Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, President Eisenhower once said: ``Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles [away] from the corn field.'' Those are wise words from a wise man.

If you are trying to get a view of what is happening across America, you certainly can't get a comprehensive picture staying here in Washington, DC, or even listening to the national media. That is why, whether working on a farm bill, a highway bill, or a coronavirus recovery bill, I look to my constituents for feedback. I know we all do the same.

Since we first learned that evacuees from China would be headed to Joint Base San Antonio for a 14-day quarantine, I have been in close contact with the folks in Texas--starting in San Antonio--about the coronavirus. I have joined dozens, if not 100 or more, videoconferences with groups covering every industry that have shared honest perspectives about how things are going, what is working, and what more is needed from Congress.

I have spoken with nurses and hospital administrators about the need for additional PPE to protect our healthcare heroes. I have spoken with researchers and scientists, even as recently as today, about the ongoing quest to develop vaccines and treatments and, of course, with farmers and ranchers and producers about their struggle to cope with a glut of supply and reduced demand.

I have spoken with small business owners about the impact of this virus on their businesses, their workforce, and their communities. Their feedback has been invaluable to the work of the Senate as we continue our mission to lead America through and eventually out of this crisis.

As States across the country begin to reopen their economies, the light at the end of the tunnel is getting a little bit brighter, but there is still a whole lot of work that needs to be done. Yesterday, I spoke with some of my friends at Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the Texas Civil Justice League, and a number of other business stakeholders about the critical need for liability protection in our next piece of coronavirus legislation.

We are already seeing that, across America, there is a wave of COVID- 19-related lawsuits rolling in. Without action on our part, there is genuine fear that these lawsuits could hurt the very people we need to be helping right now get through this weakened economy.

One of the Texans on the call talked about the vast challenges our healthcare workers have faced over the last several weeks. As hospital beds began filling up, the strain on healthcare workers became a serious problem.

Many States loosened restrictions to allow out-of-State or retired physicians to join the fight on the frontlines, and countless healthcare workers are being cross-trained or redeployed to help fill personnel shortages. You may see pediatricians caring for adults or anesthesiologists working in the ICU.

On top of that, these men and women are forced to make tough, almost impossible decisions every day. They may have half a dozen patients who desperately need a ventilator but only two machines available.

We should not put our healthcare workers in an impossible situation where we ask them to do everything they can to help, and then we punish them by subjecting them to litigation when somebody claims that they could or should have done better.

It is not just healthcare workers, though, who could emerge from this crisis only to be greeted by an avalanche of lawsuits. As our economy begins to reopen, businesses are dusting off their tables, barber chairs, gym equipment--whatever the case may be--and preparing to welcome customers back through their doors.

They are following the guidance from the State and the Centers for Disease Control and taking every precaution they recommend to protect both their employees and their customers. However, despite their best efforts, there is nothing stopping someone who contracts the virus from saying it happened at that particular business and then suing.

One of the people on our call yesterday said his business has faced many lawsuits before, and he knows that, even if you have done absolutely nothing wrong, defending these lawsuits can be a huge, huge expense. He pointed out that causation is of particular concern when you talk about a virus. We are still learning about it, but we know that the incubation period could last up to 14 days, making it nearly impossible to prove when and where the virus was contracted.

While ordinarily it would be the burden of the person bringing the suit to prove causation, we know that, in jury trials, anything can happen and that this is not enough to stop opportunistic litigation from trying to either get a successful jury verdict and judgment or just a nuisance settlement because of the cost of defense

Across the country, we are already seeing coronavirus lawsuits rolling in, targeting not only our healthcare workers and businesses but nursing homes, assisted living facilities, universities, governments--you name it.

Without action from Congress, the litigation epidemic will be a big one and will add insult to injury from this pandemic. We simply cannot allow this tidal wave of lawsuits to sweep away our healthcare workers, nonprofits, and businesses who followed the guidelines and acted in good faith. Congress needs to put in place commonsense reforms to protect those who have helped the American people get through this crisis and who will help lead us out of it.

I am working with my colleagues on a proposal that would achieve this goal through temporary and targeted protections related to COVID-19 lawsuits. That includes our healthcare workers who have been on the frontlines battling this pandemic, the businesses that are going to great lengths to safely reopen their doors, and the nonprofits helping their communities during a time of unprecedented need.

Despite what some of the folks on the left try to claim, this isn't a ban on lawsuits. Nobody is suggesting we have blanket immunity. No one wants to let bad actors get away with their bad behavior and to reward it. However, as my constituents told me yesterday, the fear of unrestrained litigation could be the boot on the neck of our economy and add insult to injury for our healthcare workers and others who, in good faith, did precisely what they were asked to do during this time of crisis.

We need to put commonsense safeguards in place to ensure that those operating in good faith and following all the relevant guidelines cannot be sued into oblivion because of a particular outcome when people are doing the best they know how to do during a time of crisis-- in good faith--and doing exactly what the public health officials and their government officials are telling them to do.

This is going to be a critical aspect to our recovery, not only in Texas but in every State across the Nation. We have counted on all of these people, from our healthcare workers to local businesses, to help get us through this crisis. We can't let them down now.

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