Congressional Record, Senate — March 3, 2021, S1011
Summary
This is S1011 of the Congressional Record, Senate, March 3, 2021, with interleaved columns. The page opens with the end of remarks, by a speaker whose name is not printed in the text read, on home- and community-based services for seniors and people with disabilities under the American Rescue Plan. Under the heading Coronavirus, Mr. Portman says he was one of the 10 Republicans who met President Biden to offer their own proposal and criticizes the $1.9 trillion package as not targeted on COVID-19. He recalls the 908 Coalition, which wrote a $900 billion bill, and says that of $113 billion appropriated last year for schools only $15 billion has been spent. The views are attributed to the speakers.
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“Congressional Record, Senate — March 3, 2021, S1011.”
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March 3, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1011
should be the first step in creating I was one of the 10 Republicans who that. And, by the way, the alternative
home- and community-based services went down to the White House to meet I mentioned that we offered to Presi-
infrastructure that can serve seniors with President Biden about this a few dent Biden—$160 billion. We totally be-
and all people with disabilities who weeks ago, and we offered our own pro- lieve in that part of the bill, and that
want to live in their own homes and re- posal and said we would like to work we should put all of that in there, par-
main in their communities with their with you and negotiate with you. And, ticularly with regard to the vaccines.
families, friends, and neighbors. you know, there has been no interest, So it is frustrating because not only
With the passage of this American to be honest, and I wish it weren’t the is the process not what we have done in
Rescue Plan, we will be able to address case. the past and is best for this country,
the immediate pandemic needs of older And $4 trillion has already been allo- but also the substance of this bill is
adults, as well as people with disabil- cated to the COVID–19 issue, and it was just not targeted on COVID–19. How do
ities. Let’s work to ensure this first needed. It is a crisis. It still is. It is not I tell hard-working families in my
step starts to create the path to a ro- over yet, although things are getting a State of Ohio that there is a provision
bust, comprehensive home care and lot better, both in terms of the in the bill that asks Medicare to spend
home health network in every State healthcare crisis and in terms of the more money in New Jersey, Delaware,
for every senior and every American economy. But we did that, again, five and Rhode Island but not in Ohio and
with a disability. different times—over $4 trillion, five other States? How do I explain that we
I yield the floor. different times in a bipartisan way. need to set aside hundreds of millions
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The jun- So we know we can do it. It is hard of dollars that are in this bill in addi-
ior Senator from Ohio. for us to do it on other issues—let’s tional Federal funds for the arts? We
f face it—like taxes or even healthcare, can have that debate on the arts, but it
but it is not with regard to COVID–19. has nothing to do with COVID–19. We
CORONAVIRUS have the highest deficit, as a share of
At least it hasn’t been until now.
Mr. PORTMAN. Madam President, I The most recent $900 billion COVID GDP, since World War II—the highest
worked with my colleague from Penn- debt as a share of GDP. You know, I
relief package passed at the end of De-
sylvania on some of these home care don’t think we should be spending that
cember by a 92 to 6 vote—92 to 6. I
options, and I think it is a very posi- kind of money on things that don’t re-
came out to the floor to give speeches
tive thing. In fact, it saves a lot of cost late to COVID–19.
on this Senate floor over 20 times in
for the system, but the question is, Beyond these kinds of unrelated pro-
the months prior to that legislation fi-
What is it doing in a COVID relief bill? visions, there are also proposals in this
You know, I just have to say, having nally being passed, urging Congress to
come out of our partisan corners, stimulus that are directed at impor-
been involved in a bipartisan way on tant issues, but, based on what is need-
five different COVID relief packages Democrats and Republicans alike, and
to come up with a COVID relief pack- ed to respond to the current chal-
over the last year, I am just so discour- lenges, are simply unnecessary and add
aged that we can’t sit down, Repub- age, because I saw so much middle
ground. And we found it by the end of up to more wasteful spending.
licans and Democrats alike, and work For example, we reached a point in
out a targeted, focused bill on COVID, December. I was part of a group of five
this pandemic where the CDC, or the
and, by the way, then move on to other Democrats and five Republicans who
Centers for Disease Control, has said
things, including healthcare reform, in- sat down over a month-long period or
that schools can start to open safely
cluding issues that traditionally have so. We actually wrote a bill. The ‘‘908
with the right measures in place—
also been bipartisan, like infrastruc- Coalition,’’ we called ourselves because
thank goodness. We want to get our
ture and broadband expansion, like re- we wrote a bill for $900 billion that was kids back to school. That should be a
tirement security or dealing with the basis for that $900 billion legisla- cause for celebration. But the plan
China and supply chain issues. tion that eventually passed. So I have here, the $1.9 trillion, doesn’t reflect
But this is not the way to start. We been there. I have done it. We have those findings. Last year, we appro-
are looking at a $1.9 trillion package, done it. We can do it. Yet we are look- priated $113 billion for schools to help
the second largest ever written by Con- ing here at an entirely different proc- navigate the pandemic, but, as of now,
gress. The first one went through last ess and, unfortunately, a product that of that $113 billion, only $15 billion has
year. And there was no input—vir- is not targeted, not focused. been spent. So, roughly, $100 billion is
tually no input—from anybody on our It is interesting to note that of the left over from last year with regard to
side of the aisle because the adminis- $900 billion that we appropriated just a schools.
tration decided they didn’t want it. couple of months ago, at the end of the If we are already opening classes
They wanted to jam this thing through year, more than half of that, we are safely with that amount, why does this
without our participation. And it is too told, has not been spent yet. So while $1.9 trillion plan instead call for an ad-
bad, because they will end up with a we are starting a $1.9 trillion new ditional investment of $130 billion in
product that is not going to be as fo- spending project, about half of what we our schools, but especially when we are
cused and targeted, but, also, it is just just did has yet to be spent. So how do told that most of that $130 billion will
getting off on the wrong foot and mak- we know how much is needed? It is not be spent in this calendar year? No-
ing it more difficult for us to figure out very hard to know. body thinks that next year, at this
how to come together on other issues. I will say that it is troubling to me time, we are going to have the crisis we
It is really the opposite. This process that this bill is loaded up with provi- have now, and yet the $130 billion of
is really the opposite of what President sions that don’t relate to addressing new money will not be spent until the
Biden talked about. He talked about it the COVID–19 pandemic, because we end of 2028.
in his campaign. I mean, he won a cam- should be targeted and focused like a By the way, the nonpartisan Congres-
paign, including in his primary, saying laser on that issue and not on other sional Budget Office estimates that
he wanted to work across the aisle; he things. In fact, when you look at the about half of the funds in the entire
wanted to change the tone in Wash- healthcare part of this, most people proposal won’t even be spent in this
ington. That was pretty brave of him would think: OK, what would you do calendar year. That is their analysis—
to say, really. with a COVID–19 bill? You would focus objective, nonpartisan. No one expects,
And, then, in his inaugural address, on the coronavirus. You would focus on again, that we will be in this crisis at
he did the same thing; didn’t he? He the testing and the tracing. You would that time. So it just doesn’t seem to
talked about the need for unity. He focus on the vaccine development and
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
make sense to me.
talked about wanting to get people to- distribution. You would focus on the There are other provisions in this bill
gether and to work with Democrats healthcare side, including healthcare that seem to actually take solutions
and Republicans alike and kind of get providers. we have come up with in the past
back to that. This is exactly the oppo- Unfortunately, that is a very small COVID–19 package and make them
site of that. I just don’t get it. I have part of the funding of this bill. It is worse. Unemployment insurance is a
to tell you, I am mystified why they $160 billion out of $1.9 trillion, so less good example. Republicans and Demo-
want to start off this way. than 10 percent of the bill is focused on crats alike believe there needs to be
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S1012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 3, 2021
some expanded help in terms of those much better understanding of the dan- way or the highway’’ approach to a re-
who have been hit hardest by the pan- gers of COVID–19. So why does this sponse package that would be among
demic and have lost a job, and the last make sense? the most expensive pieces of legislation
bipartisan spending agreement re- Furthermore, Federal jobs are pretty in our country’s history. As a result,
flected that consensus. But now, after secure. Why should taxpayers pay for dozens of my colleagues on both sides
finally reaching an agreement on ex- Federal employees to get 600 hours of of the aisle are being shut out of pro-
panded unemployment insurance, one leave when private sector employees viding their input on this bill, and we
that got people the help they need are suffering more job losses than the are going to be left with a partisan bill
without creating a disincentive to public sector? It hardly seems like a that fails to meet the most urgent and
work, Democrats want to jam through good use of taxpayer dollars. It is also pressing needs.
another UI proposal that increases the disappointing in this bill, which all of In fact, because all of these unrelated
$300 per week that we just agreed to in us are expected to vote on here in the spending measures we talked about and
December to $400 a week. Now, again, coming days, because the end result is others are directed toward traditional
that is in the context of the healthcare so different than the last five. As I Democratic constituencies, I would
crisis getting better and the economy said, the last five times, we put it to- argue that this bill has not just been
getting better and the unemployment gether in a bipartisan basis. my way or the highway, but it has been
numbers going down that we are going The process has been frustrating, and my way and the highway.
to put more into unemployment insur- I know many colleagues who were part The bottom line is, at the end of the
ance. of the group of five Republicans and road of this reconciliation process, we
That creates a problem because it five Democrats agree with that. We will have a bill that underdelivers in
will mean if you go up to $400 a week, are, in effect, for the sake of expedi- many respects and is overpriced, and
then more than half of the workers on ency and partisan victory, forgetting that is sad to me. It didn’t have to be
unemployment insurance will be earn- about thoughtful policy and bipartisan- this way. Again, we have done it before
ing more on unemployment than they ship. five times together, made it inclusive,
would staying employed. We want to We have to show that we have enough listened to each other to come up with
get people back to work. That is what Republicans to work with Democrats a bipartisan result. Let’s put a stop to
we all should want, at least. So why to get this done. I understand that. this runaway train that is going to add
would you do that? We shouldn’t want That is why 10 of us went down to the to the deficit unnecessarily and put a
that. It is going to result in fewer peo- White House, because along with 50 damper on the prospects for the bipar-
ple getting to work as unemployment Democrats, that would be 60, which is tisanship promised by this new admin-
continues to go down, as the vaccines the magic number needed. But there is istration.
are more widely available. That is the more than 10 Republicans who want to Wanting to heal the wounds is some-
opposite of what we should want. work with Democrats. There have been thing all of us should want. Wanting to
At the same time, a new provision in every time we have taken this up over work together is something all of us
this bill would allow employees who the past year. should want. Getting back to an era
are Federal employees to take 600 We proposed the $618 billion counter- where we actually sit down, debate
hours of taxpayer-funded emergency proposal that shares a lot of common things, work them out, and help bring
leave this fiscal year. To put that in ground with the Biden plan—not $1.9 the country together is something all
perspective, 600 hours is about half of trillion but $618 billion. Again, we take of us should want.
the total number of working hours re- care of all the healthcare response to I agree with what President Biden
maining in this fiscal year. the virus. This is in the Biden plan. We said in his campaign and the inaugural
There are plenty of problems with have a similar approach on stimulus address about the need for unity. Let’s
the way this plan is written. To give checks: Make it a little more targeted, do it. Let’s not have rhetoric; let’s
you one example, a Federal employee which everyone, I think, agrees is a have action.
with children in school would be eligi- good idea. We can work together to get this
ble for this leave program as long as Again, with regard to schools, we done. We won’t get there if we continue
the school is offering a remote learning don’t waste the money, which we to operate like this. It hurts not just
option, even if the kids are going to the talked about earlier, but we would be our new President and his hopes for
classroom every day for in-person focused on getting kids back to school. getting things done; it hurts the coun-
learning. Federal employees would also The main difference in our bill is we try and the ability for us to continue
be eligible for this leave if they are take a more targeted approach to ad- to work together to deal with this cri-
feeling unwell, even if they don’t have dress the most urgent healthcare and sis and get back to a more normal life.
COVID–19, and with no oversight, no economic needs. I yield back my time.
doctor’s note, and no supervisory ap- We heed the advice of prominent The PRESIDING OFFICER. The jun-
proval. Democratic economist Larry Summers ior Senator from Florida.
This is far beyond the responsible bi- and so many others who have now said f
partisan family leave proposal we did that the $1.9 trillion Biden stimulus is
include, because we should have, in the not just wasting taxpayer money; it UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—
Family First Coronavirus Response risks overheating an already recov- S. RES. 88
Act, which offered 80 hours of sick ering economy, leading to higher infla- Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam Presi-
leave, about one-seventh of the time tion, hurting middle-class families, and dent, America is in crisis. Today, the
off in this new proposal, and which ap- threatening long-term growth. Federal debt sits at a staggering $27
plies to millions of private and public But rather than the counterproposal trillion, and it has grown by more than
sector employees, in addition to the leading to this productive type of bi- $4 trillion in just the last year. Now,
Federal employees who are only cov- partisan negotiations we had last year, Congress is debating whether to spend
ered by this new proposal. this time we have been told Democrats another $1.9 trillion, raising our debt
When none of us knew exactly how want to go it alone. to nearly $30 trillion.
long we would be faced with the We will keep talking to the Presi- Less than 10 percent of this massive
COVID–19 crisis, we decided, on a bipar- dent’s people. We will keep talking to $1.9 trillion package actually goes di-
tisan basis, that 80 hours was suffi- Democrats in Congress, hoping they rectly to COVID relief, and just 1 per-
cient. But now that we have this new will follow through on the campaign cent is dedicated to vaccine-related
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
proposal, at seven times that leave message and the inaugural promise be- programs. The rest is filled with waste-
with no test necessary, it is at a time cause that is what we should be doing ful liberal priorities.
when we are actually turning the tide as a Congress, not just on this issue but Speaker PELOSI and Leader SCHUMER,
on this virus, and we all acknowledge so many other issues as well. We bridges and tunnels have no business
that. When more of us are being tested shouldn’t be going it alone. being included in a COVID relief bill. It
and vaccinated, our numbers are going Reconciliation has allowed Demo- is shameful. Only in Washington can
down—thank goodness—and we have a crats to take what is essentially a ‘‘my people throw these numbers and ideas
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