Congressional Record, Senate, January 5, 2022, Page S33
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A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated January 5, 2022, at page S33. A tribute to Senator Reid recalls how a Senator's family served as an inspiration, noting that his wife raised five children while he worked as a Capitol Police officer and put himself through law school, and says he fought to make families' lives easier. A Senator then criticizes the administration on COVID testing, saying Congress provided more than $80 billion for testing, of which $47 billion was in the American Rescue Plan, and describes a program called RADx at the National Institutes of Health based on the television program Shark Tank. The remarks are the speakers' own.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, January 5, 2022, Page S33.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-01-05-crec-2022-01-05-pt1-pgs33-3-cd9bc0af21/
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January 5, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S33
how she juggled being a mom of not call where the administration was pro- Early in the pandemic, former Sen-
one, not two, not three, not four, five viding information that they have ator Lamar Alexander and I were on
kids—five kids—while Harry was work- asked for a request for information the phone nearly every day with offi-
ing as a Capitol Police officer to put about who could provide a test and cials from the Department of Health
himself through law school while run- then made a request for proposals and Human Services to get a better un-
ning tough campaigns and while serv- about who might be able to provide derstanding of how to fight the virus.
ing long days and nights in Wash- tests. He was the chairman of the appro-
ington. Needless to say, there is not But we are way down the road to be priating committee. I was the chair-
much that can top that. So the Reids asking about who can provide tests. man of the authorizing committee. We
provided my family with the inspira- Congress has provided more than $80 thought we had come up with a plan
tion I needed as I was considering what billion for COVID testing. If you look that, if carried out, would work just
a life in the public view would look at the size of the defense budget, this is right. In fact, the result of those con-
like. a pretty big percentage of the defense versations was a twofold testing re-
Their love for each other, their jour- budget. sponse.
ney and ability to make it work over We have lost track, I think, of how First, we started a program at the
six decades—raising kids, keeping their much money $1 billion or $1 trillion or National Institutes of Health we called
love strong—showed me how important $80 billion is, but the administration RADx, which we kind of based, rough-
it was to have a strong family, of has had $80 billion. Over half of it, $47 ly, on the TV program ‘‘Shark Tank,’’
course, and friends as the foundation billion, they got in March in the Amer- where people brought ideas in about
for this work of public service. ican Rescue Plan. This is supposed to how they could produce a test in ways
You know, we spend a lot of time cover everything from research and de- those tests were not being produced.
here in Washington talking about poli- velopment of new rapid tests to manu- Over $1 billion was invested directly
tics every day, but it is the personal facturing and purchase of these tests, with a dozen different companies that
things at the end of the day we all to funding for State and local govern- are producing today almost all of the
know really matter, and that is the ments to distribute these tests. Here tests that are available in stores.
work that Senator Reid did for Nevad- we are 9 months later, and we are con- But, obviously, being sure that they
ans. He fought to make families’ lives cerned that we don’t have tests because were producing them at the volume
just a little bit easier, whether they we don’t have enough tests. that they needed to be produced was
knew it or not, so that they could focus For the last month, Americans have something we should have been paying
on what matters, what was most im- faced long lines at testing centers. attention to. We wanted to bring more
portant to them. They have gone to places where they tests to the market. We wanted to do it
I want to honor Senator Reid for his thought they could purchase a rapid as quickly as possible and provide the
lifetime of fighting the good fight for test to find empty shelves. necessary government intervention to
our State. He helped make Nevada The question I really have is the do so.
what it is today—a world-class destina- same that many Americans have, In the first 6 months of the RADx
tion and truly a great place to live, which is what went wrong? Why are we Program, at the end of that 6 months,
work, and raise a family. facing such a shortage of tests now? they were delivering 2 million tests a
I want to thank Landra and the en- How could we possibly have had $80 bil- day and 100 percent of all of the tests
tire Reid family for sharing their hus- lion available for a minimum of 9 that were available for at-home test-
band, their father, and their grand- months and now we are back in a test- ing.
father with Nevada and with the Na- ing problem? Secondly, Senator Alexander and I
tion. The American people have bene- I think the answer surely is not a thought that testing should be wide-
fited so much because of their sac- lack of funding but, I think, more fun- spread and easily available, easy to
rifices and his willingness to serve. damentally, a lack of strategy, a lack take. As we pushed to reopen schools
Thank you. of priority, and a failure to anticipate and keep them open, we want to do the
Thank you, Senator Reid. the ongoing testing needs by the ad- things that have a test that is fre-
I yield the floor. ministration. quent, that is inexpensive, and makes
When this administration came into sense. We went on and appropriated
f office, their COVID–19 policy could more than $30 billion for testing activi-
RECESS have been called ‘‘Vaccines First.’’ And ties in the first five bipartisan bills to
while I have been vaccinated and while deal with COVID.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
I have urged all Americans to get a Later, in the American Rescue Plan,
ate stands in recess until 2 p.m.
vaccine unless your doctor tells you an additional $47.8 billion for testing
Thereupon, the Senate, at 1:07 p.m.,
not to, it has always been clear to me activities was made available. Now, re-
recessed until 2 p.m. and reassembled
that the vaccine was only one part of member this is legislation that was
when called to order by the Presiding
the process. partisan in nature. No Republican
Officer (Ms. ROSEN).
In fact, if you remember, from the voted for it. It had easier transfer au-
f very first, the vaccines were at a level thority from category to category than
EXECUTIVE CALENDAR—Continued that indicated that roughly 1 out of 10 any appropriations bill in the last 10
people that had a vaccine would also years, and, frankly, we sent a letter to
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- get COVID. What we know now is that the Secretary of HHS this week—Sen-
ator from Missouri. person who gets COVID that had a vac- ator BURR and I did—asking exactly
CORONAVIRUS cine is not going to be incredibly af- what did this money get spent on. I am
Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, on fected by it, in all likelihood, but it afraid we are going to find out not
Monday, the United States set a new shouldn’t have been a shock that many nearly all of it got spent on testing.
pandemic record with more than 1 mil- people who got a vaccine would also The lack of funding has not been a
lion new cases in 24 hours. I am sure get COVID and would also want to problem, and I think we need to know
you and I and everyone who is thinking know if they had COVID. what happened to the money and what
about this would have hoped we would Yet, for a full year, the administra- we need to do to make the kind of in-
be in a very different place right now tion has focused almost exclusively on vestment now that we thought that $80
than we are, but it is pretty signifi- one thing and testing and treatments billion would surely have made.
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
cant, 2 years into the pandemic, to set have not had the attention they should When people asked last month about
that kind of record. have had or now that they must have. the difficulties in getting tests and
What is most concerning about this That failure has come at a steep cost. why the administration wasn’t making
is many people who are concerned with Today, Americans can’t find over-the- tests free and available, the White
catching the virus or who think they counter tests, and the Nation lacks a House Press Secretary said—she just
may already have it can’t get access to comprehensive reliable testing infra- dismissed the idea out of hand. Then,
tests. I just heard earlier today on a structure. less than 3 weeks later, they did an
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S34 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 5, 2022
about-face and announced they would [Rollcall Vote No. 2 Ex.] that relevant? Well, in 2016, Donald
distribute rapid tests to any American YEAS—61 Trump declared that his 232 electoral
who wants one. That is a bold idea, one Baldwin Gillibrand Rosen votes was a—no, his 306 electoral votes.
Europeans have been using throughout Bennet Grassley Rounds Joe Biden got the same number of
Blumenthal Hassan Schatz votes in 2020 as Donald Trump did in
the pandemic. Blunt Heinrich Schumer
Let’s look at what the administra- Booker Hickenlooper Shaheen
2016. When Trump won with 306 elec-
tion actually did. They will spend $3 Brown Hirono Smith toral votes, he said it was a landslide.
billion for 500 million rapid tests. That Burr Hoeven Stabenow When Biden wins by the same number
Cantwell Kaine
would be about 11⁄2 tests per person. Capito Kelly
Tester of electoral votes, Donald Trump says:
Thune No, it is not a landslide; it is a theft.
They are also saying right now that Cardin King
Tillis
really to have faith in the rapid tests, Carper Leahy
Toomey
You have stolen the election.
Casey Luján Despite these facts, Donald Trump
you probably need to take two of them, Collins Manchin Van Hollen
so the 11⁄2 per person doesn’t do quite Coons Markey Warner pressed ahead with legal challenges in
what it needed to do. Cornyn McConnell Warnock several States. Many of these claims
Cortez Masto Merkley Warren were downright bizarre, and many were
The approach to the answer to our
Cramer Murphy Whitehouse
testing shortage is not to spend to send unfounded. More than 60 Federal and
Crapo Padilla Wicker
500 million tests to the American peo- Duckworth Peters Wyden State courts, involving more than 90
ple. These tests haven’t been purchased Durbin Reed Young judges, many of whom were nominated
yet. They haven’t been produced yet. Fischer Romney by Republican Presidents, including
They haven’t been distributed yet. And NAYS—26 Donald Trump, all agreed that no evi-
what do we do in the next weeks as we Barrasso Hagerty Moran dence of widespread fraud, wrongdoing
wait for even that to be done? Blackburn Hawley Paul or other irregularities were uncovered
Finally, the administration says that Boozman Hyde-Smith Sasse subsequent to the 2020 election—none.
Braun Johnson Scott (FL)
the at-home tests are ‘‘less sensitive’’ Cassidy Kennedy
Allow me to quote one of them.
Scott (SC) Judge Bibas is a longtime member of
to the omicron variant than they need Cotton Lankford Shelby
to be. I hope that is not the case. Cruz Lee Sullivan
the conservative Federalist Society,
It is time the administration began Daines Lummis Tuberville whom Donald Trump actually nomi-
Ernst Marshall nated to the Third Circuit Court of Ap-
to recognize that vaccines are a power-
ful weapon, that we need to continue to NOT VOTING—13 peals. In ruling against Donald
focus on them, but we also need to Feinstein Murkowski Rubio Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in
have a broader strategy. That strategy
Graham Murray Sanders Pennsylvania, Judge Bibas said: ‘‘Call-
Inhofe Ossoff Sinema
has to include people finding out Klobuchar Portman
ing an election unfair does not make it
whether they have COVID–19 or not. Menendez Risch so.’’ Let me repeat that. ‘‘Calling an
This is a wake-up call. I hope we wake election unfair does not make it so.’’
The nomination was confirmed.
Rather than accept defeat at the bal-
up. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
lot box and in the courtroom, the
VOTE ON WITKOWSKY NOMINATION the previous order, the motion to re-
former President embraced conspiracy
Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, I ask consider is considered made and laid
theories and outright lies. The January
unanimous consent that the rollcall upon the table, and the President will
6 insurrection occurred because these
vote be announced. be immediately notified of the Senate’s
lies—and let me repeat: lies—were a
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without action.
call to action for White supremacists
objection, it is so ordered. The senior Senator from Delaware.
and other domestic extremists.
The question is, Will the Senate ad- ANNIVERSARY OF JANUARY 6
As someone who grew up in Danville,
vise and consent to the Witkowsky Mr. CARPER. Madam President, 1 VA, the last capital of the confederacy,
nomination? year ago tomorrow, a violent mob at- I have seen Confederate flags before—a
Mr. BLUNT. I ask for the yeas and tacked our Capitol—this Capitol. Five lot of them—but I never expected to
nays. Americans died, and hundreds sus- see any of them in this Capitol or in
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a tained injuries in what has been de- this Chamber.
sufficient second? scribed as the worst attack on our Cap- On January 6, the former President
There appears to be a sufficient sec- itol since the War of 1812 and the worst incited a mob at the National Mall, and
ond. attack on our democracy, literally, he sent them to attack this Capitol. He
The clerk will call the roll. since the Civil War. The mob assaulted lit a match, fanned the flames of vio-
The senior assistant legislative clerk and maimed police officers, desecrated lence, and did nothing to extinguish
called the roll. our beacon of democracy, and in using the fire. He was deservedly impeached
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the force, sought to obstruct the peaceful for the second time for this heinous of-
Senator from California, (Mrs. FEIN- transfer of power in this Nation. fense against our Constitution, which
STEIN), the Senator from Minnesota One year later, as we recall the chaos he was sworn to defend.
(Ms. KLOBUCHAR), the Senator from and the bloodshed of that day, more One year later, I am standing in this
New Jersey (Mr. MENENDEZ), the Sen- than ever, I am convinced that we sacred Chamber, thanks in large part
ator from Washington (Mrs. MURRAY), must fully understand what happened to the heroism of countless officers
the Senator from Georgia (Mr. and make sure that it never happens from the U.S. Capitol Police and the
OSSOFF), the Senator from Vermont again. DC Metropolitan Police Departments.
(Mr. SANDERS), and the Senator from The 2020 election was hard fought, Over 150 police officers were injured
Arizona (Ms. SINEMA) are necessarily but it was not especially close. Not one that day—over 150. Tragically, five po-
absent. example of widespread fraud was found lice officers have subsequently lost
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators nor was any evidence presented that their lives in connection to the Janu-
are necessarily absent: the Senator would have altered the outcome. Let’s ary 6 attack, including, tragically, four
from South Carolina (Mr. GRAHAM), the take a moment and look at the facts. by suicide.
Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. INHOFE), There were 81.2 million votes for Joe Many of the officers who defended
the Senator from Alaskas (Ms. MUR- Biden last year—81.2 million. There our Capitol will carry the wounds of
KOWSKI), the Senator from Ohio (Mr. were 74.2 million votes cast for Donald that day, both physical and mental,
PORTMAN), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Trump—74.2. That is about 51.3 percent
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with them for years to come. In re-
RISCH), and the Senator from Florida of the vote for Joe Biden and 46.8 per- sponse, we must remain committed to
(Mr. RUBIO). cent of the vote for Donald Trump; 306 their health and safety for years to
THE PRESIDIDING OFFICER (Ms. electoral votes for Joe Biden, 232 elec- come. They showed remarkable cour-
BALDWIN). Are there any other Sen- toral votes for Donald Trump. age that day. They risked their lives—
ators in the Chamber desiring to vote? Ironically, Joe Biden earned the an unyielding to commitment to the
The result was announced—yeas 61, same number of electoral college votes oath that they took to protect our Con-
nays 26, as follows: as Donald Trump did in 2016. Why is stitution and this Capitol.
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