Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Madam President, as we continue our work here in the Senate, COVID-19 continues to be at the top of our agenda. We are monitoring implementation of the $2.4 trillion of the coronavirus funding that we provided, and we are talking to experts about what is needed to help our country reopen. Our committees, where so much of our key legislative work is done, have held a number of coronavirus hearings over the past 2 weeks, and there are more on the agenda.

This week, the Committee on Aging will hold a hearing on caring for seniors during the coronavirus crisis. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to discuss implementation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act--the CARES Act-- which was our largest coronavirus relief bill.

The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Brian D. Miller to be special inspector general for pandemic recovery at the Treasury Department. With just an ounce of cooperation from Democrats, we could confirm this important watchdog yet this week.

Finally, the Commerce Committee, of which I am a member, will be in executive session to consider legislation and nominations, including two coronavirus bills.

Of course, while coronavirus remains our top priority, we are also focused on doing the other business the American people expect us to do, from funding our government to protecting our Nation. Last week, the Senate voted to reauthorize three expired provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that provide essential tools to our law enforcement and intelligence communities, as well as a number of reforms to strengthen privacy protections and guard against abuses.

We have also been considering nominations for key administration posts, including Director of National Intelligence and Secretary of the Navy. This week, we expect to confirm a nominee to reestablish a quorum at the Federal Election Commission, as well as a number of nominees to fill vacancies on Federal district courts.

So that is what the Senate has been doing. What has the House of Representatives been up to? Well, until last Friday, the answer was not much. But on Friday, the House brought its Members back to Washington to vote on a massive, $3 trillion piece of legislation the Democratic leaders billed as coronavirus relief. In reality, as one House Democrat pointed out, the legislation is nothing more than a messaging bill-- that from a House Democrat.

Under the guise of coronavirus relief, House leaders put together a massive package of liberal priorities that they well knew would be dead on arrival here in the U.S. Senate. How unserious is their bill? Well, the Democrats' legislation mentions the word ``cannabis''-- ``cannabis''--more often than the word ``jobs.''

Let me repeat that. House Democrats' legislation mentions the word ``cannabis'' more often than the word ``jobs.''

In case Democrats didn't realize, Americans are not suffering from lack of cannabis right now. They are suffering from a lack of employment.

Let me mention some other highlights of the Democrats' legislation: a tax cut for millionaires and billionaires; stimulus checks for illegal immigrants and deadbeat dads; environmental justice grants to study pollution; significant changes to election law--that is really related to the coronavirus--a ban on sharing information about lower cost health insurance options; and more. I could go on. The list literally goes on and on.

Unfortunately, while Democrats were focused on federalizing election law and requiring studies on diversity in the cannabis industry, they forgot about a few basics. Their bill does not include any meaningful plan to get Americans back to work. It provides hardly any relief or support for small businesses. It doesn't touch the issue of liability reform--even though preventing frivolous coronavirus lawsuits will be key to getting our economy going again--and it doesn't do anything to hold China accountable. The Democrats' bill is a fundamentally unserious bill at an incredibly serious time.

Democratic leaders knew from the beginning that there was no chance of this legislation getting through the Senate or being signed by the President. In fact, Democrats had some work to do to persuade members of their own caucus to vote for the bill. As POLITICO put it, ``As of late Thursday evening, the House Democratic leadership was engaged in what a few senior aides and lawmakers described as the most difficult arm-twisting of the entire Congress: convincing their rank and file to vote for a $3 trillion stimulus bill that will never become law.''

Unfortunately, Democratic leaders were successful in their arm- twisting, and the bill did pass the House, albeit with some Democratic defections.

I have talked about the liberal wish list in this bill, but I haven't mentioned the other aspect of this proposal, and that is the enormous pricetag, a portion of which, of course, wouldn't even go to anything coronavirus-related. My friends across the aisle think that all problems can be solved with more money or a new government program, but they can't. And spending too much money can actually hurt rather than help Americans.

So far, we have spent $2.4 trillion to fight the coronavirus. That is a tremendous amount of money, but these are extraordinary circumstances, and they call for an extraordinary response. We may very well have to spend more before this pandemic is over, and if we need to, we will. But we have an absolute obligation to make sure we are spending only what is needed.

Every dollar we have spent so far on this pandemic is borrowed money--every single dollar. It is money we needed to borrow, and we were glad to do it, but we do need to remember that it is borrowed money, and the younger workers and our children and grandchildren are going to be paying for it. We have an obligation to them to borrow only what is absolutely necessary to fight and beat this virus. Diversity studies for the cannabis industry should not be making that cut.

Some of the Democrats' proposals might be acceptable at another time, and I emphasize the word ``some.'' But no matter how worthy the proposal, there is a limit to what we can responsibly spend, and we have to prioritize measures that will directly fight the virus and get Americans back to work.

Republicans are also focused on developing measures that will help fight the virus and get our economy going again without spending trillions of dollars--something I might recommend to my Democratic colleagues. We are currently working on a package of liability protections. Personal injury lawyers are already filing coronavirus- related cases, and we need to ensure that frivolous lawsuits don't hamstring our economic recovery while ensuring that real cases of gross negligence and misconduct are punished.

We are considering a lot of other measures to provide relief while driving up the national debt as little as possible, such as regulatory reform and tax protection for healthcare workers who cross State lines to provide their services. I am pushing for approval of my Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act, which I introduced last year, along with Senator Sherrod Brown.

Our legislation would create an across-the-board tax standard for mobile employees who spend a short period of time working across State lines. It would ensure that States receive fair tax payments while substantially simplifying tax requirements for employees and employers. This legislation has particular relevance in the age of coronavirus, with doctors and nurses crossing State lines to voluntarily work in States that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

The Governor of New York is looking to cash in on the pandemic and has already threatened to subject these medical professionals to New York's income tax. We need to make sure that doctors and nurses who travel to other States to help fight the coronavirus aren't rewarded with big tax bills.

Partisan messaging bills, such as the one the House Democrats passed last week, are a waste of Democrats' time but, more importantly, do nothing to serve the American people. How many hours did the Democrats spend on their massive liberal wish list--hours that could have been spent working with Republicans to come up with real relief measures? But that is pretty much par for the course for Democrats these days. They are intent on remaking America according to their ever more extreme leftist agenda. They are certainly not going to let a national crisis get in the way. In fact, more than one leader of the Democratic Party has spoken with pleasure of the opportunity the pandemic presents to remake America in their far-left image.

It is deeply disappointing that Democrats are more focused on their pet projects than on addressing this pandemic and its consequences, but that will not stop the Republican-led Senate from moving forward with the business of the American people, and I hope that Democrats will eventually decide to join us.
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Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Rounds).

Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Alexander) would have voted ``yea.''

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