Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., Oct. 21, 2020)

Summary

The Congressional Record, Volume 166, No. 180, for Wednesday, October 21, 2020, reports that the House was not in session and will next meet on Friday, October 23, 2020. In the Senate, Mr. Grassley speaks under the heading Iowa Agriculture, noting that Iowa is first in corn, eggs, ethanol and pork, and that he and Senator Ernst work with the administration on biofuels and E15. Under the heading Coronavirus, Mr. McConnell says the Senate will have an opportunity to advance another COVID-19 relief package after more than 7 months of a health crisis with an economic crisis strapped to its back. Near the end, another speaker says Mr. McConnell moved to table his own bill so Republicans could vote against tabling it.

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“Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., Oct. 21, 2020).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-10-21-crec-2020-10-21-pt1-pgs6337-9-2b4722b233/, SHA-256 d17a75dcf68c29c7bc086d9551362b9896657975ff87054f46155b8e7164b106.

Full text

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

Vol. 166 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020 No. 180

House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Friday, October 23, 2020, at 11:30 a.m.

Senate
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2020
(Legislative day of Monday, October 19, 2020)

The Senate met at 12 noon, on the ex- man, of Ohio, to be United States Dis- as navigable waterway. Just as the
piration of the recess, and was called to trict Judge for the Southern District of harvest comes to an end, usually in No-
order by the President pro tempore Ohio. vember, our work will not stop in No-
(Mr. GRASSLEY). The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. vember. Senator ERNST and I will con-
f LANKFORD). The Senator from Iowa. tinue to focus on Iowa farm families
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask and ensuring their success for years to
PRAYER to speak for 1 minute as in morning come.
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- business. I yield the floor.
fered the following prayer: The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
Let us pray. RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY LEADER
objection, it is so ordered.
Eternal God, whose love is from ever- IOWA AGRICULTURE The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
lasting to everlasting, we pray for our Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, Iowa, jority leader is recognized.
Nation during this season of critical my State, has a rich legacy in leading CORONAVIRUS
decision making. Guide our citizens the Nation and the world in agriculture Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President,
with Your wisdom and fill them with production and innovation. Iowa is today, the Senate will have an oppor-
Your peace. first in corn production, first in eggs,
Lord, in every generation, You con- tunity to advance another COVID–19
ethanol, and pork, and second in soy- relief package for American families.
tinue to provide people who are equal beans. Family farms are the main in-
to our challenges and who strive to For more than 7 months now, the
stitution for producing all this. So American people have been facing what
please You. Provide us with such lead- those family farms are how many
ers that Your Name will be glorified as one writer described as a ‘‘health crisis
Iowans leave their mark on our world, with an economic crisis strapped to its
they strive to do Your will. by passing their legacy to their chil-
Today, replace fear with faith, false- back.’’
dren.
hood with truth, hate with love, so In the Senate, Senator ERNST and I The Senate has stepped up repeat-
that where You are, Your peace may have the great privilege of representing edly, on a bipartisan basis, to help our
abide with us all. these family farmers. Senator ERNST Nation through this challenge. Today,
We pray in Your powerful Name. and I have worked with the Trump ad- we have an opportunity to do it once
Amen. ministration to make biofuels a pri- again.
f ority. We have secured E15 year- The legislation before us is neither
round—15 billion gallons of ethanol are Republicans’ nor Democrats’ idea of a
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
blended annually as the law requires— perfect bill. I think we are all clear on
The President pro tempore led the that. But it would move us past Speak-
new ethanol infrastructure through the
Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: er PELOSI’s all-or-nothing obstruction
USDA, and secured an extension of the
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the and deliver huge support right now for
United States of America, and to the Repub- biodiesel tax credit. We have secured
and expanded trade agreements with the most pressing needs of our country.
lic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. our largest trading partners, which add Republicans want to conquer this dis-
value to Iowan commodities. ease through testing, treatments, and
f
We also helped to put an end to the vaccines. Democrats say they agree
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR—Continued ridiculous Obama-era waters of the with us.
The Senate resumed consideration of United States rule that would have Republicans want to pour money into
the nomination of Michael Jay New- regulated 97 percent of Iowa’s farmland safe schools and make sure an entire

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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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S6338 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE October 21, 2020
generation of kids don’t fall any fur- Now I hear they don’t want to renew as possible. Republicans want to send a
ther behind, and Democrats say they the PPP unless it sends money to historic sum of money to those schools.
agree with that. Planned Parenthood and criminals who Today, Democrats will either vote to
Republicans want to reopen the Pay- are, literally, currently in prison. Let advance it or vote to kill it.
check Protection Program so that me say that again. They don’t want to For the historic numbers of Ameri-
Main Streets across America don’t renew PPP unless it sends money to cans who have been laid off, additional
turn into COVID–19 ghost towns, so Planned Parenthood and criminals who Federal unemployment benefits have
that millions of workers can keep their are, literally, currently in prison. been a lifeline. Republicans want to re-
jobs and keep getting paid. Democrats These are the kinds of far-left fringe store them. Today, Democrats will ei-
say they agree with that. demands over which Democrats have ther vote to advance it or vote to kill
For workers who have been laid off, blocked kitchen-table assistance for it.
Republicans want to renew the Federal American families and healthcare sup- Colleges, universities, charities, and
supplement to unemployment insur- port to crush the virus. small business need commonsense legal
ance. Democrats say they agree with During this historic crisis, the Demo- protections, and with cases spiking,
that. cratic leaders have elected to deny our whole country needs further in-
Republicans want to cement health struggling people the help they need vestment in testing, tracing, and vac-
protections for Americans with pre- unless President Trump signs the en- cines. Today, the Democrats will either
existing conditions, including COVID– tire Democratic Party platform into vote to advance all that or vote to kill
19 itself. Democrats claim they are all law. it.
over this issue. Today, we are providing another Struggling people don’t need more
And Republicans want to take our chance to right the ship. In a few min- endless arguments. They don’t need to
Nation’s college presidents, nonprofit utes, Senators will vote to either ad- keep waking up and listening to report-
leaders, and employers at their word vance or filibuster a broad package ers speculate on whether the Speaker
when they say they need commonsense that would deliver on all kinds of ur- of the House is in a good mood that
protections so that legal uncertainty gent needs: testing, treatments, vac- day, because their very livelihood may
does not block their reopening. cines, safe schools for our kids, a sec- depend on it. The country needs an
The bill on the floor would do every ond round of the job-saving PPP, more outcome. The country needs an out-
one of those things and much more. Federal unemployment benefits, the come.
The overwhelming bulk of it are pro- legal protections that university presi- Let’s put aside our differences, agree
grams that Democrats claim they sup- dents and charities say they need, pro- where we can, and move forward. Why
port. It turns out there is a special tections for preexisting conditions. not get the country in a better place
perk to being a Senator. When you ac- There is almost nothing in this pro- while Washington continues to argue
tually support something, you get to posal that Democrats even claim to op- over all the rest? If the sun sets today
vote for it. When you actually support pose. with no progress, if the Senate turns to
something, you get to vote for it. When Just last week, the entire country Judge Barrett’s nomination without
you actually want an outcome, you watched our colleagues on the Justice having advanced another historic res-
vote for it. Committee complain over and over cue package, it will only be because
Strangely enough, that is not what about having to fulfill those respon- Senate Democrats used the filibuster
seems to be happening. Our Democratic sibilities when they supposedly wanted to kill this aid.
colleagues have been happy to talk to be working on a coronavirus relief If this relief does not pass, it will be
about further relief as long as it re- package. We will see who walks the because Senate Democrats chose to do
mained a hypothetical concept. But walk. Speaker PELOSI’s political dirty work
every time the Senate has had a chance I am confident the Democratic leader rather than stand up for struggling
to actually do something, they said no. will repeat the same tired attacks he people. Let’s not go there. Let’s find
In July, Republicans tried to con- has been recycling since the summer- our common sense, agree where we can,
tinue the Federal plus-up to unemploy- time. He will say we shouldn’t do any- and advance this legislation while we
ment insurance before it expired. Sen- thing unless we do everything. He will debate the rest. The American people
ator SCHUMER blocked it. In August, argue this multi-hundred-billion-dollar deserve action.
Senator MCSALLY fought again to re- bill is paltry—$500 billion is paltry or UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT—S. 178
start those benefits for laid-off Ameri- meager or emaciated, a half trillion Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
cans. Once again, Democrats stopped it dollars? I am not kidding. This is seri- sent that the mandatory quorum call
cold. ously their claim—that a half trillion with respect to the cloture motion on
In September, Republicans wrote a dollars for working people is chump the motion to concur with amendment
sweeping proposal to deliver hundreds change. It is not worth their time. No. 2652 be waived.
of billions of dollars for safe schools, Hundreds of billions of dollars targeted The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
unemployment benefits, paycheck pro- directly to struggling people doesn’t objection, it is so ordered.
tection, and the healthcare fight. even get Democrats out of bed in the
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER
Every single Senate Democrat voted to morning.
kill it all, except the junior Senator Well, perhaps, to the blue-State bil- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
from California, who didn’t vote. lionaires, who seem to be the Demo- Democratic leader is recognized.
This has been the dynamic for crats’ top priority, these historic sums CORONAVIRUS
months now: Republicans trying to of money do look like chump change. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the
pass commonsense policies that the Maybe coastal elites who can prac- closer we get to an election, the sillier
Democrats say they support and Demo- tically find a million dollars in their it gets here in Leader MCCONNELL’s
crats replying that working people couch cushions are indifferent about Senate. All week, the Republican ma-
can’t get a dime unless Speaker PELOSI whether we get an outcome here. jority has scheduled stunt votes on
gets everything she wants. Well, believe me, working families supposed COVID relief bills that are
We are talking about silly stuff: mas- like the Kentuckians I represent don’t all, in reality, designed to fail.
sive tax cuts for rich people in blue see it that way. Millions of workers Yesterday, the leader moved to table
States, stimulus checks for people in have been able to keep their jobs and his own bill so the Republicans could
our country illegally, wheelbarrows of support their families because of the vote against tabling it. Let me repeat
cash—out of any proportion to COVID– Paycheck Protection Program. Repub- that because that is what is happening

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19 needs—for State and city govern- licans want to fund a whole second here. It is hard to believe that this is
ments that Democrats have mis- round of that. Today, Democrats will supposedly the greatest debate Cham-
managed for decades, and removing either vote to advance it or vote to kill ber in the country or in the world.
longstanding bipartisan Hyde protec- it. Leader MCCONNELL moved to table his
tions that protect taxpayers from fund- Students, teachers, and parents need own bill so the Republicans could then
ing abortions. to know their K–12 schools are as safe vote against tabling it. That is what

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