National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021--Conference
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, we are currently in the midst of the worst moment of the pandemic up until now.
We have recordbreaking numbers of deaths, of diagnoses of people with COVID-19, of hospitals unable to accommodate even more people.
And in the midst of this pandemic, obviously, we are also in a severe economic meltdown, and there are economists who are telling us that the desperation of working families in this country today, right now, is worse than at any time since the Great Depression.
In Vermont and all over this country, we have workers who have lost their jobs and their income; people who are, by the millions, behind in their rent and are afraid of being evicted, afraid of losing their homes; people who have lost their health insurance, unable to go to a doctor. In the midst of a terrible pandemic, they don't have health insurance, can't go to a doctor when they get sick.
And what we are seeing today is a record number of Americans who are struggling, literally, with hunger, unable to feed their kids. I know in Vermont and all over this country there are lines of automobiles, cars of people--people who had never received governmental help--in line for emergency bags of groceries.
That is what is going on in this country today.
Now, back in March, in the beginning of the pandemic, this Congress came together--Democrats and Republicans and President Trump came together--and virtually unanimously passed the CARES Act, $2.2 trillion, which, among many other features, provided a $600 supplement to unemployment benefits for 4 months and $1,200 direct payments for every working-class adult in this country, plus $500 for their children.
And here is the truth: That program, that CARES Program, saved lives, gave dignity to people who were at their wit's end, and saved this economy from further downfall.
Well, today, we are where we are, which is at another terrible moment in this pandemic, and this Congress must act. We cannot leave here to go home to our families for the Christmas holidays while other families throughout this country, by the millions, are wondering how they are going to pay the rent or feed their kids. We cannot do that.
And I am proud to say that Senator Hawley from Missouri and I have worked together on a pretty simple amendment that he will be talking about in a second, which says that we must include in any legislation that is passed a direct payment of $1,200 for adults and $500 for kids.
We cannot, we must not leave Washington unless we do that. And next week I am going to do everything that I can to make sure that that happens. We cannot, we will not leave Washington unless we make certain that millions of families have the economic assistance that they need.
So we are working on bipartisan legislation, and Senator Hawley has done a very, very good job on this, and I am proud to yield the floor to him.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. SANDERS. Well, thank you very much, Senator.
And let me just say this: In March, as Senator Hawley indicated, we came together, and I had the same experience in Vermont. People in desperation called the office: When can we get the check? We desperately need it. And I suspect it was the same thing in Texas and the same thing in every other State in this country. People are hurting.
We cannot go home unless we address the needs of those people. And the amendment that Senator Hawley and I are introducing could not be simpler. It is $1,200 in direct payment for adults up to a certain limit--the same limit as was in the CARES Act--and $500 for their children. We have already voted and passed that exact same provision in March, and the situation today is not better. In some respects, it is worse.
So I would hope that we would have bipartisan support for this legislation. Look, it is no great secret, whether you are a Republican, Democrat, or whatever, that people are losing faith in their government. They are hurting; their kids are hurting; their parents are hurting. They look to Washington and they say: Do you know that we exist or are you just worried about your rich friends and your campaign contributors?
In this moment of economic crisis, we have got to do everything that we can to restore faith that this government works for ordinary people. So let us do the right thing. Let us pass this amendment in a bipartisan way. Let us show the working families of America that we understand what they are going through, and we are going to stand with them.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source