Unanimous Consent Request—S. 928 (Cong. Rec., March 23, 2021)

Summary

This is S1698 of the Congressional Record, Senate, March 23, 2021, with interleaved columns. Mr. Cruz makes observations about school reopenings, saying nearly two-thirds of Texas schools are fully in-person, and criticizes teachers unions. Under the heading Unanimous Consent Request on S. 928, he asks the Senate to proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 928, which would direct $1,400 payments that would go to incarcerated criminals to the Crime Victims Fund instead. He says Democrats passed a partisan reconciliation bill and that he had offered an amendment about illegal aliens receiving the payments, with the views attributed to Mr. Cruz.

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“Unanimous Consent Request—S. 928 (Cong. Rec., March 23, 2021).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-03-23-crec-2021-03-23-pt1-pgs1698-ecbc328e93/, SHA-256 b5456e51599fe438ac984a5659a2f2421439e369cfac6caff0c6cf895da626e4.

Full text

S1698 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 23, 2021
House, another hundred-day goal. The I would suggest the absence of a bluest of States. And I am going to
experts tell us it is not only possible, quorum. give an opportunity in this instance for
but it has already been done across the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democrats to vote on stopping the
country. clerk will call the roll. funds going to criminals currently in-
The Centers for Disease Control and The senior assistant legislative clerk carcerated and sending those funds in-
Prevention published a report in Janu- proceeded to call the roll. stead to the Crime Victims Fund, a
ary that said: Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I ask unan- program that is run by the Department
There has been little evidence that schools imous consent that the order for the of Justice to compensate victims of
have contributed meaningfully to increased quorum call be rescinded. crime.
community transmission. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without So this is a choice the Democrats
In short, the schools are not a breed- objection, it is so ordered. have: Do you want $1,400 checks going
ing ground for COVID–19, and as long UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 928 to criminals in prison, or do you want
as proper precautions are taken, Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, in a mo- instead to direct those funds to the vic-
schools can reopen safely. In fact, it ment, I am going to propound a unani- tims of crime that have suffered at the
has already happened across most of mous consent request. But before I do hands of those criminals?
Texas. Nearly two-thirds of Texas so, I want to make some brief observa- Mr. President, as if in legislative ses-
schools are fully in-person, and just 3 tions. sion, I ask unanimous consent that the
percent of districts are still fully re- Earlier this month, Democrats Senate proceed to the immediate con-
mote. Two-thirds are fully reopened, passed their extreme partisan rec- sideration of S. 928, introduced earlier
and 3 percent are fully remote. onciliation bill—a bill that President today. I further ask that the bill be
Unfortunately, in this case, the Biden signed into law. When the Senate considered read a third time and passed
science is at odds with a key supporter was considering the bill, I introduced and that the motion to reconsider be
of our Democratic colleagues, and that an amendment to ensure that illegal considered made and laid upon the
is the teachers unions. For months, aliens would not receive the $1,400 tax- table.
teachers unions have fought a safe re- payer payments provided in the bill. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
turn to in-person instruction even Every single Democrat in this body objection?
though the experts and real-world evi- voted against that amendment. It Mr. WYDEN. Reserving the right to
dence tell us that it is safe. It has gone failed by a single vote. If even one Sen- object.
so far that they have now gotten into ate Democrat had voted for that The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
some pretty sticky situations. amendment, it would have passed. ator from Oregon.
A leaked post from a private At the time, Senator DURBIN incor- Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, just two
Facebook group for the Los Angeles rectly told this Chamber that no illegal quick points. First, this is not really
teachers union warned teachers not to aliens would receive stimulus checks about prisoners. This is about dis-
post pictures of their spring break under this bill. It was clear then, and it rupting payments to families all across
photos because it makes it difficult to is even more clear now, that that the country who need the money to
argue that it is unsafe to return to statement was very much in error, as make rent and pay for groceries.
school. Well, it is tough to tell parents even Senator DURBIN has admitted. Here is why. The IRS administers the
that it is not safe for their kids to go Last Thursday, I gave my Demo- tax system for millions and millions of
to school and then turn around and tell cratic colleagues a chance for a do- Americans. The Cruz amendment has
teachers it is fine to go on vacation; over, once it became clear that there the practical effect of keeping these
just don’t post pictures. Trusting was a very substantial number of ille- folks who are hurting from getting
science and listening to the experts gal aliens who would be receiving these that check that they are going to use
means doing so all the time, not just checks. Unfortunately, the Democrats to pay for essentials. That is because
when it is convenient or politically ex- objected again and put themselves on their check would be on hold while the
pedient. record that they are just fine with mil- IRS sets up the system envisioned by
We are seeing progress every day in lions of illegal immigrants getting tax- this amendment.
our fight against COVID–19. That is the payer stimulus checks. Now, I guess that is what my col-
light at the end of the tunnel that is There has been some debate as to the league from Texas wants. After all, he
getting bigger and brighter, and the exact number, but, just this week, the opposed the bill. He opposed these pay-
question is not if we get there but Center for Immigration Studies re- ments from the get-go. So if he passes
when. How quickly can we get more leased an economic report that this amendment, he gets what he
vaccines into arms? When will our chil- catalogued that we are indeed talking wants, but for all those folks who are
dren—all our children—return safely to about millions of illegal immigrants hurting, their checks are on hold.
the classroom? How long until families who are receiving these checks. The last point I want to make is that
can hug one another without fear of At the same time we were debating it wasn’t always this way for Repub-
spreading the virus to someone they this partisan reconciliation bill, the licans and our colleague from Texas.
love? Senate considered another amendment, Republicans were for these payments
We all know this is a community ef- which I had introduced and Senator before they were against them. They
fort. It is a team effort. It is a personal CASSIDY had introduced, to prevent the voted for two rounds of relief checks
responsibility effort. Each of us has a payments from going to criminals cur- going out to all the people who are
role to play in stopping the spread of rently incarcerated in prison. Again, being discussed here when they con-
the virus. But leadership matters too. unfortunately and astonishingly, every trolled the White House and the Sen-
The goals and benchmarks set by the single Democrat in this Chamber voted ate.
administration will determine how against it. It failed by a single vote. If Senator CRUZ voted for the CARES
quickly all of these things can happen. even one Democrat had demonstrated Act. It passed unanimously. There were
Now is not the time to walk back the common sense to say violent crimi- 44 Republicans for the December relief
goals, set low bars, or bow to unions nals who are currently in prison right bill, with no exception like the Senator
and political supporters. The adminis- now, today, shouldn’t be getting $1,400 from Texas wants.
tration needs to set clear metrics and taxpayer stimulus checks, that amend- Donald Trump was so happy with the
targets for how we reopen and find our ment would have passed. But every checks going to prisoners that he put
new normal, and these goals should be Democrat lined up in a party-line par- his name on them. The only difference
based on the science and the advice of tisan vote to say no. between the CARES Act relief checks

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the experts—nothing less. Today, I am going to give Democrats that Republicans unanimously sup-
So we are getting close to safely another chance at a do-over to recog- ported and America Rescue Plan relief
crossing the finish line, and we nize that that extreme position is a po- checks is the party in the White House.
shouldn’t let politics or any other con- sition, frankly, none of us could go Mr. President, I object.
sideration slow us down. home and explain to our constituents The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec-
I yield the floor. without being laughed at, even in the tion is heard.

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March 23, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1699
The Senator from Texas. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- today. I further ask that the bill be
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, the Sen- ator is recognized. considered read a third time and passed
ator from Oregon, I guess, dem- Mr. WYDEN. Thank you very much. and that the motion to reconsider be
onstrates the principle that hypocrisy Mr. President, there isn’t informa- considered made and laid upon the
is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, tion about this crime or these crimes table.
because the Senator from Oregon sug- at the Federal, State, and local levels. Mr. WYDEN. Reserving the right to
gests that somehow payments to peo- So, again, we are back in exactly the object.
ple who are not criminals will be de- same place. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
layed if we don’t pay criminals in pris- The Senator from Texas wants to ator from Oregon.
on. That claim, on the face of it, is ab- hold up the checks to millions and mil- Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I want to
surd. lions of people in spite of the fact that read, specifically, what the IRS has
The Federal prisons are administered he voted—he voted earlier—for a sys- told us, because I gather my colleague
by the Bureau of Prisons. Government tem that got the checks to everybody would like to just continue this for
may not be good at everything, but I in a timely way. And when you don’t some time. But here is what the IRS
feel quite confident that the Federal have the information about the specific says:
Government can produce a list of cur- crimes at the Federal, State, and local In the information the IRS receives from
rently incarcerated prisoners. I know levels, it becomes impossible to carry the Bureau of Prisons and State prison sys-
tems, we do not get the crime for which the
the States can. out what the Senator from Texas seeks person is incarcerated.
The IRS, likewise, is perfectly capa- to do. And the net effect is, again, that
ble of recognizing whether it is mailing So we can have a host more of these
millions and millions of Americans
amendments, if my colleague wants to
checks to prisoners in prison. This is aren’t getting the funds that they need
do it. But I get why he is so anxious to
not whether you have ever been con- to pay for essentials, rent and gro-
have his amendment passed—because
victed of a crime. It is, Are you sending ceries.
he was always for keeping people from
the checks to Sing Sing? If so, don’t I object.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objec- getting checks, and his amendment, if
send it.
passed, would put those checks on hold.
The claim that somehow Joe Six- tion is heard.
The Senator from Texas. So that is why I have objected, and we
Pack at home is not getting his check
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, you know, will put this into the record as well.
because we don’t want to send checks I object.
to prisoners is demonstrably untrue. it could be hard in these partisan days The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. MAR-
The Senator from Oregon also claims to know what the truth is. Both sides KEY). Objection is heard.
Republicans oppose stimulus checks, yell at each other. They insult each Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, once again,
when he knows that is simply not the other. It is hard to know who is telling the Senator from Oregon has said
case. As he noted, this body over- the truth. something that is demonstrably false
whelmingly passed bipartisan COVID I ask the folks at home who are lis- and that he knows is false, which is
relief five times last year. It is only tening to this debate to exercise a lit- that he has suggested that I opposed
when Senate Democrats took the ma- tle bit of common sense. The Senator sending stimulus checks to the Amer-
jority that bipartisan legislation ended from Oregon just told you the Federal ican citizens, to law-abiding citizens. I
because the Democrats decided to push Government has no idea who are mur- not only didn’t oppose it, I voted for it.
a hard partisan bill instead. derers currently in prison. I want to Republicans supported it. He knows
A clean bill providing relief checks suggest that doesn’t make any sense. that. That is a red herring.
would have passed with an over- I feel quite confident the Department He just read a statement from the
whelming bipartisan majority in this of Justice could produce a list of cur- IRS Agency saying they get a list of
body, and the Senator from Oregon rently incarcerated murderers in Fed- prisoners from the Bureau of Prisons,
knows that. eral prisons within 24 hours. I am abso- and he said: But we don’t know the
We have now discovered, though, lutely certain the State of Texas could crime.
that given a straight-up choice be- produce that list. I am confident the The first unanimous consent request
tween sending checks to criminals in State of Connecticut could produce the I put before this body is, everyone on
prison versus sending checks to the list of the murderers currently in Con- that list in the Bureau of Prisons, don’t
victims of crime, Senate Democrats necticut prisons. I am even confident send them a check. That doesn’t delay
stand with the criminals. the State of Oregon could produce a your check. If you are not looking at
UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 929 list of the murderers convicted of bars, if you are not in a jail cell that is
Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I am going homicide currently incarcerated in the 5 feet by 10 feet, this doesn’t affect you.
to suggest an even narrower situation. State of Oregon. This only affects criminals currently in
Perhaps we can’t agree on victims of The claim that we don’t know who prison.
crime. How about murderers? the murderers are who are in our pris- UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 931
We just had a hearing in the Senate ons serving time for murder—it doesn’t Mr. President, let’s try one more
Judiciary Committee on gun violence. pass the laugh test. time. The Democrats have objected to
We saw a horrific mass murder in Colo- UNANIMOUS CONSENT REQUEST—S. 930 not sending checks to criminals in pris-
rado. Can’t we agree that murderers Mr. President, so let’s see if we could on. The Democrats have objected to
shouldn’t get checks—$1,400 stimulus agree in a different area—rapists, those not sending checks to murderers in
checks—from the taxpayers? Let’s take who committed sexual assault. prison. The Democrats have objected to
the money going to murderers and put Again, these are public records and not sending checks to rapists in prison.
it in the crime victims task force fund the Department of Justice and every Let’s try a group that I think may be
instead. State criminal justice authority have a the lowest of the low, which is child
And so, Mr. President, as if in legisla- list of all the rapists. How about let’s molesters. I spent a lot of years in law
tive session, I ask unanimous consent not send $1,400 checks to rapists? Take enforcement, and I think there is no
that the Senate proceed to the imme- the money and give it to the Crime more horrific offense than those who
diate consideration of S. 929, intro- Victims Fund so it can go to victims of commit crimes of violence and sexual
duced earlier today. I further ask that rape. assault against kids. When I was solic-
the bill be considered read a third time Here is a choice for Democrats: Do itor general of Texas, the cases where
and passed and that the motion to re- you want to send money to the rapists people sexually abused kids I thought
consider be considered made and laid or the victims of sexual assault? This should be in Dante’s Ninth Circle of

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
upon the table. ought to be a hundred-or-nothing Hell.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there choice. So here is a chance for some bipar-
objection? Mr. President, as if in legislative ses- tisan agreement. Can’t we all agree
The Senator from Oregon. sion, I ask unanimous consent that the that the Federal Government shouldn’t
Mr. WYDEN. Reserving the right to Senate proceed to the immediate con- send $1,400 checks to the child molest-
object. sideration of S. 930, introduced earlier ers in prison right now for molesting

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