Senate Floor on Coronavirus Aid and Unemployment Benefits, August 6, 2020 — Congressional Record
Summary
A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated August 6, 2020, at page S5254, under the heading Senate Floor on Coronavirus Aid and Unemployment Benefits. Remarks read constituent letters urging an extension of the extra $600 a week benefit, saying a lower amount is not enough to pay rent and that cutting the benefit abruptly will cause hardship, including a letter from a single mother with a young son. Mr. Coons rises to ask whether this is just another Thursday when the Senate heads to other commitments and criticizes the failed Federal response, while another speaker recalls Hubert Humphrey on how a society treats its children. The page ends with remarks from a committee room.
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“Senate Floor on Coronavirus Aid and Unemployment Benefits, August 6, 2020 — Congressional Record.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-08-06-crec-2020-08-06-pt1-pgs5254-7e54bef272/
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S5254 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 6, 2020
and the help of the government to extend cent. There are a lot of people out The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
this extra $600 a week benefit for a little there who are looking for work who ator from Delaware.
while longer. Not to sound ungrateful, but an can’t find it. They can’t find it because f
extra $100 or $200 per week is just not enough
we are in the middle of a pandemic, and
to help pay rent and other bills. Cutting this CORONAVIRUS
benefit abruptly will cause such economic that has caused a lot of small busi-
nesses and others to shut down in order Mr. COONS. Mr. President, I rise to
hardship and devastation to so many Ameri-
cans. to make sure that we stop the spread of join my colleagues this afternoon in
the virus. asking: Is this just another Thursday—
This is a single mother, with a 15-
These are people who want to get is this just another afternoon in a
year-old son, who is pleading with the
back to work. They want nothing bet- week, in an average year, or in an aver-
U.S. Senate to do its job. And what age August—when it is fine for all of us
does the majority leader say to Sen- ter than that. They want their children
back in school. All of us do. Yet we to simply head to our other commit-
ators? Take tomorrow off. Take Satur- ments and concerns?
day off. Take Sunday off. Take Monday have a failed, botched Federal re-
sponse, starting with the White Sometimes here in Washington it is
off. awfully easy to feel and be discon-
I want to read another letter I re- House—starting with the President,
who has made this a political issue nected—disconnected from the daily
ceived on this subject. Here is what my concerns and grinding anxiety of the
constituent wrote: when it has to be a health issue. It has
made the problem a lot worse, and we pressing issues that make the lives of
I am emailing in hopes of asking for your the folks we represent so different.
support to extend the $600 Federal assistance all know it. We all know that this pan-
I want to start by reminding us of
in addition to unemployment. While I realize demic is lasting longer in the United
something a Senator—a Senator from
that the country has to spend more and more States and has killed more people in
during this pandemic, many of us are learn-
Minnesota—once said in the 1970s. It
the United States because of a totally
ing our temporary layoffs are now perma- was Hubert Humphrey who said: The
failed response right from the top, and
nent (I received the call yesterday) and our moral character of a society can best
we should not be complicit in that. We
industries are still completely shut down. I be gauged by how they treat those at
should do our job.
have always worked in the hotel industry the dawn of life, its children; those in
and have no further education or experience We have the majority leader, the Re-
the shadows of life, the disabled, the
than that. The hospitality industry is the publican leader. What is he saying? He
disadvantaged; and those in the twi-
hardest hit during this pandemic. While I is not even part of the negotiations,
light of life, senior citizens.
search multiple times a day for jobs, they right? He says: You know, I am in my Well, if that were the measure of this
simply are not open because the industry has Republican caucus lunches, and, re- place in this day and this time, then we
not yet recovered. In fact, our industry is portedly, only half of the Republican
downsizing immensely. are failing.
Senators want to do anything. I think every person here, every per-
I am a single mother to one 5-year-old boy
I don’t know if that is true or not, son listening or watching knows that
who will start kindergarten in the fall. We
do not receive any financial assistance but that is what Republican Senators we are in the midst of three crises at
through the State, such as housing assist- are saying on national television. That the same time: a global pandemic, the
ance or child support. Maryland unemploy- is what we are hearing from the Repub- COVID–19 pandemic, in which a highly
ment of $430 per week will not even cover the lican caucus. So, if that is not true, it transmissive disease has spread rapidly
rent costs, and we will quickly be evicted would be great to hear all of the Re- across the world. Many other nations
with no options for housing. publican Senators come down to the
I am not looking to make more money
have gotten ahead of it, have managed
floor and talk about what they are it, have stabilized it, but here in the
than I was at my job. That is not possible. I
grossed $75,000 in 2019, but I am looking to be
willing to do, not what they are not United States, we have failed to get
able to pay my rent and bills and part-time willing to do. Because there are not the our arms around it, to stop it, and to
childcare because it is in the best interest of votes there, the majority leader has deliver the coordinated resources and
my son to have social interaction and edu- contracted out his negotiation author- supplies needed to give some con-
cation during the pandemic even if I am not ity to the White House, and he has told fidence, some positive direction in our
working. Please—I beg you—please support the Senate to go home. public health infrastructure; in our
the extension of the $600 per week benefit. Let’s just start doing our job here in schools, in our senior skilled nursing
Now, I have heard a lot of Senators the U.S. Senate. Nobody should be con- centers; in our communities. It has
on this floor over weeks and months tracting out his job and his vote and gotten away from us.
talk about how we just cannot extend his negotiating authority to the White More than 150,000 Americans have
$600 a week. Yet we hear from these House. This is the U.S. Senate. I don’t died so far, and States that thought
moms and parents who are pleading for know what people ran for if they just they had it well under control are see-
that help so that they can simply pay want to say: Oh, I can’t deal with this ing it reemerge, and States that early
their bills and get by. Even with that, because my caucus doesn’t support any on saw no impact are seeing record
they are not able to pay all of their response. Go talk to the White House. deaths and infections.
bills. In the meantime in the Senate, take And coming right on the heels of it,
The Republican leader says to the Friday off. Take Saturday off. Take a recession—a recession deep and
U.S. Senate: Take a day off. Take 2 Sunday off. Maybe take Monday, Tues- sharp. In the last quarter, a nearly 40-
days off. Next week, I will be in, says day, and Wednesday off, too. percent drop in our GDP; the sharpest
the majority leader, but I don’t need That is a hell of a message to send to since we began recording that.
for the Senate to be in, doing its work. the American people in the middle of a And then third, a renewed focus on
What are we all here for? We should pandemic during which so many people inequality in our country. We have
be here 24/7, working around the clock are hurting. seen, because of this pandemic and re-
together to resolve these issues. I will end with this. Instead of the cession and because of the brutal kill-
We have a lot of multi, multi, multi- majority leader’s coming down to the ing of George Floyd, a reminder of the
millionaires in this U.S. Senate, and it floor today and telling everybody to go ways in which we are unequal in our
is really rich for all of us to be telling away, we should stay here. We should access to healthcare, our access to op-
families out there that the extra $600 stay here, and we should do our job. portunity, our access to housing.
per week is too much. That is just too Doing our job means coming together So that is the environment we are in.
much. with the next round of emergency leg- Several months ago, we all came to
These are individuals who want to go islation to slow down and then stop the this floor and unanimously voted—
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
back to work. I just read to you a let- spread of the virus and help the mil- unanimously, in this bitter and divided
ter from someone who works in the lions of Americans who are in tremen- partisan time, we unanimously voted
hospitality industry. That is her expe- dous economic pain right now. This is to deliver $2.3 trillion in assistance and
rience. That is what she knows. not business as usual. The Senate support that sent checks to individual
I don’t know if our Republican col- needs to do its job. Let’s stay here and Americans and families, that sent
leagues have checked recently, but the get it done. checks to those who were newly unem-
unemployment rate is around 15 per- I yield the floor. ployed, that sent support for small
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August 6, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5255
businesses at risk of going under, that ican people see a challenge this big, Some folks say: Well, why don’t you
sent support to State and local govern- this deep, they often look to our Fed- just go back to work? There is a study
ments, that sent support to hospitals. eral Government for the resources that out from the Department of Labor that
It was the single largest spending bill will make it possible for their States says for every four unemployed Ameri-
since the Second World War—some re- and their counties and their commu- cans there is only one job that is even
minder of just the seriousness, the nities, for their hospital, for their posted.
gravity, and the scale of this challenge. school to get through. And there are others who cannot
And 2 months later, the House of And here there has been a resounding work because of their family cir-
Representatives took up and passed the silence for weeks. cumstances. A husband and wife from
Heroes Act—another $3 trillion to pro- I hear week in and week out from Millsboro who are senior citizens
vide support across many of those same parents, from teachers, from para- reached out to me. The wife wants to
areas. professionals, anxious: How are our go back to work. She has an oppor-
And for weeks, this body, the major- schools going to reopen? What is the tunity to go back to work, but her hus-
ity, failed to act, to propose an alter- plan? Where are the resources? What band has a serious, chronic condition, a
native, to take it up and examine it, to are the details? How do we get testing? lung disease, and she is terrified of
send something back, to put something How do we get personal equipment— going back to work, catching COVID,
on the table. It was just this Monday, personal protective equipment? and infecting her husband in a way
the 27th of July, that we got to see the Even now there are conversations ur- that would lead to his death.
answer, and that answer fails to meet gently going on in my home State They have also relied on this addi-
this moment. about how and when and where we will tional unemployment, the $600 a week,
I am from a small State, the State of be able to reopen. which, if it runs out, they will have to
Delaware—a State below a million peo- When it comes to childcare, millions make very hard choices. She wants to
ple. Our Department of Labor, since of Americans are unable to return to work, but she wants to protect her hus-
March, has received over 130,000 claims work because there isn’t support for band.
childcare. A friend of mine, Jeff, runs a small
for unemployment in a State of less
And when it comes to small busi- candy store on Rehoboth Beach. This
than 1 million. More than 1 in 10 Dela-
nesses, thousands have closed their time of year it would normally be just
wareans have filed for unemployment
doors; thousands more are at risk. humming with clients and customers,
assistance. We will not get through this unless folks stopping in for Snyder’s Candy, a
We have had huge challenges deliv-
we can pull together and deliver a sus- great small business. Business is down
ering all over our country the assist-
tained and meaningful response. 50 percent.
ance we voted on months ago. Out of So to my colleagues and friends, I He applied for and he got one of those
that 130,000, 27,000 of them are still don’t know where the rest of our col- PPP loans in the CARES Act, but he
waiting to get their unemployment leagues are. I don’t know what they are received just $9,000—far too little to
checks. hearing, but I know what I am hearing keep everyone on his payroll, to stay
My office and other offices in our del- fully open, and he is waiting, waiting
from my constituents in Delaware.
egation are helping hundreds of indi- The way they make sure that we to see if we will work together to come
viduals and families who have called, don’t get disconnected from our home up with a compromise, with a next
who have emailed, who have texted, when we are here in Washington, boy, step, with a next round of loans.
and who have reached out for help. And they text; they email; they call; they Another person, a woman Shari, who
yet, this body, through inaction, al- post on social media. Some even still runs a daycare in Wilmington, small
lowed the additional $600 a week in un- write good old-fashioned letters. daycare in her own home. She had six
employment insurance that has sus- And the thousands of letters and families whose children she cared for.
tained so many families to expire be- emails and comments that I got in the Even if she is able to reopen fully and
cause we can’t work out a simple first few weeks of this pandemic and safely, she has heard from those six
agreement on how severe this moment recession motivated me—motivated families. Only two of them are coming
is, on how deep the need is, and on this entire body—to vote unanimously back. So she is going to have to close
what the right path forward is. on the CARES Act, one of the biggest her business, which means she loses her
When I talk to my Governor, my moments of Federal assistance in our wages, and the families lose childcare.
mayor, my county executive in my Nation’s history. She has seen firsthand that parents
home State, in my city, my county, So what is going on now? Why the can’t go back to work if they don’t
one of their biggest needs is for addi- lack of focus? Why the sense this is have childcare. There is funding for
tional support for State and local gov- just another Thursday afternoon? childcare in the House bill—so far none
ernments. Well, let me read to you for a few in the Senate bill.
There is robust support in the Heroes minutes from a few of the folks who And Robert, a man from Newark, DE,
Act sent over by the House—$875 bil- have reached out to me from my home works in the entertainment industry.
lion. That is a lot of money. There is State. One of the areas hardest hit is the
nothing in the HEALS Act presented Christine in Wilmington lost her job, small stages, the entertainment venues
this Monday. And why? So far, 1.5 mil- now, months ago. She is a single moth- that are so important to the vibrancy
lion public employees, public serv- er. She is raising a 12-year-old son. She of our communities and our culture.
ants—State, county, local employees— got just one unemployment insurance He has been relying on unemploy-
have been laid off. And some folks I check. She has been barely hanging on, ment to pay his bills—that extra $600 a
hear on television talking about this and ultimately had to sell her car to week. Robert’s message to me:
speak as if they are faceless bureau- buy groceries. She sent me a message, When the stimulus runs out, where do I
crats in gray buildings. painful in its focus on the urgency of turn? Do I have my vehicle repossessed? Do
But they are teachers; they are para- I not pay my mortgage or buy food? I have
there being an additional $600 in Fed-
worked my entire life and I am ready to get
medics; they are nurses in county hos- eral aid. back to it as soon as there is clear direction
pitals; they are the folks who admin- She has no job prospects in sight. for society to follow. Unemployment is not a
ister these unemployment claims. They The $1,200 stimulus check that came choice—it is an unfortunate byproduct of not
are the folks who help support small from the CARES Act months ago and taking this virus seriously enough in the be-
businesses. They are the folks who help that one unemployment insurance ginning.
make sure our water is drinkable, that
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
check so far has been critical to keep- The publisher of a storied local news-
our parks are mowed, that our libraries ing food on the table and the lights on paper in Sussex County shared with me
are functional, and that our schools and a roof over their head for her son. a story that once their PPP funds were
can open safely. She is just one of millions of Ameri- exhausted, they had to lay off 20 per-
This moment is the tale of two cans right now—right now, wondering cent of their full-time staff, half of
worlds—a world in the House of Rep- what it is going to take to get this their contract employees, and he said:
resentatives that says we are in a crisis body to put down the tools of partisan- The uncertainty in regard to the economic
and an emergency, and when the Amer- ship and work together. condition over the next few months certainly
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S5256 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 6, 2020
weighs heavy on the Cape Gazette and our Unfortunately, the Trump adminis- fears. They share incredibly personal
industry as a whole. The loss of local news tration and Washington Republicans details about the challenges that they
would be devastating to communities, big have not met the challenges facing the face and then are also so willing to
and small, across the country.
American people today with any sense share with us their successes too. We
I can see that I have colleagues eager of urgency, and the cost of that inac- get to witness our constituents and
to join me in these remarks on the tion has been seen all across the coun- work with them in difficult times and
floor, so let me bring this to a close. try. But, today, Senate majority Lead- in good times, and they are willing to
One of the moments this became er MCCONNELL decided to act as if this share that with us. They demonstrate
most real for me was when the Dela- were just any other Thursday—just any to us day in and day out what it means
ware Food Bank partnered with the other Thursday for the Republicans in to be a member of a community, what
Delaware National Guard to provide the Senate. it means to come together and solve a
supplemental food for Delawareans. Well, it is not just any other Thurs- problem. They do it in their businesses.
I was out at the Christiana Mall, just day for our constituents. Back in May, They do it on school boards. They do it
off I–95—huge parking lot. The mall, of House Democrats passed a substantial without regard to political party or
course, closed. This was early on in the relief bill called the Heroes Act, but for walk of life.
pandemic. months, Republicans refused to even
We thought we would see dozens, The least we could do in the U.S.
acknowledge the necessity of providing Senate on this Thursday, over this
maybe 100 households lined up in their
more relief. In the 3 months since the weekend, over the next week, is follow
cars to get some extra food, much of it
House acted, the pain that our citizens their example, represent them at their
from Federal sources.
The line went all the way around the are experiencing has only grown. Cases best, display that American ingenuity,
mall. Hundreds and hundreds of Dela- have skyrocketed. The United States of innovation, pragmatism, compromise,
wareans—people who later commented America is approaching 160,000 Ameri- can-do spirit. In the process we could
either on radio or letters to the editor cans killed by this virus. Small busi- save lives; we could begin to rebuild
that they never thought they would be nesses have shuttered, and millions of our economy; and we could dem-
in a food line. people have lost their jobs. onstrate to the rest of the world that
Not since the Great Depression have Meanwhile, President Trump con- we know how to come together and
the food banks of this Nation seen lines tinues to downplay the significant toll work for what is best for all of us.
as long and made up of as diverse a that this virus has taken. Earlier this We must help our constituents. We
background and groups asking for, week he said this of the COVID–19 must act. Our country cannot wait any
eager for, willing to accept, hoping for death toll: ‘‘It is what it is.’’ longer.
support for them and their families. Just yesterday, he again claimed I yield the floor.
This year alone, 50,000 Delawareans that the virus would simply go away. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
have turned to our food banks so that Not recognizing the gravity of this ator from Oregon.
they can put food on the table for their threat has significantly harmed Ameri-
families. cans and America. While Congress f
I don’t know what my colleagues are can’t undo the damage that has been
reading, what emails they are getting, done, I am urging my colleagues to CORONAVIRUS
what calls they are answering, what come together on a response that will
lead us forward. Throughout this week, Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, Senator
texts or posts on social media are mov-
I have joined with my colleagues to STABENOW said some time ago that this
ing them, but I know that the Dela-
come to the floor and to lay out some is not just another Thursday. She and
wareans that have reached out to me
of the priorities that we are focused on my eloquent colleagues, Senator COONS
have shared with me the pain of 150,000
and to share what we are hearing from and Senator HASSAN, who has just left
Americans who died, have shared with
people all across our States. the floor, have shown how painfully
me the anxiety and concern about how
The cost of inaction grows every sin- true Senator STABENOW’s statement is
schools and businesses will reopen, and
gle day. Millions of Americans lost en- about letting this not be just another
have asked: When will we do our job?
hanced unemployment benefits and Thursday here in the Senate.
Work across the aisle, find responsible
with it the ability to feed their fami- With Republican colleagues headed
compromise, and support our Nation in
lies and pay their rent. People will lose home for the weekend, perhaps for
this moment of crisis.
their homes now to evictions. By the weeks, I want to take stock for a mo-
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- way, their landlords will feel the ripple ment of all of the very crises the coun-
ator from New Hampshire. effect when they can’t pay their rent. try faces while American families and
Their grocers will feel the ripple effect communities don’t have the luxury of a
f
when they can’t buy groceries. The weekend. There is the COVID crisis,
CORONAVIRUS economic pain will spread and spread which Senator STABENOW and Senator
Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, since and spread. COONS just talked about, with more
the early days of the COVID–19 pan- Lack of supplies and testing capac- than 50,000 newly confirmed cases and
demic, it has been clear that we would ity—a national disgrace months into 1,000 or more deaths a day with a total
need a sustained response to mitigate this pandemic—is hindering the ability of 41⁄2 million cases in our country to
the damaging health and economic im- to slow the spread of the virus and, of date.
pact facing the American people. course, hindering the ability of people There is the joblessness crisis. En-
When Republicans and Democrats to get back to work and school safely. hanced unemployment benefits have
came together to pass the CARES Act Schools are struggling to open with- expired. Tens of millions of Americans
in March, I, along with my Democratic out the adequate guidance that the are out of work, with millions walking
colleagues, made clear that we would Federal Government could provide and on economic tightropes.
need to stand ready to provide addi- without resources that they need to My colleagues are reading the let-
tional, robust support as the situation keep teachers, staff, students, and fam- ters. This is not based on some kinds of
demanded. ilies safe. media reports. They are reading di-
This afternoon we have been hearing States and local communities are ac- rectly from what their constituents are
from our colleagues. I thank Senator celerating cuts and, with it, adding to saying, and I want to make sure every-
STABENOW for gathering us here. I body knows this, having listened now
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
job losses and lost economic activity.
thank Senator COONS for the way he Americans are hurting. They are for days to our colleagues saying that
just illustrated in such personal, direct hurting in red States, and they are the big problem is that somehow the
terms the way this pandemic and all of hurting in blue States. They are crying American worker doesn’t actually
its ripple effects are impacting his con- out for help. want to work. Senator STABENOW and I
stituents, as they are impacting my One of the great privileges of this job have heard that repeatedly in the Fi-
constituents and constituents of every is that people come forward with their nance Committee room. I think it is in-
single Member of the U.S. Senate. ideas, with their hopes, with their sulting to the American worker.
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