Congressional Record, Senate, March 3, 2021 — Unanimous Consent Request on S. Res. 88
Summary
Remarks in the Congressional Record, Senate, March 3, 2021 criticize the coronavirus relief bill moving through budget reconciliation. One speaker objects that unemployment insurance would rise from $300 per week to $400 a week and that Federal employees could take 600 hours of taxpayer-funded emergency leave, and describes a $618 billion counterproposal. Under the heading Unanimous Consent Request, S. Res. 88, Mr. Scott of Florida says America is in crisis and that the Federal debt sits at $27 trillion. A later passage objects to $350 billion for States and says 26 States saw general revenue decline while 21 saw gains.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, March 3, 2021 — Unanimous Consent Request on S. Res. 88.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-03-crec-2021-03-03-pt1-pgs1012-9d8e5b2a3f/
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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
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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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March 3, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1013
around without a care for what it Ms. ERNST. Thank you to the Sen- partisan agreement as we walked
means for our future. It is dangerous, ator from Florida as well and for shar- through the process to determine that
and it is time to get serious. ing his personal story and why it is so this is an emergency; this is a global
Congress has the responsibility to important that we have transparency pandemic. To help stabilize our econ-
thoroughly review how every single tax on bills like this COVID package. omy from going into free fall, we have
dollar is spent by the Federal Govern- Over the course of the pandemic, to do some very difficult things. But in
ment and make sure we are spending Congress has worked together—Repub- the middle of all of that, we also said
wisely. Sadly, this is rare behavior in licans and Democrats—to pass five we don’t need to borrow a dollar more
Washington. Congress spends with overwhelmingly bipartisan bills pro- than what we need to borrow. Let’s
reckless abandon and rarely considers viding COVID–19 relief to the American borrow what we need to but not more
how today’s foolishness will impact our people, and I think we would all agree than we need to.
children and grandchildren, and we are that that relief was much needed. Interestingly enough, of the five bills
seeing President Biden and Senate Now, in March, we passed the largest and $4 trillion that was allocated for
Democrats continue this dangerous be- stimulus package in American history. COVID last year, only $3 trillion of
havior. For them, the Obama-era And just a few months ago, we passed that $4 trillion has actually been spent
thinking of ‘‘Never let a crisis go to the second largest. But what the Demo- yet. We still have over $1 trillion
waste’’ is alive and well. crats aren’t telling you is that much of unspent of the money from last year.
Estimates show that there is roughly the $900 billion we passed in the most But before that last trillion dollars,
$1 trillion in enacted but unspent recent relief package, and even some of which imagine just how big that really
COVID–19 stimulus funding. Last the CARES Act money, has yet to be is—to give you an example, every sin-
month, I wrote to President Biden’s spent. And, frankly, folks, we don’t gle Agency in the Federal Government,
Acting Director for the Office of Man- even know exactly who has spent what the total budget for a year, is $1 tril-
agement and Budget requesting any money Congress has doled out over the lion. So this ‘‘little $1 trillion’’ that is
documents related to enacted but cur- last year. left would cover the total budget for
rently unspent COVID–19 stimulus I have long said, the American tax- every Agency in the Federal Govern-
funding. The response: None. Total si- payer deserves to know where and how ment for all of next year.
With this $1 trillion that is still
lence. their money is being spent. Bottom
unspent, the Biden administration and
Here is what that means: The Senate line, we need transparency and to know
my Democratic colleagues are saying:
has no idea how States are spending what has and has not been spent so far.
We want an additional $2 trillion. Basi-
their allocated funds, and we don’t This commonsense effort will help us
cally, near the end of the pandemic,
know what the actual needs are. It get this information. Until we have
they want a bill as large as what we
would be completely irresponsible and those details, we should not continue
had the very first month of the pan-
an abdication of our duty as stewards throwing money to Washington bu-
demic a year ago, when we knew we
of American tax dollars if the Senate reaucrats, and we certainly should not
were in economic free fall.
continues to approve further spending support this partisan $1.9 trillion pack- All we are asking are a couple of
without more information. age that includes many items that are things: One is, hey, can we read the
That is why my colleagues and I are completely unrelated to COVID–19. bill? No. 2, can we get real numbers of
introducing a resolution calling on I agree with my colleagues that there what is unspent and anything that is
President Biden to inform the Senate is more that we can do to help expedite unspent that we can reallocate for
of how much unspent funds are left the vaccine distribution and promote something in the future? Let me give
over from the previous COVID spending access to childcare so our parents can you an example. The best I can tell, we
bills. We want to be very clear. This return to work. But, folks, this is not have about $6 billion still left in the
resolution only asks for information Monopoly money. This is real money. vaccine line item left over from last
from the President that will help the We have a moral obligation to our fu- year—$6 billion just for vaccine, and
Senate make an informed decision. ture generations to spend responsibly. that is vaccine purchases. There is an-
I am proud to be joined today by Sen- Iowans and all Americans deserve other $17 billion left over just for all
ator LANKFORD and Senator ERNST to transparency before we add trillions of the distribution process for vaccines.
ask for transparency. dollars to their tab. That is a lot of money.
It is pretty simple. Ever since the With that, I will yield to the Senator Just yesterday, President Biden an-
pandemic started, I have wanted the from Oklahoma. nounced we will have all the vaccines
Federal Government to step in and The PRESIDING OFFICER. The jun- available for every adult in America by
help those who are hurting and have ior Senator from Oklahoma. the end of May. It is paid for, set aside,
lost their jobs. I will completely agree Mr. LANKFORD. Madam President, ready to go. Yet this bill that I under-
that we need to do more to help fami- Senator SCOTT, Senator ERNST, and I stand is coming tomorrow—maybe
lies and small businesses that continue are not trying to ask for something later today—has tens of billions of dol-
to suffer from the impacts of the that the American people aren’t al- lars more in vaccine money. Why are
coronavirus pandemic. Relief is needed, ready asking for as well and, quite there tens of billions of dollars more in
but it has to be targeted. We have to frankly, the Senate and this White vaccine money, when just yesterday
consider our debt and do only what is House haven’t already said that they the President announced we have all
necessary for those in need. wanted to be able to do: basic trans- the purchases done all the way through
I grew up in public housing and parency, efficient spending. toward the end of May to vaccinate
watched my parents struggle to find It is Wednesday afternoon right now. every adult in America? And there are
work and make ends meet. I saw my We are about to take up a bill for, we billions of dollars still left over in the
dad’s car get repossessed twice. I never think, $1.9 trillion. And I say ‘‘we two vaccine accounts even after that.
want a family to go through what mine think’’ because none of us has seen the Why are we asking for tens of billions
did growing up. But before another dol- text of this bill yet, not one of us on ei- of dollars more? Where is that money
lar is spent, especially dollars going to ther side of the aisle. And the debate going? That shouldn’t be an unreason-
liberal initiatives that have nothing to was supposed to begin on it today, but able question. That should be a ques-
do with COVID relief, there needs to be none of us has seen the text for this. tion everybody should ask. Why are we
a full and clear accounting of all en- Supposedly, we are supposed to start asking for tens of billions of dollars
voting on it tomorrow night, though no
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
acted but unspent funding. The deci- more in vaccine money when we have
sions we make today have serious im- one has seen the text of the bill yet. In already purchased everything related
pacts on our children and grand- addition to that, last year, this Con- to vaccines? Is this foreign aid vac-
children. gress, on a bipartisan basis, passed five cines? We don’t know.
But before I continue, I yield to my COVID relief bills totaling over $4 tril- There is $170 billion being requested
colleagues from Iowa and Oklahoma lion. Every dollar of that $4 trillion for education expenses. All of us want
and thank them for their effort. was borrowed, every dollar. None of to take care of education, but $170 bil-
I now yield to Senator ERNST. that was budgeted. But there was bi- lion is twice as much as what the
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S1014 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 3, 2021
American people spend on education in Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I the red. We know how badly Americans
a year. The total education budget is certainly appreciate the Senator from are hurting, and they are hurting right
$67 billion for the entire year for all of Florida’s interest in oversight of the now.
the Federal education budget—$67 bil- coronavirus emergency relief funds. We are a full year into this pandemic
lion. This is now very close to three This funding has been and continues to that has taken the lives of over 515,000
times what the annual budget is for all be critical to the American people Americans. And this pandemic is not
of spending just for COVID. And, by the throughout the pandemic. over. It is continuing to ravage com-
way, still unspent in the education I also appreciate the Senator’s sup- munities all across our Nation.
amount from last year’s budget, we un- port for the creation of the Pandemic Let’s look at where we are right now.
derstand, is about $68 billion. So there Response Accountability Committee Upwards of 2,000 Americans are dying
is still $68 billion unallocated in edu- when he voted for the CARES Act. This each and every day. Daily cases are at
cation entities that hasn’t even been was a provision that I authored to en- the same levels we saw during the last
touched yet. sure that we would have strong over- surge in July, with over 50,000 Ameri-
Hey, listen, before everybody jumps sight of coronavirus relief dollars. cans testing positive for COVID–19
up and says, you Republicans are just I agree wholeheartedly that we must every day. We are also facing the new
being a blockade, can we just ask a be faithful stewards of taxpayer threat of emerging variants like the
question? How much money is unspent, money. That is why the CARES Act di- UK and South African strains, which
and what is the money going toward rected the Government Accountability unfortunately could lead to even more
that we are asking for? That shouldn’t Office, our congressional watchdog, to cases.
be an unreasonable question. That oversee coronavirus spending. We are The economic toll continues to go on.
should be a reasonable question. We are fortunate to receive consistent, de- Millions of Americans remain out of
not trying to be obstructionists; we are tailed reporting and recommendations work. In January, the unemployment
just trying to get information. on these issues. The Senator’s resolu- rate was nearly double that of
And, quite frankly, when our team tion, however, will not strengthen prepandemic levels, and unemployment
calls over to the White House and says: these oversight mechanisms, nor will it claims are still more than double
Can you give us the details of what is deliver any form of relief to families prepandemic levels. We all have
unspent in this amount—I know it is who are hurting and small businesses friends, family members, and neighbors
that are struggling. who are hurting right now. Small busi-
early in their Presidency, and they are
If the Senator from Florida wants an nesses have had to slash their hours,
still getting organized, but most of the
update on the current status of funding cutting into their own bottom line and
time their answer is: We will get back
from previous coronavirus relief bills, I employees’ paychecks.
to you, and they never do. We need to help struggling families
We need to know what is still left am happy to provide one to him.
by providing rental assistance, stim-
over of this $1 trillion that has already Let’s first look at the first
ulus checks, and unemployment bene-
been allocated before we allocate an- coronavirus relief measures, all of
fits. We need to help kids by supporting
other $2 trillion, knowing every single which were passed in March and April
our schools so we can get back to in-
dollar of that is borrowed from China of last year. To date, approximately 93
person learning. We need to invest in
or somewhere else. percent of those funds have been obli-
the public health infrastructure nec-
This is a real issue. We should resolve gated and 88 percent have been outlaid.
essary to combat this virus by increas-
this before we move to spending an- After accounting for benefits that are,
ing testing capacity, implementing
other $2 trillion. And I thank very by design, continuing to be paid out
vaccine education campaigns, and
much Senator SCOTT for his leadership over time, there is less than $100 billion
tracking and containing the new
in this area and asking some very basic of uncommitted funds left, and ap-
COVID variants that we see springing
questions. proximately half of that is in the Pro-
up.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The jun- vider Relief Fund for struggling med- We are starting to see a glimpse of
ior Senator from Florida. ical providers, whose needs continue to light at the end of this very long—far
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam Presi- be extremely high. too long—tunnel, but we must keep
dent, I thank Senator LANKFORD and For the legislation signed into law on
moving forward. The American Rescue
Senator ERNST. December 27, 2020, more than half of
Plan will finally allow us to control
Passing this resolution will show the this funding has already been com-
the virus, improve the lives of all
American people that Congress can be mitted, but if we set aside expanded
Americans, and get us out of this cri-
both responsive to the needs of Amer- unemployment benefits, which expire
sis.
ican families and small businesses hurt next month; small business relief; and We should not be wasting time on
by this pandemic while also remaining the tax credit portion of the economic partisan resolutions that will neither
fully accountable for the proper stew- impact payments, which will be dis- deliver relief nor meaningfully improve
ardship of tax dollars. bursed over time, less than 12 percent oversight of COVID relief efforts. We
This is about basic transparency and of the funding from December remains must come together and provide the re-
getting the facts. If this resolution unobligated. lief that families and small businesses
passes and the administration shares We know the status of funds from all across our country so desperately
the information I have been requesting, past COVID relief bills. This informa- need.
it will go a long way in helping Con- tion is not being kept secret in any Madam President, I object.
gress craft a targeted bill that directly way. In addition to reports from the The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec-
addresses the real needs in our Nation Pandemic Response Accountability tion is heard.
today. Committee and the Government Ac- The junior Senator from Florida.
I ask unanimous consent that the countability Office, we have a monthly Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam Presi-
Senate proceed to the consideration of SF 133 report from the Office of Man- dent, I am extremely disappointed in
S. Res. 88, submitted earlier today. I agement and Budget. my colleague’s decision to block this
further ask that the resolution be Coronavirus-related spending is also resolution. My colleagues and I
agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, publicly tracked—publicly tracked—on wouldn’t be doing this resolution if we
and that the motions to reconsider be both USASpending.gov and on the were receiving the information that
considered made and laid upon the website of the Pandemic Response Ac- my colleague said we were receiving.
countability Committee.
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
table with no intervening action or de- This has nothing to do with whether
bate. We don’t need more reports right Senate Republicans want to provide re-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there now; we need action. We have been lief. We want to provide relief. We want
objection? fighting a public health and economic to do it in a targeted manner, and we
Mr. PETERS. Madam President, I re- crisis, neither of which will magically want to make sure that we don’t waste
serve the right to object. disappear without additional Federal taxpayer dollars.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- action. We can’t wait until more small This objection just blocked the Sen-
ator from Michigan. businesses close or hospitals run into ate from requesting basic information
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March 3, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1015
that will help us do our basic jobs. Sen- This is not without consequence. In I think about hard-working moms
ate Democrats just objected to trans- fact, as the book by Drs. Reinhart and and dads in Utah, struggling to make
parency. This means they are against Rogoff, published nearly 10 years ago— ends meet while paying their Federal
giving us the facts, against ensuring a book known as ‘‘This Time Is Dif- and State taxes. They are told over and
accountability, and against getting ferent’’—notes, once we get into this over and over again that they have to
targeted help to the right people. My cycle, once we get accustomed to be giving more. They are told that
colleague is choosing to prevent the spending this much and acquiring this what they have spent and the time
Senate from receiving information much of a debt-to-GDP ratio, we find they have allotted—weeks or months
that is pertinent to our ongoing nego- ourselves in dire circumstances—cir- out of every year just to pay their Fed-
tiations. cumstances in which it is even more eral tax alone—still somehow isn’t
Senate Republicans believe in relief difficult to raise the same revenue enough, isn’t nearly enough because, in
of those hurt by COVID–19. We want to based on the same tax structure or addition to the money that they have
help our small businesses. We want to even while tweaking that tax struc- worked so hard to earn and give to the
help those who have lost their jobs. We ture, it can be very difficult to pull out Federal Government, there is so much
want to make sure families are able to of the tailspin that could be produced more that has to be spent, like $1.5 bil-
survive this crisis and come out on the when we start spending in sums this lion going to Amtrak, even though it is
other side with their health and liveli- large and perpetuating a debt-to-GDP already sitting on $1 billion of unspent
hood. ratio that is, frankly, unsustainable. bailout relief.
My colleague’s objection shows that This $1.9 trillion package has very, These same moms and dads through-
Senate Democrats are not actually in- very little to do with COVID–19. In out Utah are not pleased when they are
terested in finding a bipartisan solu- fact, only 1 percent of the spending in made to understand that, in addition
tion to our Nation’s problems. Instead, this bill will go toward accelerating to bailing out Amtrak again when Am-
they want to blindly spend money on vaccine distribution; just 5 percent is trak is already sitting on this $1 billion
provisions completely unrelated to focused on public health. Instead, ac- in unspent bailout relief money, they
COVID, as if there are no consequences cording to the Committee for a Respon- are also going to have to bail out other
to racking up more debt and spending sible Federal Budget, three times as States; they are going to have to bail
beyond our means. much money will go toward partisan out State and local governments that
I am thinking about the kids who are priorities that are ‘‘not directly related haven’t been managed well, as Utah’s
just like me, growing up in public to the current crisis.’’ government has. This isn’t fair to
housing, with parents who are barely What are some of the examples of them. This is a matter of fundamental
scraping by. We need to help those fam- this type of spending? Well, we have fairness to them and to countless
ilies. In order to do that, we need to $1.5 billion more set aside for Amtrak, Americans, not only in Utah but in
better understand where the need is. which is itself already sitting on $1 bil- every State.
I am disappointed in my colleague’s lion of unspent bailout money. What
Some States still have unspent fund-
decision, and I hope he reconsiders. this has to do with the virus and why
ing that they have gotten from pre-
I yield the floor. the virus somehow justifies giving
vious COVID relief packages. Cali-
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. them an additional $1.5 billion when
fornia alone has $8 billion in unspent
SMITH). The Senator from Utah. they are already sitting on $1 billion of
funding, and New York has up to $5 bil-
f still unspent bailout money is beyond
lion. In this bill, we are acting like
my comprehension. There is $50 million
CORONAVIRUS States are facing a fiscal catastrophe
in funding for environmental justice
Mr. LEE. Madam President, the bill that is specifically from COVID when
projects, also difficult to connect that
before the Senate this week is not real- they are not.
up to COVID; $200 million for the Insti-
ly about COVID relief; it is about poli- tute of Museum and Library Services; At the same time, we are acting like
tics. Before this, COVID relief has not $135 million for the National Endow- the unprecedented magnitude of Fed-
been a terribly partisan issue. In fact, ment for the Arts; $135 million for the eral debt is a nonissue. It is not. We
we have passed 5 relief bills, each with National Endowment for the Human- have got this situation exactly back-
at least 90 votes. That means they are ities; $86 billion in a pension bailout for ward.
overwhelmingly broad-based and bipar- private sector workers. Look, any new relief funding just
tisan efforts. So if this one were to The list goes on and on, but you get needs to be targeted, and it needs to be
pass, it would be the first of those to the idea. You get money that goes to temporary, and it needs to be directly
have passed that has been highly con- projects, as well as a significant tied to COVID relief. This package is,
troversial. Why? Because, in the first amount to State and local govern- instead, about fulfilling the political
place, it borrows and spends another ments. We will get back to that in a wish list of one political party over an-
$1.9 trillion when there are still hun- moment. When there is as much as $63 other and has very little, if anything,
dreds of billions of dollars of unspent billion leftover in unspent funds, this to do with the pandemic. It is offen-
relief money from past COVID–19 relief money will not necessarily even help sive, and, yes, it is inappropriate for
packages. The new spending authorizes schools to reopen. one political party—the political party
money to go to projects in States and And $350 billion in aid goes to State that clings to the narrowest of margins
local governments, including many and local governments, even though of a majority in this body—to push its
that may not even need it. total losses to date have mostly been own political wish list onto an oppor-
The fight against the pandemic has, covered by the $360 billion that Con- tunity to provide COVID relief for the
of course, fundamentally changed in gress has already provided in aid for American people, and it would be
the months since this plan was first de- State and local governments over the equally inappropriate for Republicans
vised and proposed. It is already out- last year. While there is some disparity to use it as an opportunity to push
dated. Now, as we are here, into the among and between the States and how their own wish list.
month of March, the circumstances they have responded to the COVID pan- Look, we haven’t seen this before. We
have changed, yet the plan remains demic and how they fared as far as haven’t seen anything like this before.
largely the same as it was. So it feels their revenues, State and local revenue We didn’t, in the past, see any of the
a little bit, to me, like we are fighting has mostly recovered, and while 26 previous COVID relief packages pushed
the last war using the last war’s battle States saw general revenue decline, 21 through reconciliation. There are a
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
plan, leaving us unprepared for the bat- States actually saw revenue gains. In number of reasons for that, one of
tle actually in front of us. fact, my home State of Utah, as well as which was it is wrong. It is not an ap-
This is a bill that will worsen our na- some other States, is running sur- propriate use of reconciliation. An-
tional debt and weaken our economy in pluses. Utah’s sacrifice and good gov- other was, it wasn’t necessary because
the long run without even doing much ernance should not go to bail out other we made it bipartisan, not just mildly
to help small businesses and American profligate States to the tune of $350 bil- bipartisan with a few straggler votes
families in the short term. lion. here or there but overwhelmingly so.
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