MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. BRAUN. Madam President, I have been here a little over a year and have dealt with several issues that tell me how this place works. I never thought we would come to the point at which we have actually choked down the real economy with the valid effort of trying to get rid of a disease, and the American public--caught in the crossfire--is already suffering. The ones who had to shutter their businesses early were hoping that, when they woke up today, they were going to see something. You can see that it is not going to happen.

Many others here have kind of gone after the other side, and I think that it is a valid argument. Yet what I am going to talk about here this evening are two things. If we do not get something done through unanimous consent and have to wait until Wednesday, we will all be held accountable, and we will have done what this place normally does--it doesn't work for the people who sent us here to do the business.

A hotel owner in Indianapolis called me earlier in the week. Last week, he had 2-percent occupancy. A number of small businesses across the country, not only in Indiana, have had employees leave, and they have had to shutter their businesses by government edict. The toll and the carnage is going to be great.

I want to stress what we might get done. I had four or five Democratic Senators tell me this, and I want to throw the gauntlet out and do it publicly. Obviously, a list like this does not make sense, and how you would even bring that up at a time like this boggles my mind. Four or five different Democratic Senators said that, if we would come together on three areas, they would have enough people to get it across the finish line even through unanimous consent.

No. 1--and I think most of the folks on my side of the aisle would agree--is shoring up what State and local governments need to effectively handle this crisis. That is Main Street. That sounds OK with me.

Next is helping the frontline industry that is responsible for fighting the disease--hospitals and providers. We are really close. We are not far away.

The one that we hear the most about would be the transparency associated with what could be the most important part of the package. It is the Emergency Stabilization Fund, which would help all of those businesses that need liquidity in order to keep employees on their payrolls. I am going to be for full transparency. As for the airlines and their practices and what they did at the time that ate up all of their cash, I think there needs to be accountability.

Senator Manchin said earlier that it needs stronger language to prohibit stock buybacks--check. Most of us would be for that. Secretary Mnuchin could not have full latitude on where to direct the funds. I am a Main Street guy. I would go for that too.

We don't have enough restraints on the assistance in firing employees at a later time, as employers might do. Any of us who care about our employees would be for that as well. There are a couple other things.

So I throw the gauntlet out to the leadership, who I think trotted out a lot of this other stuff, confused the process, and now we are here to where we have to do it with unanimous consent.

I feel good that our side comes along on three key areas: helping State and local governments, helping the frontline of defense, hospitals, and holding the big companies accountable that are going to get the benefit of government assistance. And we need to keep in mind: This isn't 2008, where you are looking at bailing out and helping some of the people who caused the problem.

Even these larger businesses have been impacted by government edict to flatten the curve, and what we have to make sure is that we get this out the door so that, in the process of flattening the curve, we do not flatten the economy. We owe it to every wage earner, to every small business, and to Americans in general.

Let's take those three areas that many Democrats told me today if we just get them freed up, we will get it across the finish line. That is the gauntlet I throw at the leadership on the other side. Let's get it done. The American public expects us to.

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