Congressional Record, Proceedings and Debates — Monday, August 10, 2020

Summary

Opening pages of the Congressional Record for Monday, August 10, 2020 (Vol. 166, No. 142), 116th Congress, Second Session. The House of Representatives was not in session, and its next meeting is set for Tuesday, August 11, 2020, at 12 p.m. The Senate met at 3 p.m. and was called to order by Grassley, the President pro tempore, followed by a prayer from the Chaplain. Under the heading Coronavirus, Grassley says the national public health and economic crisis continues without additional legislative action, and names priorities including a Federal add-on to unemployment insurance, more access to testing, a new round of checks and another round of the Paycheck Protection Program. The Presiding Officer then recognizes the Democratic leader, and Schumer begins remarks.

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“Congressional Record, Proceedings and Debates — Monday, August 10, 2020.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-08-10-crec-2020-08-10-pt1-pgs5359-8-5497664fc3/, SHA-256 dd161c40569384dc04b190ca3f5068a2a6a3db94c7f853ae67f1afc053274783.

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Congressional Record
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116 th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE

Vol. 166 WASHINGTON, MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2020 No. 142

House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 11, 2020, at 12 p.m.

Senate
MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 2020

The Senate met at 3 p.m. and was The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without coronavirus aid and that the chairmen
called to order by the President pro objection, it is so ordered. and ranking members would be work-
tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). f ing overtime across the aisle to finalize
f another major pandemic relief package
CORONAVIRUS for the American people. After all,
PRAYER Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, there are so many important ways in
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- today our national public health and which American families need help and
fered the following prayer: economic crisis continues without ad- which Democrats say they see as big
Let us pray. ditional legislative action. Reports priorities, just like Republicans do—
Eternal God, who rules the raging of over the weekend indicate that the priorities like continuing a Federal
the sea, we seek Your face in these tur- Senate minority leader believes that add-on to unemployment insurance,
bulent times. he can hold out for a massive, unwieldy more tools for schools to safely reopen,
Lord, help us to so live that the gen- bill that even includes unrelated poli- more access to testing and diagnostics,
erations to come will know of Your cies, yet refuse to consider action more resources to develop vaccines and
mighty acts. where there is already consensus. The treatments, a new round of checks to
Today, give our lawmakers the New York Times reported that the put cash in families’ hands ASAP, and
hearts to seek, find, and follow Your Speaker ‘‘believes she has the upper another round of the hugely successful
will so that their legacy will be exem- hand’’ and ‘‘does not intend to lose it.’’ Paycheck Protection Program that
plary. Guide them in the path You The other side refuses to support small businesses have relied on, which
have created, inspiring them with the even the relief measures where there is was left out of the Democrats’ pro-
potency of Your powerful presence. broad bipartisan agreement, such as posal.
May they trust Your laws of sowing providing additional funds for unem- All of these things and many more
and reaping, knowing that they will re- ployment benefits, the Paycheck Pro- were in Senate Republicans’ trillion-
ceive a bountiful harvest if they per- tection Program, education, State and dollar proposal for another coronavirus
severe. Keep them from under- local governments, recovery checks, rescue package focused on kids, jobs,
estimating the power of Your great and hiring and employee-retention in- healthcare, and legal protections to
Name. centives. This shows us where their pri- help our country reopen.
Amen. orities are—politics, not people. That So I had hoped the Senate would be
f is a shame. spending this week turning a major
I yield the floor. agreement into law, but sadly for the
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE f country, sadly for struggling Ameri-
The President pro tempore led the cans, the Speaker of the House and the
RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY Senate Democratic leader decided we
Pledge of Allegiance, as follows:
LEADER would not deliver any of that—none of
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
United States of America, and to the Repub- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- it.
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, jority leader is recognized. For weeks, Speaker PELOSI and the
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. f Democratic leader in the Senate
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. stalled and stalled in backroom nego-
CRAPO). The Senator from Iowa. CORONAVIRUS tiations with the administration’s
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I team. For weeks—weeks—they held up
unanimous consent to speak for 1 had hoped that this week the Senate important aid over non-COVID-related
minute as in morning business, please. would be busy providing more demands. They stayed true to their

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∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.

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S5360 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 10, 2020
comments from very early on in this Our view, which a majority of Ameri- thing possible to find common ground
pandemic. cans share, is simply that it and deliver more help, but the Demo-
This is the way they looked at it: disincentivizes rehiring and reopening crats have said no. At least the Amer-
They saw this pandemic as ‘‘a tremen- to pay people more to stay home. It is ican people know the score. At least
dous opportunity to structure things to a statement of the obvious. It they know the score.
fit our vision.’’ That was the House disincentivizes rehiring and reopening f
Democratic whip. Speaker PELOSI her- to pay people more to stay home.
self put it this way: ‘‘This is an oppor- Plenty of Democrats said they saw HONG KONG
tunity. Every crisis is.’’ Working fami- the point and were happy to negotiate Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, on
lies call this pandemic a crisis. They on this. Speaker PELOSI’s own No. 2, a totally different matter, this week-
call it a nightmare. But leading Demo- the House majority leader, said: ‘‘It is end brought more unsettling news in
crats call it ‘‘an opportunity.’’ not $600 or bust.’’ That was the No. 2 the ongoing struggle for Hong Kong to
Just listen to some of their demands. Democrat in the House. The senior preserve any shred of its civil liberties
These are the Democrats’ demands Senator from Maryland said: ‘‘We cer- and self-governance.
that stood between all of this help and tainly understand. We don’t want to One of the region’s most prominent
the Americans who need it. have a higher benefit than what some- pro-democracy advocates, Jimmy Lai,
Here is one: Democrats say nobody one can make working.’’ Oh, no. But was arrested yesterday for alleged vio-
gets another dime of relief unless State the Speaker and the Democratic leader lations of the so-called national secu-
and local governments get about $1 overruled them. No deal. No deal unless rity law imposed by Beijing.
trillion in extra money. Let me say we pay people more to stay home. Last year, after a historic election
that again. Democrats are saying no- That is not about COVID. It is not that saw millions flock to the polls to
body gets another dime of relief unless about a real reopening. It is about far- overwhelmingly reject President Xi’s
State and local governments get $1 left ideology. They preferred for the preferred candidates, the Chinese Com-
trillion in extra money. jobless benefits to go down to zero— munist Party moved quickly to choke
Let’s put a few facts on the table. zero—unless they could pay people
No. 1, State and local governments Hongkongers’ free expression.
more to stay home. Mr. Lai has been at the vanguard of
have spent only about one-fourth of the Does anyone in this country really
huge sums we sent them back in the the vibrant Hong Kong-based media
believe that relief for Americans
springtime—$150 billion. and publishing world.
should be totally contingent on bailing
No. 2, the economists who have cal- Jimmy Lai was arrested for an al-
out States for mismanagement that
culated the likely COVID-related leged violation of the so-called na-
predated the pandemic by decades?
shortfalls for State and local govern- tional security law imposed by Beijing.
Does anyone really think it was better
ments have mostly produced estimates He has devoted much of his life to ad-
for jobless benefits to completely ex-
that are entire multiples less—entire vancing precisely—precisely the sort of
pire unless we pay people more not to
multiples less—than what Democrats values that the CCP finds most repul-
work? And does anyone really think
are demanding. sive: freedom of thought and freedom
that Congress should walk away from
No. 3, in our HEALS Act, Repub- of speech.
countless subjects where a bipartisan
licans tried to give States and local- agreement should be possible over The Senate, the country, and free-
ities extra flexibility around the these fringe positions? Do Americans dom-loving nations across the world
unspent funds they already had—extra think Democrats should walk away stand with Mr. Lai and with all the
flexibility around the unspent funds from school funding, testing, cash to peaceful demonstrators who have met
they already had. In my State, for ex- households, preventing a spike in sen- the business end of the CCP’s repres-
ample, 94 percent of the money we sent iors’ Medicare premiums, legal reform, sion.
them has not been spent. and more, over this? f
We wanted to send huge sums to help I think almost every family in Amer-
with schools, which are one of the RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME
ica would answer these questions the
States’ biggest expenses. Typically, in same way, but unfortunately Speaker The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
a State budget, the two biggest items PELOSI and the Democratic leader have the previous order, the leadership time
are education and Medicaid. answered them the opposite way. They is reserved.
But forget all that. Democrats are think they have political leverage over f
demanding that we send State and the President of the United States, and
local governments a colossal amount of MORNING BUSINESS
so they are willing to personally in-
money, with no relationship to actual crease the pain for vulnerable families The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
need, while they have only spent a unless they get their way on matters the previous order, the Senate will be
quarter—25 percent—of the money they not related to COVID. in a period of morning business, with
have already gotten. Republicans wanted to agree on the Senators permitted to speak therein
Clearly, this isn’t about COVID. things we could agree to. Democrats for up to 10 minutes each.
Democrats think they smell an opening said: Our way or the highway. Mr. MCCONNELL. I suggest the ab-
they have wanted for years—to make Republicans wanted to send cash sence of a quorum.
Uncle Sam bail out decades of mis- now—right now—for schools, testing, The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
management and broken policies in and unemployment benefits and argue clerk will call the roll.
places like New York, New Jersey, and over State bailouts later. Democrats The legislative clerk proceeded to
California. So they have decided that said nobody gets a penny unless Texas call the roll.
no working family anywhere in Amer- and Florida bail out New Jersey. That Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask
ica can get another cent—not one is their position. Nobody gets a penny unanimous consent that the order for
cent—unless they get to create a tril- unless Texas and Florida bail out New the quorum call be rescinded.
lion-dollar slush fund for mismanaged Jersey. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
States, completely and totally out of So this is where we are. The previous objection, it is so ordered.
proportion to pandemic needs. UI benefits expired. The PPP closed its f
Here is another one of those far-left doors.
demands: Nobody gets another dime Over the weekend, President Trump RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY
unless we indefinitely pay people more took steps to soften the blow of the LEADER
to stay home than to go back to work. Democrats’ hostage tactics on Amer- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The

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Republicans agree we ought to con- ican families who need help most. His Democratic leader is recognized.
tinue additional Federal jobless bene- decisions will help spare some Ameri- f
fits during this extraordinary time. cans some of the pain from the Demo-
Senate Republicans tried several times crats’ hostage-taking. CORONAVIRUS
to stop them from expiring. The Demo- From the beginning—from the very Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, over
cratic leader blocked us. beginning—our side has tried every- the weekend, the United States

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