Executive Session (Cong. Rec., July 31, 2021)
Summary
This is S5228 of the Congressional Record, Senate, July 31, 2021, with interleaved columns. Under the heading Eviction Moratorium, Ms. Warren says the CDC eviction moratorium expires at midnight, that more than 11 million renters report being behind on rent, and she quotes a letter from Congresswoman Cori Bush about her experience of being evicted. Mr. Warner speaks on H.R. 3684, the infrastructure bill, saying many bridges and roads are decaying and that high-speed internet is essential. The page also records unanimous consent to proceed to morning business and a quorum call, with the views and figures attributed to the speakers.
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“Executive Session (Cong. Rec., July 31, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2021-07-31-crec-2021-07-31-pt1-pgs5228-3-658f0de5f7/
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S5228 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 31, 2021
LEGISLATIVE SESSION derway in this country is historic, and The senior assistant legislative clerk
it will continue, but it has not yet proceeded to call the roll.
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reached every family. Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I
MORNING BUSINESS But the need is not just economic. ask unanimous consent that the order
Ms. WARREN. Madam President, I We are still in the throes of a public for the quorum call be rescinded.
ask unanimous consent that the Sen- health emergency that is trending in The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
ate proceed to legislative session for a the wrong direction. Cases of COVID–19 objection, it is so ordered.
period of morning business, and that are rising. Hospitalizations and deaths H.R. 3684
upon the conclusion of my remarks, are rising. The Delta variant is more Mr. WARNER. First of all, Madam
the Senate resume executive session, contagious, threatening to spread fast- President, let me thank you and all of
as under the previous order. er among the half of the country that the floor staff and others who are here.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without remains unvaccinated. I think on a beautiful Saturday at the
objection, it is so ordered. Needlessly evicting families would end of July, we all wish, perhaps, we
f risk escalating our public health crisis. were somewhere else other than on the
The CDC understood that reality when floor of the Senate.
EVICTION MORATORIUM For the 30 years that I have been in-
it issued an eviction moratorium in
Ms. WARREN. Madam President, al- September. The Agency was clear, and volved in political discussions in Vir-
most exactly a year ago today, I stood I want to quote the language they ginia and some on an international
here and called for Congress to take ac- used: ‘‘Housing stability helps protect level, we have had President after
tion to protect renters before the expi- health.’’ President and Congress after Congress
ration of the eviction moratorium en- That’s right. Research shows that talk about the generational unmet
acted during the early weeks of the moratoriums aid in reducing infections needs in infrastructure. We have seen
pandemic. and deaths due to COVID–19. And re- our roads and bridges start to crumble.
Today, like a year ago, we are only search also shows that when eviction The estimates are that close to, de-
hours away from a fully preventable moratoriums expire, there is an associ- pending on the survey, 14,000 bridges
housing crisis. ated increase in COVID–19 and mor- are in a decaying state, and in my
The CDC’s eviction moratorium ex- tality. State, over 700 bridges. We know the
pires tonight at midnight, putting mil- Yesterday, Congresswoman CORI potholes in many of our roads and
lions of families still recovering from BUSH sent Members of Congress a let- highways. We know our airports resem-
the economic fallout of COVID–19 at ter. Congresswoman BUSH has lived ble third world nations, not the United
risk for losing their homes, from losing through eviction. She has been States of America. We know our ports
the bedrock of their safety and sta- unhoused. And I want to quote her let- have not kept up with modern tech-
bility. ter. She said: nology. We know that many of our
Right now, more than 11 million I know firsthand the trauma and devasta- shorelines are dealing with the unprec-
renters report being behind on rent. tion that comes with the violence of being edented effects of sea level rise. We
That is one out of every seven renters. evicted, and we have a responsibility to do know after COVID that high-speed
And people of color, who have been hit everything we can to prevent this trauma internet connectivity is not a nice-to-
hardest by this pandemic, are dis- from being inflicted on our neighbors and have but essential. It is something the
proportionately at risk. Nearly one- communities. Presiding Officer has taken a legisla-
quarter of Black renters report being CORI BUSH is exactly right. tive lead on.
behind on rental payments. My office has heard from so many We know that it is time to get past
Last year, Congress worked together people in Massachusetts who are terri- talking about infrastructure and fi-
to account for that staggering reality. fied about the possibility of losing nally doing something. That is why I
We provided more than $45 billion in their homes. I know that each of my have been proud to be part of this bi-
emergency rental assistance. That colleagues here must be hearing these partisan effort, working with the White
money is now finally getting into the stories. In every State in this country House, to produce a historic piece of
hands of landlords around the country. there are families sitting around their legislation, $550 billion of new spending
It is helping families who lost jobs get kitchen table right now trying to fig- over 5 years that in every category I
caught up on the missed payments. ure out how to survive a devastating, just mentioned will make historic in-
But the money is getting out too disruptive, and unnecessary eviction. vestments.
slowly. Some States and local govern- Congress has a choice to make. It is I have been a little surprised, to tell
ments opened their assistance pro- a privilege for us to represent people, you the truth, that some of our col-
grams only last month. Some hadn’t and we have a duty to exercise our leagues on the other side who were not
spent a single dollar by the beginning power on their behalf. Every Senator in part of the bipartisan group have sud-
of June. this Chamber should be grateful that denly said: No, we can’t do infrastruc-
Now that is starting to change. In they have the power right now to keep ture now. They were all for it when
June, States delivered more than $1.5 families safe. President Trump was in; now they find
billion in emergency rental assistance. My colleagues understood the stakes excuses why not.
That money went to help nearly 300,000 in March of 2020, when Congress passed I have to also say I have been a little
households, but there are still billions the CARES Act eviction moratorium bit surprised even with some of my col-
of dollars to distribute and millions of into law. They understood the stakes leagues on my side of the aisle, when
families in need. when we provided historic funding for the deal that we have structured is lit-
We have the tools, and we have the emergency rental assistance. I urge erally twice as much as where the ear-
funding. What we need is the time. them to join me now in continuing this lier negotiations were between Presi-
Look, I agree that the eviction mora- lifesaving protection as States dis- dent Biden and some of the Republican
torium is not a long-term solution, but tribute assistance to keep renters committee chairs—committee leaders.
let me be very clear: it is the right housed; to keep landlords paid; and, There has been some sense of, well,
short-term action. It is how we keep most of all, to keep families safe. you know, infrastructure—that
families safely in their homes while I yield the floor. shouldn’t be that hard to do. If it
States deliver emergency aid. It is how f wasn’t hard to do, why has it taken us
we keep families who are starting to 30 years to get to this moment?
recover from the worst economic crisis EXECUTIVE SESSION I hope—and I know we are finalizing
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of their lifetimes get back on their The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- the last couple pieces of legislative lan-
feet. ate will now resume executive session. guage—I hope that we will get that fin-
Millions of jobs have been lost, busi- Ms. WARREN. I suggest the absence ished as soon as possible so we can get
nesses are still shuttered, and childcare of a quorum. this bill on the floor, have amend-
for too many families is still a patch- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ments, have a debate, but at the end of
work of uncertainty. The recovery un- clerk will call the roll. the day, pass this historic legislation
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July 31, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5229
and finally put our money where our the investments in the Craney Island the Senators from Maryland. We made
mouths have been in terms of talking expansion, and if we don’t stay com- sure this legislation included a full 8-
about the needs of infrastructure in petitive, that port, which is the eco- year reauthorization of our Metro sys-
this country. nomic engine driver not just of Hamp- tem. We made sure that we are making
Now, I know, Madam President, that ton Roads but, in many ways, of most record investments in transit so that
we do not have probably a lot of people of the Commonwealth, will not stay we can get Metro back up operating
rushing to the floor today, so I am competitive. This legislation will pro- again on a full schedule and we can
going to take an extra minute or two. vide $17 billion, a record amount of in- make the needed safety improvements
It doesn’t mean you have to stay riv- vestment, in our ports, and I can prom- that have been plaguing Metro for a
eted to each moment. But I want to ise you the Port of Virginia will get a number of years.
talk about this for a few moments in share of those resources. We also know that we have to con-
terms of what this will do for my And, finally, on just the plain old tinue to build out additional Metro sta-
State, for the Commonwealth of Vir- issue of roads, Hampton Roads is dis- tions in Northern Virginia. The one at
ginia. connected from what we call the Penin- Potomac Yard will be extraordinarily
In the Commonwealth of Virginia, in- sula in Virginia, and we have gotten important to the Innovation Center
vestment in infrastructure has been two crosslinks, which oftentimes, dur- and the Amazon 2 headquarters.
something that has eluded us for years. ing the summer months, can lead to We have to make sure, as well, be-
I have to acknowledge that when I was multiple-hour backups to our bridge- cause Metro is moving to zero-emission
Governor, I tried to find funding, the tunnels. If we make this $110 billion in- buses—that is good news for our cli-
funding needs, particularly in Northern vestment in roads and bridges, we can mate and for our community. The
Virginia, Hampton Roads, and put for- potentially see that third crossing question is where are those zero-emis-
ward bipartisan-supported tax referen- come into reality. But what we could sion buses going to be built? This legis-
dums in Northern Virginia, Hampton also make sure is that we could finally lation, as well, makes record invest-
Roads. I was horribly unsuccessful at finish the widening of Interstate 64 be- ment in electric and other low-carbon
getting that done. tween Norfolk and Richmond. and no-carbon buses, so they can be
A number of years later, a subse- I talked about this when I ran for built here, not in China.
quent Governor, Governor McDonnell, Governor, and as Governor I said: Our record investment in transit will
managed to make a downpayment on Wouldn’t it be great if in our lifetime also make dramatic improvements to
some of the infrastructure needs in we could actually finish this project? the VRE for the Manassas Line. Let’s
Virginia but not really address in a Well, if we pass this bipartisan piece of get more people out of their cars and
more comprehensive way the Common- legislation, the I–64 project widening into VRE, whether it is the Manassas
wealth’s needs. from Norfolk to Richmond will be fin- or Fredericksburg Line. Needed invest-
So I am going to take a couple of mo- ished. This is incredibly important for ments will be made if we pass this leg-
ments now and talk about, section by the people of Hampton Roads, the East- islation.
section, in Virginia, what this bipar- ern Shore peninsula, and the Northern Another project, if we are going to
tisan, White House-supported, record Neck to make these investments. open up rail in Virginia, we have to
infrastructure investment will mean to Let’s move up the road to our cap- make sure that we have another rail
the people of the Commonwealth of ital, Richmond, and the Richmond bridge across the Potomac. So for the
Virginia. area. Last week, as I was looking at Long Bridge Project, which I have been
Let me start with Hampton Roads. the Mayo Bridge—one of the historic working with Governor Northam and
Hampton Roads, in a southeast Vir- bridges, over 100 years old—I saw how Senator KAINE on, this kind of invest-
ginia peninsula, is most at risk from decaying it was. I saw the water dam- ment will make that happen.
concerns about sea level rise and ques- age that was taking place. That bridge, And as anybody who lives in North-
tions about resiliency, more than any without remediation, could be forced to ern Virginia knows—where I live, and
other region in the whole country, with close if we don’t make the needed in- somebody who lives in Alexandria—
the exception of New Orleans. In Hamp- vestments. Well, this bipartisan legis- traffic is the bane of our existence.
ton Roads, local leaders, our Navy, lation will commit $110 billion for There will be a host of improvements
nonprofits, and businesses have all highway and bridge improvements. that will get done if we pass this legis-
come together and said: We need to Mayo Bridge, and a host of the other lation. Let me talk about one in par-
make sure that we grapple with sea 700 bridges in Virginia that are decay- ticular.
level rise. It is ranked, by most in ing, will get fixed. We need to make Route 1, from Alexandria through
those communities, as the No. 1 issue. that happen. Fairfax and into Prince William Coun-
Well, if we pass this legislation, $47 Richmond, as well, has got one of the ty, we know how clogged and congested
billion will go into sea level rise pre- most impressive bus transit systems it has been. We have been looking for
vention and resiliency. That will mean not only in Virginia but in the whole additional funding, literally, for dec-
that a whole host of projects in Nor- country. We have made huge invest- ades on Route 1. If we pass this legisla-
folk, in Portsmouth, in Virginia Beach, ments, close to $40 billion, in transit in tion, it will get done.
and in Chesapeake will all be finally this legislation, and some of the Rich- Let me move a little bit further west
addressed. We have to make sure that mond bus transit needs will be ad- in our State, out toward the Shen-
Hampton Roads is not subject to this dressed. andoah Valley and Roanoke and South-
kind of devastating effect of sea level We also know, in the Richmond area west. For years, we have been talking
rise. and across the Commonwealth, that we about the danger on I–81. Literally,
We also know that Hampton Roads have a lot of airports. One of the things there have been prayer groups formed
needs more rail. We have opened re- we need to continue to do is invest in to pray for people who would travel on
cently some rail down to the peninsula, our airports. The Richmond airport is I–81 because there was so much truck
but not enough. We have to make sure always in need of additional expansion. traffic there that it has, frankly, im-
that the rail that goes from Richmond There is $25 billion to improve our air- peded the safety of the traveling pub-
doesn’t leave off, as a cul-de-sac, the ports across the country. The Rich- lic. We have been talking about mak-
peninsula in South Hampton Roads. mond airport, the Norfolk airport, the ing improvements and expansions to 81
With a $66 billion investment in rail, Newport News airport, and, obviously, capacity for 20 years. We have been
we may soon be able to see that be- the Roanoke airport and others—Dul- talking about how do we get the trucks
come a reality. les, National—will be improved, as well off of I–81, and how do we bring more
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Hampton Roads is home to the Port as a host of smaller regional airports rail down to Southwest and Southside.
of Virginia. The Port of Virginia is one across the Commonwealth, if we make Well, if we pass this legislation, we will
of the biggest ports on the whole east this investment. see those 81 corridor improvements
coast. But if we don’t continue to up- We come up to our region here, where that we have all been waiting for. We
grade that port, if we don’t continue to I live, in Northern Virginia. I am very will see rail not only going from
deepen the channel, if we don’t make proud of working with TIM KAINE and Lynchburg and Roanoke but extend on
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S5230 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 31, 2021
down to Blacksburg and Christiansburg have got to finish the job and get it EXECUTIVE SESSION—Continued
and, hopefully, all the way down to done. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma-
Bristol. This is terribly important to With that, I hope I have kept you riv- jority leader.
make sure that those communities eted and now you are fully familiar H.R. 3684
have a multimodal form of transpor- with all the needs of Virginia. I am Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, the bi-
tation opportunities and making sure sure you can address similar needs in partisan group of Senators has still not
we get those trucks off of I–81, some- Minnesota. But I thank the Presiding finalized the legislative text of their
thing we have been talking about for a Officer and all of the staffs who are substitute amendment. The staffs are
long time. If we increase the rail ca- here working on this Saturday, the last still working and say they will have
pacity, both freight and passenger, we day in July, in the summer, to get this the final legislative text ready tomor-
will be able to do that. job done. row. Therefore, the Senate will recon-
We also know in Southside and With that, I note the absence—I don’t vene tomorrow at 12 noon.
Southwest, post-COVID, that high- yield the floor. As I have said, when the legislative
speed internet connectivity is not a I would have been surprised if the text is ready, I will offer it as the sub-
‘‘nice to have’’ but an absolute neces- Presiding Officer had asked me to stitute amendment, and, after that, we
sity. A top priority of mine, as some- speak for another 30 minutes, but I will can begin voting on amendments.
body who has spent more years in the choose not to do that because I have As a reminder, upon completion of
telecommunications industry than I great respect for the floor staff. the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the
have in politics, is to make sure that So I ask unanimous consent that the Senate will turn to the budget resolu-
we make those connections. This legis- Senate recess subject to the call of the tion with reconciliation instructions.
lation—historic legislation—has $65 chair. I want to thank the Capitol Police,
billion for broadband. That investment, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there the clerks, and the Senate staff for
building on Governor Northam’s $700 objection? working these past 2 late nights.
million investment from Virginia and Without objection, it is so ordered. f
American Rescue Plan funds, will f EXECUTIVE AND OTHER
make sure that every household across COMMUNICATIONS
the Commonwealth has access to high- RECESS SUBJECT TO THE CALL OF
speed internet connectivity, not 5 THE CHAIR The following communications were
years from now or 10 years from now The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- laid before the Senate, together with
but in the next couple of years. ate stands in recess subject to the call accompanying papers, reports, and doc-
And, finally, across Southwest Vir- of the Chair. uments, and were referred as indicated:
ginia—and for that matter, across all Thereupon, the Senate, at 2:43 p.m., EC–1597. A communication from the Dep-
uty Assistant General Counsel for Regu-
of Virginia—we still have families in recessed subject to the call of the Chair
latory Services, Office of Elementary and
far Southwest that don’t have access to and reassembled at 5:16 p.m. when Secondary Education, Department of Edu-
clean drinking water on a regular called to order by the Presiding Officer cation, transmitting, pursuant to law, the
basis, that still have to sometimes haul (Ms. BALDWIN). report of a rule entitled ‘‘American Rescue
their water in the back of a pickup f Plan Act Elementary and Secondary School
truck up to some cistern, and they Emergency Relief Plan’’ (RIN1810–AB64) re-
EXECUTIVE SESSION—Continued ceived in the Office of the President of the
don’t have access to clean drinking
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- Senate on July 26, 2021; to the Committee on
water in 2021. Well, $55 billion will go
jority leader. Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
to water projects in this legislation. EC–1598. A communication from the Regu-
And whether they be access to clean H.R. 3684 lations Coordinator, Office of the Inspector
drinking water on a regular basis or Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I General, Department of Health and Human
whether it be taking out the lead pipes just want to give a quick update. Services, transmitting, pursuant to law, the
that haunt too many of our urban com- As everyone knows, we are waiting report of a rule entitled ‘‘Fraud and Abuse;
munities, or the storm and sewer sys- for the bipartisan group of Senators to Removal of Safe Harbor Protection for Re-
bates Involving Prescription Pharma-
tems that are, frankly, in some cases, finalize the text of their agreement. I ceuticals and Creation of New Safe Harbor
60, 70, 80 years old and simply wearing have been informed the group is work- Protection for Certain Point-of-Sale Reduc-
out, we can make that investment as ing hard to bring this negotiation to a tions in Price on Prescription Pharma-
well. conclusion, but they believe they need ceuticals and Certain Pharmacy Benefit
Now, there are a series of other areas a little bit more time. I am prepared to Manager Service Fees; Additional Delated
in this legislation that are equally im- give it to them because—because, as I Effective Date’’ (RIN0936–AA08) received in
portant, but at the end of the day, I have always said from the beginning, I the Office of the President of the Senate on
can’t think of a bill that I have worked July 26, 2021; to the Committee on Health,
am fully committed to passing a bipar-
Education, Labor, and Pensions.
on that will have more direct effect on tisan infrastructure bill, and so the EC–1599. A communication from the Assist-
the lives of every Virginian over the Senate will remain in session today so ant General Counsel for Regulatory Services,
next 5 years in terms of how you get to that they can bring this to a conclu- Office of General Counsel, Department of
work, how you get to school, how you sion. Education, transmitting, pursuant to law,
manage to take the kids out on the Again, this is an important bill. I the report of a rule entitled ‘‘Adjustment of
weekends, how our commerce moves, know all the parties want to get this Civil Monetary Penalties for Inflation’’
((RIN1801–AA21) (34 CFR Parts 36 and 668))
how we get our water, and how we get right. As soon as their legislative text received in the Office of the President of the
our internet than this record-setting is finalized, we will review it, and then Senate on July 26, 2021; to the Committee on
$550 billion bipartisan investment in I will offer it as the substitute amend- Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
infrastructure. ment. After that, we can begin voting EC–1600. A communication from the Sec-
It is time for the Senate to take this for amendments. retary of Health and Human Services, trans-
bill up. I again commend all of my col- mitting, pursuant to law, a report entitled
f
leagues who have been working on this ‘‘2020 Report to Congress State Pilot Grant
legislation, not just the so-called G–10 RECESS SUBJECT TO THE CALL OF Program for Treatment for Pregnant and
THE CHAIR Postpartum Women’’; to the Committee on
but the G–22. I thank Leader SCHUMER Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
for his good work, continuing to push Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I EC–1601. A communication from the Sec-
this legislation forward. I want to ask unanimous consent that the Sen- retary of Health and Human Services, trans-
thank the White House for its constant ate recess subject to the call of the mitting, pursuant to law, a report entitled
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involvement. I even want to commend Chair. ‘‘Public Health Data System Modernization
Leader MCCONNELL for voting with this There being no objection, the Senate, Strategy and Implementation Plan’’; to the
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
bipartisan group to move this legisla- at 5:18 p.m., recessed subject to the call
Pensions.
tion along. We have talked about this of the Chair and reassembled at 9:51 EC–1602. A communication from the Sec-
for 30 years. We are literally days away p.m. when called to order by the Pre- retary of Health and Human Services, trans-
from this passing the U.S. Senate. We siding Officer (Mr. BENNET). mitting, pursuant to law, a report entitled
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