Congressional Record — Senate, S5850 (September 24, 2020)
Summary
Page S5850 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for September 24, 2020, in interleaved columns, recording Rollcall Vote No. 194 Ex. with 93 yeas and 2 nays. A Senator urges an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, which she crafted with Senators Rubio, Shaheen and Cardin, and reports that 28,000 small businesses in her State, nearly three out of four, have used it, which is her view. Another speaker says the city of Auburn cut positions including two firefighters and a police officer after expected revenue losses. Mr. Blumenthal asks that a committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 4779, and a tribute honors Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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“Congressional Record — Senate, S5850 (September 24, 2020).”
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S5850 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 24, 2020
The result was announced—yeas 93, there should be an extension of the positions because of expected revenue
nays 2, as follows: Paycheck Protection Program, known losses. That is two firefighters, a police
[Rollcall Vote No. 194 Ex.] as PPP. This is a program that I craft- officer, and three public works employ-
YEAS—93 ed with Senators MARCO RUBIO, JEANNE ees. These cuts come as the city of Au-
Alexander Gardner Peters SHAHEEN, and BEN CARDIN to provide burn has spent $200,000 in new expenses
Baldwin Gillibrand Portman forgivable loans to our small busi- responding to the virus.
Barrasso Graham Reed nesses so that they could pay their em- I have yet to talk to a city or a town
Bennet Grassley Risch
Blackburn Hassan Roberts ployees. manager who is not experiencing the
Blunt Hawley Romney I am pleased to report that, in my need due to similar cuts and who expe-
Booker Heinrich Rosen State, 28,000 small businesses—that is rienced delayed or canceled public
Boozman Hirono Rounds nearly three out of four of our small works projects, like paving local roads.
Braun Hoeven Rubio
Brown Hyde-Smith Sasse businesses—have taken advantage of That has a trickle-down effect. It af-
Burr Inhofe Schatz $2.3 billion in forgivable loans, sus- fects the contractor and his or her em-
Cantwell Jones Scott (FL) taining 250,000 jobs. It has truly made a ployees, who will no longer have that
Cardin Kaine Scott (SC)
Carper Kennedy Shaheen
difference. Now we need to do a second work. It affects their suppliers from
Casey King Shelby round of PPP for the hardest hit busi- whom the concrete or the tar is no
Cassidy Klobuchar Sinema nesses, those for whom the first PPP longer going to be purchased.
Collins Lankford Smith loan was the lifeline but they need ad- This is why I feel strongly that the
Coons Leahy Stabenow
Cornyn Lee Sullivan ditional help. bipartisan SMART Act, which I worked
Cortez Masto Loeffler Tester So we have set a revenue test such on with colleagues on both sides of the
Cotton Manchin Thune that, if your revenue is 35 percent aisle, led by Senator CASSIDY and Sen-
Cramer Markey Tillis
Crapo McConnell Toomey
below what it was in an equivalent ator MENENDEZ, needs to be passed. We
Cruz McSally Udall quarter last year, you would qualify for can negotiate exactly how much money
Daines Menendez Van Hollen another PPP loan. In addition, those and exactly to whom it should go, but
Duckworth Merkley Warner who have never received a first PPP it is essential that aid go to the com-
Durbin Murkowski Warren
Enzi Murphy Whitehouse loan could apply under the initial munity level.
Ernst Murray Wicker rules. This would make a difference in Fourth, we need to help our airlines.
Feinstein Paul Wyden keeping our small businesses afloat, Otherwise, come October 1—just right
Fischer Perdue Young around the corner—we are going to see
particularly those in the tourism in-
NAYS—2 dustry that have been so hard hit, and massive layoffs. We are talking about
Blumenthal Schumer ensuring that their employees will still between 80,000 and 100,000 layoffs of air-
NOT VOTING—5 have jobs. line employees and also related jobs in
Second, we need to provide aid to our airports, such as concessionaires. It
Capito Johnson Sanders
Harris Moran schools. I have talked to superintend- will also lead to canceled service, if
ents all over the State of Maine, and I there are no longer crews for airplanes
The nomination was confirmed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- have visited schools in Hollis and and ground crews. We are going to lose
jority leader. Houlton. I have seen firsthand the airline service to communities all over
enormous investments they have had this country.
f We need not to forget the motor
to make in order to reopen the schools
LEGISLATIVE SESSION safely or adapt to a hybrid model, de- coach industry, which few people are
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, pending on where the location is and talking about. They have been hurt by
I move to proceed to legislative ses- the incidence of COVID–19. the cancelation of everything from
sion. In one school that I visited, they school sports to tours. We need to help
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The have replaced all of the round tables them survive this period of economic
question is on agreeing to the motion. around which the elementary school- struggle. Senator JACK REED and I have
The motion was agreed to. children would usually be working with introduced a bill with more than 40 co-
f desks lined up. It reminds me of when sponsors on both sides of the aisle that
I went to elementary school because would provide that assistance.
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS that was the style of teaching back No. 6, we need to continue investing
ACT, 2021 AND OTHER EXTEN- then. in testing. That is key to reopening our
SIONS ACT—MOTION TO PRO- They are sanitizing and deep-clean- economy and safely housing people in
CEED ing the schools. They are trying to fig- nursing homes and other long-term
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, ure out what to do with the little toys care facilities.
I move to proceed to Calendar No. 552, that are used to teach children how to I am excited by the new Abbott Labs
H.R. 8337. count: How do they sanitize them? Or test, which will cost only $5 and give a
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The do they get each child his or her own result in 15 minutes. I take particular
clerk will report the motion. set of toys to place in individual bins? pride because Abbott Labs has a large
The legislative clerk read as follows: They are cutting new doors into the facility in my State, and they are ex-
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 552, nurse’s office so that no longer will ill panding from Scarborough to
H.R. 8337, a bill making continuing appro- children or staffers have to go through Westbrook in order to produce these
priations for fiscal year 2021, and for other the front office. They are putting up tests more rapidly.
purposes. plexiglass shields. They are adding ad- No. 7, we need to provide limited but
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ditional bus routes in order to safely important liability protections to our
ator from Maine. separate the children. frontline hospital workers, to our
CORONAVIRUS These changes cost a lot of money, small businesses, and to our schools
Ms. COLLINS. Madam President, and it is one reason why, in addition to and colleges.
with the COVID–19 pandemic con- providing direct aid to our schools, we One restaurant owner put it this way
tinuing to devastate our public health need to provide assistance to our to me. He said: Susan, what if I get
and our economy, it is far past time States, our counties, and our commu- sued despite taking every precaution,
that we reach agreement on another nities. following the CDC guidelines, but a
relief package that is so desperately I have talked to city and town man- customer comes in, later develops the
needed. It will require good-faith nego- agers all over the State of Maine. They coronavirus, and sues me, saying, I
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
tiations on both sides of the aisle, not did not receive much from the initial think I got it in that restaurant. Well,
just saying no and turning the tragedy allocation of funding that went to I am pretty sure that he didn’t, but I
of 200,000 COVID deaths into a partisan State governments, and they need help still have to pay to defend that law-
political issue. now. suit?
For my part, I believe there should Let me give you an example. The city Clearly we should not protect anyone
be nine elements in the bill. First, of Auburn has had to freeze six vacant who is guilty of gross negligence, but
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September 24, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5851
that is not what we are talking about see a jurist with her kind of courage The first case that will be argued in
here. again in our lifetimes. November will decide if 129 million
No. 8, we need to provide a reason- The daughter of an immigrant furrier Americans with preexisting conditions
able Federal unemployment insurance and Garment District bookkeeper, born will continue to have access to afford-
supplement to help struggling families and raised in Brooklyn, she pushed able healthcare. Think about that. My
during this difficult time when so back against every expectation and Republican colleagues are rushing
many people have lost jobs through no limitation that society had for her and through the confirmation of a judge in
fault of their own, but we need to make rose to the bench of the highest Court order to nearly guarantee that 129 mil-
sure that we are not creating a dis- in the land. She was a brilliant legal lion Americans with preexisting condi-
incentive to return to work when jobs mind, an unparalleled jurist, an opera tions will see their premiums go up or
reopen. That is why I like the approach fan, fearless dissenter, and the ‘‘Noto- have their healthcare ripped away en-
of either having an 80-percent replace- rious RBG.’’ tirely. That would be inhumane at any
ment of the pre-job-loss wage or fig- Justice Ginsburg spent her whole life time, but in the middle of a pandemic,
uring out a formula that would ap- fighting against injustices, those she it is truly unthinkable.
proach 80 percent. That is far higher faced personally and those she could They are rushing to vote on a Justice
than the normal wage replacement not abide in society. who will decide the fate of more than
under our State systems, but these are When Ruth Bader Ginsburg went to 640,000 DACA recipients who have
extraordinary times. law school, she was one of just 9 women known no other home, no other coun-
No. 9, we need an emergency appro- in her class of 500. She graduated at the try, but this one.
priation for the U.S. Postal Service. top of her class but was rejected by law They seek to confirm a judge who
Otherwise, I am worried that the Post- firm after law firm because she was a will revoke the rights of 50 percent of
al Service will not be able to meet its woman and because she was a mother. the population to make decisions about
payroll starting the second quarter of Undaunted, she found a different path their own bodies and their reproductive
next year. Think of the costs the Post- to success. healthcare.
al Service has incurred. It has had to She educated generations of law stu- This new judge could very well over-
retrofit every post office, every proc- dents at Rutgers and Columbia and turn recently decided cases that have
essing center in this country, as well as spent her time outside the classroom finally granted same-sex couples the
provide protective gear to its postal at the ACLU, becoming an architect of fundamental right to marry the per-
employees who are both essential and the plan to eradicate gender discrimi- sons whom they love.
frontline workers. nation. One strategically chosen case This new judge will likely decide on
Those are the elements that I believe at a time, she proved to a male-domi- the Nation’s ability to conduct a fair
should be in the next coronavirus pack- nated legal system that discrimination and accurate census and the right of
age. While there are disagreements on on the basis of sex is real. She was a every person in this country to have
perhaps three of the nine elements that trailblazer. She took herself to places equal representation under the law.
I have suggested, by and large, there is that few women had ever been, and she It is clear to me why our colleagues
agreement on seven of the elements. took the law to places it had never are rushing this. They fear that the
There may be disputes about exactly been. American people simply don’t agree
how much money should be appro- She stood for all of us. She stood with their views. They fear that this is
priated, but we can work those dis- against discrimination in all its forms. their last chance to impose an ultra-
putes out, just as we do in the appro- She was someone who fundamentally conservative view on our country, in
priations process. understood the gifts that people have which women’s rights, LGBTQ rights,
We simply cannot wait and do noth- to give to this country regardless of and immigrants’ rights take a back
ing and just hope for the best. Hope is one’s sex, one’s gender orientation, seat to corporate interests and dis-
not an effective strategy when it comes one’s race, or one’s background. crimination. That is not what the
to dealing with this persistent pan- She knew that the words etched in American people want. They should get
demic. The American people have dem- stone above the entrance of the Su- the chance to have their say. Their
onstrated resilience, courage, and com- preme Court—‘‘Equal Justice Under ability to access healthcare, to marry,
passion during this crisis, but they Law’’—were still a goal, not a given, to live in this country, and to be rep-
need our additional help. and she fought to make them a reality resented fairly and fully by this gov-
I hope that next week we will put every day of her life. ernment is on the line. Their rights
aside the partisan bickering, the ‘‘just As has been noted, in the Jewish tra- hang in the balance.
say no’’ approach that we have seen, dition, only those of great righteous- The actions of my colleagues deny
unfortunately, from the Democratic ness die on Rosh Hashanah—because the people a voice. What does that say
leader, and that we will come together God determined that they were needed about this Chamber? What does it say
for the good of the American people; until the end. Justice Ginsburg was about our democracy?
that we will come together not as truly someone of great righteousness, I yield the floor.
Democrats and Republicans and Inde- and at the very end, she left us with I suggest the absence of a quorum.
pendents but as Americans to do what one final message: ‘‘My most fervent The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
our country needs done right now. wish is that I not be replaced until a YOUNG). The clerk will call the roll.
I yield the floor. new president is installed.’’ The senior assistant legislative clerk
I suggest the absence of a quorum. She asked us to respect the right of proceeded to call the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. the American people to be heard, but Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I
SCOTT of Florida). The clerk will call within just hours of her passing, that ask unanimous consent that the order
the roll. wish was denied by Members of this for the quorum call be rescinded.
The assistant senior legislative clerk body. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
proceeded to call the roll. The hypocrisy of my colleagues is objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I breathtaking. The same Members rush- f
ask unanimous consent that the order ing this process are the very same ones
for the quorum call be rescinded. who denied Merrick Garland hearings EXTENDING THE UNDERTAKING
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without because his nomination was supposedly SPAM, SPYWARE, AND FRAUD
objection, it is so ordered. too close to an election. He was nomi- ENFORCEMENT WITH ENFORC-
REMEMBERING JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG nated in March. It is nearly October. ERS BEYOND BORDERS ACT OF
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I This election is not just close. It is al- 2006
rise today to remember a daughter of ready happening. People across the Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I
New York and an American giant. Jus- country are already casting their bal- ask unanimous consent that the Com-
tice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an icon, lots. Yet this is about more than rank mittee on Commerce, Science, and
a legend, and a role model for so many hypocrisy. Let’s look at what is really Transportation be discharged from fur-
people, myself included. We may never at stake. ther consideration of H.R. 4779 and that
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