Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come for an additional reason, and that is to tell you that in my home State of Wyoming, we have reopened. We did that starting last Friday. Many States across the country are continuing to do so, and people all across my home State are ready, willing, able, and needing to get back to work. We are doing it safely, we are doing it smartly, and we are following the guidelines set out by the White House.

States all across the country are doing it. Governors and local leaders are reopening, and they are doing it in a responsible way. As of today, over 30 States have reopened. On Thursday, Michigan will reopen. On Friday, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, as well as California will begin to reopen. By this time next week, nearly 40 States will have opened again.

Now, we do hear, on the other side of the aisle, Democrats complaining about wanting to do significant amounts of additional spending. Americans are busy getting back to work. That is where our focus should be. People are packing their lunches. They are taking proper precautions. They are putting on their work gloves. They are earning their keep. They aren't looking for favors. They are not looking for frills from Washington. They just want to do their jobs, and they want to make sure that we do ours as well.

We have spent close to $3 trillion in this country over the last 2 months, and we have a duty to make sure that money is spent properly and that we got it right. We need to make sure we are here and focused on work-friendly policies, and this doesn't necessarily mean additional spending. It means making it easier for the 30 million people who currently are out of work and who have lost their jobs to get back to work sooner.

Our priorities are America's priorities: rebuilding the economy and jobs, addressing the coronavirus, and helping our health systems. Plenty of dollars have started to go out the door. Many more dollars, already approved, are still slated to go to the American people, to small businesses, to States, and to our healthcare system. The $3 trillion doesn't get spent overnight. The support we have provided is finding its way through the economy, through the healthcare systems, and through the States to the men and women of America. States are looking at the dollars coming in, and they are figuring out how best to use the resources. They are asking for more flexibility, and I believe they need to have more flexibility in how the money is spent.

Senators and committees are here to make sure that we get this right. We need to do that through hearings, through oversight, and through confirmations. Just this week, the Senate will be having COVID-19- related hearings in the Banking Committee, in the Homeland Security Committee, in the Commerce Committee, and in the Health and Education Committee. We are just getting started.

Importantly, this is not the time to reshape America along some liberal wish list of ideas that the Democrats have suggested. It is not time to legislate from either Brooklyn or San Francisco. It is not time to veer to the left. It is time to stay focused. The Senate Republicans are here, and we are going to stay focused on the future of America.

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