Duckworth Murkowski Warren Boozman Hyde-Smith Romney So my hope is, whether it is a ther-
Braun Inhofe Rounds
Durbin Murphy Whitehouse
Capito Johnson Rubio
mometer check or whether it is more
Ernst Murray Wyden testing or whether it is PPE or whether
Cassidy Kennedy Sasse
NAYS—41 Cotton Lankford Scott (FL) it is more hand sanitizer, that we could
Cramer Lee Scott (SC) encourage people to use these things by
Barrasso Hoeven Roberts Crapo Loeffler Shelby
Blackburn Hyde-Smith Romney Enzi McConnell Thune
having a tax credit. It would provide an
Boozman Inhofe Rounds Ernst McSally Tillis immediate stimulus to the economy as
Braun Johnson Rubio Fischer Paul Toomey well, which is a good thing because
Capito Kennedy Sasse Gardner Perdue Wicker
Cassidy Lankford many businesses would be operating at
Scott (FL) Grassley Portman Young
Cotton Lee Scott (SC)
a loss and not have taxable income, but
Cramer Loeffler NOT VOTING—5 they would have payroll tax liability,
Shelby
Crapo McConnell Blunt Cruz Moran and this is a credit to the payroll tax.
Thune
Enzi McSally Burr Manchin
Fischer Paul
Tillis It also applies, by the way, to non-
Gardner Toomey The nomination was confirmed. profits, as it should, and to the
Perdue
Wicker
Grassley Portman The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under 501(c)(3)s. I was at one of the alcohol
Hawley Risch Young
the previous order, the motions to re- and drug addiction entities in one of
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
NOT VOTING—3 consider are considered made and laid our counties the week before last, and
Burr Cruz Moran upon the table, and the President will it had Plexiglas up. Frankly, it is hurt-
be immediately notified of the Senate’s ing in terms of its budget right now,
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The yeas action. but it felt like it had to have a safe
are 56, the nays are 41. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- place for people to work. We want ev-
The motion is agreed to. ator from Ohio. erybody to have a safe place. We want
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S4576 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 29, 2020
people to go back to work and to go due to COVID–19 and any related gov- FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infra-
back safely. ernment order saying that one has to structure Security Agency warned in
I commend Senator MCCONNELL for shut down but has chosen to retain May, there has been a pattern of ‘‘tar-
including that bill in the CARES 2.0 one’s affected employees. It is a credit geting and compromise of U.S. organi-
package that was released this week. that increases from the CARES 1 from zations conducting COVID–19-related
This tax credit will support efforts to 50 to 65 percent per employee—from research by PRC-affiliated cyber actors
make the workplace safe and healthy $10,000 under current law for the whole and non-traditional collectors.’’
and build consumer confidence in that year and $10,000 per quarter. It also FBI Director Wray was even more
all of the appropriate measures are helps businesses that have had a 25-per- pointed about this threat earlier this
being taken. It is important to get con- cent decline in revenues, not a 50-per- month, stating on July 7: ‘‘At this very
sumers back in the mix. Whether it is cent decline in revenues. moment, China is working to com-
going back into a restaurant and feel- It is for the group of companies that promise American health care organi-
ing safe or going back to a retail estab- may not have qualified for a PPP cred- zations, pharmaceutical companies,
lishment, if people feel safe, they are it or a PPP loan—they may not have and academic institutions conducting
more likely to go back, and this econ- gotten one—but is having a tough time essential COVID–19 research.’’
omy can get going again. So I think it keeping their workers. This would en- Just last week, the Justice Depart-
is something, again, both sides of the courage them to keep those workers ment filed charges against a Chinese
aisle should be able to support, and it and to bring on new workers. Again, it researcher who failed to disclose her
will show we are doing everything we is the kind of support that our work- ties to the People’s Liberation Army
can to get people back to more normal force needs as the economy reopens and while conducting medical research at
lives. companies resume ramping up oper- Stanford University. While she was not
Second, with the unemployment rate ations. It helps to bring people off the accused of stealing the research in this
still at about 11 percent, we need to en- unemployment rolls. It is a pull into case, this kind of arrangement, where-
courage hiring and employee retention the workforce, and that is a good in scholars are essentially agents of
as this virus continues to affect our thing. the Chinese Government in order to
economy. In the McConnell proposal, These are commonsense proposals. gain access to our cutting-edge labs
we have a way to create this incentive What is more, historically, they have around the country to find research to
that builds on legislation we have al- been policies that have had bipartisan sneak back into China, is all too com-
ready passed in the form of the work support. I worked with my friend Sen- mon.
opportunity tax credit. This is an ex- ator BEN CARDIN, on the other side, in That China would attempt to steal
isting law that gives employers an in- designing the employee retention tax our research for its own benefit is, un-
centive to hire individuals who might credit back in March, and expanding fortunately, not surprising. As we have
not otherwise be able to get a job. the work opportunity tax credit has al- all seen over the past few months, Chi-
Categories now include, as an exam- ways had bipartisan support. na’s failure to live up to its inter-
ple, our veterans. So, if you are a vet- On the healthy workplace credit, national commitments on critical
eran and are having a tough time get- Senator SINEMA, of Arizona, has a simi- issues like transparency and human
ting a job, you can go through the lar bill that goes a little further, but it rights have led to some of the issues we
work opportunity tax credit, and the is very similar. I see no reason we can’t have had, particularly with regard to
employer can get a credit for hiring take what we all agree on works and the lack of transparency on the un-
you initially. By the way, almost ev- make it even better in this new pack- checked spread of the coronavirus from
eryone I talk to says these people end age. Wuhan.
up being hired full time and being paid Again, these tax incentives are the Frankly, relations with China are
their full wages. In the meantime, they kind of bipartisan consensus-builders not good right now, in part, because of
get a credit to bring them on during a that we ought to be looking at right that. Unfortunately, our problems with
first transition period, so it works. now to get into a new package, hope- China extend to our labs and our uni-
Another category, as an example, is fully, by the end of this week. We have versities. As chair of the Senate Per-
the folks who have been let out of pris- to ensure—I think all of us agree—the manent Subcommittee on Investiga-
on. Second chance individuals have a safe reopening of our economy, and tions, I led a bipartisan investigation
chance under the work opportunity tax these tax provisions do that. last year into this issue. Over the
credit, WOTC, to get a job. CHINA course of a year, we learned how the
We have proposed adding a new cat- Mr. President, another aspect of the Chinese Communist Party has used so-
egory, which is qualified COVID–19 em- COVID–19 legislation is a part of the called talent recruitment programs—
ployees—those who are on unemploy- bill that focuses on how we deal with notably, its Thousand Talents Plan—to
ment insurance immediately prior to bringing back our personal protective systematically target the most prom-
their hiring date. It increases the work gear production from overseas, particu- ising U.S.-based research and research-
opportunity tax credit amount for this larly from China, and how to deal with ers and pay them to take their Amer-
new targeted group of individuals from the concern we have that other coun- ican taxpayer-funded research back to
40 percent of the first $6,000 in qualified tries are taking the research we are Chinese universities.
wages to 50 percent of the first $10,000 doing on therapies and cures. By the While stealing this research is bad
in qualified wages. Again, it encour- way, there are substantial, more re- enough, what is worse is that it is not
ages us to help get people off unem- sources, billions of dollars that go into taken for academic purposes. Instead,
ployment insurance and back to work. that in this bill. Right now, in labs all according to the State Department
Let’s say they work for a company that around America, some of the best and witness at our hearing last November,
is not going back because of COVID–19. brightest minds are at work on thera- ‘‘the Chinese Communist Party has de-
Let’s say it is a movie theater or a pies, cures, and vaccines for COVID–19. clared the Chinese university system
bowling alley or, maybe, a bar. Those It has changed all of our lives in the to be on the front line of military-civil-
individuals would qualify. past few months, and we stand to ben- ian fusion efforts for technology acqui-
Third, I support a proposal in this efit from these medical breakthroughs, sition.’’ That means there is a clear
McConnell draft that builds on what is and we want them to have them. So, link between the research being taken
called the employee retention tax cred- again, Congress has already appro- from American labs and the latest ad-
it. That is already in law. We put it in priated billions of dollars. In the vancement in China’s military and its
law in the first CARES Act. The credit McConnell proposal, there are billions economy.
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
was a good start, but it needs to be up- more for this purpose, and that is ap- There has been more recent attention
dated and expanded given the course of propriate. to this topic of research theft, which is
our economy since March and what has Yet, as we work to find a cure, there a good thing. We need to talk about it
happened with the coronavirus. This are troubling reports emerging that and we need to expose it and we need to
credit applies to employers who have China, in particular, is actively trying deal with it. Recently, both FBI Direc-
operations partially or fully suspended to take this research for itself. As the tor Wray and Attorney General Barr
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