Coronavirus

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. KAINE. Mr. President, I would like to add, on behalf of my Democratic colleagues, the concerns expressed for the President and First Lady, that they recover quickly and fully.

Having had coronavirus--likely contracted here when we were working on the CARES Act in March--I understand how tricky this can be and, knowing four people who died of coronavirus, how serious it can be. Our prayer is that this is a mild case, and it passes quickly.

I also extend the same concern on behalf of my Democratic colleagues for the Members of the Senate who have recently tested positive and hope that they either have no symptoms or the symptoms pass quickly.

I couldn't help but notice, as I came into the Senate today on the subway from the Russell building, that there is an advisory that has been posted for months down at the entrance to the Senate that says that we are trying to follow CDC guidelines, but the advisory placard says nothing about masks--nothing.

I have wondered about that as I passed before it in the past, but in light of the experience over the last few days, I think in order to fairly follow science-based guidelines and give people warnings about what they should do to protect their health, we might consider a different placard.

Briefly, with respect to the majority leader's comments--I would love to be working on a COVID bill. The House passed a Democratic preferred COVID bill--the Heroes Act--in May. I understand the majority leader and his colleagues find things about it they don't like.

There is no expectation that they would just take up the House Democratic bill and pass it, but we waited through May and then June and then July and then August, until finally, in mid to late September, the majority put a bill on the floor that we viewed, frankly, as insufficient.

It contained no funds for State and local government aid, no funds for rental or mortgage assistance, no funds for SNAP benefits or food aid. It would have stricken State laws, such as those that had been passed in Virginia to try to provide a workplace safety standard for people returning to work in the days of COVID.

We voted the bill down, as the majority leader knows, but we did so with the expectation that that no vote would function much like the no vote in March functioned when we came in on a Sunday and we voted down a partisan proposal, and a few days later, we had a bipartisan proposal--the CARES Act--that has helped millions and millions of Americans, small businesses, hospitals, families.

We hope that no vote would lead to the same negotiation that could potentially find a solution for Americans who are still looking for relief, but the majority wants to now move to a different topic. They want to now speed through a Supreme Court nomination with an unprecedented speed and, indeed, an unprecedented process.

I understand that the majority leader might categorize the Democrats' concerns about proceeding at a time of great sickness as a procedural trick, but I don't think there is any unreasonableness to a Judiciary Committee member's request that a hearing on the single most important appointment that the Senate might make should be done in person. If it is done in person, it should be done in person in a way that is safe. That is the request the Democrats would have and that we continue to believe would be in accord with the institution's norms but also the best thing for the safety of all Members.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source