Government Funding and HEAL Initiative and Gun Violence — Congressional Record, Senate, May 2, 2022 (S2232)

Summary

Congressional Record, Senate, page S2232, dated May 2, 2022. Under the heading Government Funding, McConnell says the American Rescue Plan spent $2 trillion and cites a news report that localities are using a slice of the aid to build pickleball courts. Under the heading HEAL Initiative and Gun Violence, Durbin describes the Chicago HEAL Initiative, which began when Durbin brought together the CEOs of the top 10 hospitals in Chicago. Durbin reports that those hospitals increased goods and services from local suppliers by nearly 30 percent, $120 million last year, and that 5,000 students went through apprenticeship and intern programs.

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“Government Funding and HEAL Initiative and Gun Violence — Congressional Record, Senate, May 2, 2022 (S2232).” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-05-02-crec-2022-05-02-pt1-pgs2232-20e1779b7b/, SHA-256 2774a8eb5e4aaaacdf45f42c822da0ddef8e027d897a0f1e93e98f39b2524411.

Full text

S2232 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE May 2, 2022
spent $2 trillion of the American peo- $2 trillion of their money and the worst Without these interventions, we
ple’s money and purchased the worst inflation in a generation. know that nearly half—half—of the
inflation in more than 40 years. I suggest the absence of a quorum. gunshot victims would be back in the
Well, actually, that is not all it pur- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The hospital within 5 years. That is a fact.
chased. clerk will call the roll. But the hospitals are also looking
The legislative clerk proceeded to further upstream to try to put an end
f call the roll. to violence in the city of Chicago.
GOVERNMENT FUNDING Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I ask People say the best way to stop a
unanimous consent that the order for bullet is with a job. Well, these 10 hos-
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, the quorum call be rescinded.
sure, the Democrats’ $2 trillion didn’t pitals took that to heart. Over the last
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 3 years, these 10 hospitals increased
buy our country anything lasting like objection, it is so ordered.
a Hoover Dam or an Interstate High- new hires from neighborhoods of the
f highest gun violence, which face more
way System—nothing like that—but
the money had to go someplace—and, HEAL INITIATIVE AND GUN poverty than other neighborhoods, ob-
boy, did it ever. VIOLENCE viously, by a whopping 21 percent.
Democrats and lots of the media Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, over Here is what they do. They go into
spent most of 2020 and 2021 shouting the past 2 years, our understanding of the high schools and middle schools
that Republicans were risking calam- healthcare and good health practices around the hospitals where they do
ity because we didn’t want to dump has changed. The pandemic revealed we business and sit down and talk to the
endless sums into slush funds for State cannot limit the delivery of care to the kids and say: How would you like to
and local governments. It turns out we hospital or the doctor’s office. We need shadow one of our nurses or one of our
were right, and they were wrong. State to reach out, particularly to the most doctors, see what it is like in the hos-
and local governments are now so vulnerable members of our commu- pital here and maybe even have a sum-
awash in Democrat bailout money they nities, directly, personally. That is ex- mer internship? All of a sudden, young
can’t even figure out where to put it. actly what is underway in Chicago people have taken an interest in that
One recent news report found this bo- right now. hospital that they walk by every day
nanza has ‘‘provided a boon for local- Four years ago, I brought together and never ever related to.
ities seeking to build or upgrade their the CEOs of the top 10 hospitals in Chi- The hospitals also decided they have
pickleball amenities.’’ Yes, you heard cago. They were located in areas economic clout. Think of the money
that right. around the city, I noticed, that were that is spent on goods and supplies at
comparable to the areas of greatest every hospital in America. Well, they
Dozens of municipalities are adding
pickleball courts to their park and recre- gun violence, each one of those hos- decided to reach out to their suppliers
ation offerings—and many are using a slice pitals. So I asked the 10 CEOs to come and say to them: We are going to give
of their coronavirus aid package to under- over for breakfast—I bought the bagels you special consideration if you will lo-
write the construction boom. If the Hoover and coffee—and they sat down around cate part of your business in the neigh-
Dam and the Lincoln Tunnel are enduring the table and they looked at one an- borhood around our hospital so that
monuments to the New Deal’s infrastructure other and they told me: This is the people in the neighborhoods can be
spending, perhaps pickleball courts will be- working to provide the goods and ma-
first time we have ever sat in the same
come a lasting legacy of the $1.9 trillion terials that we need.
American Rescue Plan. room together.
They are competitors. They are try- They increased goods and services
In New York, one county set aside $12 ing to get the same people to come to from local suppliers by nearly 30 per-
million in so-called relief funds to ren- their hospitals. But this morning was a cent—$120 million last year—just the
ovate a minor league baseball stadium. conversation about what they had in beginning, seed money to get these
In Iowa, county officials put aside $2 common. businesses in the neighborhood sup-
million—listen to this—to buy a pri- These hospitals are on the frontlines plying the hospital.
vate ski area. In Colorado, two golf of treating victims with bullet wounds. Importantly, these 10 hospitals are
courses are getting their irrigation sys- When I met with those CEOs in 2018, we going into the Chicago middle and high
tems replaced, thank goodness. In Wis- talked about how you not only treat schools offering apprenticeship pro-
consin, a skate park is getting a mil- this kind of violence but how you pre- grams, and it is working. Last year,
lion-dollar makeover. vent it. 5,000 students went through these ap-
The American Rescue Plan didn’t We launched something called the prenticeship and intern programs.
rescue working people from anything. Chicago HEAL Initiative. ‘‘HEAL’’ This is especially important 2 years
It only rescued bureaucrats from any stands for Hospital Engagement, Ac- into the pandemic. Our hospitals have
semblance—any semblance—of fiscal tion, and Leadership. Despite being been hit with shortages of nurses, doc-
sanity. competitors, these 10 hospital CEOs sat tors, and critical support staff—not
Remember, Democrats openly admit- down, and on their own—without my just in the city of Chicago, I might add,
ted they viewed pandemic relief as an input, without my urging or any Fed- but the entire State. I spoke to the
ideological Trojan horse. They called eral mandates—wrote 16 things they Southern Illinois Health Clinic CEO,
this terrible, deadly virus ‘‘a tremen- thought they could achieve over a span and he has talked to me about the
dous opportunity to restructure things of 3 years. I looked at the list and said same thing they are running into in
to fit our vision.’’ that this sounds good to me. Chicago. They just don’t have enough
And so right on cue, their so-called We knew we couldn’t solve every as- medical professionals.
rescue plan has funded environmental pect of the complex problems facing us I met last week with members of the
justice grants to address something with gun violence, but it was a good Illinois Hospital Association. They told
called inequitable tree canopy cover in start. They said to me: This is the first me that the shortages and burnouts in
Massachusetts. Some public school sys- time we have ever gotten together, and our health workforce is their top con-
tems, in the vice grip of Big Labor, are we were able to come up with an agree- cern. They are working with local
using their windfalls to advance bizarre ment. schools to recruit students.
indoctrination in things like critical Well, last week, the 3 years were up, A few years ago, I kept hearing this
race theory. and we announced what happened at nursing shortage, nursing shortage,
The rescue plan dollars have funded these hospitals over the last 3 years. and I decided I had to learn what was
staff trainings to make sure the edu- The gunshot patient in the emergency behind this. And it is a very simple fact

dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
cators paid to look after young kids room, hospitals are no longer just of economics. Here is what it comes
are up on all of the latest ‘‘woke’’ stitching up their wounds; they are down to. If you are a registered nurse
buzzwords and causes. also addressing the emotional scars to in my State of Illinois, it is not uncom-
The American people wouldn’t want prevent retaliation. Last year, 3,000 mon for you to have an opportunity to
this junk if it were free. They defi- gunshot victims were paired with coun- make a six-figure salary, not uncom-
nitely don’t want it for the pricetag of selors and caseworkers. mon at all. And particularly if you are

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