Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., Dec. 20, 2020)
Summary
The Congressional Record, Volume 166, No. 217, for Sunday, December 20, 2020, with the Senate meeting at 1 p.m. A Senator objects to starting the 117th Congress on a Sunday, noting that in 238 years the Congress has always set a different convening day by unanimous consent. Under the heading Coronavirus, Mr. McConnell says Democrats agreed to compromise language by Senator Toomey on the Federal Reserve emergency lending facilities created in the CARES Act, which sunset at the end of the year, and that the remaining differences are few. Mr. Schumer says negotiators have spent four to five days in intense bipartisan talks on the final details, and a cloture motion is filed on the nomination of Brian Noland to the Tennessee Valley Authority board.
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Cite this document
“Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., Dec. 20, 2020).”
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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, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2020 No. 217
Senate
The Senate met at 1 p.m. and was wanted everybody to remember the sig- Yesterday evening, our Democratic
called to order by the President pro nificance of Sunday for some people, colleagues agreed to important lan-
tempore (Mr. GRASSLEY). particularly Christians. He always guage authored by Senator TOOMEY.
f said: ‘‘Remember the Sabbath and keep Back in March, in the CARES Act,
it holy.’’ Congress funded several new emer-
PRAYER Now, I want to refer to another par- gency lending facilities to be operated
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- ticular Sunday. Never in the Senate’s by the Federal Reserve. Their purpose
fered the following prayer: history has the Senate convened Con- was simple: to backstop the basic foun-
Let us pray. gress—meaning a new Congress—on a dations of our economy and prevent
Our Father in Heaven, You keep us Sunday. The Constitution mandates any kind of sweeping financial paral-
from stumbling and falling. We trust that Congress convene at noon on Jan- ysis.
Your power. We sing of Your steadfast uary 3, unless the preceding Congress, Our actions worked. The other his-
love and proclaim Your faithfulness to by law, designates a different day. toric relief that Congress passed, com-
all generations. Make us one Nation, Of course, January 3 has fallen on a bined with the existence of these lend-
truly wise with righteousness, exalting Sunday over the last 238 years, and ing facilities staved off systemic col-
us in due season. each time, by unanimous consent, the lapse. American workers and families
Today, inspire our lawmakers to Congress set a new convening day still need much more help, but a total
walk in the light of Your countenance. other than that Sunday. So now it ap- financial meltdown never materialized.
Abide with them so that Your wisdom pears, for the first time in history, that These new emergency lending facili-
will influence each decision they make. Senate Democrats don’t want to agree ties were always intended to sunset at
Keep them from the evil that brings to such unanimous consent and instead the end of this year. Senator TOOMEY
grief, enabling them to avoid the pit- are insisting that the Senate start the and our Democratic colleagues have
falls that lead to ruin. Lord, empower 117th Congress on Sunday. landed on compromise language that
I am not looking to get out of work. ensures this will, in fact, happen.
them to glorify You in all they say and
I have proven that I have respect for It also redirects the dormant money
do.
attendance in the Senate. But out of in these accounts toward the urgent
We pray in Your Holy Name. Amen.
respect, the Senate usually does not needs of working Americans and en-
f have business on religious holidays ob- sures that these expired programs can-
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE served by members of various faiths. not be simply restarted or cloned with-
So just like Senator Byrd, I also out another authorization from Con-
The President pro tempore led the
think the Lord’s Day, particularly gress, all while preserving both the
Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: independence of the Federal Reserve
when it is paired with the weight of
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the and the proper authority of Congress.
starting a new Congress, deserves rev-
United States of America, and to the Repub-
erence. It is yet another example of good-faith
lic for which it stands, one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I yield. bipartisan collaboration that has de-
f fined our discussions all week.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. COR- At this point, we are down to the last
NYN). The President pro tempore is rec- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY few differences that stand between
ognized. LEADER struggling Americans and the major
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- rescue package they need and deserve.
unanimous consent to, please, have 1 jority leader is recognized. These days and nights of negotia-
minute in morning business. f tions have been encouraging, but our
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without citizens need this waiting game to be
objection, it is so ordered. CORONAVIRUS over. Yesterday alone, another 3,388 of
f Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, our my fellow Kentuckians tested positive
bipartisan, bicameral discussions on for the coronavirus. The virus con-
117TH CONGRESS another major pandemic rescue pack- tinues to spread throughout our coun-
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, age continued all night and this morn- try. Thousands of Americans are being
today is Sunday, and I want to remem- ing. We are winnowing down the re- robbed of their lives on a daily basis.
ber what Senator Byrd said on a lot of maining differences. I believe I can And while the resilience of the Amer-
Sundays when the Senate was in ses- speak for all sides when I say I hope ican people have brought along our
sion. He didn’t say this because he and expect to have a final agreement economic recovery faster than ex-
didn’t want to work on Sunday, but he nailed down in a matter of hours. pected, it will remain both insufficient
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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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S7856 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 20, 2020
and tenuous until the vaccines that gency relief package. There are a few to meet the urgent and growing needs
will end this fight have been distrib- issues outstanding, but I am quite that so many people are facing imme-
uted all across the Nation. hopeful that we are closing in on an diately going into the winter, this bill
For months—literally months—Sen- outcome. It appears that, barring a is not sufficient. It is necessary. It is
ate Republicans have been calling for major mishap, the Senate and House not sufficient.
another targeted package to reopen the will be able to vote on final legislation Democrats would have liked to pro-
job-saving Paycheck Protection Pro- as early as tonight—tonight. vide more relief, especially to State
gram, extend Federal unemployment Many of the provisions in this bill and local governments and especially
benefits, fund K–12 schools, fund vac- are already public. They are all items to American families on the brink of fi-
cine distribution, and get a lot more that the country desperately needs and nancial collapse. The survival checks
help onto the frontlines as fast as pos- upon which there is no disagreement. in this bill are a good start, but there
sible. I am relieved that we appear to We all are ready to deliver a des- was bipartisan support for $1,200
be just hours away from legislation perately needed extension of enhanced checks.
that will finally do that. unemployment benefits; direct survival So let me be clear about one thing:
When we get this done, Congress will checks to millions of American fami- This bill will not be the final word on
not deserve any special praise, not with lies; crucial relief to our schools, our congressional COVID relief.
this relief having waited until late De- small businesses, our healthcare sys- When this Chamber gavels back in
cember and not with some of our tem; and funding to support the pro- 2021, we must pick up immediately
Democratic colleagues openly saying duction and distribution of a vaccine. where we left off. We must protect peo-
the reason they finally changed their As of yesterday, we have been stead- ple’s jobs, whether they work for a
tuned was that they finally got a Presi- ily working through all of the other company or a local government; wheth-
dent-elect of their own party. When we outstanding issues, but one issue er they live in blue States or red
finalize this measure and pass it, Con- threatened to derail the bill. The Sen- States; whether they are office employ-
gress will only have done our job. We ator from Pennsylvania made an elev- ees or teachers, bus drivers and fire-
will have finally done our duty in get- enth-hour demand to curtail the au- fighters.
ting more relief to those who need it thority of the Fed to respond to eco- Still, the significance of this package
nomic crises, potentially leaving the should not be underestimated. We will
most.
Fed with less authority than it had deliver the second largest Federal
Let’s make today the day we join to-
even prior to the pandemic. stimulus in our Nation’s history. Only
gether, put differences aside, and fi- The language in his provision was so
nally get it done. the CARES Act will have been bigger.
broad, the intent seemed to be to sabo- This package will give the new Presi-
f tage the incoming administration’s dent a head start as he prepares to
RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME ability to stabilize the economy and right our ailing economy. And it won’t
save jobs. That was completely unac- include any provision to limit the legal
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under ceptable to Democrats.
the previous order, the leadership time rights of workers who are put in harm’s
But late last night the logjam was way. It won’t include any provision to
is reserved. broken. Senator TOOMEY accepted my gratuitously limit the authority of the
f compromise to remove the dangerous Fed.
‘‘similar to’’ language in his bill that On many issues, where Republicans
CONCLUSION OF MORNING was overly broad. We sent the Senator
BUSINESS once refused to grant an inch, we were
far more limited language around 8 also able to make meaningful steps for-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning p.m. last night, and it was accepted a ward. Republicans, in their initial pro-
business is closed. few hours later with a few technical posal, wanted zero direct payments.
f changes. As a result, the Federal Re- They wanted zero unemployment in-
serve will retain its tools and author- surance. They wanted zero rent relief.
EXECUTIVE SESSION ity in the event of a true emergency. Only a few months ago, the Republican
Now, this compromise should not
leader admitted that 20 Members of his
have taken as long as it did, and,
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR caucus didn’t want to approve another
frankly, it was irresponsible to threat-
dime in spending. Now we are on the
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under en the entire package with this ideo-
verge of passing more than $900 billion.
the previous order, the Senate will pro- logical attempt to limit the Fed and
Once an agreement is finalized, I will
ceed to executive session to resume Treasury’s powers in an emergency.
But I am very glad that our Repub- have a lot more to say about the con-
consideration of the following nomina- tents of the bill and the process it took
tion, which the clerk will report. lican colleagues relented and accepted
our offer. The Toomey legislation was to achieve it. But for now, I am happy
The bill clerk read the nomination of to report we have surmounted the final
Brian Noland, of Tennessee, to be a the last significant stumbling block to
a bipartisan agreement moving for- largest hurdle, and an ending is in
Member of the Board of Directors of sight. Let’s get the job done together
the Tennessee Valley Authority for a ward.
Solving our disagreement over the for the sake of the American people.
term expiring May 18, 2024. I yield the floor.
Mr. MCCONNELL. I suggest the ab- Fed’s authority was a key to unlocking
CLOTURE MOTION
sence of a quorum. the rest of the bill and putting us on a
path to final legislation. Now that we Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The unanimous consent that the manda-
clerk will call the roll. have solved that disagreement, we can
close in on a final agreement, finish tory call be waived.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
roll. drafting legislation, and move it
through both Chambers of Congress— objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask Pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays
unanimous consent that the order for hopefully, as soon as tonight. As we
speak, the legislative text is being fi- before the Senate the pending cloture
the quorum call be rescinded. motion, which the clerk will state.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without nalized.
The time has come to move forward The legislative clerk read the fol-
objection, it is so ordered. lowing:
and reach a conclusion. The legislation
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER
that is coming together will put money CLOTURE MOTION
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The in the pockets of everyday people and We, the undersigned Senators, in accord-
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
Democratic leader is recognized. ance with the provisions of rule XXII of the
extend many of the benefits that we in-
CORONAVIRUS
Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby
cluded in the CARES Act, a bill I was move to bring to a close debate on the nomi-
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, proud to negotiate with Secretary nation of Brian Noland, of Tennessee, to be a
we have spent the past 4 to 5 days Mnuchin. Member of the Board of Directors of the Ten-
locked in intense bipartisan negotia- I will be the first to admit that, nessee Valley Authority for a term expiring
tions over the final details of an emer- while this short-term deal is necessary May 18, 2024.
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