American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Cong. Rec., March 4, 2021)
Summary
Opening pages of the Congressional Record daily edition for Thursday, March 4, 2021, Volume 167, No. 41. The House was not in session, with its next meeting set for Monday, March 8 at 12 p.m. The Senate met at 12 noon with Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii in the Chair, and the Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the prayer. The page shows the motion to proceed to S. 11 and a period of morning business, and speakers on the American Rescue Plan say the plan has support from a clear majority of Democrats, independents and Republicans, which is their view, and criticize House text being jammed through.
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Cite this document
“American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Cong. Rec., March 4, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-04-crec-2021-03-04-pt1-pgs1037-8-376b06dab0/
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Congressional Record
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117 th CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE
Vol. 167 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021 No. 41
House of Representatives
The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Monday, March 8, 2021, at 12 p.m.
Senate
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
The Senate met at 12 noon and was to the Senate from the President pro The senior assistant legislative clerk
called to order by the Honorable BRIAN tempore (Mr. LEAHY). read as follows:
SCHATZ, a Senator from the State of The senior assistant legislative clerk Motion to proceed to S. 11, a bill to provide
Hawaii. read the following letter: for an exception to a limitation against ap-
U.S. SENATE, pointment of persons as Secretary of Defense
f
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, within seven years of relief from active duty
PRAYER Washington, DC, March 4, 2021. as a regular commissioned officer of the
To the Senate: Armed Forces.
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, f
fered the following prayer: of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby
Let us pray. appoint the Honorable BRIAN SCHATZ, a Sen- MORNING BUSINESS
Almighty God, You are our rock. ator from the State of Hawaii, to perform Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask
Today, inspire our Senators to safely the duties of the Chair. unanimous consent that the Senate be
walk on the path of wisdom. Remind PATRICK J. LEAHY,
President pro tempore.
in a period of morning business, with
them that reverence for You guaran- Senators permitted to speak therein
tees a great start for their journey. In- Mr. SCHATZ thereupon assumed the for up to 10 minutes each.
spire them to strive to fulfill your pur- Chair as Acting President pro tempore. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
poses. May they daily express their f pore. Without objection, it is so or-
gratitude for Your bountiful blessings RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY dered.
as You continue to direct their steps. LEADER f
Trusting You with all their hearts,
may they find in You their strength The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF
and shield. pore. The majority leader is recog- 2021
Lord, lead them like a Shepherd. Re- nized.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, as the
mind them that You have set apart the f Senate prepares to take up the Amer-
Godly for Yourself. LEGISLATIVE SESSION ican Rescue Plan today, I want to re-
We pray in Your merciful Name. mind everyone why we are here. This
Amen. country is in the midst of a once-in-a-
f PROVIDING FOR AN EXCEPTION TO century crisis—not once in a decade,
A LIMITATION AGAINST AP- not once in every 50 years—once in a
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE POINTMENT OF PERSONS AS century.
The Presiding Officer led the Pledge SECRETARY OF DEFENSE WITH- It is a crisis that is still very much
of Allegiance, as follows: IN SEVEN YEARS OF RELIEF with us, and it is deadly—deadly—seri-
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the FROM ACTIVE DUTY AS A REG- ous. It has claimed more than 515,000
United States of America, and to the Repub- ULAR COMMISSIONED OFFICER precious lives across every part of the
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, OF THE ARMED FORCES—MOTION Nation.
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. TO PROCEED For the better part of the calendar
f Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I year, businesses have had to close their
move to proceed to Calendar No. 1, S. doors and entire industries teetered on
APPOINTMENT OF ACTING 11. the brink of collapse. The economy has
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- lost 10 million jobs since this time last
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The pore. The clerk will report the bill by year. Millions of Americans are thou-
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clerk will please read a communication title. sands of dollars behind on the rent and
∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
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S1038 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 4, 2021
on the utilities. Folks are facing evic- Donald Trump was President, they arms, and set it on a path to strong re-
tion. American families have had their were willing to vote for a total of over covery, the Senate is going to move
water shut off, their heat shut off in $3 trillion in aid. Now that President forward with the bill.
the depth of winter, and the power cut Biden is President and the economy is No matter how long it takes, the
during their kids’ first days of virtual in the same pickle, generally speaking, Senate is going to stay in session to
kindergarten. they don’t want to vote for a nickel. I finish the bill this week. The American
Even as the vaccine is quickly mak- wonder why. I wonder why. people deserve nothing less.
ing its way into Americans’ arms now And I have to say, a few of my Repub- I yield the floor.
that President Biden has taken the lican colleagues are going to some I suggest the absence of a quorum.
helm, tens of thousands of Americans pretty ridiculous lengths to showcase The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
continue to get sick every week, and their opposition to a bill The Econo- clerk will call the roll.
we are racing against the clock to de- mist has called ‘‘one of the most pop- The senior assistant legislative clerk
feat the pandemic and to save Amer- ular bills in decades,’’ a bill supported proceeded to call the roll.
ican lives. by a majority—a majority—of Repub- Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
Now, Congress has come together on lican voters, not Republican Senators, ask unanimous consent that the order
several occasions to pass emergency re- but voters. for the quorum call be rescinded.
lief in this time of extraordinary crisis. Yesterday, the Republican Senator The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
In each case, we saw our economy re- from Wisconsin—the same Senator who pore. Without objection, it is so or-
cover, briefly, before worrying trends last summer proudly declared he would dered.
took hold again, showing the depth of oppose even a dime more in COVID re-
f
the economic crisis. It is not going to lief, the same Senator who spent a Sen-
be quick and easy to get out of. ate hearing on Capitol security reading RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY
After the CARES bill passed, our conspiracy theories into the RECORD LEADER
economy stabilized before dipping and saying that January 6 wasn’t an The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
deeply again in the summer. After we armed insurrection—decided to make pore. The Republican leader is recog-
passed another emergency bill in De- himself the face of the Republican op- nized.
cember, the January numbers looked position to the bill by vowing to force
positive before once again slipping in the reading of the Senate amendment f
recent weeks. Trusted economists— to the American Rescue Plan, in full, KENTUCKY FLOODING
Treasury Secretary Yellen and Federal before we can proceed with the bill.
We all know this will merely delay Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, ear-
Chair Powell, both cautious, careful
the inevitable. It will accomplish little lier this week, I described the terrible
people—are telling us, plain as day,
more than a few sore throats for the flooding across my home State of Ken-
that the economy is not yet ready to
Senate clerks who work very hard, day tucky. Rivers reached historic levels.
stand on its own; that our recovery is
in and day out, to help the Senate Whole communities are still under-
deeply uncertain; that the risk of doing
function. And I want to thank our water.
little is far greater than doing too
clerks profoundly for the work they do Yesterday, my staff and I spoke with
much.
We have also arrived at this moment, every day, including the arduous task leaders in some of our hardest hit
about to take up the American Rescue ahead of them. counties. The Estill County judge exec-
Plan, because we remember what hap- Still, we are delighted that the Sen- utive told me that he personally joined
pened the last time our country faced a ator from Wisconsin wants to give the crews to help families escape danger.
significant economic downturn. Con- American people another opportunity Small business owners in Lee County,
gress was too limited and constrained to hear what is in the American Rescue who survived one COVID obstacle after
in its response to the financial crisis in Plan. We Democrats want America to another, now saw their life’s work lit-
2008 and 2009, and, as a result, the coun- hear what is in the plan. And if the erally washed away. The situation in
try suffered a long, slow, painful recov- Senator from Wisconsin wants the Powell County is so dire that at least
ery—a lost decade for many American clerks to read it, let everybody listen one city can only be accessed by boat.
families, creating anger, pessimism, a because it has overwhelming support. Road crews, first responders, and the
sourness in the land that discombobu- We want them to hear about the direct Kentucky National Guard are doing
lated our politics. checks they will get, as promised, to their best to help out, but they can’t
We are not going to make those same help them keep up with the cost of gro- get a handle on the full scope of the
mistakes again. We are not going to ceries, medicine, and the rent; about damage until the water recedes.
condemn millions of working Ameri- funding to expand testing and support Once the assessment is complete, the
cans to another lost decade of tepid re- the vaccine; about the resources for Governor will formally request an
covery. We are not going to abdicate schools to reopen quickly and as safely emergency disaster declaration from
our responsibility to help the American as possible; about the money to keep the Biden administration. As soon as
people just because we have started to firefighters, teachers, busdrivers, and he does, my team and I will do our part
see the first hint that things aren’t as first responders on the job; about the to get Federal assistance to these com-
bad as during the very worst days of dollars to provide rental assistance to munities as soon as possible.
the pandemic. keep Americans in their homes; about f
Our mission—our mission—is to the help for the hardest hit small busi-
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF
crush the virus now, get our country nesses to hang on until brighter days
2021
back to normal, lay the foundation for return.
our economy to come roaring back— Oh, yes, when the clerks read, the Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, on
roaring back. American people will get another a completely different matter, yester-
That is what the American Rescue chance to hear about the tax breaks for day, our Democratic colleagues had
Plan is designed to do, and the entire low-income workers and assistance for planned to begin ramming through
country has gotten behind it. Hundreds American families struggling with their partisan spending spree, but it
of the Nation’s top business leaders childcare—two measures that help seems they have had some difficulty
support the plan. More than 400 mayors make the American Rescue Plan one of getting to the starting line. After all,
and local leaders from both parties— the single largest anti-poverty bills in Senate Democrats, including com-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
Democrat and Republican—support the recent history. mittee chairs, are essentially being
plan. The American people support the And then, once the American people jammed with text from over in the
plan, including a clear majority of have heard all over again about the House. Their own Members have barely
Democrats, Independents, Republicans. provisions that make this bill so pop- been able to read this thing, let alone
It seems the only group that opposes ular, about the support that is going to shape it.
the bill are Republicans here in Wash- lift the country out of the crisis, pro- So let’s think back to where we were
ington, and it is confounding. When vide millions of vaccines in people’s 1 year ago. Eleven-and-a-half months
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