Coronavirus
Floor Speech
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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 9 months ago, in March, we created the relief known as the CARES Act, and it passed the Senate by a vote of 96 to 0. It was a measure intended to address the pandemic and the resultant economic downturn in America. I have heard various estimates of the total cost, but it is somewhere in the range of $2 trillion to $3 trillion. It was the largest single investment in our Nation in our history. It was a massive national response to a massive national health crisis, and it worked, at least on the economic front. I believe that it created demand in our economy that otherwise would not have been there, and it gave some businesses a chance to survive. Sadly, all did not, and many are still suffering. But it was necessary. It was done on a bipartisan basis. It was massive, and I believe it achieved its goal.
It started us on the course of dealing with the COVID-19 coronavirus, and one has to look back and say it only had limited success in that regard. As of today, we have lost more than 317,000 American lives, and millions have been infected. Our hospitals are still overrun with patients. But we did the right thing, and we quickly realized what we did could make a difference.
The unemployment compensation, which we provided for millions of Americans, was not only the humane thing to do but, as economists would tell you, it was the best single thing you could do to fight a recession. A person who is unemployed, without a paycheck, will spend virtually every penny they are given into the economy, not bank it away for another day. That spending created consumer demand and gave some businesses a fighting chance.
The Paycheck Protection Program, through the Small Business Administration, was the work product of many, but I want to single out Senators Ben Cardin and Marco Rubio for their bipartisan effort. I later saw Senator Collins and Senator Shaheen working to give it another day. But here was a program which extended a lifeline to American businesses--forgivable loans if the money were spent on the necessities: utilities and rent and mortgage and payroll.
I will quickly add that we have a responsibility to taxpayers to make an honest assessment of how that program was implemented. I am sorry to say that I have already heard anecdotal evidence that some of the loans were not carefully made. That is to be expected in something of this magnitude. But, by and large, this program was essential. Money that we put into healthcare made a difference. The CARES Act also protected those who were renting from eviction, delayed the payment of student loans, and a litany of other measures that made a difference.
That bill--the CARES Act of March of 2020--was really written with a notion that this was a short- to medium-term challenge. Many thought that, by the middle of this year, we would be turning the corner. Sadly, that was not the case. As of July, it was apparent that the worst was yet to come.
Speaker Pelosi, of the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a measure known as the Heroes Act in an attempt to have a follow-on relief bill after the CARES Act. It was passed but was not considered in this Chamber.
The Republican leader, who spoke earlier today, said at the time that there were two things he wanted to make clear. First, he wanted to measure whether it was a needed follow-on bill. Second, he was drawing a redline that said unless we provided immunity from liability for corporations and businesses, he wouldn't consider another relief act. And the matter stalled.
The Speaker went on to pass another bill, a smaller one in size, but nothing happened. She went into conversations with Mr. Mnuchin and Senator Schumer on the Democratic side here, but little was produced from that exchange. We were stuck, stalled. As of the election day of November 3, it wasn't clear that there would ever be another relief bill this year.
I want to say a word about what happened next because I know more detail about that than some. It was about 4 weeks ago when a Republican Senator and a Democratic Senator invited six of their colleagues for dinner. It was a bipartisan group. When Senator McConnell mentioned the participants earlier, he only mentioned Republicans. I want to let you know who was in on it on both sides, Democrats and Republicans. Yes, it was Senator Collins, Senator Murkowski, Senator Cassidy, and Senator Romney at the initial meeting; on the Democratic side, Senator Manchin, Senator Warner, myself, and Senator Shaheen. Our ranks changed over the several weeks when we were debating to include Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Angus King of Maine, and Rob Portman of Ohio.
For 3 or 4 weeks, we tried to write a relief bill. We did it by phone, by Zoom, and through staff work that was endless. Finally, Tuesday of last week, we were able to announce it. Let me get this number right, a $748 billion consensus bill for relief. We were unable to reach a final agreement when it came to State and local funding, as well as the question of liability. We set those aside, but we produced this $748 billion bill, much of which is included in this relief package we are going to consider today.
I want to thank my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, for their patience and determination to reach that point. I really believe that we ended up opening the conversation. The leaders, thank goodness, moved in to follow on and make it a reality.
Today, we are going to seriously consider a measure to keep America's economy moving and give us a fighting chance against the coronavirus. I think this bipartisan effort, this grassroots bipartisan effort by the 8 of us--soon to be 10 or 11 before it was all over--will make a significant difference in this Nation. We are going to come through with dramatic offers of relief across the board. It is in the range of $900 billion, is the total. I don't know the exact amount.
It is going to provide several more weeks of unemployment compensation. The final agreement, I am told, reduced the number of weeks that we proposed, and I am sorry for that, but it did include a cash payment, which, under the right circumstances--I don't know all the details--could be a godsend for many families across the United States who are desperately trying to survive in troubling and difficult times.
It also extends the PPP program I mentioned earlier for small businesses to give them a chance for the kinds of loans and forgivable loans that might give them an opportunity to see another day.
Money is there especially for coronavirus vaccine distribution and logistics--testing, tracing, and the vaccine.
I would say this. In fairness, I agree with the Republican leader, who gave credit to the Trump administration for the Warp Speed program. That has been a dramatic success. To think that we have come up with not just one but two vaccines that work against this COVID-19 is an amazing achievement, and I am glad that it received the high priority it deserved under this administration and particularly glad that the researchers and scientists who spent countless hours exploring opportunities for this vaccine were ultimately successful. America owes them a great, great debt of gratitude.
What is going to happen next? There are some parts of this measure which, as we study it, we will realize are inadequate. Merely extending unemployment benefits for 10 or 11 weeks may not be long enough. We may have to return to take a look at it. Whether we have enough money for logistical support for vaccines remains to be seen. Whether the businesses of Americans need another helping hand, we also have to consider that as well.
Let us hope that in the new year and the new President's administration, that we will have a more positive, bipartisan approach. This experience this year was disappointing in some respects, but it ended well with the bill we are going to consider this afternoon.
I want to thank all the colleagues, Senators, who joined me in this bipartisan effort, who started the conversation on Capitol Hill last week. We have more work to be done. We are not out of the woods. We have to consider measures that will address the reality of the economy in the future. We want to make sure that Americans have a chance to get back to work and businesses have a chance to survive in this time of COVID-19.
By the middle of next year, it has been estimated--this is not for certain, but I hope it is right--by the middle of next year, all Americans who are seeking a vaccination will be able to receive one, and that will be a day when we can finally hope that we will have reached that magic number of herd immunity and turn the corner on this terrible pandemic.
I want to thank Senator Schumer for coming to the floor and asking me to say a word or two more. I want to say this about the Members of the Senate, both Democrats and Republicans. There has been more activity on the floor of the Senate in the last several days than I have ever seen. And it isn't just rollcalls; it is Members standing on the floor to discuss the details of this agreement. There were parts we were never going to agree on, that is for sure, but so many times, I would step into a conversation on the floor where they would be hammering out the final details of an agreement. It was heartening. There has been so little of that activity on the floor in the past year or two. It is perilously close to legislating to have Members of the Senate of both political parties working toward agreeable language that can solve America's problems. Let's hope we have more of that.
Unfortunately, the Senate has drifted away from its traditional role of deliberation and legislation. This year, for example, we have only considered 29 amendments in the entire year in the Senate, absent the impeachment proceeding. Twenty-nine amendments. The year before, 2019, there were 22 amendments. That is a waste of talent.
The men and women of the Senate should come together, hopefully on a bipartisan basis, but regardless, should come together to debate the issues and offer their best ideas and, having offered them, be given the chance to vote up or down. I think that appetite is strong on both sides of the aisle.
On the Democratic side, Senator Merkley of Oregon has been a leader in discussing changes in the Senate rules, and we reached out to Republicans as well to engage in that conversation.
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