Address the COVID Issue Now (Cong. Rec., Dec. 3, 2020)

Summary

House pages of the Congressional Record for December 3, 2020, beginning at page H6051. Under the heading ADDRESS THE COVID ISSUE NOW, Mr. O’HALLERAN of Arizona recounts asking that this body not leave until a COVID package was finished and says that Christmas is approaching. Under URGENT NEEDS OF TRIBAL COMMUNITIES, Mr. O’HALLERAN discusses extending the Tribal deadline from December 31 for another year. Other remarks criticize lockdowns and state that, according to the CDC's best estimate, those under 50 have a 99.98 percent chance of recovering from COVID.

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“Address the COVID Issue Now (Cong. Rec., Dec. 3, 2020).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2020-12-03-crec-2020-12-03-pt1-pgh6051-1bd4fed068/, SHA-256 49f3848bff36b8f3b851c94caf04851ae12ad23b73dd6cfcd4a13b343dd37d09.

Full text

December 3, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H6051
their vote submissions unreliable, concerned about the economy. The that are being destroyed are non-
untrustworthy, and unworthy of more deaths, the worse our economy essential. That is their term, non-
acceptance. will suffer. essential.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Mem- Homelessness, food instability, in- Well, I have news for these self-ab-
bers are reminded to refrain from en- creasing mental health issues, edu- sorbed elitists. If a job is putting food
gaging in personalities toward the cation, increasing domestic violence, on your table and a roof over your head
President-elect. crime, this is going to continue to get that job is essential for you and the
f worse unless we address the COVID family that depends upon you.
issue now, not later, but now. Last spring, I asked Anthony Fauci if
b 1015 Our leadership has been attempting he had taken into account the human
ADDRESS THE COVID ISSUE NOW to address this issue for some time. cost of these lockdowns, the suicides,
There is only one stumbling block and the drug and alcohol abuse, the domes-
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The that is over in the Senate. tic violence, the deferred health
Chair recognizes the gentleman from I don’t care if you agree with what screenings and treatments, and the
Arizona (Mr. O’HALLERAN) for 5 min- has been proposed or not. Sit down at poverty related deaths that his policies
utes. the damn table and talk about it. If were setting into motion. No, we really
Mr. O’HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, you have to be there 20 hours a day, sit haven’t considered that, he breezily re-
well, here we are again. The CDC just down and talk about it. plied.
announced that we are going through You wouldn’t do this in your normal Don’t know, don’t care.
the most difficult time in U.S. public life in business. I have never done that But before Fauci and his followers
health history. Why are we here again? in my normal life in business. When we took a wrecking ball to our Nation,
Two weeks ago, I asked that this have something moving forward, we poverty had dropped to its lowest rate
body not leave, and we stay until we work at it, time and time and time since 1959. Unemployment was the low-
finish up the process of a COVID pack- again; and we have to do that now, est in 50 years. The income gap was
age. Today, we are back here again, with COVID. Not later, now. narrowing. Wages showed their strong-
still not having done that, and now URGENT NEEDS OF TRIBAL COMMUNITIES est growth in 40 years.
Christmas is approaching. We will Mr. O’HALLERAN. Mr. Speaker, I How many millions of these jobs have
probably be leaving here next week, also want to talk a little bit about Ari- now been wantonly destroyed by auto-
hopefully, with a package. But right zona’s First Congressional District and cratic officials who seem oblivious to
now, that still is an unknown. our country, on the need to extend the the damage that they are causing?
I asked before August the same Tribal deadline from December 31 for Now, according to the CDC’s best es-
thing, that we not go back for August another year to make sure they have timate, those under 50 have a 99.98 per-
break until we identify a package and the opportunity to use the funds that cent chance of recovering from COVID,
get it done in a bipartisan way, work- were given to them. if they get it at all; 99.98 percent. And
ing toward protecting the American There is an assumption that you can, 40 percent who get it don’t even know
people, protecting families of America, over a 6-month period, put millions of they have it.
protecting American businesses. dollars out there and get something Even for the most vulnerable group,
Since then, we now have a projection done right away. I know that; I am a over 70, the survival rate is 94.6 per-
by one of the top groups that have pro- former project manager. I know to cent.
jected deaths, and they are saying build a building it takes 2 to 3 years to Now, Sweden did not force its busi-
350,000 deaths just after Christmas. get the planning done and get the work nesses to close. Sweden didn’t shut
On December 1, 2,760 people died; on done. down its schools and abandon its chil-
December 2, 3,157. Those projections And here, the CARES Act clearly in- dren to the streets. Sweden didn’t even
are identified as increasing because of dicated a need for COVID relief for the adopt a mask mandate.
the amount of people hospitalized and Tribal Nations, not just because they Sweden did what free societies do;
the percentages historically that have have not been able to address the issue, they gave the best advice they could,
been indicated. but they need to address the issue. and they trusted their citizens to use
I ask Leader MCCONNELL to please re- Mr. Speaker, I say one more time, their own good judgment of what meas-
consider his statements. First, he had let’s get this COVID thing done. ures made sense to them.
indicated that we were going to be able The result? Well, as of this morning,
f
to address this issue just after the elec- Sweden’s mortality rate from COVID is
tion. Politics should not be playing a CURFEWS AND COMMON SENSE 154 deaths per million below that of the
role in this process. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The United States. If we had Sweden’s rate,
Now it is, when the new decision Chair recognizes the gentleman from that would mean over 50,000 fewer
comes out by the bipartisan group in California (Mr. MCCLINTOCK) for 5 min- American deaths from COVID.
the Senate, he says he rejects it, and utes. Meanwhile, Sweden has sustained a
that maybe after the first of the year Mr. MCCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, Gov- fraction of the economic damage that
we will get to it. ernor Newsom made a groundbreaking our lockdown leftists have inflicted on
How many Americans have to die be- discovery regarding COVID–19 last innocent Americans. Globally, the
fore we get serious about this? How week. Apparently, it has learned to tell United Nations warns that 130 million
many of our fellow citizens have to die, time. Thus, acting under the strictest people will starve to death around the
our friends, our neighbors? I don’t of scientific standards, he has ordered world because of the economic damage
know if there are any family members Californians to run home before 10 caused by these measures.
who have died, but they are in danger, p.m., lock their doors, and hide from Mr. Speaker, this has to stop. The
I can guarantee. this insidious virus until daybreak. good news is that more and more
Our hospitals, our doctors are plead- Unfortunately, COVID doesn’t seem Americans are questioning the lunacy
ing day after day after day, do some- to be following the curfew, so Newsom of these policies and the hypocrisy of
thing about this. Please do something is now threatening yet another hard those who impose them. Newsom’s cur-
about this. We are overwhelmed. We lockdown of virtually the entire State few order was met with spontaneous
can find beds for the doctors to be able throughout the Christmas season. Don defiant demonstrations across the
to treat our citizens. What we cannot we now our plague apparel. State. Elected sheriffs are increasingly
do is find doctors and nurses and tech- There is just one nagging question refusing to enforce these autocratic or-

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with HOUSE
nicians that are working 7 days a week, the Governor hasn’t bothered to an- ders. Pastors are reopening their
16-hour days, going back to their fami- swer. If these lockdowns are so success- churches. Businesses are reopening,
lies, going to bed, and coming back ful, why do we need to keep having even as their owners are taken away in
again. them? handcuffs.
I do not understand it at all. If we are Now, we are told not to worry. We All mass hysterias are driven by
concerned about the economy, let’s be are cheerfully assured that the jobs blind fear, fanned by politicians and

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