Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., March 11, 2021)
Summary
Congressional Record, Senate, pages S1478 and S1479, March 11, 2021. Remarks on the American Rescue Plan describe assistance to Native communities, including more than $31.2 billion in direct funding, $20 billion directly to Tribal governments and $6 billion to the Indian Health Service. McConnell, under the heading Coronavirus, criticizes the plan, saying only about 20 percent of the spending went to $1,400 direct checks. McConnell urges all Senators to vote against rescuing the nomination of Xavier Becerra from committee, and Wyden speaks on the motion to discharge it from the Committee on Finance. McConnell also pays tribute to Mary Suit Jones on leaving the Senate.
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“Coronavirus (Cong. Rec., March 11, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-11-crec-2021-03-11-pt1-pgs1478-2-530962296b/
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S1478 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 11, 2021
which finally cleared the hurdle in the most important of all—who knows? ican Rescue Plan is going to dedicate
Congress yesterday by passing the There are so many good things in this resources to all of them for Indian
House, it is now only a Presidential bill—is the child tax credit, which will Country.
signature away from becoming law. cut childhood poverty in half. When a I want to thank a whole bunch of my
Soon—very soon—the most sweeping child is born into poverty at no fault of colleagues. So many contributed, but
recovery effort in recent history will his or her own, they don’t get adequate the chair of the Indian Affairs Com-
get underway. nutrition. They don’t get adequate mittee, Senator SCHATZ, and Senators
Direct checks will be delivered to healthcare. They don’t get adequate TESTER and CANTWELL and SMITH and
American families from coast to housing. They don’t get adequate edu- KELLY and BEN RAY LUJÁN and Hein-
coast—roughly, 85 percent of all house- cation. Then, when they get to young rich are very, very important. Senator
holds. The American people can expect adulthood, they have nowhere to go, HEINRICH particularly pushed for
those $1,400 checks for each person in and then they get blamed for their broadband. So it was a team effort, and
the family to be delivered by the end of plight. The better, smarter, more effec- I am proud of my colleagues.
March, and we are making amazingly tive thing to do is to help them get out The American Rescue Plan takes us a
good progress on vaccines. Vaccines of poverty early so they can lead good, giant step closer to fulfilling our trust
will be available far more quickly to productive lives as citizens and as tax- responsibilities to all Native Ameri-
far more people. payers. We are doing that for the first cans, Alaska Natives, and Native Ha-
Just this morning, the Biden admin- time here, and I hope it is something waiians. This is just one example, an
istration announced an expansion of that we can continue. important one, as to how the rescue
the vaccine program, and I was able to Simply put, the American Rescue plan will dramatically improve the
announce that more than 100 commu- Plan is one of the most significant lives of millions of people in this great
nity health centers in my home State pieces of legislation to pass the Con- country of ours.
of New York will be eligible to get gress in recent history. I yield the floor.
their own, dedicated supply of vac- Yesterday, I started describing in I suggest the absence of a quorum.
cines. There is a brand new vaccine su- more detail some of the lesser known The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
percharge for New York and for some aspects of the plan. Everyone knows clerk will call the roll.
of the rest of the Nation as well—the that vaccines are coming, that $1,400 The senior assistant legislative clerk
crux: more vaccines and more sites to checks are coming, that money for proceeded to call the roll.
administer them. Over 100 sites will be schools is coming, and now people Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President,
set up across New York State to ad- know of the child tax credit, but there I ask unanimous consent that the order
minister a massive influx of new shot are lots of other things in this bill. for the quorum call be rescinded.
supplies. Today, I want to continue by talking The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
There is light at the end of this about another unheralded provision: objection, it is so ordered.
COVID tunnel, which has always been assistance to Native communities. It is
centered on access to a free vaccine for f
a topic very much on theme today
all New Yorkers. More access and more given the nomination of Secretary RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY
shots mean a quicker recovery, and HAALAND. LEADER
that is what we want, and that is be- One of the most tragic features of the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Re-
coming available for my home State of COVID–19 pandemic is how destructive publican leader is recognized.
New York and for the entire Nation. it has been for America’s Tribal na-
The CHC sites, or community health f
tions. Native Americans have faced the
center sites, will be federally funded highest risk of infections, hospitaliza- CORONAVIRUS
and organized by the Department of tions, and deaths due to COVID–19—bar Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President,
Health and Human Services—a huge none, the highest. Early in the crisis, a year ago, coronavirus cases were be-
expansion. We have all heard numerous the Navajo Nation, to take one exam- ginning to climb on U.S. soil. Shut-
stories of people having to travel too down measures were starting to take
ple, saw more cases per capita than any
far to get the vaccine, hampering our effect.
other State in the country. Decades of
ability to recover and return to nor- Americans have endured one of the
an unraveling social safety net, declin-
mal. With this announcement of more strangest and most painful years in liv-
ing economic opportunity, an overbur-
vaccines and more New York sites to ing memory. Nearly 2 million Ameri-
dened health system, and the failure of
administer them, New Yorkers have cans have been hospitalized with seri-
the Federal Government to honor its
something to celebrate, and I thank
trust obligations to American Tribes ous cases of the virus. More than half a
the President for working with us to
left Native communities unequipped to million have lost their lives. Millions
make this effort real and to bring it to
handle the crisis. But in the American of students and workers have had their
every State in the Nation. Other things
Rescue Plan, the Democrats will de- lives completely thrown off course. But
are happening, too.
Our schools will receive critical as- liver the single largest investment in these dark times have also spotlighted
sistance to update their infrastructure, Native communities in our Nation’s some of the best of America: heroism,
hire more teachers and tutors, and pre- history. We are very proud of that. It is selflessness, ingenuity.
pare to reopen as fast and as safely as historic—the single largest investment Last March, the night we passed the
possible. in Native communities in our Nation’s CARES Act without a single dissenting
There is going to be money for history. More than $31.2 billion in di- vote, I said we would see a new genera-
broadband. There are going to be dol- rect funding will go to Tribes and com- tion of American heroes, and so we
lars for rural hospitals. There are going munities to defeat this pandemic and have. Doctors and nurses and first re-
to be dollars to help our Tribal na- rebuild their communities; $20 billion sponders have worked tirelessly to help
tions—all who are suffering. The new directly to Tribal governments so they their fellow Americans. Essential
RESTAURANTS Act, which is so im- can stabilize essential services; $6 bil- workers kept manning their posts and
portant to so many of our States, is be- lion to the Indian Health Service, not prevented economic collapse. Neigh-
coming law. More money for Save our just for vaccines and testing and trac- bors looked out for neighbors, and
Stages to help our arts institutions is ing but to improve and restore these small businesses shifted gears almost
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coming. rural, long-neglected hospitals; hun- overnight. Children and parents have
Perhaps the thing that we are the dreds of millions more for Native edu- fought to adapt to extraordinary dis-
most proud of—although there are so cation; $10 million will go to just mak- ruptions, and incredible heroes in lab
many in this bill—is helping people ing sure communities can access clean coats in America and worldwide
with their pensions and making sure water. worked at light speed to decode this
those who are laid off still get Listen to the items I just mentioned: new enemy and create lifesaving vac-
healthcare by funding COBRA fully. clean water, keeping hospitals running, cines in record time.
There are so many good things for connecting kids to broadband. These Today, together, we are standing on
average working families, but maybe are absolute necessities, and the Amer- the cusp of a new springtime for our
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March 11, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1479
country not like anything we have ex- hardly the commonsense bipartisan- just a few years out of college. She
perienced in our lifetimes. More than ship that the President promised. came with me to the Rules Committee,
95 million vaccine doses have reached So we pause today at the 1-year mark first as deputy staff director and then
American arms; another 2 million to remember and to mourn, but we also the top job. Senator Frist had the good
every single day. COVID-related deaths look with great optimism toward the judgment to ask her to be Assistant
have plummeted, now less than half of future. Twenty twenty-one is set to be Secretary in the early 2000s. Then she
their high, particularly for the elderly a historic comeback year, not because returned to Rules and resumed serving
and the vulnerable. Science reaffirms of the far-left legislation that was as our staff director under Senators
kids can be safely in the classroom passed after the tide had already Bob Bennett, Lamar Alexander, and
right now. States are starting to lift turned but because of the resilience of then Pat Roberts. Finally, she gener-
blanket restrictions, freeing citizens the American people. ously brought all of this expertise and
and small businesses to follow smart (Mr. PADILLA assumed the Chair.) institutional knowledge back to the
precautions themselves. For weeks, f Assistant Secretary role 6 years ago.
every indicator has suggested our econ- In her first job in my office, Mary or-
NOMINATION OF XAVIER BECERRA
omy is poised to come roaring back, ganized one team of people and our in-
with more job openings for Americans Mr. MCCONNELL. Now, Mr. Presi- frastructure. In her current job, she
who need work. dent, on a completely different matter, has overseen 26 departments and scores
None of these trends began on Janu- at noon today, the Senate will vote on of Senate staff, pushing resources and
ary 20. President Biden and his Demo- whether to pluck the Becerra nomina- guidance down and pushing informa-
cratic government inherited a tide that tion out of committee after it failed to tion up. In between, at Rules, she tack-
had already begun to turn toward deci- garner enough support to advance. led things like helping run Presidential
sive victory. Every one of President Biden’s nomi- inaugurations.
In 2020, Congress passed five historic nations the Senate has considered so Through it all, I cannot name one
bipartisan bills to save our health sys- far has received bipartisan support for time when Mary Jones did not deliver.
tem, protect our economic foundations, confirmation. There is a reason Mr. She is consistent, competent, and com-
and fund Operation Warp Speed to find Becerra could not get one single Re- pletely reliable. No wonder her name
vaccines. Senate Republicans led the publican vote to move out of com- has become a kind of catchphrase
bipartisan CARES Act that got our mittee. It is because he is such a thor- around the Senate when anyone is try-
country through the last year. oughly partisan actor with so little ing to track down some key piece of
The American people already built subject-matter expertise and such a wisdom or is puzzling over how to get
the parade that has been marching to- demonstrated history of hostility to- something done: ‘‘Well, let’s ask Mary
ward victory; Democrats just want to ward basic values like the freedom of Jones.’’ ‘‘Have you checked with Mary
sprint in front of the parade and claim conscience. There is nothing about Mr. Jones?’’ ‘‘I think Mary knows all about
credit. Becerra’s record in Congress or in Cali- that.’’
So when 10 Republican Senators went fornia to suggest he is the best possible Everyone from junior staff to senior
to the White House to suggest working person to run the Department of Senators, Republicans and Democrats,
together, the Democrats said: Uh, no. Health and Human Services in the mid- have been able to count on Mary for ex-
Both the Democratic leader and the dle of a once-in-a-generation viral pan- pertise and execution. On a million dif-
White House Chief of Staff now indi- demic—not even close. ferent subjects, she knows the answer
cate they think President Obama’s This is too important a job at too im- to the question you are going to ask
problem was that he was too bipar- portant a time for this administration before you even finish asking it. A
tisan. to put raw partisanship ahead of quali- rock-solid administrator, a consum-
This time, as one journalist put it, fications. So I would strongly urge all mate professional—she is just that
the situation was ‘‘Democrats to GOP: Senators to vote against rescuing this good.
Take it or leave it.’’ The ‘‘it’’ that we nomination from committee. Let’s give So I am sorry to see Mary depart the
are talking about here was a bill that the President the opportunity to make Senate, but she has given generously to
only spent about 1 percent on vaccines a better selection. this place. She has certainly earned the
and about 9 percent on the entire f opportunity to apply her many talents
health fight. The rest of the tab went to some new challenges and perhaps
to things like this: a $350 billion bail- TRIBUTE TO MARY SUIT JONES
knock a few miles off of her famously
out for State and local budgets unre- Mr. MCCONNELL. Now, Mr. Presi- epic commute while she is at it.
lated to pandemic needs, with strings dent, on one final matter, as I have The whole Senate thanks Mary for
attached to stop States from cutting mentioned, it is customary for some her excellent service. We wish her, her
taxes on their own citizens down the top Senate staff positions to see new husband, and their kids all the best in
road—take the money, you don’t get to faces when party control changes the exciting new chapters that lie
cut taxes; massive Federal school fund- hands. ahead.
ing spread over several years, without Today, it is my honor to pay tribute
requiring quickly reopening; sweeping to Mary Suit Jones, a huge asset to f
new government benefits with no work this institution who has become an in- CONCLUSION OF MORNING
requirements whatsoever—a time warp stitution herself. BUSINESS
to the bad times before bipartisan wel- Tomorrow, Mary will finish her sec-
ond separate run as Assistant Sec- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning
fare reform—which Democrats already
retary of the Senate and conclude a business is closed.
say they want to make permanent; and
agricultural assistance conditioned not Senate career that has spanned more f
on specific financial need but solely on than a quarter of a century. MOTION TO DISCHARGE—Resumed
the demographics of the farmer, which I first met Mary Jones in the mid-
some liberal activists are celebrating 1990s when we brought her on board to The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
as ‘‘reparations.’’ Only about 20 per- help manage my office. Neither I nor the previous order, the Senate will re-
cent of the spending went to $1,400 di- Mary’s colleagues back then could have sume consideration of the motion to
discharge the nomination of Xavier
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rect checks, to try to keep all of the predicted that nearly 30 years later,
unrelated socialism out of the spot- she would depart as one of the most Becerra from the Committee on Fi-
light. senior officers in the entire place. But nance.
This wasn’t a bill to finish off the the truth is, if you had told us, nobody The Senator from Oregon.
pandemic; it was a multitrillion-dollar would have been even a little surprised NOMINATION OF XAVIER BECERRA
Trojan horse full of bad, old liberal either. Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, the Sen-
ideas. President Biden’s own staff keep I have entrusted Mary with a lot of ate is now debating the motion to dis-
calling this legislation ‘‘the most pro- different responsibilities over the charge from the Finance Committee
gressive bill in American history’’— years. She served as our office manager the nomination of California Attorney
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