Unanimous Consent Request
Floor Speech
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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, before they leave the floor, I just want to compliment my colleagues from Alaska and Ohio on making a very important point. You would think, from the press, that there are negotiations taking place, but the truth is that Speaker Pelosi and the minority leader in the Senate, Senator Schumer, have shown zero interest in resolving the differences on this next COVID-19 package. I think it is just very important for my colleagues to lay out the facts because there is a tendency to ignore the facts in favor of a mythical or a fantasy construct, so I appreciate their statements.
Hopefully, sometime soon, now that the enhanced unemployment benefits have been allowed to expire as a result of Democratic objections and where the Paycheck Protection Program, which was the single most successful part of the CARES Act legislation that we passed, is likewise scheduled to terminate here soon, I hope Democratic negotiators will get serious about providing a fifth coronavirus relief package to support our country through this unprecedented crisis.
We are doing pretty well. During the previous legislation, we virtually passed these trillion-plus-dollar bills, multitrillion-dollar bills, essentially by unanimous vote because we knew we were in the middle of an emergency. We knew that it was not a time for politics; it was a time to try to help people who were out of work or needed help from our beleaguered healthcare providers.
So we rose to the occasion, previously, by bolstering our healthcare response, making testing free of charge, providing vital funding for our hospitals, and arming our medical workers with the personal protective equipment and other medical equipment they needed in order to sustain the fight. We have poured funding into the research and development of a vaccine, therapeutics, and treatments, which are coming along, and we are all hopeful an American company will win the global race for a vaccine in addition to these therapeutics.
The legislation we passed so far has buoyed the workers and families in need of financial assistance with direct payments, bolstered unemployment benefits, as well as conferred the ability to defer student loan payments with no penalty, and we have supported our wobbly economy with assistance for Main Street businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program that I mentioned a moment ago and other loans for industries that our State and counties rely upon, as well as countless jobs.
While Republicans and Democrats were negotiating these bills in good faith, it was clear we had some different ideas about the best way to support our country through the crisis, but what mattered most was that we shared the same goal. At least we did then. I am beginning to doubt whether we share the same goal now. The goal then was to help people in distress, economically and from a public health standpoint. Now, it seems like Speaker Pelosi and the minority leader in the Senate are more interested in trying to score political points and use people who are in distress and anxious and fearful as hostages.
Well, it is really, really unacceptable. We should be strengthening our fight against the virus and supporting those harmed by economic impact and laying the foundation for a rebound of our economy, which was one of the strongest in my lifetime right before this pandemic hit.
Those remain my priorities today, as we navigate these uncharted waters and prepare to strengthen our fight at this crucial time, but the hangup in negotiations between Democrats and the administration seems to indicate that our Democratic colleagues have shifted course-- or at least that Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer have.
The majority of information we are learning about these negotiations is not coming from rank-and-file Members but from leaks and press conferences to the media about private meetings in Speaker Pelosi's office. From what I understand, it sounds like the Speaker and the minority leader have simply stiff-armed any offers that fall short of their ridiculous Heroes Act legislation that the Speaker and the House passed on a partisan basis a few weeks ago--that they knew at the time had no chance of becoming law.
This legislation was heralded by Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer as the solution our country needs to defeat this virus, so let's talk about what is in it. For starters, the so-called Heroes Act is a massive tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. If the Heroes Act became law, the wealthiest people in New York and San Francisco would receive an average benefit of nearly $60,000--$60,000--higher than the household income for many Texans.
Well, this has nothing to do with COVID-19 or supporting those who are struggling to make ends meet. It is a handout to the people who need it least, at everyone else's expense. But that is only one line in the long list of absurdities in this legislation, the Heroes Act, that have absolutely nothing to do with the crisis at hand.
What is the Speaker's priority when it comes to COVID-19? Well, it is a soil health program, environmental justice grants, permanent changes in election law, and not one but two diversity studies in the marijuana industry.
POLITICO called this bill, at the time, a Democratic wish list filled with all the party's favorite policies. NPR, hardly a bastion of conservative communication, said it is a long wish list for Democrats. The New York Times--the New York Times--basically, a party organ for the Democrats, said the bill was more a messaging document than a viable piece of legislation. The reason they said that is because one- third of that bill is unrelated to the coronavirus.
It paid people more to stay home than to work. It sent checks to illegal immigrants. It bailed out poorly run States. It facilitated ballot harvesting, marijuana banking, and, as I said, tax breaks for coastal elites.
That stands in stark contrast to what we have proposed and what Leader McConnell aptly summed up as kids, jobs, and healthcare. Those ought to be our priorities. As we discover our new normal that exists somewhere between the virus arriving in the United States and a vaccine being distributed, that is where we need to target our attention and our support.
That includes funding for educators who are in the process of planning the safest way to teach students in the fall and childcare for working parents who are heading back to the office. It includes helping the workers who had the rug pulled out from under them when our Democratic colleagues refused to continue bolstered unemployment benefits until these workers can get back to a steady paycheck.
Our bill included continued support for our war against the virus itself, both in hospitals and in research labs. These have been the main concerns in my recent conversations with my constituents in Texas, especially now that the bolstered unemployment benefits provided by the CARES Act have expired.
Since March, more than 3 million Texans have filed for unemployment benefits, and recipients have taken advantage of the additional $600 a week. This additional income has helped families cover the rent, groceries, and other critical expenses until they are able to return to work, and for many workers there is still a great deal of uncertainty about when that might happen.
Well, it is clear, though, that that $600 additional benefit had some unintended consequences. Frankly, we should have capped the amount that somebody could receive for unemployment benefits at their previous earning level, but, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, with the $600 weekly benefit on top of the State benefit, 80 percent of the people receiving the unemployment insurance benefit were making more on unemployment insurance than they were previously employed--80 percent.
That brings us to a point far beyond giving workers the financial support they need to stay afloat. Instead, the Federal Government is paying people not to work. That is the wrong incentive and, certainly, completely unnecessary. Payroll, wage substitution--yes. Paying people not to work--no.
A recent poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe that these enhanced benefits discourage people from going back to work, and they are right. Among unemployed Americans, nearly half say they would avoid returning to work if these benefits were extended.
The businesses in my State which closed their doors earlier this year have now had trouble hiring employees back because some 80 percent of those former employees are making more not working than they were working. If we were to extend that benefit through January, as the Heroes Act would, our economy would not recover, as we all need it to do.
So there is a delicate balance--but an important balance--between supporting those who need help until they can return to the workforce and giving them an incentive to avoid returning to work. This is not an all-or-nothing approach. It is not 600 bucks or bust, even though that is the way Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer like to put it.
We can and we should begin and continue to supplement State unemployment benefits and give workers the income they need to support their families without paying people more to stay home than to work. It is not rocket science.
We are all anxiously waiting for the Speaker and the minority leader to wake up and start focusing on the task at hand, which is on commonsense policies that support our country through this crisis. Texans don't have time to wait for the posturing or the politicking and the grandstanding, not to mention the heel-dragging. They don't have an interest in knowing how diverse the marijuana business is, and they don't want to provide a massive tax break to the richest Americans on the east coast at the expense of everyone else.
My constituents want to be able to feed their families; they want to be able to work; they want to be able to pay their rent; and they want to know their kids will be healthy as the school year begins.
I implore our colleagues, Speaker Pelosi, and Minority Leader Schumer to drop the games, quit hurting people you claim to champion, and pay attention to what America really needs.
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