Congressional Record, Senate, August 5, 2020, Page S4903
Summary
A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated August 5, 2020, at page S4903, under the heading HEALS Act. Mr. Cornyn says negotiations on the next relief package seem to remain at a standstill, that the bolstered CARES Act unemployment benefits have expired and that schools need funding for protective measures, and he urges the Senate to stay in session until another coronavirus relief bill passes. Another speaker argues that the 140,000-limit on employment-based green cards and the per-country caps are outdated and inequitable, citing applicants from India. The page ends with remarks on good-faith talks between the Senate and the White House.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, August 5, 2020, Page S4903.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-08-05-crec-2020-08-05-pt1-pgs4903-53c9c8d4c0/
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August 5, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S4903
based immigrant visa than the speak- ject to our unanimous consent re- HEALS ACT
ers of Hindi, of Urdu, or of any of the quest—a request which I was prepared Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as our
languages spoken in India? to accept. Nation’s war against the coronavirus
As I mentioned a moment ago, you May I suggest that this is an illustra- wages on, negotiations on the next re-
have a real problem, a real inequity. tion of the bottom line that I raised in lief package seem to remain at a stand-
Overwhelmingly, the per-country cap my statement. In being stuck with a still.
punishes would-be immigrants from 140,000-limit on green cards for employ- The bolstered unemployment bene-
India in a way that doesn’t affect any ment visas and country caps for that fits provided by the CARES Act have
others, except maybe some from China. 140,000 limit, we will continue to run expired. Principals and teachers—and
By the way, he covers some of the lan- into the problem illustrated by the parents, I might add—are preparing to
guage groups spoken in and around Senator from Florida. begin the school year without adequate
China, including Cantonese and Tai- There will be those who will want to
funding for the protective measures
wanese. So why not Mandarin? Then, if create an exception to the overall
they need, and additional investments
Mandarin, why not any of the lan- quota or the country caps, and there
into vaccines and treatments are des-
guages spoken in India? will be compelling, personal, and fam-
perately needed.
This cuts right to the heart of why it ily reasons for them to ask for it. Time I believe the Senate should stay in
is we need this reform and why it is we and again, they will find that, if they session until we are able to pass an-
have an Elvis Presley-era, outdated, get a privilege, it will be at the expense
other coronavirus relief bill, but
outmoded, unwise, and fundamentally of someone else, and there will be an
Speaker PELOSI and Senate Minority
inequitable immigration code—one objection.
The only rational answer is to raise Leader SCHUMER seem to have zero
that is at odds with the way our immi- sense of urgency in delivering the sup-
gration system works. the cap on the green card quotas. These
140,000 employment-based visas a year port those in our country need, includ-
Imagine two otherwise identical ap- ing their own constituents, and they
plicants for a visa, wherein they are ex- might have made sense 30 or 40 years
ago. They make no sense today in the have zero interest, apparently—at least
actly the same in all respects—those so far—in a bipartisan compromise.
being their academic degrees they have world that we live in. We are talking
Despite the less-than-enthusiastic in-
earned, their employment experience, about people in the United States who
are working, who are trying to make terest from their own Members and a
their background checks, their family flatout veto threat from the White
statuses, their earning potential, their lives here of a more permanent nature.
They love this country enough to want House, they continue to push the more
job commitment, and professional cer- than $3 trillion Heroes Act as a solu-
tifications. Imagine they are identical to bring their families here—to relo-
cate and live. They are working here tion to the crisis.
in every single respect except for one— Remember, this is legislation that
that immigrant A happens to hail from and contributing in the computer in-
was so unpopular among Democrats
Sweden and that immigrant B happens dustry, in healthcare, and in so many
different areas. They are valuable and that it barely managed to pass the
to have been born in India. Immigrant House earlier this summer, and it in-
A will be eligible to have an employ- important to the future of America.
I sincerely hope that we can resolve cludes extraneous items, like tax
ment-based immigrant visa application breaks for millionaires and billionaires
the issue that was brought up on the
considered immediately. Immigrant B, who live in blue States and diversity
floor today. Equally important, if not
simply by virtue of having come from studies for the marijuana industry.
more important, I hope that we will
India, will, in many circumstances, have the will on a bipartisan basis to It doesn’t take a policy expert to see
have to be on a waiting list for 200 tackle comprehensive immigration re- that these portions of the bill have ab-
years. This is wrong. form. We did it 7 years ago. We passed solutely nothing to do with the crisis
I really would like, one day, for at hand, and they demonstrate how
it 7 years ago. It can be done with Sen-
someone—anyone—to explain to me unserious Speaker PELOSI and Demo-
ators of good faith and good will who
why it makes any sense to leave this crats in the House have been and, un-
will work together. Yet it will mean
law on the books. One can’t. One will you will have to accept the premise fortunately, now joined by some of our
not because there is no good reason for that there may be one additional, new colleagues here in the Senate—how
doing so. If one can’t and if one will immigrant coming to America. Some unserious they are about actually solv-
not, why on Earth would you want to people cannot stomach that, and they ing this problem to the best of our abil-
weaken something and dilute some- object to any effort to change immi- ity.
thing to create special privileges to gration laws that might result in an They even go so far as to call that
one group of would-be employment- additional immigrant. particular piece of legislation, the He-
based green card holders simply be- This son of an immigrant, who hap- roes Act, a messaging document. Well,
cause they happen to come from yet pens to be a U.S. Senator, believes that that messaging document helps abso-
another preferred country over the immigration defines this country, that lutely zero people. It is a wish list, a
nonpreferred, discriminated-against our diversity defines this country, and pipedream, and it is an effort to try to
country? This is wrong. that bringing people here who are will- appease the most radical Members of
We have to get this thing passed. I ing to sacrifice and risk everything to the Democratic caucus.
am so grateful to DICK DURBIN and the be part of America’s future is part of Though Speaker PELOSI says the title
work that he has done with me on this. the reason we have prospered as a na- of this legislation is a tribute to our
I am grateful to my colleagues on both tion. healthcare workers, it is really a cruel
sides of the aisle who have put together I hope that Senators on both sides of joke. The bill itself does nothing to
this bipartisan bill. I believe we are the aisle will have the good sense to protect them from one of the biggest
close. I believe we are very close. I in- come to that conclusion and that, at threats lurking around the corner.
tend and plan and fully commit in the another time, with another Congress We are already beginning to see evi-
coming days to keep pushing this. This and, perhaps, with another President, dence that the coronavirus pandemic is
issue isn’t going away. We are going to we will have a meaningful and fair- moving from hospitals to courtrooms,
get this thing passed. minded conversation. as lawyers have filed lawsuits against
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- In the meantime, I will work with our essential healthcare workers and
ator from Illinois. Senator LEE to resolve the differences any institution that has kept its doors
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am dis-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
that we have, which are now down to open throughout this crisis.
appointed. After all of these months of only a handful. As evidenced today, I This is something that has come up
negotiation and of the emotion, inten- believe we have made dramatic in my conversations with many of my
sity, and feelings that we share for the progress. We are disappointed by the constituents in Texas over the last sev-
people who are caught in this backlog, result, but we are not giving up. eral months—healthcare workers, edu-
it is a real disappointment that, at the I yield the floor. cators, nonprofits, restaurant workers,
last moment, the Senator from Florida The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- child daycare centers, retailers—the
exercised his right as a Senator to ob- ator from Texas. list goes on and on.
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S4904 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 5, 2020
They are worried about the carpet- keep their staff, their patients, and If the doctor and the hospital did the
bombing of opportunistic litigation. their communities safe. And, of course, best they could following those guide-
After all, these are some of the very it includes protections for our incred- lines, they should not be subjected to
same people we have said must show up ible healthcare workers who have been these types of litigation.
for work, must continue to provide es- on the frontlines of this crisis for Now, as I have said, the legislation
sential goods and services to their com- months. would not provide blanket immunity.
munities during this crisis. Now they Amid rapidly changing guidelines, Nobody is arguing for that, but we do
are worried that we are going to throw staffing shortages, and scarce supplies need clear guardrails to ensure that
them under the bus and make them of personal protective equipment, they the dedicated healthcare workers and
subject to lawsuits for doing the best continued to adapt and deliver the best other essential workers who were act-
they could under very difficult cir- possible care to their patients. ing in good faith will not be drained
cumstances. Just to give you one example of how dry by the trial bar.
Well, we can already see the commer- rapidly the guidelines are changing, in This legislation sets a willful mis-
cials on TV or the billboards soliciting March, the Texas Health and Human conduct or gross negligence standard
these lawsuits. The trial bar is pre- Services Commission provided a man- to ensure that only bona fide, legiti-
pared to file lawsuits against doctors, ual to nursing homes with guidance on mate claims are brought against these
nurses, teachers, small business own- managing and preventing a COVID–19 healthcare workers.
ers—anyone and everyone who might outbreak. The manual was 28 pages The patients subjected to that type
be able to pay a judgment or, more long. Since then, it has nearly tripled of treatment have every right to sue
likely, who has an insurance policy. in length. and to be made whole, and this will
According to the law firm Hunton As we have learned more about this preserve that basic right. But it will
Andrews Kurth, nearly 4,000 claims virus, guidelines have evolved, as you also make sure that the hard-working
have already been filed—more than 275 would hope they would, to ensure that doctors, nurses, emergency medical
in Texas—but we are also talking our healthcare workers know the most technicians, and other medical profes-
about circumstances under which the effective ways to quarantine, test, and sionals who have acted in good faith
statute of limitations is 2 years. So 2 treat patients. That is an unequivo- are not pulled into litigation that
years from the claimed incident, you cally good thing. It is strengthening could send them into bankruptcy.
could file a lawsuit. So this is just the our response, it is helping us slow the Over the past several months, our
tip of the iceberg. spread of the virus, and it is savings healthcare workers have navigated the
As our economy begins to reopen, so lives. dark, treacherous, and rapidly chang-
will the floodgates, and we need to But it has also created a host of chal- ing waters of this storm to save as
take action now to prevent this tidal lenges for the healthcare workers who many lives as possible.
wave of litigation from wiping out the are the very ones complying with these I should point out that I think about
very workers, businesses, and institu- rapidly changing guidelines, doing the 30 States have, at the State level, pro-
tions we have been fighting to keep best they can under difficult cir- vided the kind of protection to
afloat. cumstances. healthcare workers I am talking about.
Leader MCCONNELL and I have intro- I learned about an elderly patient So we need to throw them a lifeline,
duced the SAFE TO WORK Act to ad- who arrived at a hospital emergency not feed them to the sharks. Instead of
dress this issue and to prevent this room during the early stages of the naming a bill in honor of our
trial lawyer bonanza from bringing pandemic with a fever but no other healthcare heroes that does absolutely
even more harm to our country and to COVID–19 symptoms. nothing to help them, as the House has
our economy. At that point, testing supplies were done, let’s pass a bill that will honor
Unlike the unserious Heroes Act, this constrained, and the applicable CDC them.
would give our healthcare workers ex- protocol was to limit testing only to If our friends across the aisle want to
actly the kind of support they need, patients who met the strict criteria, help our healthcare workers and thank
but I want to make clear what this leg- who had symptoms. And with only a them for their immeasurable sacrifices
islation does and does not do. fever, this patient did not meet those they have made, liability protection
First, it is not a blanket shield from criteria so he was not tested. would do exactly that.
liability. It will not prevent bad actors The healthcare workers identified an So I hope our colleagues are prepared
from being held accountable. It will infection site that could have been to acknowledge the widely known
not prevent people from filing causing his fever, so they treated him truth—that the Heroes Act is an
coronavirus lawsuits, and it will not and discharged him with instructions unserious piece of legislation that has
give anyone a ‘‘get out of jail free’’ to return if his condition worsened. zero chance of becoming law. It is time
card. Several days later, unfortunately, his to stop playing games and get serious
In cases of gross negligence or willful condition did worsen, and he went to a about what our country needs at this
misconduct, where applicable public different hospital where he was given a critical moment.
health guidelines were ignored, the per- COVID–19 test. The result came back As negotiations on the next relief
son bringing the claim has every right positive, and ultimately he was admit- package continue, I would ask our col-
to sue and to be made whole, and we ted to the intensive care unit. leagues to set aside the completely un-
are not suggesting any change to that. Then, several days later, he trag- related priorities in the Heroes Act and
What we do need to do, though, is put ically passed away from coronavirus- focus on the changes that need to be
some safeguards in place to help those related symptoms. made to keep our healthcare and other
who were operating in good faith under For the man’s family, I know this essential workers safe but also to pro-
uncertain circumstances, under some- raises questions of how things might tect them from frivolous litigation.
times changing guidance and direction, have been different today if he had The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
even though they were trying to follow been tested on that initial visit in the ator from Minnesota.
all of the relevant guidelines. emergency room. They have said they f
That includes protections for non- may file a lawsuit against the physi-
profits that have gone above and be- cian and the hospital for not per- BROADBAND
yond to support their communities, as forming a test and admitting the man Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I
the demand for their services has sky- to the hospital on the first visit. rise today to talk about a focus sub-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
rocketed. It includes the schools, the But the doctors there were simply ject, which is access to broadband.
colleges, the universities that are pre- following the best advice they had at I will say that I know the negotia-
paring to take every conceivable pre- the time and were constrained by the tions between the House and the Sen-
caution to keep students and teachers number of tests available—only to test ate and the White House are con-
safe this fall. It includes the hospitals patients when they had symptoms of tinuing. I think it is very important
that have been on the frontlines and the virus and, unfortunately, this for the American people that we do
have fought significant headwinds to man’s symptoms did not qualify. this in good faith.
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