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Senate Resolution 88 (Cong. Rec., March 3, 2021)

Summary

This is S1031 of the Congressional Record, Senate, March 3, 2021, with interleaved columns. The page opens with the end of the findings of a resolution on mothers in the workforce, which says women have lost jobs during the pandemic and asks that any relief package include paid leave and child care. S. Res. 88, submitted by Mr. Scott of Florida for himself and others, requests that the President transmit to the Senate, not later than 14 days after adoption, documents on funding previously enacted and currently unspent under listed laws, including the CARES Act (Public Law 116–136). S. Res. 89 honoring the humanitarian work of Aristides de Sousa Mendes begins at the foot of the page.

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“Senate Resolution 88 (Cong. Rec., March 3, 2021).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-03-crec-2021-03-03-pt1-pgs1031-00ae763f2c/, SHA-256 995aef605fea82b5460ce85d5613cbce8bb74aec4c1f399243316389b56e8b88.

Full text

                                               March 3, 2021                                     CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE                                                                      S1031
                                               the first time in almost a decade, even as              children younger than age 10 say child care            SENATE   RESOLUTION    88—RE-
                                               women continued to face unjust gender and               is one of their top 3 challenges during the             QUESTING THAT THE PRESIDENT
                                               racial wage gaps;                                       COVID–19 pandemic;
                                                 Whereas 2,300,000 women have left the
                                                                                                                                                               TRANSMIT TO THE SENATE NOT
                                                                                                          Whereas, in 2019, before the COVID–19 pan-
                                               labor force since the beginning of the                  demic hit the United States, there were
                                                                                                                                                               LATER THAN 14 DAYS AFTER
                                               COVID–19 pandemic, including 275,000 who                roughly 9,700,000 working mothers with a                THE DATE OF THE ADOPTION OF
                                               exited in January 2021;                                 child younger than age 6;                               THIS RESOLUTION DOCUMENTS
                                                 Whereas participation by women in the                    Whereas 95 percent of the child care work-           IN THE POSSESSION OF THE
                                               labor force was less than 55 percent in April           force is comprised of women, and yet nearly             PRESIDENT RELATING TO THE
                                               2020 for the first time since 1986, in part be-         2⁄3 of child care workers with children report
                                               cause of the child care crisis caused by the                                                                    AMOUNT   OF   FUNDING   PRE-
                                                                                                       problems with accessing public support pro-
                                               COVID–19 pandemic;                                                                                              VIOUSLY ENACTED UNDER CER-
                                                                                                       grams and often struggle to afford high-qual-
                                                 Whereas participation by women age 20
                                                                                                       ity child care for their own families;                  TAIN PUBLIC LAWS AND CUR-
                                               and older in the labor force fell to a 33-year                                                                  RENTLY UNSPENT
                                                                                                          Whereas 60 percent of businesses in the
                                               low in January 2021, hitting 57 percent;
                                                                                                       child care industry are minority-owned;
                                                 Whereas women—                                                                                                 Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself,
                                                 (1) have suffered the majority of pandemic-              Whereas a significant investment in child
                                                                                                       care would be simultaneously job creating              Ms. ERNST, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. YOUNG,
                                               related job losses; and
                                                 (2) have lost over 5,400,000 net jobs since           and job enabling, creating care jobs and sup-          Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CRUZ,
                                               February 2020, and account for 55 percent of            porting parental employment, both of which             Mr. BRAUN, Mr. ROUNDS, and Mr.
                                               overall net job loss since the start of the             would benefit women;                                   HOEVEN) submitted the following reso-
                                               COVID–19 pandemic;                                         Whereas women of color are disproportion-
                                                 Whereas 86 percent of net jobs lost in De-            ately represented in many frontline indus-
                                                                                                                                                              lution; which was referred to the Com-
                                               cember 2020 were jobs held by women, with               tries that also lack critical benefits such as         mittee on Homeland Security and Gov-
                                               women losing 196,000 jobs during that month;            paid sick leave and flexibility to telework,           ernmental Affairs:
                                                 Whereas mothers in the prime of their                 including food services, hospitality, retail,
                                               working lives have paid an especially high                                                                                         S. RES. 88
                                                                                                       and social assistance;
                                               price, with mothers ages 25 to 54 experi-                  Whereas the unprecedented burdens of                  Whereas the national debt of the United
                                               encing a 5.7-percentage point decline in em-            child care, work, and remote learning have             States is $27,900,000,000,000;
                                               ployment since the COVID–19 pandemic                    strained the mental and emotional health of              Whereas this represents $223,441 in debt per
                                               began, compared to a 3.1 percentage-point               mothers; and                                           taxpayer;
                                               decline for fathers in the same age group;                 Whereas access to paid leave during the               Where       Congress     appropriated      over
                                                 Whereas women are overrepresented in                  COVID–19 pandemic has been linked to a re-             $4,000,000,000,000 on a bipartisan basis to ad-
                                               low-wage jobs and underrepresented in high-             duction in the spread of COVID–19 by as                dress COVID–19 during 2020;
                                               wage jobs;
                                                                                                       many as 15,000 new cases per day where peo-              Whereas       Congress    passed    additional
                                                 Whereas employment in the bottom quar-
                                                                                                       ple were able to use the leave, such that paid         COVID–19 relief legislation as part of the bi-
                                               tile of the wage distribution has declined by
                                                                                                       leave has prevented the compounded                     partisan-bicameral omnibus COVID–19 relief
                                               17 percent since February 2020, far exceeding
                                               the overall employment decline of 6.5 per-              stressors of countless evictions, hospitaliza-         deal on December 21, 2020;
                                               cent;                                                   tions, and hungry children: Now, therefore,              Whereas the latest reports from the Con-
                                                 Whereas wages for women are key to the                be it                                                  gressional Budget Office indicate that a sub-
                                               economic security of the families of such                 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate         stantial portion of funds previously allocated
                                               women;                                                  that—                                                  remain unspent;
                                                 Whereas women of color play a particu-                  (1) mothers, especially mothers of color,              Whereas Congress needs reliable informa-
                                               larly vital role in the financial stability of          have been pushed to the brink of economic,             tion on unspent funds before it should con-
                                               their families, and any disruption to their             social, and emotional collapse during the              sider allocating additional dollars;
                                               earnings can be detrimental to the welfare of           COVID–19 pandemic because of the existing                Whereas, according to Center for a Respon-
                                               their families;                                         economic and social inequalities that women            sible Federal Budget, the proposed American
                                                 Whereas the absence of affordable child               have long faced;                                       Rescue Plan allocates less than 10 percent of
                                               care exacerbates inequality by severely in-               (2) any relief and long-term recovery pack-          its total funding to directly combat COVID–
                                               hibiting low-income parents from attaining              age to address the COVID–19 crisis should              19 needs;
                                               promotions and higher salaries;                         recognize and rebuild moms in the work-                  Whereas, according to the Congressional
                                                 Whereas child nutrition is strongly linked                                                                   Budget Office, the level of spending in the
                                                                                                       force, in order to secure meaningful and sus-
                                               to the employment status of mothers, such
                                                                                                       tainable economic recovery, by including, at           proposed American Rescue Plan is at least 3
                                               that almost 1 in 4 children experienced food
                                                                                                       a minimum—                                             times the size of the output shortfall in our
                                               insecurity in 2020 at the same time that
                                                                                                         (A) a robust paid leave plan, which is es-           economy, which will lead to higher inflation;
                                               mothers experienced work disruptions or un-
                                                                                                       sential to securing the physical health and            and
                                               employment that led to income loss;
                                                 Whereas work interruptions caused by                  financial health of families, including emer-            Whereas, almost half of the American Res-
                                               school closures and child care closures have            gency paid leave policies that would create a          cue Plan would not be spent until fiscal year
                                               disproportionately impacted women, forcing              path toward permanent paid leave solutions;            2022 or later, with at least $140,000,000,000 not
                                               women to reduce work hours, take a leave of               (B) the means to rebuild and stabilize the           being spent until fiscal year 2024 or later:
                                               absence, or permanently leave the work-                 child care industry, which is essential to eco-        Now, therefore, be it
                                               force;                                                  nomic recovery and bolstering women in the
                                                                                                       labor force;                                             Resolved, That the President is requested
                                                 Whereas, without reliable and affordable                                                                     to transmit to the Senate not later than 14
                                               child care, mothers who have left the work-               (C) major investments in our education
                                                                                                       systems, which must be made in order to                days after the date of the adoption of this
                                               force will not be able to return to work,
                                               since such mothers often cannot pay for                 safely reopen schools and campuses, pro-               resolution documents in the possession of
                                               child care without the income made from                 viding funding to support and protect the              the President relating to the amount of
                                               going back to work;                                     safety and health of educators, support staff,         funding previously enacted and currently
                                                 Whereas essential workers who are single              students, and families;                                unspent provided under the following laws:
                                               parents face additional challenges and great-             (D) recurring child benefits, and expanded             (1) The Coronavirus Preparedness and Re-
                                               er financial burden due to needing affordable           and improved child tax credit and earned in-           sponse Supplemental Appropriations Act,
                                               child care;                                             come tax credit to help reduce child poverty           2020 (Public Law 116–123).
                                                 Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has exac-               and provide economic security for families;              (2) The Families First Coronavirus Re-
                                               erbated existing stigmas against working                  (E) an expanded unemployment insurance               sponse Act (Public Law 116–127).
                                               mothers that falsely assume that their role             program that benefits struggling workers,                (3) The CARES Act (Public Law 116–136).
                                               as caregivers will negatively impact their              including those experiencing long-term un-               (4) The Paycheck Protection Program and
                                               work performance;                                       employment; and                                        Health Care Enhancement Act (Public Law
                                                 Whereas mothers forced to permanently                   (F) access to mental health support for




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                                                                                                                                                              116–139).
                                               leave the workforce or reduce work hours be-            mothers, which is essential to maintaining
                                                                                                                                                                (5) Division N (relating to additional
                                               cause of the COVID–19 pandemic are experi-              the health of the family; and
                                                                                                                                                              coronavirus response and relief) of the Con-
                                               encing career trajectory disruptions that                 (3) employers and policymakers in the
                                                                                                                                                              solidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public
                                               lower their lifetime earnings potential and             United States must prioritize addressing the
                                                                                                       economic cliff facing mothers, and make per-           Law 116–260).
                                               endanger their future Social Security earn-
                                               ings and other potential retirement income;             manent the aforementioned policies so that
                                                 Whereas child care is a lifeline for working          mothers are protected against any future
                                               mothers, and over 75 percent of mothers with            economic calamities.




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                                               S1032                                             CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE                                                         March 3, 2021
                                               SENATE      RESOLUTION        89—HON-                     Whereas, in 1995, President of Portugal              and parents deal with personal trauma as
                                                 ORING      THE     HUMANITARIAN                       Mario Soares posthumously bestowed on                  well as tragedies in their communities and
                                                 WORK OF DR. ARISTIDES DE                              Sousa Mendes the Grand Cross of the Order              the United States;
                                                                                                       of Christ;                                               Whereas students face myriad challenges
                                                 SOUSA MENDES DO AMARAL E
                                                                                                         Whereas, in 2017, President of Portugal              every day, including peer pressure, bullying,
                                                 ABRANCHES TO SAVE THE LIVES                           Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa posthumously be-               mental health issues, the deployment of fam-
                                                 OF FRENCH JEWS AND OTHER                              stowed on Sousa Mendes Portugal’s highest              ily members to serve in conflicts overseas,
                                                 PERSONS DURING THE HOLO-                              honor, the Grand Cross of the Order of Lib-            and school violence;
                                                 CAUST                                                 erty;                                                    Whereas a school counselor is one of the
                                                 Mr. ROMNEY (for himself and Mr.                         Whereas, in 2020, the Parliament of Por-             few professionals in a school building who is
                                                                                                       tugal unanimously voted to memorialize                 trained in both education and social and
                                               MURPHY) submitted the following reso-                   Sousa Mendes in the National Pantheon in               emotional development;
                                               lution; which was referred to the Com-                  Lisbon; and                                              Whereas the roles and responsibilities of
                                               mittee on the Judiciary:                                  Whereas, in 2020, on the 80th anniversary of         school counselors are often misunderstood;
                                                                  S. RES. 89                           his heroism, the United States Commission                Whereas the school counselor position is
                                                  Whereas Nazi Germany invaded France on               for the Preservation of America’s Heritage             often among the first to be eliminated to
                                               May 10, 1940, and after brief but intense hos-          Abroad initiated commemorations in honor               meet budgetary constraints;
                                               tilities, secured the surrender of France on            of Sousa Mendes in Bordeaux, France, and                 Whereas the national average ratio of stu-
                                               June 22, 1940;                                          Portugal: Now, therefore, be it                        dents to school counselors is 430 to 1, almost
                                                  Whereas, as a consequence of the Nazi con-             Resolved, That the Senate—                           twice the 250 to 1 ratio recommended by the
                                               quest, the lives of French Jews and Jewish                (1) honors and salutes the humanitarian              American School Counselor Association, the
                                               and non-Jewish persons of other nationali-              and principled work of Dr. Aristides de Sousa          National Association for College Admission
                                               ties seeking refuge in France were put in               Mendes do Amaral e Abranches, Consul of                Counseling, and other organizations; and
                                               grave and imminent danger;                              Portugal in Bordeaux, France, for acting                 Whereas the celebration of National
                                                  Whereas many thousands of those persons              with great courage and at personal risk to             School Counseling Week will increase aware-
                                               fled to Bordeaux, France, and elsewhere in              issue transit visas to French Jews and other           ness of the important and necessary role
                                               southwest France, seeking to traverse Spain             persons, sparing them from Nazi occupation             school counselors play in the lives of stu-
                                               and escape to Portugal;                                 and the Holocaust, thus saving many thou-              dents in the United States: Now, therefore,
                                                  Whereas, in 1939, the Government of Por-             sands of innocent lives;                               be it
                                               tugal under Antonio de Oliveira Salazar                   (2) directs the Secretary of the Senate to             Resolved, That the Senate—
                                               issued Circular 14, which sharply restricted            transmit copies of this resolution to the                (1) designates the week of February 1
                                               the availability of visas to displaced persons;         President; and                                         through 5, 2021, as ‘‘National School Coun-
                                                  Whereas the Consul General of Portugal in              (3) requests that the President transmit a           seling Week’’; and
                                               Bordeaux was Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes              copy of this resolution to the President of              (2) encourages the people of the United
                                               do Amaral e Abranches;                                  Portugal and the President of the Assembly             States to observe National School Coun-
                                                  Whereas, in June 1940, confronting a hu-             of the Republic of Portugal.                           seling Week with appropriate ceremonies
                                               manitarian crisis and in defiance of Circular                           f                                      and activities that promote awareness of the
                                               14, Sousa Mendes, assisted principally by his                                                                  role school counselors play in schools and
                                                                                                       SENATE RESOLUTION 90—DESIG-                            the community at large in preparing stu-
                                               diplomatic colleagues Jose de Seabra,
                                               Manuel de Vieira Braga, and Emile Gissot,                 NATING THE WEEK OF FEB-                              dents for fulfilling lives as contributing
                                               issued without charge tens of thousands of                RUARY 1 THROUGH 5, 2021, AS                          members of society.
                                               visas, including thousands to fleeing Jews;               ‘‘NATIONAL SCHOOL COUNSELING                                           f
                                                  Whereas Sousa Mendes reportedly stated,                WEEK’’
                                               ‘‘I declare that I shall give, free of charge, a                                                               SENATE      RESOLUTION        91—SUP-
                                                                                                         Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. COL-
                                               visa to whosoever shall request it. My desire                                                                    PORTING      THE     GOALS      AND
                                                                                                       LINS, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO,
                                               is to be with God against Man rather than                                                                        IDEALS OF ‘‘CAREER AND TECH-
                                               with Man and against God.’’;                            Mr.    MARKEY,    Ms.   HIRONO,   Mr.
                                                                                                       BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. STABE-                       NICAL EDUCATION MONTH’’
                                                  Whereas those visas, as well as Sousa
                                               Mendes’ personal intervention at the border             NOW, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. VAN                     Mr.   KAINE     (for   himself,  Mr.
                                               between France and Spain, enabled the refu-             HOLLEN, Mr. KING, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms.                  PORTMAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. YOUNG,
                                               gees to reach safety in Portugal;                       BALDWIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Mr.                    Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. BENNET, Mrs.
                                                  Whereas, in July 1940, the Government of             HEINRICH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PETERS,                   BLACKBURN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr.
                                               Portugal under Oliveira Salazar responded               and Ms. ROSEN) submitted the fol-                      BOOZMAN, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. BROWN, Ms.
                                               by recalling Sousa Mendes, dismissing Sousa                                                                    CANTWELL, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr.
                                                                                                       lowing resolution; which was consid-
                                               Mendes later from active diplomatic service,
                                                                                                       ered and agreed to:                                    COONS, Mr. CORNYN, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO,
                                               and subjecting him to economic retribution
                                               and subsequent ostracism;                                                  S. RES. 90                          Mr. CRAMER, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DAINES,
                                                  Whereas, in 1941, Sousa Mendes explained,              Whereas school counselors are more impor-            Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Ms.
                                               ‘‘In truth, I disobeyed, but my disobedience            tant now than ever, as the COVID–19 pan-               ERNST, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mrs. FISCHER,
                                               does not dishonor me. I chose to defy an                demic has magnified the mental health crisis           Ms. HASSAN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. HOEVEN,
                                               order that to me represented the persecution            among the youth of our Nation;                         Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. INHOFE, Mr.
                                               of true castaways who sought with all their               Whereas the American School Counselor                KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MANCHIN,
                                               strength to be saved from Hitler’s wrath.               Association has designated February 1                  Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mrs. MUR-
                                               Above the order, for me, was God’s law, and             through 5, 2021, as ‘‘National School Coun-
                                                                                                                                                              RAY, Mr. PETERS, Mr. RISCH, Mr. ROM-
                                               that’s the one I have always sought to ad-              seling Week’’;
                                               here to without hesitation. The true lesson               Whereas school counselors have long advo-            NEY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr.
                                               of Christianity is to love one’s neighbor.’’;           cated for equitable opportunities for all stu-         RUBIO, Mr. SANDERS, Mrs. SHAHEEN,
                                                  Whereas, in 1954, Sousa Mendes died penni-           dents;                                                 Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. THUNE,
                                               less in Lisbon, Portugal, under the cloud of              Whereas school counselors help develop               Mr. TILLIS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. WAR-
                                               the discipline imposed for his defiance;                well-rounded students by guiding students              NER, Mr. WICKER, Mr. WYDEN, and Mr.
                                                  Whereas, in 1966, Yad Vashem recognized              through academic learning, social and emo-             SCOTT of South Carolina) submitted
                                               Sousa Mendes as a Righteous Among the Na-               tional development, and career exploration;            the following resolution; which was
                                               tions for his selfless efforts to save Jewish             Whereas personal and social growth can
                                                                                                                                                              considered and agreed to:
                                               lives at personal risk to himself, making               help lead to increased academic achieve-
                                               Sousa Mendes the first of a number of diplo-            ment;                                                                      S. RES. 91
                                               matic rescuers to be so honored;                          Whereas school counselors play a vital role            Whereas a competitive global economy re-
                                                  Whereas, in 1988, the United States Senate           in ensuring that students are ready for both           quires workers who are prepared for skilled
                                               passed Senate Resolution 270, 110th Congress,           college and careers;                                   professions;
                                               agreed to June 23, 1988, to commemorate                   Whereas school counselors play a vital role            Whereas 3,000,000 workers will be needed




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                                               Sousa Mendes’ humanitarian efforts;                     in making students aware of opportunities              for the United States’ infrastructure in the
                                                  Whereas, in 1986, President of Portugal              for financial aid and college scholarships;            next several years, including designing,
                                               Mario Soares posthumously rehabilitated                   Whereas school counselors assist with and            building, and operating transportation, hous-
                                               Sousa Mendes, decorating Sousa Mendes as                coordinate efforts to foster a positive school         ing, utilities, and telecommunications;
                                               an Officer of the Order of Liberty;                     climate, resulting in a safer learning envi-             Whereas the COVID–19 pandemic has dis-
                                                  Whereas, in 1988, the Parliament of Por-             ronment for all students;                              placed millions of workers in the United
                                               tugal posthumously granted Sousa Mendes                   Whereas school counselors have been in-              States and fundamentally shifted entire in-
                                               the status of Ambassador;                               strumental in helping students, teachers,              dustries within foundational aspects of the




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