Nomination of Martin Joseph Walsh (Cong. Rec., March 18, 2021)
Summary
Congressional Record, Senate, pages S1632 and S1633, March 18, 2021. Remarks on a request about garnishment of stimulus checks say an average family of four has received stimulus checks of $9,200 and child tax credit checks of $6,000, and one Senator objects; Wyden says Republicans in December were supportive of helping families whose relief check would not be seized to cover a child's outstanding hospital bills. Under the heading Nomination of Martin Joseph Walsh, Murray supports Mayor Marty Walsh to serve as Secretary of Labor and says 135,000 new jobs have been created in Boston under Walsh's leadership. Later remarks say Cruz tweeted on March 6 that illegal immigrants will get $1400 checks.
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“Nomination of Martin Joseph Walsh (Cong. Rec., March 18, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-18-crec-2021-03-18-pt1-pgs1632-68385de472/
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S1632 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 18, 2021
anymore. It was going to be strictly trying to struggle to support those nately, with checks still going out—
Democrats using the reconciliation kids, had to go to court and get a court still going out—have decided they are
process, and that is the only reason order that his future income would be for the private debt collectors.
that this provision couldn’t be ad- garnished because he just doesn’t pay. I think it really shows whose side
dressed because it can’t be dealt with Well, he gets this check in the mail, you are on, and Senator BROWN and I
under the reconciliation rules. compliments of the taxpayer, and he and members of our caucus are on the
So now our Democratic colleagues doesn’t have to give her any of that? side of the people who are hurting,
perceive a problem with this legisla- That is so terribly unfair. through no fault of their own, and we
tion, and they would like the Repub- And, you know, in addition to all especially care about them at this time
licans’ consent to fix what might have these direct payments, we have also when checks are still going out.
been resolved with some kind of com- provided massive financial support in I yield the floor.
promise had they pursued the path that all kinds of ways to alleviate expenses Mr. BROWN. I suggest the absence of
we pursued when we were in control. like nutrition assistance, $80 billion; a quorum.
But let’s talk about where we are and housing assistance, $65 billion; increase The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
what we have done for individuals and of Medicaid, $170 billion; not to men- clerk will call the roll.
families. The unprecedented financial tion almost $1 trillion in payroll sup- The senior assistant legislative clerk
support from the Federal Government port so that people could continue to proceeded to call the roll.
has been really amazing. An average work. Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I ask
family of four has, by now, received When you pay for all of these things unanimous consent that the order for
stimulus checks of $9,200 and child tax and you still give people money on top the quorum call be rescinded.
credit checks of $6,000. That is $15,200. of that, I don’t think it is unreasonable The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
By the way, that has gone to people to ask people to pay their bills, espe- KING). Without objection, it is so or-
who never lost a penny of income. And cially their overdue bills to their dered.
if they did lose their job, as in the hy- former wife or to support their kids. NOMINATION OF MARTIN JOSEPH WALSH
pothetical that the Senator from Or- Here is the other thing. At best, this Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come
egon suggests, then the unemployment is now a political statement because, to the floor today to support the nomi-
benefits, in more than half the cases, as one of many colleagues just alluded nation of Mayor Marty Walsh to serve
paid them more than they made work- to, these payments have already gone as Secretary of Labor.
ing because of the legislation that we out the door—most of them have. The Across the country, working families
passed. We designed it so they would Treasury has already issued probably are really desperate for help. Even be-
pay people more not to work than they over $250 billion in stimulus checks. fore this pandemic, the deck was
would make working, in addition to And to the extent that a person was stacked against workers and especially
these stimulus checks that they got. subject to garnishment, the garnish- against women, workers of color, and
So the result of that is, in the aggre- ment happens automatically. So it has workers with disabilities, thanks to an
gate, personal savings have gone already happened. unlivable Federal minimum wage and
through the roof. It is up by over $1.6 So what does that mean if this bill subminimum wage for tipped workers
trillion. Total consumer credit is down. passed? The legal chaos—I mean, first and workers with disabilities that do
The fact is, we more than replaced lost of all, it would actually allow the dead- leave millions of workers struggling to
income through the series of bills that beat dad I am referring to, to go back make ends meet; a pay gap that makes
were passed. and claim that money back, to claw it getting by even harder for women, in
Now my colleagues want to come back from the account that is meant to particular, women of color; a lack of a
here and block a valid, legal claim support his kids. How is that even pos- national paid family, sick, and medical
from being honored with some of this sibly fair or reasonable? leave policy and quality, affordable
money. And specifically, they want to This is a bad idea, and for these rea- childcare for working families; a fail-
block these stimulus checks from being sons, I object. ure to protect workers from pandemics
subject to garnishment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ob- and workplace accidents and harass-
So what is a garnishment? That is jection is heard. ment and discrimination and more; and
just when money is withheld from Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, just a wave of job loss and economic uncer-
someone because they owe something. briefly. I think the key kind of ques- tainty that is upending the lives of
They owe money that they haven’t tion—and the checks are still going workers and retirees across our coun-
paid to someone else, and that someone out, and we want them to get out as try.
else has gone to court, made the case, quickly as possible, but the key issue This pandemic has laid bare the pain-
and it has been adjudicated that, yes, here is the Republicans, back in De- ful fact that while our economy might
this is money that is owed. cember, wanted to help that couple work for the biggest corporations and
So they want to forbid this windfall— that I was talking about, the person wealthiest individuals, it isn’t working
which in many, many cases this is a laid off, through no fault of their own. for working families. And all of these
windfall, let’s be honest. They want to They wanted to help those folks to challenges—unsafe workplaces, lost
prevent it from being available to be make sure their relief check wouldn’t jobs, low wages—are even worse for
used for the conventional way that we be seized to cover a child’s outstanding people of color due to longstanding in-
collect money that is owed. And whom hospital bills. equities that are rooted in systemic
might this affect? So what we heard are discussions racism and are widening due to this
Under this legislation, if it were to about all kinds of, you know, other pandemic.
pass, it would forbid garnishment of issues, but the fact is, in December, Our country cannot fully recover
the alimony payment that a needy just a few weeks ago—just a few weeks from this crisis unless we begin to
former spouse relies on. That is a com- ago—Republicans were supportive of change that by rebuilding a stronger,
mon expense for which garnishment ap- the families Senator BROWN and I are fairer economy. And that starts by
plies. But in this case, the deadbeat seeking to help today. That is what the making sure we have a Secretary of
former husband who is not paying his question is all about. Will the Senate Labor who will actually champion
alimony payments, who forced his today help the folks who are hurting workers and working families.
former wife to go to court to get a that Senator BROWN and I have been As a union leader, a State represent-
court order, he has been so far behind, talking about? ative, and as a mayor, Mayor Marty
now he gets this big check from the In December, Republicans said: You Walsh has done just that. He has a
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
government, and she doesn’t even get bet we are going to be there. Now it is clear track record as a collaborative
to catch up on the money that he owes a question, really, of whom the Senate leader who worked across coalitions
her? is for. Senator BROWN and I are for with labor groups and the business
How about the deadbeat dad who is those folks who are hurting, and they community to build up Boston’s middle
not paying his child support? That is have been laid off through no fault of class. Under his leadership, 135,000 new
another situation in which the mom, their own, and Republicans, unfortu- jobs have been created in Boston.
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March 18, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1633
He fought for a $15 minimum wage prove to families back home they un- ate floor. It’s time for GOP Senators like
and paid leave policies to help ensure derstand we need a Secretary of Labor TED CRUZ to stop trying to rile people up
women, workers of color, and workers we can trust to stand up for workers over misinformation.
with disabilities can succeed in the and not huge corporations. I urge my Well, as John Adams famously said,
workforce and get the pay they de- colleagues to join me in voting to con- facts are stubborn things, and it turns
serve. firm Mayor Walsh. out the comments from the Democratic
During this pandemic, Mayor Walsh Thank you. Senator were categorically false and
has continued to show a deep commit- I yield the floor. my comments that this bill would send
ment to his frontline workers who have I suggest the absence of a quorum. checks to millions of illegal aliens
kept this country running by providing The PRESIDING OFFICER. The were categorically true.
funding for emergency childcare and clerk will call the roll. Numerous fact checkers began look-
other resources his essential workers The legislative clerk proceeded to ing at the claims. Newsweek initially
needed to weather the pandemic. call the roll. fact-checked it, and, as is the wont
And he would bring an important Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I ask unan- with a fair number of media fact
perspective as the first union leader to imous consent that the order for the checkers, took the word of the Demo-
head the Department in decades. quorum call be rescinded. crats for it, concluded my statement
His unwavering commitment to put The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without was mostly false.
workers first was plain to see during objection, it is so ordered. Following that, my staff got on the
our confirmation hearing. In his testi- UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 842 phone with Newsweek and presented
mony Mayor Walsh spoke powerfully Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, in a mo- them with incontrovertible facts—in-
about the importance of protecting ment, I am going to propound a unani- controvertible facts that of the roughly
frontline workers who do so much to mous consent request, but before I do 12 million estimated illegal aliens who
keep our communities and our country so, I want to make some brief remarks. are here, roughly 60 percent of them
running and rooting out the inequities As my colleagues know and as sev- are visa overstays, people who came le-
that have done so much damage to eral fact checkers have confirmed over gally and then overstayed their visa,
communities of color. Mayor Walsh the past week, the Democrats’ partisan and a significant percentage of visa
made clear he will work with Congress reconciliation bill that became law last overstays have Social Security num-
to help ensure every worker has a fair, week will provide many illegal aliens bers and will receive checks.
livable wage; a safe workplace; paid with $1,400 rebate checks paid for by Indeed, that is why my amendment
family, sick, and medical leave; access the American taxpayer. By several es- was scored at saving the Federal Gov-
to quality, affordable childcare; a se- timates, millions of illegal immigrants ernment over $600 million, because of
cure retirement; and the right to join a will get these rebates. the checks that would not go to illegal
union and collectively organize. I offered an amendment 2 weeks ago immigrants if my amendment had been
I was impressed by his answers dur- to the Democrats’ bill to close this passed.
ing our hearing, and I wasn’t the only loophole. During debate on my amend- When Newsweek heard these facts,
one. Mayor Walsh’s nomination passed ment, one Democratic Senator spoke they did something really quite im-
out of our HELP Committee with against my amendment, saying that no pressive, admirable. They admitted
strong bipartisan support in an 18-to-4 illegal aliens have Social Security they were wrong. They revised their
vote, and I hope he will now be con- numbers, and therefore the premise of fact check, and they changed their fact
firmed with similar, overwhelming, bi- my amendment and my speech was, he check from mostly false to true. True,
partisan support because even before said, ‘‘not true.’’ In fact, here are the period. No caveats. True. I want to
this pandemic and even before Presi- Senator’s full remarks from the floor 2 commend Newsweek for demonstrating
dent Trump’s 4-year crusade against weeks ago: journalistic integrity. Correcting that
workers, we had a long road ahead to Mr. President, the statement from the Sen- fact-check, I am sure, was not an easy
build a truly fair, inclusive economy ator from Texas is just plain false. Let me be decision for them to make, but it was
that works for working families. But, clear. Undocumented immigrants do not the right decision for them to make.
now, not only is the road longer, the have Social Security numbers, and they do
So, Mr. President, I would ask unani-
clock is ticking. not qualify for stimulus relief checks, pe-
riod. mous consent that we enter this fact-
Workers who are the backbone of our check into the RECORD.
And just in case you didn’t notice, they
economy have been pushed to the didn’t qualify in December when 92 of us There being no objection, the mate-
brink. They need us to confirm Mayor voted for that measure, and they don’t qual- rial was ordered to be printed in the
Marty Walsh so we have a Secretary of ify under the American Rescue Plan. Noth- RECORD, as follows:
Labor who will take quick action to ing has changed. [From Newsweek, Mar. 8, 2021]
address the urgent challenges we face And for you to stand up there and say the
FACT CHECK: WILL MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL IM-
and be a valuable partner in helping opposite is just to rile people up over some-
MIGRANTS GET STIMULUS CHECKS, AS TED
our economy come back stronger and thing that is not true.
CRUZ SAYS?
It is not true, and we know what is going
fairer for all workers. on [here]. They want to be able to give (By Graham McNally)
While we made important progress in speeches and say the checks go to undocu- Senator Ted Cruz (R–Texas) proposed an
the American Rescue Plan to extend mented people. In the circumstance where amendment to the American Rescue Plan
unemployment benefits and provide there is a parent receiving— that would bar illegal immigrants from ac-
much needed tax relief for those bene- At that point, the Senator’s time ex- cess to the $1,400 stimulus checks.
fits, provide direct payments for fami- His amendment was voted down after Sen-
pired. ator Dick Durbin (D–Ill.) criticized Cruz for
lies, and protect the pensions millions Following that debate, the Senator trying to ‘‘rile people up over something
of workers and retirees depend on and in question took to Twitter to double that is not true.’’
while President Biden is taking impor- down. So it was not, after an all-night THE CLAIM
tant steps to reverse Trump-era rules of no sleep, a moment of erroneous Cruz claimed on Twitter that illegal immi-
that undermined workers’ rights, this comment, but, rather, on Twitter that grants would be eligible for the $1,400 stim-
road to recovery is long, and there are same Senator tweeted: ulus checks included in the American Rescue
still many steps we need to take, in- Sen. Cruz’s claim is only meant to rile peo- Plan.
cluding raising the Federal minimum ple up over something that’s not true. You On March 6, Cruz tweeted, ‘‘When the
wage to one fair wage of $15 an hour, cannot receive a stimulus check without a checks go out, millions of illegal immigrants
passing the PRO Act into law to Social Security #. That’s a fact. Instead of WILL GET $1400 checks.’’
strengthen workers’ right to join a discriminating against mixed-status fami- He wrote that many people considered ille-
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
union, and passing the BE HEARD in lies, let’s prioritize getting more relief to gal immigrants are those who have over-
those families. stayed their visas, and therefore have Social
the Workplace Act to protect people Security numbers.
from harassment, assault, and dis- A second tweet from the same Sen- Cruz argued that the possession of Social
crimination. ator: Security numbers will allow unlawfully
We have a lot to do and no time to We simply cannot stand by and allow out- present individuals to obtain the stimulus
waste. I urge all of my colleagues to right falsehoods to be propagated on the Sen- money.
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