Eviction Moratorium (Cong. Rec., Aug. 5, 2021)
Summary
This is S5892 of the Congressional Record, Senate, August 5, 2021, with interleaved columns of floor remarks. A speaker whose name is not printed in the text read criticizes a lack of amendment votes in the Senate in earlier years, saying the Senate has taken rollcall votes on 17 amendments on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Under the heading Eviction Moratorium, the speaker applauds those who helped extend the CDC moratorium for another 60 days, including Cori Bush, and says more is needed for rental and mortgage assistance. Another passage describes the Clean Cars for America proposal on electric vehicles, with the views attributed to the speakers.
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“Eviction Moratorium (Cong. Rec., Aug. 5, 2021).”
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S5892 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 5, 2021
are not working the Senate, whenever My Clean Cars for America pro- to provide critical protections for an-
we can, in a fair, bipartisan way is just posal—and I have worked closely with other 60 days as our country continues
wrong—just wrong. Senator STABENOW, Senator PETERS, its path towards full recovery.
Consider this: At this point in the and others on this proposal—would I applaud everyone who made it hap-
calendar year in 2017, the first year of help our country make the transition pen, from the President to the CDC, to
a Republican President and a Repub- that President Biden is talking about Speaker PELOSI, to Senator BROWN, as
lican Senate majority—a one-to-one today by making electric cars more af- well as several of my Democratic col-
comparison to our current political fordable, expanding our charging infra- leagues in the House, including a brave
configuration—the Senate held rollcall structure, and creating incentives to band of New Yorkers, including Con-
votes on 10 amendments—10—at this manufacture batteries and electric ve- gress Member OCASIO-CORTEZ and Con-
point in the first year of the Trump hicles here in America. It is good for gressman JONES. Above all, Represent-
Presidency. On this bipartisan infra- climate. It good for jobs. And it is good ative CORI BUSH gets huge credit—one
structure bill alone, the Senate has for America to become the center of person who changed things for tens of
held rollcall votes on 17 amendments. electric car manufacturing in the thousands, maybe hundreds of thou-
In 7 months, the 2017 Republican ma- world, as we have been with the tradi- sands of people, and everyone who
jority allowed rollcall votes on only 10 tional type of automobile. stood with her as well.
amendments, and we have done almost The proposal—I am proud to say we As I explained yesterday, while this
double that number in the past 7 days worked hard to make this happen. moratorium is an important safeguard
alone. Clean Cars for America is now, as I to protect millions of American fami-
This is how I promised the Chamber said, largely adopted in the Build Back lies in danger of evictions, it is not the
would function under a Democratic Better plan and is supported not only only piece of the puzzle. Once the mor-
majority. I promised it while we were by the environmental community, but atorium comes to an end—whenever
fighting to get that majority, and we by the major labor unions and several that is—there is still a fundamental
are fulfilling that promise now that we of the major car manufacturers as well. challenge of making up for a year of
have it. Legislators should actually It is the first time on a major piece of lost rent and lost mortgage payments.
have a chance to legislate. No one can climate legislation we have gotten Congress considered this problem
deny that we kept our word here in the such broad support. very early this year. I pushed for, and
Democratic majority. The transition to electric vehicles, of we passed, along with Senator BROWN
Today, we will consider even more course, is already underway, but it is and so many others, substantial rental
amendments, and then, hopefully, we not happening fast enough to reach the and mortgage assistance in the Amer-
can bring this bill to a close very targets that President Biden an- ican Rescue Plan.
shortly. Our goal is to pass both a bi- nounced today. Clean Cars for America Unfortunately, State governments
partisan infrastructure bill and a budg- is the way to supercharge the transi- have been really uneven about distrib-
et resolution during this work period, tion to electric vehicles, and large uting that crucial assistance. A few
and we will stay here to get both done. parts of it will be—some of it was put States—the State of Illinois, the State
f in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, of Texas—have done a pretty good job,
but large parts of it we hope to add in but many have not. Unfortunately, one
CLIMATE CHANGE of those that has done a very poor job
the reconciliation process.
Mr. SCHUMER. On another matter, Put another way: If President Biden’s distributing this money is my home
climate. President Biden announced Executive order represents the destina- State of New York.
this morning that he will sign an Exec- tion we need to reach on the horizon, Simply put: State governments, espe-
utive order to significantly escalate our Clean Cars for America is the road cially New York, must do a better job
our country’s fight against climate to get there. of distributing the $47 billion Congress
change. President Biden’s announcement, appropriated for emergency rental as-
Specifically, President Biden’s Exec- combined with our Clean Cars proposal, sistance. The money is there, but far
utive order will set an ambitious goal represents the bold level of action we too little has gone out the door.
to make half of all new cars sold in need to tackling carbon pollution from In New York specifically, Congress
America zero emissions by the end of cars. sent more than $2 billion to help rent-
the decade. He will announce further When Democrats assumed the major- ers in New York; and, inexplicably,
steps to address several of the worst ity, I instructed my committee chairs some reports indicate less than 0.5 per-
climate-warming rules that were put in to find climate-reducing policies to in- cent of New York’s allocation had been
place under the Trump administration. corporate into the legislation we work received by tenants and landlords as of
I applaud President Biden for taking on. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a week ago.
necessary steps to put our country on a the first major climate legislation in Today, I am sending a letter with
path to substantially reduce our car- years when we reversed the Trump ad- colleagues in the New York delegation
bon pollution. Climate change is the ministration’s methane emissions rule. to the New York State Office of Tem-
defining challenge of our times. We And as we continue working on a bipar- porary and Disability Assistance, call-
have no choice but to reduce our coun- tisan infrastructure bill and a budget ing on that office to hurry up to fix the
try’s greenhouse gas emissions very resolution, I have committed that we inexcusable delays in rental assistance
quickly to reach the targets that will will make historic investments in re- and immediately begin disbursing
spare our country and our planet the versing climate change. I am proud to these funds.
worst effects of climate change, and we say our Clean Cars for America is going We need to understand why New
cannot do it without dealing with car- to be a very big part of that. Yorkers are having such trouble navi-
bon pollution from cars we drive. Democrats promised action on cli- gating the process to get the money
Transportation is the biggest source of mate, and we are going to make it a they need. There have been reports of
carbon pollution, accounting for rough- vital part of the legislation we work on frustrating crashes and glitches on the
ly one-third of America’s carbon out- in the weeks to come. It is a big chal- online application process, confusing
put. lenge, but one we must meet. It is so instructions, and very little support to
President Biden’s Executive order is important for the future of our planet, help the applicants, even though the
an important step in the right direc- for our children, and our grandchildren money has been there for several
tion, and I am happy and proud to say months.
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
even more than for us.
it dovetails with an effort I have long f The clock is ticking to fix this mess.
advocated here in the Congress, even The State moratorium expires in less
before the Biden Presidency. It is EVICTION MORATORIUM than a month, and the CDC’s morato-
called Clean Cars for America. In fact, Mr. SCHUMER. One final matter, rium will give only one more month of
President Biden generously adopted evictions. Earlier this week, the Biden protection after that. New York State
our Clean Cars for America plan and administration announced that the needs to act quickly, and we expect a
placed it in his Build Back Better. CDC will adopt an eviction moratorium response by August 9 as to how we can
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August 5, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S5893
get a handle on these delays and, most There are more than 9 million job But there is something funny hap-
importantly, get the money to New openings in the country, the most in pening. Even as Democrats crow about
Yorkers faster so they can pay the American history by far. Three safe how all this spending is so good and so
rent. and effective vaccines are easily avail- needed, they are petrified to vote for
By the way, many landlords, particu- able all across our country, free of the credit limit increase that would
larly small landlords, depend on this as charge, for any adult who wants one. make it possible.
well. If you worked hard—let’s say you Medical contraindications are rare, and The Democrats are about to tell Re-
are a bus driver and you own a three- CDC data tell us that, once somebody publicans to go take a hike and start
family house. When the tenants in your is fully vaccinated, their risk of dying teeing up trillions more dollars in bor-
house don’t pay you, you don’t have from COVID–19 absolutely plummets rowing and spending, of course, with-
any cushion and you have to pay the right down to the normal range of risk out a single Republican vote. Ah, but
mortgage. So this bill will help with that we implicitly face on a daily basis. at the same time, they are extolling
that as well, this proposal. Vaccines may not magically eliminate the virtues of their latest socialist
Right now, there are 61⁄2 million the virus overnight, but the evidence shopping list, they are afraid to up the
Americans who are behind in their tells us that vaccines can eliminate the limit on their credit card. They want
rent. According to the New York degree to which the virus represents a Republicans to give them political
Times, over 400,000 renters in New York unique crisis. cover for the partisan debt bomb that
City alone owe a collective debt of $2 We may not be entirely out of the they will go right on to detonate with
billion. woods—the Delta uptick makes that zero input from us. My colleagues are
Congress did its job by making sure clear—but it is time to stop governing so mixed up on this, it is almost com-
that we have money in place to help as if we were trapped in a permanent ical.
these Americans avoid evictions. Now economic meltdown. It factually is The sums that we borrowed and spent
the States need to step it up to make simply not the case, but the Demo- through 2020—through last year,
sure that this money gets into the cratic Party’s far-left flank is resisting through the last administration,
hands of renters as soon as possible. this simple fact. They were counting through the actual economic emer-
I yield the floor. on this terrible but temporary pan- gency—were largely covered by the
f demic to be their Trojan horse for per- previous debt suspension that just ex-
manent socialism. So they don’t want pired, but Democrats want a new debt
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY to admit that the vaccines are limit increase for the new borrowing
LEADER transitioning COVID from a crisis into and the new spending that they will-
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. a challenge—case in point, the surreal fully piled up since they took power:
KELLY). The Republican leader is rec- episode that has unfolded this past about $2 trillion back in March, tril-
ognized. week over evictions. lions more sometime soon.
For a year and a half now, the gov- So they want to unleash another
f reckless taxing-and-spending spree
ernment has basically told landlords
AWARDING FOUR CONGRESSIONAL they have little or no recourse if ten- with zero Republican input—oh, oh—
GOLD MEDALS TO THE UNITED ants stop paying the rent. This isn’t but when the bill comes, they say it is
STATES CAPITOL POLICE AND just about massive corporations that time to split the check. When the bill
THOSE WHO PROTECTED THE some think could eat losses forever; comes, it is time to split the check.
U.S. CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021 family businesses who own one or two Initiating another budget reconcili-
units have had to keep paying their ation process in a 50–50 Senate is as
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, ear-
bills, their taxes, and their mortgages willfully partisan, as ‘‘go it alone’’ as
lier this week, the Senate proudly and
the whole time. it gets, especially in a Senate that
unanimously passed a resolution
Congress already sent billions of dol- keeps proving we can do bipartisan
awarding a Congressional Gold Medal
lars to States for rental assistance. work.
to the U.S. Capitol Police along with
The problem is with State governments So, look, if our colleagues want to
other law enforcement personnel who
that have been pathetically slow to get ram through yet another reckless tax-
helped defend this institution on Janu-
the money out, but when some Social- ing-and-spending spree without our
ary 6.
ist House Members fail to convince input, if they want all this spending
Today, President Biden will sign this
their own fellow Democrats to extend and debt to be their signature legacy,
resolution into law, and the brave men
this nationwide socialism through leg- they should leap at the chance to own
and women who served that day will
islation, they somehow prevailed on every bit of it.
receive the highest honor that Con- So let me make something perfectly
President Biden through PR stunts—
gress can bestow. clear: If they don’t need or want our
PR stunts.
With the home of our representative One day before the President’s an- input, they won’t get our help. They
democracy literally under attack, the nouncement, his senior adviser said the won’t get our help with the debt limit
officers of the Capitol Police, their col- President had ‘‘double-, triple-, quad- increase that these reckless plans will
leagues from the DC Metropolitan Po- ruple-checked’’ whether he had the require. I could not be more clear.
lice, and others made huge, huge sac- legal authority to do this, and he con- They have the ability. They control
rifices to keep all of us safe. cluded he did not. The President him- the White House; they control the
On January 6, Congress got a first- self admitted that legal scholars find House; they control the Senate. They
hand reminder of a reality that many his position untenable, but he still can raise the debt ceiling, and if it is
American citizens face every day; that caved and did it. raised, they will do it.
the brave men and women of law en- The far left wants to turn this ter- f
forcement really are the thin blue line rible but temporary pandemic into a
standing between peace and chaos. Trojan horse for permanent socialism, TRIBUTE TO NICK ROSSI
I am so proud we are adding our own and the administration is letting them Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President,
colleagues in blue to the list of ex- call the shots. now, on another matter, this week,
traordinary Americans that Congress Senate Republicans are saying goodbye
f
has honored with its gold medal. to some all-star staffers.
So thank you and congratulations. DEBT LIMIT Nick Rossi, the chief of staff to our
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
f Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, in whip, Senator THUNE, has spent 15
just a few days our colleagues will years mastering the ins and outs of the
THE ECONOMY start ramming through yet another— Senate.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Now, Mr. Presi- another—reckless taxing-and-spending This former FBI agent has used his
dent, on a completely different matter, spree: trillions more in inflationary Harvard Law horsepower to steer of-
we are more than a year from the tech- spending when families just want good fices, committees, and our entire con-
nical end of the COVID–19 recession. jobs and stable prices. ference in the right direction. Our whip
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