Providing for Consideration of H.R. American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 166 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows: H. Res. 166
Resolved, That immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall proceed to the consideration in the House of the bill (H.R. 1319) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 5. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except: (1) one hour of debate equally divided among and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget or their respective designees and the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means or their respective designees; and (2) one motion to recommit.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only. General Leave
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, today the Rules Committee met for over 10 hours and reported a rule, House Resolution 166, providing for consideration of H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, under a closed rule.
The rule provides 1 hour of debate equally divided among and controlled by the chairs and ranking minority members, or their designees, of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Ways and Means.
The rule self-executes a manager's amendment by Chairman Yarmuth and provides one motion to recommit.
Madam Speaker, since the emergence of the coronavirus, our Nation has been in a perpetual state of mourning. The number of Americans killed by this pandemic is nearly equal to one death a minute every minute for a year.
Every corner of society has been impacted: More than 18 million Americans are receiving unemployment benefits; nearly 24 million Americans are going hungry with roughly 12 million children living in households with food insecurity; up to 40 million Americans cannot afford to pay rent; 8 of 10 minority-owned businesses are on the brink of closure; and I could go on and on and on, Madam Speaker. This is a time to act and to act boldly.
That is why we began work on the American Rescue Plan nearly 1 month ago. Nine committees have now marked up portions of the bill, spending more than 100 hours debating more than 400 amendments. We have acted swiftly, Madam Speaker, but we have also acted deliberately, guided by the reality that the American people need us to act urgently.
More vaccines need to get to more people, so this plan will set up community vaccination sites nationwide. Our schools need to safely reopen, so this bill will deliver new resources to help them do so. Working families need more immediate relief, so the American Rescue Plan also provides an additional $1,400 per person and direct assistance. That will bring the total amount of direct assistance recently provided to $2,000 per person.
This bill also extends unemployment benefits and boosts the Federal minimum wage so that 27 million workers get a raise. Sadly, the Senate rules will cause this provision to be removed when it is considered there.
But I want the American people to know this, we, on the Democratic side, we will not stop fighting to make a minimum wage increase a reality. No one, and I mean no one, who works full time in the richest nation on this planet should have to live in poverty.
There is also nutrition assistance included to combat the growing hunger crisis. And support for local communities on the frontlines of this health emergency. There is aid here for small businesses, expanded PPP eligibility, and resources for our first responders, for our teachers, for our transit workers, and so much more.
This is what it looks like when Congress acts in a way that matches the scale of the problem that we face. Nearly 7 in 10 Americans support this plan. More than 150 leaders of our Nation's top businesses came out this week in support of this plan.
Republican officeholders like the Governor of West Virginia have encouraged Congress to go big here. And local Republican leaders, like the mayor of Miami, and so many other Republican mayors across this country from red States, support our President's proposal. This is a bipartisan response to the coronavirus crisis.
We all joined together on the Capitol steps on Tuesday to mark the 500,000 lives lost to the coronavirus in this country. We didn't stand as Democrats or Republicans, but as one Congress. We mourn the empty seats at dinner tables, and the missed graduations, and weddings the same way, not from our partisan corners, but as one American family.
Through our grief, we should respond here the same way. United in our purpose to defeat this pandemic and rebuild our Nation.
Madam Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to stand together and with the American people in support of this plan. Let's act big. Let's act bold. Let's crush this virus.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter), who is a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record an article from The Washington Post, titled ``Biden is winning Republican support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. Just not in Washington.'' [From the Washington Post, Feb. 14, 2021] Biden Is Winning Republican Support for His $1.9 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Plan--Just Not in Washington (By Griff Witte)
The pandemic has not been kind to Fresno, the poorest major city in California. The unemployment rate spiked above 10 percent and has stubbornly remained there. Violent crime has surged, as has homelessness. Tax revenue has plummeted as businesses have shuttered. Lines at food banks are filled with first-timers.
But as bad as it's been, things could soon get worse: Having frozen hundreds of jobs last year, the city is now being forced to consider laying off 250 people, including police and firefighters, to close a $31 million budget shortfall.
``That,'' said Jerry Dyer, mayor of the half-million-strong city in the Central Valley, ``is going to be devastating.''
The looming cuts explain why Dyer's eyes are fixed on Washington, where President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan dangles the tantalizing prospect of a reprieve. Though Dyer is a Republican, he's rooting for the president to successfully push through federal aid that, after a nightmarish year for Fresno, will ``help get us to the end.''
The first-term mayor's stance reflects a broader split, one that gives Biden and his fellow Democrats a key tactical advantage as negotiations near an expected climax early next month.
Republicans in Congress overwhelmingly oppose the relief bill, casting it as bloated and budget-busting, with some heaping particular scorn on a measure to send $350 billion in assistance to states and cities. Should Biden go ahead without their approval, GOP leaders say, it will prove that his mantra of bipartisanship rings hollow.
But to many Republicans at city halls and statehouses across the country, the relief package looks very different. Instead of the ``blue-state bailout'' derided by GOP lawmakers, Republican mayors and governors say they see badly needed federal aid to keep police on the beat, to prevent battered Main Street businesses from going under and to help care for the growing ranks of the homeless and the hungry.
``It's not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue,'' said Dyer, who became mayor last month following a long career as the city's police chief. ``It's a public health issue. It's an economic issue. And it's a public safety issue.''
Surveys show that a broad majority of Americans support the assistance, including large numbers of Republicans. Only a minority among Republican voters agree with GOP lawmakers that the aid package is too large, polls have found.
Biden on Friday highlighted the rift, inviting a bipartisan group of mayors and governors to the White House to discuss the specifics of the bill.
You folks are all on the front lines and dealing with the crisis since day one,'' he told the group, which included the Republican governors of Maryland and Arkansas, as well as Republican mayors.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (R) later told reporters from the podium in the White House briefing room that he had spoken with Biden and Vice President Harris more in the first several weeks of their administration ``than I had spoken to the prior administration in the entirety.''
Biden said he brought the group to the White House to ask ``what do they think they need most.''
To many mayors and governors, it's a long list.
``I don't know of any city that hasn't been affected negatively,'' Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt (R) said. ``Some may be worse off than others. But we have all had to make cuts.''
The impact has not been as severe as some economists initially projected, however. When the pandemic first struck American shores and much of the U.S. economy shut down last spring, the prognosis for states and cities looked dire. Analysts warned that cities--some of which had still not fully recovered from the Great Recession more than a decade ago--could be forced into bankruptcy.
But some of the worst consequences have already been blunted by previous rounds of federal aid, as well as by the nature of the economic recovery, with high-income individuals--who contribute much of the state and local tax base--bouncing back relatively quickly, even as poorer families languish.
When 10 Republican senators visited the White House this month to lay out their slimmed-down $618 billion counterproposal to the president's plan, Mitt Romney (Utah) came brandishing details from a J.P. Morgan analysis showing that most states had seen only modest revenue declines.
Romney later told reporters that Biden's insistence on $350 billion in state and local aid was the biggest stumbling block in negotiations.
``That kind of number just makes no sense at all,'' he said. The Republican plan proposed to cut it entirely.
Yet as the J.P. Morgan analysis shows, the impact of the pandemic has been unevenly felt, with some states--especially those whose economies are heavily dependent on tourism or oil and gas extraction--suffering dramatic declines.
A Brookings Institution analysis in September found that although income tax revenue had proved resilient during the pandemic, sales tax and transportation-related revenue had been hit especially hard. As a result, states and cities were projected to lose out on more than $450 billion over three years.
And the pain hasn't only been on the revenue side. New needs arising from the pandemic have created new costs.
``Cities were confronting some really big challenges even before this crisis--income inequality, homelessness, housing affordability,'' said Tracy Gordon, acting director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.
All have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, she said. But many cities now have fewer resources with which to address them.
In Oklahoma City, Holt said, revenue has been down by about 5 percent, a sharp departure from the robust growth the city had become accustomed to before the pandemic. To compensate, he said, the city has had to leave jobs unfilled and cut funding for parks and recreation, even as the overall needs of citizens and businesses have grown.
``We don't do much fluff here,'' he said. ``So whatever we've had to cut, residents have experienced it.''
Republican lawmakers in Washington have dismissed aid to cities as a bailout for governments that have long spent beyond their means.
But Holt called that ``a red herring.'' Most state and city governments--unlike the federal government--have to balance their budgets, just as a business would.
But unlike businesses large and small that have received grants or loans to make up for the damage done by the coronavirus, cities have been left out.
``In a sense, we're the only employer that hasn't been able to make an application to anyone to save our jobs and save our services,'' said Holt, who noted that the city government is one of his metro area's biggest employers. ``Support for cities and states is way overdue.''
There has been some relief. The Cares Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump last March, included $150 billion for states and for the nation's 38 largest cities. But money had to be spent directly on coronavirus expenses, creating logistical hurdles in getting it out the door. Nearly a year later, some of it remains unspent, a point Republicans make in arguing for why additional taxpayer dollars should not be allocated.
The aid proposed by Biden would not have the same restrictions. Mayors say that will make it easier to quickly get it into the hands of those who need it and to stimulate economic growth.
Betsy Price proudly calls Fort Worth, the metropolis of nearly 900,000 she has led for the past decade, ``a fiscally conservative city.'' But the Republican said the pandemic has forced the city government to spend more just to keep people afloat, doling out small-business support, rental assistance and help with utility bills.
Price joined more than 400 fellow mayors late last month-- including many Republicans--in signing a U.S. Conference of Mayors letter that called on Congress to quickly pass Biden's coronavirus relief plan. She said she had spoken with both of Texas's senators--Republicans Ted Cruz and John Cornyn--and made the same case.
``We're not asking the Democrats or the Republicans to put money into city coffers,'' she said. ``We're asking them to put it into the community to help people get back on their feet.''
The National Governors Association has not released a letter similar to the one endorsed by the mayors. But the group did call for $500 billion in relief for states last spring. And individual Republican governors have spoken up to back Biden's relief plan, which can be enacted without GOP support. That includes moderates such as Maryland's Larry Hogan, as well as Trump-aligned conservatives such as West Virginia's Jim Justice, who has urged Congress to ``go big.''
Suarez, the Miami mayor, has pushed the same message and has put pressure on Florida's two Republican senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, to follow through.
The Republican recently co-wrote an op-ed with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, a Democrat, in which they addressed the senators directly and enumerated the problems facing their cities, including unemployment, bankrupt business and lines at food pantries that look like ``gridlocked freeways.''
``Florida's cities are in agony and are crying out for help,'' they wrote. ``This is not sustainable.''
In an interview, Suarez said both senators have been receptive to his message in private, though they also expressed concerns about the price tag--concerns that Suarez said he could understand, to a point.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), who is the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), who is the distinguished chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott), who is the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Agriculture.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Leger Fernandez).
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ. Madam Speaker, this pandemic's tentacles have infiltrated every facet of our communities' lives. The brilliance of this rescue package is that it understands those complexities and addresses those many needs.
For example, since the pandemic began, we have seen increased reports of abuse of women and children, so this bill helps fund shelters and refuge.
The country has also seen the heartbreaking devastation in Tribal communities. Native Americans are four times more likely to be hospitalized and twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than White Americans. So, this bill includes over $20 billion to assist Native people, including their Tribal governments, health facilities, and education.
We need this package to end the Nation's suffering. Let's pass this bill, save lives, save livelihoods, save communities.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me just remind my colleagues that 70 percent of the American people support this bill. Republican governors and Republican mayors from all across the country support this bill. The only place where it isn't bipartisan is here in the Congress.
Republicans say, oh, the people can't be trusted to know what is in the bill. The fact of the matter is, people support this because they support more money for vaccinations; more money in terms of direct payments to individuals and enhanced unemployment benefits; and more money for our cities and towns, our first responders, our police and our fire departments, and so many other things.
I know my Republican friends have developed this habit of trying to overturn the will of the American people. Well, enough. The American people want this, and we are going to deliver it for them.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the chair of the Committee on Education and Labor.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Small Business.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Financial Services.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Suozzi).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from the U.S. Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Beyer).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Gomez).
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Panetta).
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Mr. McGOVERN. I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill and of the 1.4 million first responders, teachers, transit workers, sanitation workers, and other public servants already laid off from State and local governments across this Nation. We must act before more people lose their jobs, and before more lifesaving programs are cut.
Madam Speaker, the State and local funding included in this package will provide many local governments dedicated support for the first time since this pandemic struck. It can be used to administer vaccines, increase testing, and save countless jobs by replacing lost revenue.
For New York City, which last month projected a $10.5 billion loss in expected tax revenue, this money would mean it can continue to provide vaccines and food assistance and reopen schools safely. Hundreds of local officials told us the relief in this bill will mean recovery instead of recession and cannot come fast enough. Taken together, this could be the light this-- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
The Chair would again remind all Members to heed the gavel.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, we are in the midst of a pandemic, the likes of which we haven't seen in 100 years. It is catastrophic in every way imaginable. To hear some of my Republican friends try to nickel-and-dime our response, they should talk to an economist. If they did, they would discover what will happen if we don't pass this package now.
We could end up with 4 million fewer jobs this year. That is according to Moody's.
It will take another 4 years of suffering before the GDP returns to its prepandemic levels. That is according to the nonpartisan CBO.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said: ``The smartest thing we can do is to act big. In the long run, the benefits will far outweigh the costs.''
Mark Zandi, former adviser to John McCain, said: ``You don't need a textbook to know this is when you push on the fiscal accelerator.''
Now, let's be clear what we cannot afford. We cannot afford more delay tactics, another lapse in unemployment assistance, or another moment of inaction. This plan is what our economy needs, and it is what America needs, bold, urgent action.
So, let's pass this rule and the underlying legislation, and let's let the Senate do its job and send this bill to the President's desk without delay. This historic crisis deserves a historic response. The American people are counting on us.
Listening to the Republicans debate on the floor and in the Rules Committee has been a disappointing experience. Barely, barely a word of empathy or compassion for those who are suffering or for those who are struggling.
What we have heard are delay tactics. What we have heard are distortions. What we have heard is divisive talk.
My friends talk about bailouts. This is not a bailout. It is a rescue package. My friends are out of touch with the American people.
People are struggling. People right now are trying to figure out how they are going to put food on the table to feed their families. Here on the House floor, what we hear is indifference, what we hear is distraction.
The good news is this. We are going to pass this bill today. This is a big deal. We are going to send it over to the United States Senate, and we have a Senate that is not going to put this in the trash can. It is going to debate it and vote on it, and then we are going to send it to the President.
The good news to the American people is: Help is on the way. We promised you that we would step up to the plate and that we would respond appropriately to this crisis, and that is what we are going to do.
Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans, to support this rule and to support this package.
The material previously referred to by Mr. Burgess is as follows: Amendment to House Resolution 166
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the following:
Sec. 1. That immediately upon adoption of this resolution, the House shall resolve into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1371) making supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, providing coronavirus emergency response and relief, and for other purposes. The first reading of the bill shall be dispensed with. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. General debate shall be confined to the bill and shall not exceed one hour equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. After general debate the bill shall be considered for amendment under the five-minute rule. All points of order against provisions in the bill are waived. When the committee rises and reports the bill back to the House with a recommendation that the bill do pass, the previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill and amendments thereto to final passage without intervening motion except one motion to recommit. If the Committee of the Whole rises and reports that it has come to no resolution on the bill, then on the next legislative day the House shall, immediately after the third daily order of business under clause 1 of rule XIV, resolve into the Committee of the Whole for further consideration of the bill.
Sec. 2. Clause 1(c) of rule XIX shall not apply to the consideration of H.R. 1371.
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Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, and I move the previous question on the resolution.
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