Executive Session
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on Friday, July 17, after six decades as one of our Nation's most preeminent civil rights leaders, Congressman John Lewis--the conscience of the Congress--passed away at the age of 80. His trials and tribulations and, ultimately, his triumphs are well known to all of us.
At the ripe old age of 25, he led thousands of marchers across a bridge in Alabama. They risked their lives for their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote and, in doing so, shook the conscience of a nation and hastened the demise of Jim Crow. On that fateful Sunday, battered and bruised, his head dizzy and bleeding from the policeman's rod, John Lewis found the courage and the strength to reach the other side of that bridge, and he never stopped marching.
From the Freedom Rides to Selma, from his leadership of the SNCC, to his four decades in Congress, John Lewis never stopped marching. His actions as a young man helped change the trajectory of a nation and brought about the Voting Rights Act, and then John Lewis went to Congress and renewed that law again and again. He sat in against segregation at lunch counters in the Jim Crow South and, over 40 years later, led another sit-in on the House floor against gun violence. He spoke out for marriage equality long before it was popular. He challenged those who walked the corridors of power and then trod those corridors himself to bring quality healthcare, fair wages, and social justice to Georgians and Americans everywhere.
It is one thing, inflamed with the passion of youth, to join in brave endeavors and challenge the status quo. It is a good thing. Yet it is even beyond that to sustain that activism and vision and efforts and, yes, that ``good trouble'' he talked about getting into over the steady and persistent dedication of a lifetime. That is who John Lewis was deep in his soul--a man on a mission, who forcefully but gently led us all to do more and to do better, who loved his country so much that he risked his life and then spent his life trying to change it.
We are an imperfect nation, for sure, but we have a tremendous ability to reinvent ourselves. The story of America is one of constant renewal, but that renewal has never been preordained. It is because Americans have pushed and prodded, used their voices and their votes to force our country to change over time to move ever closer to our highest ideals.
In the story of America, there are certain heroes whose moral clarity has shone out like a beacon for others to follow--North Stars who have inspired their fellow Americans to join them in the glorious work of bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice. John Lewis was one of those special heroes. He paved the road, lit the path, and pointed the way toward other bridges for us to cross. It was not by always being the loudest voice or the most intemperate; he led by the moral force of his example. Whether he would admit it or not, he inspired millions.
At President Obama's inauguration, John asked the new President to sign a commemorative photo of the event. President Obama simply wrote: ``Because of you, John.''
I don't know how many people must have said that over the years-- ``because of you, John''--and I could never guess at the number who didn't even know to say it but whose lives were forever altered, whose dignity and freedom was made whole because of you, John.
As a new generation of young people lift up their voices to proclaim ``Black lives matter'' and to fight for the Justice in Policing Act, the memory and legacy of John Lewis lives on in each and every one of them.
There are very few people who have changed the world for the better. John Lewis is one of them. His life is a reminder of all that is the best in us and that we are all capable of doing that best.
As we mourn his loss, I would ask my fellow Americans, including my colleagues in this body, to take up his mission. Many of the old enemies John faced down have not been vanquished. Racial disparities persist and gnaw at the fabric of our society, and so does the police violence that met a young John Lewis and thousands of law-abiding Americans on that bridge over 50 years ago. The bridge he crossed is still named for the Confederate officer, not for the man who led a righteous movement for equality. The law he nearly died for has been gutted by the Supreme Court. Congress has the power to restore it, but only one political party seems interested in doing so.
At the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma, Congressman Lewis acknowledged that his mission was not yet complete. ``There is still work left to be done,'' he said. ``We must use this moment to recommit ourselves to finish the work.'' He told us to ``get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America.''
As we confront our turbulent present--a pernicious disease, vast economic hardship and inequality, the ancient evil of racial injustice--the loss of John Lewis feels even more devastating and leaves many searching for answers. But John Lewis has already pointed the way. ``There is still work left to be done,'' he said. ``Finish the work. Get out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of America.''
May he forever rest in peace. Coronavirus
On another matter, it is rare we gather at the start of a work session with so much to do in so little time. As we speak, our country faces the greatest public health crisis since 1918 and the greatest economic challenge since the Great Depression.
Earlier this year, COVID exploded through the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest before finally subsiding. The economic pain of those first few months--over 40 million newly unemployed--was incomprehensible. Now, States throughout the South and West are experiencing a similar surge in cases, hospitalizations, and, sadly, deaths, as the economic pain deepens.
While all of us have watched in horror as this crisis unfolds, Senate Democrats have repeatedly called for action on crucial issues like aid for State and local and Tribal governments, hazard pay for essential workers, funding for coronavirus testing and tracing, rental assistance, and support for our Nation's childcare and education systems.
Each time we sought to pass legislation on these issues, Senate Republicans blocked our attempts. Senate Republicans said that we should, in the words of Leader McConnell, ``hit the pause button.'' Our Republican friends said they wanted to ``assess the conditions in the country'' before providing any more relief.
Our House colleagues passed the Heroes Act over 60 days ago. It has been well over 3 months--3 long months--since we passed the CARES Act. And what has happened in those 3 months?
Three months ago, on April 20, the United States reported 775,000 total cases of COVID-19, with 42,000 deaths. Today, we have nearly 3.8 million confirmed cases and 140,000 deaths.
Just over 3 months ago, 30 million Americans had filed for unemployment claims. Today, that figure is nearly 50 million. More unemployment claims were filed in the last 17 weeks than in the entire 18-month stretch of the great recession.
Today, the State of Florida has more infections per week than China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, and the European Union combined.
That is what has happened while Senate Republicans have been ``assessing the conditions in the country.'' That is what has been happening while Senate Republicans have hit the ``pause'' button. And now we know the real reason for Republican inaction, why they have hit the ``pause'' button: They can't come to agreement among themselves. The Nation is raging in crisis, and the Republican Party has been paralyzed--stopping and blocking action that Democrats have sought to deal with the problem.
We may never know the true cost of Republican inaction over these past 3 months, but we know the time for waiting is over. We must consider another major COVID relief package this work period. Enhanced unemployment benefits expire at the end of the month, protections against evictions expire this week, and schools are preparing for the fall without the necessary guidance and resources to open safely. The country is crying out for relief. The needless delays, the partisan politics, and the infighting between the President and Senate and House Republicans have to stop.
But it seems that Leader McConnell has still not received that message. The Republican leader has said he is writing the next bill behind the closed doors of his office and he will present it to his party first before dropping it on the Senate's lap.
This one-party approach is the same approach that delayed the passage of the CARES Act, delayed the passage of subsequent emergency relief legislation, and utterly failed on policing reform, where the Republican bill was opposed by 136 civil rights organizations. For Leader McConnell to then get up and talk about that bill, when the people were marching for a much stronger bill--the Justice in Policing Act--when civil rights organizations were urging that we not move forward on that bill, is twisting history in a way that no one is going to believe and history will never accept.
Each time Congress passed COVID relief--all four times--we did it by coming together in a bipartisan fashion between our two parties, between our two Chambers. Leader McConnell three times tried to force a partisan bill down the Senate's throat, and it backfired every time.
Leader McConnell, it won't work this time either.
Leader McConnell called for bipartisanship this morning. That is great.
But, Leader McConnell, sitting in your own office, writing a bill, and demanding the other side support it, is not anyone's idea of bipartisanship.
Even worse, it appears that the Republican proposal is unlikely to meet the moment. From what we understand from press reports, McConnell's bill will prioritize corporate special interests over workers and Main Street businesses. It will fail to adequately address the worsening spread of the virus.
There are currently between 20 and 30 million unemployed Americans, and from all accounts, the Republican bill will not do nearly enough for them.
As Americans struggle to keep up with the rent, we are facing an avalanche of evictions. From all accounts, the Republican bill will not address that.
According to reports, the Republican bill will come up short on hazard pay for essential workers, aid to State and local and Tribal governments, and investments in communities of color ravaged by the virus.
If the reports are accurate, the Republican bill will not come close--not even come close--to meeting the moment of this great crisis.
The truth is, we have a good product to start with--the Heroes Act. It has already passed the House
By the way, Leader McConnell, we need the House to make a law.
Unlike the bill Leader McConnell is preparing, it actually matches the scale of the crisis and will put workers and small businesses and our health needs before special interests.
Just to give an example of where Republican priorities are right now, late last week, it was reported that the Trump administration wants to block tens of billions of dollars in the next COVID bill for States to conduct testing and contact tracing. Let me repeat that. When every expert says our lack of testing and contact tracing has led to the crisis being much greater in the United States than in most other countries, Trump wants to block that money for testing, for contact tracing. If past is prologue, our Republican colleagues--so afraid of offending Donald Trump even when they know he is wrong--will let him win the day or at least greatly whittle down the needs we have on tracing and testing.
This report came days after we heard that the administration ordered hospitals to stop reporting COVID data to the CDC and instead report them to State health departments or other portals more easily controlled by the White House. If there was ever positive proof that the President is more worried about his image and political interests than the health and safety of the American people, this is it--hiding data from the Centers for Disease Control. It is hard to believe.
This man is not a leader. You can't hide from the truth. The coronavirus will continue to ravage us whether or not the reports are public. But if the reports are public, we will all know more what to do.
Has not President Trump learned? Have not the Republican Senators learned that hiding from the truth just makes things worse? That is why so much of the blame, according to the American people, for what has happened falls on the shoulders of the President and the Republican Senators who follow him blindly and obeisantly.
This, unfortunately, is hardly the only example of the President's abject failure to lead our Nation through this awful crisis.
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