Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., Feb. 23, 2021)
Summary
This Senate section of the Congressional Record (Tuesday, February 23, 2021, No. 34) opens with a prayer by the Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, and the appointment of Senator Warnock as Acting President pro tempore. Majority leader Schumer says the Senate will complete the confirmation of one nominee and begin the confirmation of Dr. Miguel Cardona as Education Secretary, with Gina Raimondo, nominee for Secretary of Commerce, expected early next week. Under the Coronavirus heading, Schumer notes 500,000 deaths and says Democrats are preparing the COVID relief bill. The Republican leader then discusses K-12 schooling, citing CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and a CDC study, and the American Rescue Plan.
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“Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., Feb. 23, 2021).”
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Congressional Record
E PL
UR M
IB NU
U U
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117 th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE
Vol. 167 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2021 No. 34
Senate
The Senate met at 10:31 a.m. and was Mr. WARNOCK thereupon assumed retary and begin the confirmation of
called to order by the Honorable RAPH- the Chair as Acting President pro tem- Dr. Miguel Cardona to serve as the
AEL G. WARNOCK, a Senator from the pore. next Education Secretary. We also
State of Georgia. f hope to do Gina Raimondo, nominee for
f Secretary of Commerce, early next
RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME week.
PRAYER Each of these nominees has received
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- bipartisan support in committee. Each
pore. Under the previous order, the
fered the following prayer: of these nominees is undoubtedly quali-
Let us pray. leadership time is reserved.
fied for their positions, a stark depar-
Eternal God, in times of trouble You f ture from the caliber of nominees the
hear us. We cry to You and receive Senate was made to consider during
CONCLUSION OF MORNING
Your answers. May we embrace Your the previous administration.
precepts as You guide us through the BUSINESS
Make no mistake, the Senate will
fog of our earthly pilgrimage. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- move quickly to approve key officials
Lord, may our lawmakers trust You pore. Morning business is closed. in the Biden administration this work
for strength. Provide them with the f period. These Cabinet positions and
powers of wisdom, discipline, and dis- Agencies have an immense influence
cernment. You have promised that EXECUTIVE CALENDAR over the policies of the United States,
those who trust patiently in You will impacting hundreds of millions of
soar high on wings like eagles, running American lives. At a time of acute na-
without weariness and walking without EXECUTIVE SESSION tional challenge, we need qualified
fainting. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- leaders atop our Federal Agencies—and
Mighty God, we praise Your match- pore. Under the previous order, the fast. and that is what we intend to do.
less Name. Amen. Senate will proceed to executive ses- CORONAVIRUS
f sion to resume consideration of the fol- Mr. President, on COVID, while the
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE lowing nomination, which the clerk Senate will be busy fulfilling its con-
will report. stitutional duty to advise and consent
The Presiding Officer led the Pledge
The senior assistant legislative clerk on Presidential nominees, Democrats
of Allegiance, as follows:
read the nomination of Linda Thomas- remain hard at work preparing the des-
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the
United States of America, and to the Repub- Greenfield, of Louisiana, to be the Rep- perately needed COVID relief bill.
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, resentative of the United States of Our country is still in the throes of a
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. America to the United Nations, with crisis. Yesterday, we passed that grim
f the rank and status of the Ambassador milestone of 500,000 deaths, a towering
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and incomprehensible figure. Millions
APPOINTMENT OF ACTING of Americans have reported being thou-
and the Representative of the United
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE sands of dollars behind on rent, on util-
States of America in the Security
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Council of the United Nations. ities. Small businesses are hanging on
clerk will please read a communication RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY LEADER
for dear life. Vaccinating 330 million
to the Senate from the President pro Americans as efficiently as possible is
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- one of the most crucial and complex
tempore (Mr. LEAHY).
The senior assistant legislative clerk pore. The majority leader is recog- undertakings of our times.
read the following letter: nized. What we need to do now is put our
NOMINATIONS foot on the gas to end the pandemic as
U.S. SENATE,
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today quickly as possible, get our economy
Washington, DC, February 23, 2021. the Senate will complete the confirma- back to normal, and repair the damage
To the Senate: tion of two key nominees: Linda Thom- that has been done. That is what the
Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, as-Greenfield to serve as U.N. Ambas- American Rescue Plan is all about. It
of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby
sador and Tom Vilsack to serve as Ag- will deliver the resources to keep small
appoint the Honorable RAPHAEL G. WARNOCK,
a Senator from the State of Georgia, to per- riculture Secretary. businesses afloat; Americans in their
form the duties of the Chair. As I said yesterday, the Senate will homes; and teachers, firefighters, and
PATRICK J. LEAHY, also confirm Jennifer Granholm this other essential employees in the public
President pro tempore week to serve as the next Energy Sec- sector on the job.
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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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S794 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 23, 2021
It will send a direct check to Ameri- ers, citizens, Americans, Republican CORONAVIRUS
cans struggling with a once-in-a-life- citizens, Republican Americans—agree Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President,
time financial burden. It will boost with this plan. The Nation understands millions of American kids in the public
vaccine distribution. And it will pro- that we are not out of the woods yet school system have been robbed of a
vide funding and guidance for schools and that Congress should do what is year, and counting, of anything resem-
to reopen as quickly and safely as pos- necessary to finish the job. Where are bling a proper education. It has been a
sible. our Republican friends? historically tough year. That is why
That last point, in particular, should As I have said from the start, Demo- Americans are so excited our Nation
appeal to my Republican friends who crats remain committed to working appears to be approaching a major
have been raising concern about school with our colleagues from the other side turning point.
closures. We all want the schools to re- of the aisle to improve the bill, but at Here are just a few recent headlines:
open safely. We are all worried about the end of the day, the American peo- A U.S. Vaccine Surge Is Coming, With Mil-
the cost of virtual learning on children ple sent us here with a job to do, and lions of Doses Promised
and parents. the clock is ticking. Democrats will Another headline:
The solution is simple. It is not giv- not wait to move forward with the America’s vaccine rollout has been among
ing a speech here on the Senate floor. American Rescue Plan and taking the the best in the world
It is not criticizing teachers or school next important step in getting our Another headline:
administrators. It is giving school dis- country back to normal. CDC finds scant spread of coronavirus in
tricts the funding they need to reopen PROTESTS schools with precautions in place
safely. It is expensive—expensive—to Mr. President, finally, January 6 is a Here is one from my home State:
reopen safely during the COVID crisis. day all of us will remember forever. COVID–19 cases plummet in Kentucky
We want to do it as quickly as possible, The Capitol was breached by a violent nursing homes, a key target for the vaccine
and it is hard to understand that our mob. The Confederate flag was flown in So let’s take a look at the economy:
Republican friends are saying: ‘‘Open the halls of our Union for the first time
up the schools’’ and ‘‘I won’t vote for U.S. Retail Sales Surprise With Sharpest
in American history. Insurrectionists— Advance in Seven Months
any money for the schools’’ to do just angry, bigoted—stood a few inches Blue-Collar Jobs Boom as COVID–19 Boosts
that. It is a complete contradiction. from where I am standing now. It is Housing, E-Commerce Demand
The Republican position seems to be hard to believe these hallowed halls Another headline:
that these difficult challenges will fix were occupied by such terrible, awful Consumer Demand Snaps Back. Factories
themselves, that we don’t need any lawbreakers. Five Americans lost their Can’t Keep Up.
more aid; we did enough already. Any- lives, including a Capitol Police officer. To be clear, this isn’t over. The bat-
one who knows anything about schools
The impeachment of Donald Trump tle is not won yet. But the day is ap-
knows, in the vast majority of schools
was one necessary consequence of the proaching when we will be able to end
in this country, that is just not the
attack of January 6, but it is far from this defensive crouch and safely re-
case.
the only one. We must and will con- claim our normal lives.
So let our Republican friends put
tinue to recon with the events of that Last year the Senate built the larg-
their votes where their speeches are, in
day. This morning—in fact, as we est peacetime fiscal expansion in
helping the schools, in getting the
speak—the Senate Rules Committee American history. We spent $4 trillion
money, in opening the schools safely—
and the Senate Homeland Security and on five overwhelmingly bipartisan
not in simply trying to make a polit-
Governmental Affairs Committee are packages. The most recent became law
ical point and then trashing the
holding a joint hearing to examine the just 2 months ago. Funding for hos-
schools without giving them the money
attack on the Capitol. The committees pitals and providers kept our
they need. It makes no sense whatso-
will hear important testimony from healthcare system above water. The
ever. It is a total contradiction.
Also, if we don’t act, enhanced unem- the acting chief of the Capitol Police, Paycheck Protection Program saved
ployment benefits will expire for mil- the former chief of police, and former Main Street small businesses. Direct
lions of Americans in need. If we don’t members of the Sergeant at Arms. relief and extra unemployment aid
act, millions of struggling families will Later this week, Senators will be helped working families endure the
miss out on direct payments and an ex- briefed by the acting chief of police and shutdown. Operation Warp Speed laid
pansion of the child tax credit and the the Acting Sergeant at Arms on the the groundwork for our historic sprint
earned income tax credit. If we don’t current and future security measures toward vaccinations.
act, we risk the same long, slow, and around the Capitol. These were strong, bipartisan poli-
painful recovery we experienced after It is our solemn responsibility to pro- cies, targeted to what families specifi-
the financial crisis of 2008, when Con- tect the Capitol and everyone who cally needed to wage the war, but
gress did too little to get our country works and visits within it. It is our sol- today Democrats are steamrolling
back on track. emn duty to prevent a day like Janu- ahead with a massive spending plan on
The worst thing we could do would be ary 6 from ever, ever being repeated. At a completely partisan basis. It did not
to slow down now before the race is the same time, the Capitol has been receive a single House Republican vote
won. We will not do that. Later this and must be once again a symbol of de- in committee yesterday because their
week, the House—and, soon thereafter, mocracy that is accessible to the peo- partisan plan is not targeted toward
the Senate—will start working on ple. No one expects the Capitol to re- helping Americans reclaim their lives
President Biden’s American Rescue main a militarized zone in perpetuity. and their country from this invader.
Plan. As I said, no one expects the Capitol to Instead, here is what it is: a combina-
Mayors, Governors, and economists remain a militarized zone in per- tion of miscellaneous, non-COVID-re-
from across the political spectrum petuity. We must strive to strike the lated, liberal wish-list items and the
agree that it should be a sizable effort. difficult balance between access and se- kinds of bandaid policies that make a
Treasury Secretary Yellen told us that curity and better understand the intel- defensive crouch slightly less painful
‘‘the smartest thing we can do is act ligence and security failures that led to but don’t help get us back on offense.
big.’’ Federal Chairman Powell warned the attack on January 6. This will be a Let’s take a look at K–12 schooling.
that we are ‘‘a long way off from full crucial and bipartisan undertaking. I Until very recently, the new adminis-
recovery’’ and that the greater risk lies am glad that Senators from both the tration’s own scientists had been crys-
in doing too little rather than doing Rules and Homeland Security Commit- tal clear. Earlier this month, CDC Di-
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
too much. tees, from both parties, are starting rector Rochelle Walensky said:
Most importantly, the American peo- that important work today. There is increasing data to suggest that
ple in poll after poll overwhelmingly I now yield the floor. schools can safely reopen.
approve of President Biden’s American RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER A major CDC study found in-person
Rescue Plan. One of the last polls I saw The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Re- schooling does not—not—fuel commu-
showed a majority of Republicans—vot- publican leader is recognized. nity transmission.
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