Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I listened carefully and watched three occasions on the floor this afternoon where Senators Schumer, Sanders, and Markey have tried to create an opportunity where the Senate would actually come together and vote, where the Senate might make a decision based on the merits of this issue, rather than to keep talking around the issue.

What is at stake is a substantial sum of money for families who are in the midst of the struggle of their lives--$2,000--characterized a few moments ago by my friend from Texas as ``Speaker Pelosi's idea.'' Well, I might remind him that it is also Donald Trump's idea and still is. The President has told us this morning that we should move on this as quickly as possible, and although I don't often come to the floor to agree with the President, he is right. In this instance he is clearly right.

What are we doing now? We are calling Senators back to Washington from the far reaches across the United States. This morning, I received some email and text messages from some of my colleagues hopping on airplanes at 6 a.m. on the west coast to face a vote. What is this vote all about? Well, first, it is to override the veto of the President when it comes to the Defense authorization bill. This was certainly something that was occasioned by one Senator, the junior Senator from Kentucky, who forced us into a position where that vote needed to be taken here. It could have been handled much more efficiently and to the benefit of all Members if it was scheduled for the weekend when we were assuming a new session of Congress. But he insisted, and we are returning and, frankly, putting in peril again, in the midst of a pandemic, Members of the Senate who are traveling from all the far reaches of this country to be part of this action in Washington

But it isn't just the junior Senator from Kentucky who is having us sit here in Washington and wait for things that could be taken care of with dispatch. It is the senior Senator from Kentucky as well. He has decided that we will not get a vote on the House measure to increase the payments to $2,000. Make no mistake, there is only one way to bring this relief to the families of America. It is to pass the bill already enacted by the House of Representatives--a bill which received 44 Republican votes in addition to a substantial number of Democrats, with only 2 voting no. Forty-four Republican votes joined with the Democrats to call for this measure which many have been decrying on the floor here as a class struggle or whatever their argument might be. There is no other measure, including Senator McConnell's alternative, which has any ghost of a chance to help the families in this country with this $2,000 benefit. The only thing that will do it--the only one thing that will do it--is this bill that has already passed the House of Representatives.

The House has recessed. When they are going to return is uncertain. They certainly don't have the time to work through the regular order of business to consider any new legislation even if we could send it in time, which I believe is very doubtful. So it is up to Senator McConnell to decide right here and now, are we going to come together as a Senate this afternoon at 5 o'clock, when we are supposed to be back and voting, and get this matter done?

Bring it to the Senate for a vote. Let's have this vote up or down, and let the Democrats and Republicans express their will on behalf of the families in this country.

I couldn't agree more with the Senator from Massachusetts and his characterization of what families face across this country and, certainly, in my home State of Illinois.

I just wonder if any of the Republican Senators who are downplaying this economic crisis facing these families have really looked into the issue. This morning, in the Senator's home State of Texas, they showed an early morning television show and the cars that were lining up for food banks--long lines of people waiting for food banks. They interviewed some of them in Texas who told heartbreaking stories of how they once were volunteers at this same food bank and are now dependent for a helping hand if they were going to be able to feed their families.

These are people who are not lazy at all. Misfortune has come their way, and the question is, Will we help? This is our opportunity--today. It is a measure that has passed the House of Representatives, not some theory of some legislation that might be considered tomorrow--today. Let's have this vote today, this evening. When the Senators have returned, let's determine whether or not this House-passed measure of $2,000 is going to be enacted into law, since the President is clearly anxious to sign it.

That to me is the reasonable thing to do. In fact, it might even sound like the U.S. Senate is taking a vote on a timely issue after a debate. We do it so seldom around here that I think we have lost our muscle memory when it comes to this activity in the Senate. It is time to return to it.

I thank the Senator from Vermont, the Senator from Massachusetts, and, of course, the Democratic leader for bringing this issue before us this afternoon. But it shouldn't end with our great speeches. It ought to end with an important vote for the people of this country.

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Mr. DURBIN. I am happy to yield.

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Mr. DURBIN. I would say in response to my colleague, I know his passionate defense of the notion for immunity from liability for corporations in America. He has introduced a lengthy bill on the subject. I don't believe that is consistent with keeping this Nation safe during a pandemic, and it certainly is not responsive to any onslaught of lawsuits.

The Senator might be interested to know that the number of medical malpractice cases filed in the name of COVID-19 since the onset of this current pandemic is slightly higher than the total number of lawsuits filed by Donald Trump in protesting the results of the November 3 election. This is not a tsunami of lawsuits.

I believe we can take reasonable measures to support and defend those corporations and companies that are making a good-faith effort to comply with public health standards and protect their employees and customers. His bill, I am afraid, goes way too far

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Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I yield for a question through the Chair.

I have listened to the figures used on the floor about families who would qualify for the $2,000. It is my understanding that an individual with an income of $75,000 or less could qualify for the $2,000 payment, and for a joint return--husband and wife--$2,000 could be given to them if their income is under $150,000. Is that your understanding?

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