The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“CORONAVIRUS” mentioning Richard J. Durbin and Tammy Duckworth was published in the Senate section on pages S1002-S1004 on March 3.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, on a different subject, I listened to the speeches of Senator Schumer and Senator McConnell about the American Rescue Plan--Joe Biden's proposal, his initial proposal as President--
to deal with the pandemic, the state of the economy, and many other aspects of American culture and life that need to be addressed. Clearly, there is a difference of opinion.
I couldn't help but think, as Senator McConnell was recounting our experience last year, that when it came to the CARES Act a year ago--
the $2 trillion plan to respond to the state of the pandemic and the economy, the plan that was engineered by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, a member of the Trump administration, who argued and negotiated with Republicans and Democrats alike--that, when they finally agreed, the vote was 96 to nothing in this Chamber. Every Democrat voted for the proposed CARES Act that was engineered by the Trump administration. Party was pushed aside because the priority was our Nation. It happened again in December of last year. In President Trump's administration, with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin at the table and with Democrats and Republicans bargaining, the final vote was 92 to 6 in the Senate--not bad--and the 6 noes were all Republicans. Again, the Democrats stepped up and said: We will support this bipartisan effort because that is why we are here. The American people sent us here to do a job.
Now comes the new President, Joe Biden, who says: Good work last December, but that was temporary, and that was supposed to be a special effort. Now we have to finish the year. We have some deadlines coming. Just 2 weeks from now--or in less than 2 weeks--the unemployment insurance programs will be running out for millions of Americans, and the rental assistance program as well. Some will face eviction, and some will not have enough money to feed their families. So get to work. Pass the American Rescue Plan on a bipartisan basis.
We have yet to hear from one Republican Senator who will support President Biden's plan. Some of them have legitimate differences with his policy, and I wish they would come to the table and be a part of the conversation, but none of them has really stepped up and said: We are in for the big effort that the President is calling for. That is what it will take. Unfortunately, because of that, in a 50-50 Senate, we will need every Democratic Senator to support the President's plan and to pass a version of what the House is sending over to us. We will go through an exercise called
``reconciliation'' in just a few days. It is not a pretty scene if you follow legislative history, but it is long overdue.
Do you know the one thing that should drive us on? It is not only the obvious need for this but the fact that the American people overwhelmingly support what President Biden has proposed. The American people believe, as he does, that we should be investing billions into more vaccines and more people to administer them. The American people believe that a cash payment to families is essential in some parts of this country. They would like to see the $600 in last December's bill complemented with the $1,400 in this proposal. They would like for us to put money on the table for people who are unemployed so they can put food on that same table, and they would like for us to get the schools ready to deal with reopening and classes that are safe for the kids and the teachers. There is no argument about that.
While 20 percent of the people may oppose it, 80 percent support it. Yet we can't find one Republican Senator to support President Biden's plan. They say it costs too much. Well, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Mr. Powell, a conservative Republican economist, has told us to be careful that you do too little. This economy is fragile. It needs to be strengthened. We need to inject into this economy enough of our resources so that people are back, purchasing again, and businesses are reopened. He has warned us, if you do too little and if you cut it off too soon, you are going to pay for it for years to come with unemployment and problems with the sluggish economy.
My Republican colleagues say it is just too much money. Well, I think they are wrong, and at this moment in history, I am prepared to err on the side of investing in the American people and American businesses and making certain that we have a fighting chance to put this behind us.
Our constituents know about the cost of this situation. They want us to provide the solutions. They want results from Congress. If we were to delay this payment, people would see their unemployment insurance lapse and hardships continue.
We shouldn't play politics with it either. In the two big bills last year, the Democrats were on board for plans engineered by the Trump administration. Economists believe that we need to move and move decisively.
According to an analysis by the Brookings Institution, passing a comprehensive plan like the American Rescue Plan could produce a 4-
percent growth in U.S. GDP this year.
Moody's estimates that passing the same plan would create 7\1/2\ million American jobs. How about that?
We got good news over the weekend with the arrival of another safe and effective vaccine. This is the third one, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, in our arsenal--perhaps more to follow. It holds the promise of finally getting America inoculated, vaccinated, and breaking the back of this pandemic.
This new vaccine prevents hospitalizations and deaths, stored at normal temperatures, a single shot--all good news.
But we need more than a promise of a vaccine. We need a plan. These vaccines are of no good to us sitting on a shelf or not being produced in volumes necessary.
President Biden's rescue plan, which not a single Republican supports, would provide 100 and--I think I have got the number right--
$160 billion in resources for the production of vaccines and the distribution. If we ever needed it, this was the moment.
Thankfully, President Biden's leadership has led to allocations to Illinois of vaccines that have increased by 70 percent since he took over as President. We still have our challenges at the local level.
I want to salute the Governor, JB Pritzker; the mayor of the city of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot; the Cook County Board President Preckwinkle; and all the others who are doing their best.
I announced with Senator Duckworth just last Friday that we are going to put a new facility in the parking lot of the United Center, where the amazing Chicago Bulls play basketball from time to time, and it is going to be able to vaccinate thousands of people every single day.
It is Federal assistance that is making it happen, and it happens to be in a neighborhood where African Americans and Latinos are nearby, and we need to protect them with even more effectiveness than we have to date. They account for 33 percent of the population of that area, and only 16 percent have been vaccinated.
The American Rescue Plan provides $20 billion to expand our vaccine distribution capacity. You would think that that would maybe attract one Republican supporter. It should. There are certainly some who argue against all vaccines and spending any money for it and all the rest, but they are such a small minority. The vast majority of Americans of both political parties understand that we have got to go to vaccinations as quickly as possible. The Biden rescue plan does that. I wish they would join us in supporting it.
There is also a need for money for education. There is $128 billion in this bill for additional education funding K-12, and there have been arguments made on the floor here by the Republicans that we just don't need it. They point to data showing that the school districts haven't spent the money that we provided in previous relief packages. Well, just talk to the principals and the teachers in your home State about that conclusion. You will find the money is desperately needed and that the money that has been appropriated before will be spent in an orderly way and not shoveled out the window.
We are looking ahead to the entire year and making certain that we have a real school year--perhaps the remainder of this year but certainly for next year. Illinois needs these funds and America does.
When it comes to State and local support, I have to tell you, we have paid a heavy price in our State of Illinois and our major cities. We have seen expenses go up and we have seen revenue go down and we need help, not unreasonable.
This helping hand will save jobs that are necessary for us--some of them healthcare jobs, some of them security and safety jobs, but they will save jobs, and that is why the State and the local resources included in this bill are so important and timely.
Over the past year, States and localities have lost 1.3 million jobs of their payrolls, far more than the 750,000 lost in the great recession. There is needed help from the Federal Government, and it is needed now.
We have recovered just 12 million of the 22 million jobs we have lost since the start of the pandemic.
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, more than 8 million rental households and 2 million homeowners were behind on housing payments at the end of last year. The burden is tough, and for those of us lucky enough to have escaped it, we may not know the feeling, the empty feeling of eviction or the loss of a home that you have paid a mortgage on for years.
I am going to close. I see one of my colleagues on the floor preparing to speak, but I would like to close with the story of Galen Hensen from Midlothian, IL.
For 34 years, Galen has supported touring artists through his work in live concert production for some of America's most iconic musicians. When the American economy was upended by the pandemic, his industry froze to save other lives and to avoid crowds.
Like so many others, Galen went on unemployment. Yet, even with the Federal $600 supplement to State unemployment, he had only half of his regular income replaced. He struggles--still struggles to make ends meet. He wrote to me urging that we put aside our partisan differences and pass the American Rescue Plan. Let's listen to Galen, and let's listen to many others like him. They are counting on us.
I hope when all is said and done after all the speeches, that just as we came together on a bipartisan basis to pass the rescue plan twice last year--96 to nothing, 92 to 6--under the Trump administration, with all Democrats supporting it, wouldn't it be great if we showed that same bipartisanship again
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip.
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