Coronavirus Relief Fair Unemployment Compensation Act Request, July 30, 2020 — Congressional Record, Senate

Summary

Page S4607 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for July 30, 2020, headed Coronavirus Relief Fair Unemployment Compensation Act Request, in interleaved columns. A speaker argues that unemployment insurance raises the wage a person insists on before accepting a job and so can prolong unemployment, which is that speaker's view. Another speaker puts relief packages at $2.9 trillion, noting witnesses at a committee oversight hearing said close to $3.6 trillion. Other remarks urge consideration of whistleblower bills and recall an education in Chattanooga, Tenn.

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“Coronavirus Relief Fair Unemployment Compensation Act Request, July 30, 2020 — Congressional Record, Senate.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-07-30-crec-2020-07-30-pt1-pgs4607-f1c59463d5/, SHA-256 20dd00f9b2efc538bcd4de1f3d0e7e85a9cd01204c830d6e7f9dafc33003c11f.

Full text

July 30, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4607
hear that from people across the Ro- different financial relief packages to- wage he or she insists on getting before ac-
tunda on almost anything and any day. taling $2.9 trillion. We just held an cepting a job. Unemployment insurance and
But here is a case where its delayed ac- oversight hearing in my committee 2 other social assistance programs increase
the reservation wage, causing an unem-
tion on this bill suggests that it isn’t days ago. There is even dispute on that
ployed person to remain unemployed longer.
always the Senate that isn’t consid- number. Some witnesses said it is close
ering this legislation. to $3.6 trillion. I am going to use $2.9 We want to avoid that situation. We
Each of these bills fills a critical void trillion as a minimum. want to help workers, but we want to
in our current whistleblower laws, and To relate that to what I just talked avoid the situation where we prolong
each one ought to receive consider- about, that represents about 13.5 per- unemployment or create a sense for
ation and an up-or-down vote before cent of our economy. Again, employ- people to stay on unemployment insur-
the end of this Congress. Of course, if ment is down 10.5 percent. Economists ance. The fact is that, according to a
that is going to happen, Congress needs are predicting our economy will shrink University of Chicago study, 68 percent
to pick up its pace. It needs to take a somewhere between 4.6 percent and 8 of people collecting unemployment are
cue from those strong actions taken by percent. But we acted swiftly and mas- making more on unemployment than
the Congress—the Continental Con- sively. We knew what we were going to they made when they were working.
gress, let me emphasize, during the enact was far from perfect. We all un- CBO estimates something between five
American Revolution, a body that saw derstood that. It was far from perfect, out of six people currently collecting
the need, took the time, and devoted but it worked, and we had to do it. unemployment are making more not
necessary resources to stand up for We passed an amount equal to 13.5 working than working. The Bureau of
whistleblowers in the midst of a war percent of last year’s GDP. Less than a Labor statistics at the end of May said
for the very existence of our country. month later, Speaker PELOSI and her there were 5.4 million jobs open—not
Today, let’s all take a moment to re- House Democrats passed a fifth pack- being filled.
flect on the high standards that those age out of the House worth $3 trillion— We have a problem. We have two
early Americans set for us back on $3 trillion. I am sorry. That is not a se- problems. We can’t do a deal because I
July 30, 1778, and let’s remember never rious attempt at financial relief. If we don’t believe our friends on the other
to let excuses or partisan differences add that to the $2.9 trillion, that would side of the aisle are serious about doing
keep us from pursuing our common in- represent 27.5 percent of last year’s a deal. But we have unemployment ex-
terests in passing strong, meaningful economy. piring, and the current provision was
whistleblower laws. Again, employment is down 10.5 per- too generous to create a perverse in-
I yield the floor. cent. Our economy will probably centive.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. shrink by no more than 8 percent. Yet I have introduced a piece of legisla-
FISCHER). The Senator from Wisconsin. Speaker PELOSI and House Democrats tion that I have cosponsored with the
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST wanted to increase the amount of debt Senator from Indiana and the Senator
Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, burden on our children by passing a from Florida, who would also like to
back in February 2020, before the package that would bring the total re- speak to this. It is called the
COVID recession, there were 158.8 mil- lief package up to 27.5 percent of our Coronavirus Relief Fair Unemployment
lion Americans employed. We have GDP. It is not serious. Compensation Act. There is no fancy
gone through a lot. COVID is probably It should surprise no one when Lead- acronym. It describes what the bill
the most significant event—certainly er MCCONNELL and Chief of Staff Mead- does. It extends Federal plus-up for un-
in my lifetime—affecting people’s lives, ows and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, employment to the end of the year.
the tragedies we have seen, affecting as they tried to forge a deal with The COVID recession is not ending
our economy, affecting the Federal Speaker of the House PELOSI and Mi- any time soon. Rather than having to
budget. nority Leader SCHUMER, that they come back and do this over and over
At the end of June, there were 142 couldn’t reach a deal; that there was again and increase the anxiety on
million Americans employed. That is a probably no goalpost that they will not Americans who are unemployed, let’s
reduction of 16.6 million Americans or move to make sure that doesn’t hap- extend this to the end of December.
10.5 percent. I want people to remember pen. Our bill gives States the option of ei-
that 10.5 percent. But the problem with that ap- ther a $200 flat plus-up or a plus-up
Over the last month or so, there have proach—and I would call it a very cyn- equal to no more than two-thirds of an
been a number of respected economists ical, political approach, really playing individual’s average wage, not to ex-
who made forecasts of how much our with people’s lives and livelihood—is ceed $500. The States have the option.
economy is going to shrink. These are that tomorrow the Federal unemploy- If they can’t handle the two-thirds
folks from the IMF and CBO and the ment extension that we passed as part plus-up, they can accept the $200 flat
Federal Reserve Board of Governors, of the CARES Act—because we realized plus-up.
economists at Morgan Stanley and we wanted to try to help everybody In case our Democratic colleagues
Goldman Sachs. The range of what who was unemployed because of the are going to complain about that as
they are predicting our economy will COVID recession—expires. not being generous enough, two-thirds
shrink to is somewhere between 4.6 per- As I said, the CARES Act was far of weekly wages is exactly what the
cent and 8 percent. This is causing eco- from perfect. I certainly did not want House passed in phase 2 of the COVID
nomic devastation—a real human toll one of the provisions. I voted against relief package. Two-thirds of average
on real people. it. I actually supported the amendment wages is what they set as the amount
As a result of that, Congress acted. of the Senator from Florida to reduce of money for paid sick and family
We acted fast. We acted swiftly. We the $600 flat payment. That is a real leave.
acted massively. We wanted to provide problem because it represents some- I also want to point out that $200 a
financial help to individuals who were thing like 134 percent of average wages, week is eight times the amount the
unemployed all of a sudden through no and we are creating a very perverse in- Democrats, back in 2008 and 2009—I
fault of their own. We wanted to help centive for people to remain unem- think 2009—passed as part of the great
provide financial need to businesses ployed when our economy is calling for recession relief package. They passed
that were viable, that can hopefully more workers. $25 per week plus-up, so $200 per week
survive and rehire and help us recover I want to quote an economic adviser plus-up is eight times that.
from this COVID recession. We also to both Presidents Clinton and Presi- Again, we, as Republicans, are trying
wanted to make sure we provided dent Obama, Larry Summers. He once to meet them already more than half-

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enough liquidity in the market so we stated: way to do a deal on unemployment.
wouldn’t see any kind of seizing up and The second way government assistance
Again, those individuals who are with-
see real financial devastation. programs contribute to long-term unemploy- out a job through no fault of their own
The result of all that was that within ment is by providing an incentive, and the have the comfort and relief that they
a very short period of time, by the end means, not to work. Each unemployed per- will have assistance from the Federal
of April, we had already passed four son has a ‘‘reservation wage’’—the minimum Government.

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S4608 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 30, 2020
I yield the floor. key thing that we need to do tran- safety nets like Social Security, Medi-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- sitionally so that we may get back to care, and Medicaid.
ator from Indiana. where Main Street and the real econ- Over my 8 years as the Governor of
Mr. BRAUN. Just 5 months ago, we omy are running things and where Florida, we completely turned our
had the hottest economy in 37 years. there is not an attempt by the other economy around by making hard budg-
Running a business—starting it from side to replace what has been making etary decisions, by cutting taxes and
Main Street as a little company—it the economy work. regulations, and by making sure we got
was lucky enough to grow over those 37 I yield the floor. a return on every taxpayer dollar. Sen-
years. Three of my four kids run it Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, I ators JOHNSON and BRAUN and I all
now. thank the Senator from Indiana for come from business backgrounds, and
The reason I ran for the Senate was acting quickly in cosponsoring this we understand that you just can’t
to make sure we had that kind of at- piece of legislation. spend without having accountability.
mosphere in place for the productive I now yield to the Senator from Flor- You have to invest wisely.
economy, the enterprising, the hard- ida. We have to start doing the exact
working Americans who work at com- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- same thing at the Federal level be-
panies on Main Street. ator from Florida. cause, at some point, someone is going
Since COVID arrived, of course, it Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam Presi- to have to pay for it. If we don’t start
shocked us all. We know it is a tricky dent, I thank the senior Senator from acting in a more fiscally responsible
foe. It has peculiarities. Yet the one Wisconsin and the junior Senator from manner, our children and our grand-
thing that is certain is that we need to Indiana for their hard work in address- children are no longer going to have
get back to the economy that was rais- ing the out-of-control spending of the the same opportunities we all have had
ing wages for those most in need, was Federal Government and for finding to live the American dream, and that is
doing it in a real way, and not through ways to assist Americans who need actually not fair.
government. help in the midst of this pandemic. It is time we take this seriously. The
Yes, government needs to get in- The coronavirus is a crisis that has best way to help people right now is to
volved now and then, and this was the demanded action to protect Americans, get our economy reopened, to support
case. Like the Senator from Wisconsin but if we are not careful, Congress is businesses by cutting taxes and regula-
stated, we moved quickly, and we did going to create another devastating tions, and to ensure that we have
something. crisis down the road, one of our own ample testing and PPE across the
What I see on the other side of the doing. Our national debt and deficits— country. That is how we get back on
aisle, with this monstrosity of $3.5 tril- already at unsustainable levels—have track. That needs to be our focus in
lion, is an effort beyond just addressing skyrocketed as Congress has spent al- going forward.
the displacement from COVID–19. I see most $3 trillion to address this crisis. I thank my colleagues for their hard
it as an effort to try to replace Main Even if you remove the Paycheck Pro- work in trying to make sure we don’t
Street and the productive economy. It tection Program that has kept workers waste people’s money and to make sure
doesn’t work through here, and we on payrolls, the total amount spent by we take care of the people who actually
should have never, back in late March, Congress to respond to the pandemic need help right now.
had something that would have and help workers amounts to more I yield to Senator JOHNSON.
incentivized not working. Of course, we than $50,000 per unemployed American. Mr. JOHNSON. I thank the Senator
tried to fix it, but friends on the other Do you think any unemployed Amer- from Florida for his words of support.
side of the aisle did not agree with us. ican has received anything close to Madam President, as if in legislative
If we want to get back to some form of $50,000? Of course not. That is because session, I ask unanimous consent that
a new normal—sooner or later, when every dollar spent by Congress seems the Senate proceed to the immediate
we whip this foe, COVID–19—and back to be spent in the least efficient way consideration of my bill at the desk. I
to what it was before, we can’t do it possible. further ask that the bill be considered
through government. Now Congress is negotiating a new read a third time and passed and that
When you look at not only this bill spending bill of at least $1 trillion the motion to reconsider be considered
they have but at the other stuff that without even understanding if or how made and laid upon the table.
we need to keep in mind in leading up the $3 trillion already allocated has The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
to the election, we cannot afford it, been spent. You would never operate a objection?
and it doesn’t make sense. It is replac- business like that. You would never op- The Democratic leader.
ing enterprisers, Main Street—every- erate your household like that. Gov- Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in
thing that makes this country great— ernment should not be able to get away reserving the right to object, let’s talk
with a bloated Federal Government. with it. about how we got here.
When I heard that this bill was out In June, I and Senators JOHNSON and For over 3 months, our Republican
there—coming from a quick-footed en- CRUZ asked all 50 States how they have colleagues have dithered, dallied, and
trepreneur now here in the Senate—I allocated the trillions of dollars in tax- not taken seriously the most enormous
didn’t hesitate at all to get on it. We payer funding they have received from health crisis we have had in 100 years
need to do this because we need to cut the Federal Government for the and the most enormous economic crisis
to the chase. We have hard-working coronavirus response. So far, the ma- we have had in 75 years. Now, all of a
Americans who are still unemployed. jority of States has refused our re- sudden, in the last day or two, they see
They have gotten displaced out of that quest. Instead of telling us how they the cliff. There are many cliffs, but
great economy. This takes care of that are being responsible with American they see the cliff of unemployment in-
without putting into place something taxpayer dollars, they want more surance running out.
that is so broad, so expansive, and that money from the Federal Government. We have been asking them to nego-
does not address the essence of what is Where is the oversight and account- tiate on this for a very long time. We
at issue here. It makes sure there is a ability? It doesn’t exist in Washington have had nothing. Speaker PELOSI and
pathway so that we can get back to right now. I asked Leader MCCONNELL to sit down
that Trump economy—that economy I am thankful that my friends Sen- with us almost a month ago, and he
which was working more for everyone ators JOHNSON and BRAUN are focused would not. So we got here because our
than at any time ever before. Don’t ask on protecting our future and reining in Republican colleagues couldn’t get
people who have been here in the busi- Washington’s excess. Instead of just their act together. They still don’t

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
ness of government. Why don’t you ask throwing money at every problem, my have their act together, and now they
people who have been running busi- colleagues are actually thinking about are worried. Yet, instead of being seri-
nesses, who have been on Main Street, the impact this spending will have on ous about negotiating, they have cre-
who have been doing it? the future of our children and grand- ated a stunt, which shows how
That is why we need to get this children and how we are impacting our unserious the Republicans are at com-
across the finish line. It addresses the ability to fund our military and our ing to an agreement.

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July 30, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4609
I dare say, if this bill were voted on Wisconsin has given States an option with saying we shouldn’t spend any
by the floor, a large number of Repub- of cutting the thing to $200 or getting money. Well, believe me, if we don’t
licans—perhaps a majority—would vote 67 percent. Many States say they will spend any money, things will get
against it. It would fail in the Senate never be able to implement the 67-per- worse, and we will have to spend more
by a large margin and would never pass cent part and that people will be stuck later.
the House. with that big cut. This is the dilemma we are in be-
Instead of engaging in this stunt of The main point on that is that many cause of COVID. It is no one’s fault, but
trying to get the heat of America off States will not be able to implement that is the dilemma we are in, and it is
their backs, they ought to do some- this new plan for weeks or even being made so much worse by this
thing real, which is to sit down and se- months, and people will not have their President. We don’t hear a peep from
riously negotiate with the Democrats money. the other side about how the President
about this issue. So the No. 1 thing that is wrong with has messed this up. Instead, we get this
This proposal, amazingly enough, is this proposal is that, just on the merits stunt to try to show they want to do
even stingier than the one the Repub- itself, it fails by giving a big pay cut, something that they know won’t pass
licans introduced a few days ago. In- by pushing more people into poverty, and know won’t solve the problem.
stead of giving workers who lost their by taking money out of our economy So I am going to offer a unanimous
jobs through no fault of their own a 30- that consumers can spend, and because consent request in a few minutes to
percent pay cut, they give them a 33- it is fundamentally unworkable. pass the Heroes Act, which has already
percent pay cut. It is just so wrong, There is another reason. We have a passed the House, so it would do some
and if you look at all of the data, it has lot of problems. real good. It covers all the areas I men-
been rejected by the American people. In a few minutes, I, the Senator from tioned and does a far better job at deal-
My colleague from Indiana says—and Oregon, and the Senator from Michigan ing with the unemployment situation
I know he is sincere—you can’t solve will ask unanimous consent to pass the than my good friend from Wisconsin’s
this problem through the government. Heroes Act. bill.
I have news for you. When you have the We have a lot of cliffs. As of Thurs- I object.
greatest economic crisis in 75 years and day, hundreds of thousands—and soon The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec-
the greatest health crisis in 100 years, millions—could be evicted from their tion is heard.
The Senator from Wisconsin.
the private sector cannot solve this apartments. This bill does nothing
Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, a
problem. That is one of the reasons you about that cliff. quick response. The Democratic leader
guys are all tied in a knot—you must As of this week—and next week’s
states this is not adequate. Again, I
have the government get involved, and being a new month—State and local
would remind the Senate that in 2009,
you don’t want to do that. governments will be running out of
when they passed a Federal plus-up for
I hear my friend from Florida talk money. Already, 1.5 million State and unemployment benefits—total Demo-
about the deficit. Well, that didn’t local workers have been laid off, and cratic control—they passed $25 a week.
matter when we passed a $1.5 trillion more will be laid off. That is a cliff. So the $200 a week is eight times what
tax break for the wealthiest people and What are we doing about that? they passed in 2009. Apparently, they
the biggest corporations in America. Testing. If you go to any place in felt that was adequate back then.
The deficit didn’t matter then, but America, including the three States we There was also a study out of the
when it is helping working people who are talking about here, people have to University of Chicago that a $200 plus-
have lost their jobs, when it is helping wait days and weeks for their test re- up on State unemployment benefits
small businesses get on their feet, sults, and some don’t even ever get coming from the Federal Government
when it is helping to feed children, their test results back. replaces more than 100 percent of
when it is helping to keep people in We are not going to solve this prob- wages for 20 percent of the workers
their homes and apartments, then we lem until we solve the coronavirus currently unemployed. The other 80
hear about the deficit. problem. We all know that President percent get replacement that ranges up
Let me tell you what is wrong with Trump and this administration have to 100 percent.
this proposal. There are two basic rea- failed on testing. Almost every other Again, this is a very generous pro-
sons. Western country that has dealt with posal. And, of course, the option of
One, it doesn’t work on its own. As I this issue—in Western Europe or East two-thirds is exactly what the House
said, No. 1, it is even stingier than the Asia—is way ahead of us. We should be passed in phase 2 of the coronavirus re-
original proposal. They are moving ashamed. We have a President who has lief packages—two-thirds of weekly
backward—our Republican friends dithered and has not taken seriously wages for paid sick and paid family
are—and they are giving workers an the testing regime. The Heroes Act leave. Now, all of a sudden, it is inad-
even greater pay cut than they had be- fixes that problem, and we are not equate. And of course their solution—
fore. going to fix our economy until we fix what they are going to offer—is an-
Second, the pandemic unemployment the healthcare problem, my friends. other $3 trillion, further mortgaging
insurance has kept millions out of pov- The Heroes Act does many, many our children’s future when we haven’t
erty. We all work to keep people out of other things, like getting people back spent about $1.2 trillion of the $2.9 tril-
poverty. This has worked. If we cut it to school, not like Donald Trump does lion we have already authorized.
back, it is estimated that millions will in pushing people back to school even It is not a serious proposal, which is
fall back into poverty and that mil- if it is not safe. Well, remember what why Leader MCCONNELL could not ne-
lions will go in it. he did in Arizona? in Texas? in Florida? gotiate, because they weren’t negoti-
The third is one of the few things we He pushed the State Governors to get ating in good faith. The Democrats are
hear about to get the economy going. If people back. Now look at what has hap- being cynical. This is not a serious
you talk to our economists—liberal pened. The same thing will happen in offer.
and conservative—they will tell you the schools if we are not careful. We This is a very serious and, quite hon-
the No. 1 thing preventing the economy have help there, which my good friend estly, more than generous offer to help
from getting worse is consumer spend- from Wisconsin’s bill doesn’t even men- Americans and alleviate the anxiety
ing. This bill puts money in people’s tion. That is another cliff. they are going to be feeling if the
pockets, and they spend it. Even con- We have a month before school Democrats just simply decide to reject
servative economists say it is very starts, and this bill—skinny or stingy— this. It is very unfortunate, but that is
much needed to get the economy going. is not up to the moment. It is not even the state of play in the Senate. It is

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
Fourth, it can’t work. We have called close to being up to the moment. very sad.
a whole bunch of State governments It is amazing that we have such a cri- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
and State unemployment offices. They sis in America and that our Republican Democratic leader.
cannot implement this plan imme- friends in the Senate and the White Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President,
diately, and many say it would take House and the House cannot even face first, before I do my UC, I would re-
months. I know that the Senator from up to the problem. They are obsessed mind my good friend—I remind myself

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S4610 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 30, 2020
to take off my mask—I would remind Republican reaction was similar to the again about thousands and thousands
my good friend that it took us 10 years reaction we have heard this morning: of more workers in every part of the
to get out of the crisis of 2008. Unem- Can’t do it. We will dare the Democrats country getting hit again with layoffs.
ployment stayed high. Job numbers to block us. When jobless Americans receive unem-
stayed high. Looking at 2008 as a model It didn’t work. The public was on our ployment benefits, it becomes one of
for recovery is not anything anyone side. But more importantly, once the the biggest booster shots for the Amer-
would want to do. Republicans showed they couldn’t ican economy. When jobless Americans
In a few minutes, I am going to offer bully anybody and couldn’t put a pro- receive unemployment benefits, and
the Heroes Act as a unanimous consent posal on the floor, an inadequate bill, they spend it on food, they spend it on
alternative, and I mentioned before the and pass it, they came to the table and car payments, they spend it on rent,
many things it does. But let me just negotiated. and they spend it on medical bills. It is
say in the larger sense, we have an We are still waiting for Leader part of the gross domestic product. It
enormous crisis in America. We have MCCONNELL to go into that room with makes no sense—it makes no sense,
higher unemployment than we have Mnuchin and Meadows and PELOSI and colleagues—to take that support away,
ever had since the Depression. Today, me. We are waiting for our Republican as the Senator from Wisconsin seeks to
the 150,000th death was recorded. Thus Senate colleagues to come up with a do.
far, the Trump administration, fol- coherent plan that can get their sup- One point four million people have
lowed by the Republican Senate, has port. We are still waiting for the Presi- filed for unemployment benefits this
been an abject failure at dealing with dent to understand the gravity of this past week. Before the pandemic, unem-
that crisis. situation and do something about it, ployment claims had never crossed
It would have been much better if the for God’s sake. 700,000 in a single week, not even dur-
President had done what chiefs of state I believe, if this is objected to, within ing the great recession. They have now
in Europe and Asia did—stepped up to a little while, our Republican friends been at 1.3 million or higher for 19
the plate, implemented testing, and will feel the pressure from their con- straight weeks.
put adequate money in people’s pock- stituents and from national media to So here the Senate is, a few hours
ets. We might be more on the road to realize that they have to come and ne- after seeing the worst domestic prod-
recovery, like those other countries gotiate in good faith on a bold, strong, uct report ever recorded, and what is
are. comprehensive bill that will pass. the response of the Senate Repub-
Aren’t my Republican friends Before I ask consent for the Heroes licans? To slash unemployment even
ashamed that Europe and Asia did bet- Act, I will yield first to my colleague more than they originally proposed,
ter than us, the greatest country in the from Oregon and then to my colleague yanking an economic lifeline from 30
world? And do you know why? Because from Michigan. million Americans and delivering an
of the very philosophy my colleagues The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- economic wrecking ball directly into
have mentioned—don’t spend any ator from Oregon. our fragile economy.
money, and, in President Trump’s Mr. WYDEN. Madam President, this The last point I want to make—and
view, ignore the crisis. It will go away morning showed why we need the we have Senator STABENOW, my
when the weather gets warm. Everyone Democratic approach to dealing with seatmate on the Finance Committee,
has testing, he said, back in March. unemployment insurance and why the here—is to highlight the fact that from
We Democrats feel the pain in Amer- pain that was reported this morning the beginning, Senate Republicans
ica. We feel the pain of people who would get even worse under the pro- were hostile to the idea of trying to
have lost their jobs through no fault of posal offered by Senator JOHNSON. give a fair shake to these workers and
their own. We feel the pain of small This morning, Americans learned these families who were hit so hard.
business people who have struggled to that our economy cratered in the sec- Eugene Scalia—the first thing he
build their businesses for decades—my ond quarter—essentially, GDP dropped said after we did that work in the Fi-
dad was a small business man—and by 9.5 percent from April through June. nance Committee—the first thing he
then they lose those businesses. We feel That translates to a 33-percent annual said was not ‘‘Oh, we have to do our job
the pain of parents who can’t feed their contraction of the American economy. administering the benefits.’’ The first
kids. We feel the pain of moms and So what you have with today’s analysis thing he said was that his big concern
dads who are worried about whether is a gross domestic product in free fall. is that unemployed people are going to
they can send their kids back to school If Republicans slash unemployment be dependent on government. How pre-
safely. We feel the pain of people when benefits with this proposal, the gross posterous.
they get tested and they have to wait domestic product is going to fall faster, I see my friend Senator BROWN here,
days, weeks to get a result, when the and the economy will collapse. who spends a big chunk of his waking
test means nothing. Folks, the economists, people who hours talking about the dignity of
Our responsibility as Democrats and aren’t political figures, told us this work. So much for the dignity of work
Republicans is to get something done, morning—this is a five-alarm fire. It is when you hear about what Eugene
something real—not a stunt, not some- the biggest and fastest drop ever re- Scalia said.
thing stingy, and not something that is corded, colleagues, wiping out years of I hosted a nationwide townhall meet-
so narrow, it only deals with one as- economic gains in a matter of weeks. ing just a couple of nights ago, and
pect of the problem, inadequately at The fact is, when you take the kind there were workers from the Midwest,
that. That is why we are offering the of economic hammering that we and they said: People are saying we
Heroes Act. It is not perfect. There are learned about this morning, and you don’t want to work. If I get a job offer
a few things some people might add. have the Democratic approach with re- at night, I will be there the first thing
But it is a heck of a lot better to meet spect to supercharged unemployment— in the morning, ready to go.
this crisis than what we have seen from what we wrote in the Finance Com- This is not about workers being un-
our Republican friends—a bill that, as I mittee, that Secretary Mnuchin signed able to work; it is about scarcity of
said, moves backward, is stingy, and off on, the $600 per week, which finally jobs, just the way those figures this
probably wouldn’t get the support of a included those people who nobody even morning pointed out.
majority of Republicans if it were put talked about in the 1920s, gig workers So I think that we are going to have
on the floor, let alone any of us. and part-timers and independent con- further discussion on other issues, but
Of course we have to do something. tractors—they got a fair shake. I just want to mention one last point
The Heroes Act is the right thing to do. The reason we thought it was so im- before yielding.

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
But I want to make one prediction for portant to supercharge those benefits Today we heard some remarkable
everyone who is worried about the fu- and why we feel so strongly about comments about how Donald Trump—
ture here. If the past is prologue, some- doing it now, with an additional $600 and I guess this was his musing, but
thing very close to the Heroes Act will per week, is so that people can make whenever he muses, it actually some-
be enacted. Look at COVID 2, COVID 3, rent and pay groceries, while all these times is part of a strategy—he talked
and COVID 3.5. In each case, the initial folks are out of work. And we learned about putting off the election and that

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July 30, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4611
the problem being that people would be market gets a safety net. The Sec- I will speak for just 2 or 3 minutes. I
voting by mail. Now, there is not a retary of Treasury will say: Hey, what know that Senator SCHUMER will make
shred of evidence—not a shred of evi- do you guys need? We are backing you another unanimous consent request.
dence—that this is a problem. up. We got your back. But for the fami- Think about what Senator MCCON-
The reason it is not a problem—and I lies of our country who, through no NELL wants to do. Senator MCCONNELL
don’t say it just because I am the Na- fault of their own, have been put into a is going to cut $400 in unemployment
tion’s first mail-in U.S. Senator; take situation where they have to worry insurance to tens of millions of unem-
the word of far-right conservatives— about a roof over their head and food ployed workers, hundreds of thousands
the late Dennis Richardson in our on the table and dollars to be able to in my State alone—in Oregon, Michi-
State, about as conservative as you pay the bills through help with unem- gan, Illinois, New York, Minnesota,
get. One of the last things he did before ployment, our colleagues say we have Texas, Florida, and Wisconsin. Thou-
he passed was he pointed out that there the audacity to think that they ought sands of workers are going to lose $400
is no voter fraud in our vote-by-mail to have a safety net, too; that the ma- a week.
elections. He said it doesn’t happen. A jority of Americans ought to know Think about what is going to happen.
conservative. A rock-ribbed conserv- that somebody’s got their back. Around the country, the moratorium
ative. We are here to say that we are the on evictions is expiring. Around the
So we just heard that comment this ones who have their back, and we hope country, in community after commu-
morning, Leader SCHUMER. Of course, that before this is done, the Senate and nity, a moratorium on electric and
the law says that he can’t change the the House will come together to do water cutoffs is about to happen. So
election, but it shows again why it is that. workers are going to lose $400 a week.
so important to have the elections pro- Right now, there are senior citizens— They are going to face eviction.
vision from the Heroes Act—which I a lot of them—who get a minimum What is going to happen?
was honored to work with Speaker amount of monthly help for their food. We know what is going to happen.
PELOSI on—be part of the way in which It is $16 a month, not a week—a month. What is going to happen is more people
people vote this fall because they We have the audacity to stand here and will lose their homes, more people will
shouldn’t have to choose between vot- want to pass a Heroes Act that would be in homeless shelters, more people
ing or their health. Most of the poll raise that to $30 a month, and our col- will spend the night in their cousin’s
workers in America are over the age of leagues will object to a $14-a-month basement in the middle of a pandemic.
60, they shouldn’t be put at risk, which raise for our poorest senior citizens. It is cruel, and it is really stupid pol-
is obviously what Donald Trump would Now, for everyone else, I mean we are icy to cut their income for unemploy-
be willing to do. looking at about $1.40 per meal—$1.40 ment for the millions of unemployed
So the Heroes bill—we are now going per meal. I would challenge any of us workers and then provide no dollars for
to talk about, I believe, the nutrition to try and get a meal for $1.40. What rental assistance, no dollars for paying
part, which Senator STABENOW has the United States provides for someone their mortgage, and no help for those
championed so eloquently. who is in need of help right now is $1.40 workers. How can we? We are the
But I wanted to take a moment to per meal, and we have the audacity to United States of America. How can we
focus on the economic numbers that be asking for that to be raised by a lit- do such a thing?
came out this morning and how the Re- tle less than $1 a day. That is what a I yield to Senator SCHUMER.
publican proposal would make our abil- 15-percent increase in SNAP is. It is a The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
ity to fight what was described a few little less than $1 a day for somebody. Democratic leader.
hours ago worse and also talk about Our colleagues act like this is unbe- Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President,
the fiasco of Donald Trump’s efforts lievable—unbelievable that we would just two quick things on what Presi-
every single day to chip away at peo- think people should get 90 cents more a dent Trump said today. I know my col-
ple’s opportunities to vote-by-mail and day to help with food. That is what we league from Oregon brought it up—the
in other ways. are talking about in this package. It is idea that, once again, all he wants to
I yield the floor. about getting people help. It is about do is divert from his abject failure on
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- understanding the hardships that they the coronavirus crisis. He says: Oh,
ator from Michigan. face and knowing it is not over and not well, maybe we will not have an elec-
Ms. STABENOW. Madam President, I going to be over for too long. tion.
am really proud to stand with a group Let me just stress, in closing, that That is up to the Senate and the
of colleagues and leaders who under- one of the most efficient ways we can House, Mr. President. President
stand what is happening to the Amer- address stimulating the economy right Trump, the election will be in Novem-
ican people and the hardship they are now is by putting money in the pockets ber, on November 3, and you will not
facing and the fact that they just want of people who have to spend it. One of change it. Stop diverting attention,
some help and they want people to un- the best ways—in fact, economists tell President Trump. That is what you
derstand that. We are in the middle of us the best way is giving somebody $1 have done for 3 months as more people
a pandemic. It is not done yet. We that they have to go to the grocery get sick, as more people get unem-
know we have to wrap our arms around store and spend it on food. If you give ployed, as we see the numbers we saw
what is happening with the healthcare them $1, it translates into $1.70 in the today.
pandemic before we can do anything economy to the grocery store, the proc- Instead of focusing on all these crazy,
else, but in the meantime we have an essor, and the farmer. We need to get egotistical, and wrong-headed ideas,
economic crisis, and we have a hunger this done. focus on COVID–19, focus on testing,
crisis in this country. We are also deeply concerned about focus on unemployment, focus on get-
It is very hard for me to listen to the proposals they put forward on edu- ting the kids back to school, focus on
folks—all of us, none of us are worried cation that I will leave for another the many problems we face and under-
about going hungry tonight, not one. day, but it is time—it is time to recog- stand the moment and largeness of this
My guess is, we are not worried about nize what people are going through and crisis. I say that to President Trump,
our grandkids or others whom we know let them know that somebody cares and I say that to my Republican col-
going hungry tonight or our moms and and somebody is going to help them leagues.
dads, but there are 14 million kids and somebody is going to have their We are waiting. We are waiting for
right now who aren’t getting what they back. you to get your act together and under-
need to eat and could very likely go I would yield to my friend and col- stand the depth of this crisis, the

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
hungry tonight. They need a safety league from Ohio who has been such a breadth of this crisis, and do something
net. leader. real—not a stunt.
You know, when I look at what is the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- Madam President, as if in legislative
priority here with Senate Republicans, ator from Ohio. session, I ask unanimous consent that
you know who gets a safety net? Wall Mr. BROWN. I want to thank Senator the Senate proceed to the immediate
Street gets a safety net. The stock STABENOW and Senator WYDEN. consideration of Calendar No. 455, H.R.

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S4612 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 30, 2020
6800, the Heroes Act; that the bill be take yes for an answer. It is very un- in Houston the other day at a round-
considered read a third time and fortunate they are taking this position table that Sylvester Turner, the mayor
passed, and the motion to reconsider be that they want to indebt our children of Houston, convened so that they
considered made and laid upon the for another $3 trillion, and they will could share with me their experiences.
table with no intervening action or de- not say yes to a very reasonable pro- This pastor, who was head of the
bate. posal structured on things they pro- local NAACP chapter, told me: I honor
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there posed and passed in the past. the police. I respect the police. I sup-
objection? Madam President, It is very unfortu- port the police. But my son, he is
The Senator from Wisconsin. nate, but I have to object to $3 trillion afraid of the police.
Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, re- of additional debt on our children. So, we clearly have a long way to go
serving the right to object, I would like The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- in treating all people the same, regard-
to first respond to the Senator from tion is heard. less of the color of their skin. And
Oregon about the economic news: yes, The assistant Democratic leader. when the perception among some in
on an annualized rate from the down- Mr. CORNYN. Madam President—— the minority community is that they
turn in the second quarter, 9.5 percent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The as- are being treated differently, that is a
But again, I pointed out, respectfully, sistant Democratic leader has been rec- problem that we should all try to ad-
that economists are predicting a ognized. dress together.
shrinkage of GDP 4.6 and 8 percent be- Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I be- So one way we could attempt to
cause we are in recovery. lieve there are pending requests by sev- make this small step toward that rec-
The employment has dropped by 10.5 eral Members, and I don’t want to try onciliation and continue to remind
percent. We have already passed $2.9 to preempt it. ourselves on an annual basis of how far
trillion. We haven’t spent $1.2 trillion The PRESIDING OFFICER. Would we have come but how far we still have
of that at least. So we haven’t spent the Senator yield the floor? to go would be to take up this bill, pass
$1.2 trillion. Yet our Democratic col- Mr. DURBIN. I yield the floor. it, and get it to the President’s desk
leagues want to pass a bill that costs $3 The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- without further delay.
trillion. ator from Texas. At this point, before I ask for unani-
We are already $26.5 trillion in debt UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 4019 mous consent, I would yield to the Sen-
by the end of this fiscal year. That Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I ator from Minnesota.
would be approaching $28 trillion. They thank the assistant Democratic leader. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
want to pass a bill by unanimous con- We come back to the floor today, the ator from Minnesota.
sent for $3 trillion when we haven’t Senator from Minnesota and I, to Ms. SMITH. Madam President, I
spent $1.2 trillion of the $2.9 trillion we reoffer a unanimous consent request thank my colleague from Texas. I ap-
have already passed. That massive that Senator MARKEY, the Senator preciate his leadership on this.
amount would represent 27.5 percent of from Massachusetts, and I offered pre- Juneteenth is among the oldest cele-
our economy, when economists are say- viously. brations of emancipation and is cer-
ing it will shrink by probably no more After the death of George Floyd and, tainly worthy of a Federal holiday. I
than 7 percent or 8 percent. unfortunately, similar incidents, it has want to read an op-ed from the Wash-
We don’t need to authorize more become increasingly obvious that our ington Post, written by the musician
money. What we need to do is help the country is in need of reconciliation— Usher, which I think eloquently sums
American people who are unemployed. racial reconciliation and personal rec- up why it is not only important to
I know the minority leader called that onciliation. honor this day as a Federal holiday,
stingy. The offer we are making—the One of the things we could do to but it is also important to recognize it
$200 flat payment—does not provide an honor the memory of George Floyd and as a part of American history.
incentive to stay unemployed. It re- to attempt to take one small step to- I ask unanimous consent to intro-
places more than 100 percent of peo- ward that reconciliation is to make duce the Washington Post op-ed in full
ple’s wages for 20 percent of the people Juneteenth a Federal holiday. We pre- into the RECORD.
currently unemployed—a 100-percent viously had offered this unanimous There being no objection, the mate-
wage replacement for 20 percent. That consent request, and my friend from rial was ordered to be printed in the
is according to a study by the Univer- Wisconsin has his reasons for object- RECORD, as follows:
sity of Chicago. ing, but one of the major newspapers in [June 18, 2020]
For the other 80 percent, it replaces my State said to me: Try again. So I USHER: WHY IT’S SO IMPORTANT THAT
up to 100 percent. What is stingy about am coming here to the floor to reoffer. JUNETEENTH BECOME A NATIONAL HOLIDAY
that? Why do our Democratic col- Juneteenth has been a holiday in (By Usher Raymond IV)
leagues want to propose continuing the Texas for 40 years because of the dis- Usher Raymond IV is a musician, actor
$600 per-week plus-up that is pre- tinct Texas connection. Just to remind and entrepreneur.
venting people—incentivizing people my colleagues, Juneteenth was the day At the 2015 Essence Music Festival in New
not to reengage in the economy so that when the Union Army Major General Orleans, I wore a T-shirt that caught a lot of
people’s attention. The design was simple.
our economy can recover. It makes no Gordon Ganger showed up in Galveston
The words ‘‘July Fourth’’ were crossed out
sense. and told people who had previously and under them, one word was written:
Again, I will point out that the two- been slaves that they were no longer ‘‘Juneteenth.’’ I wore the shirt because, for
thirds option is the exact same amount slaves 21⁄2 years after the Emancipation many years, I celebrated the Fourth of July
that the House passed—the Demo- Proclamation. without a true understanding that the date
cratic-controlled House passed in phase I believe, in all sincerity, we need to of independence for our people, black people,
2 of the COVID–19 relief packages for remember our history because, you is actually June 19, 1865: the day that the
paid sick and family leave. So, again, know what, we learn from our mis- news of the Emancipation Proclamation fi-
we tried to tailor this to protect those takes, and if we don’t remember our nally reached some of the last people in
America still held in bondage.
American workers. We tried to tailor history, we will not learn from our I have no issue with celebrating America’s
this based on what Democrats them- mistakes, and we will commit those independence on July 4. For me, wearing the
selves have proposed and passed. Yet mistakes over and over and over again. shirt was an opportunity to inform others
they would rather play politics. They The tragic and brutal killing of who may not necessarily know the history of
would rather be cynical and object to George Floyd earlier this year has black people in America, and who are not
my unanimous consent request because shown a light on the injustices that aware that Juneteenth is our authentic day

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
time is running out—I acknowledge still exist in our society. Now, for of self-determination. It is ours to honor the
somebody who looks like me, my expe- legacy of our ancestors, ours to celebrate
that.
and ours to remember where we once were as
So we are responding, but as in so riences have been much different from a people. And it should be a national holiday,
many other debates—whether it is gun those of our friend TIM SCOTT, the Sen- observed by all Americans.
control or immigration—it is their way ator from South Carolina, or the expe- Growing up in Chattanooga, Tenn., I was
or the highway. They simply will not riences of a pastor whom I encountered taught in school one version of U.S. history

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