Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, let me thank my colleague, the senior Senator from the State of Georgia, for joining me in this bipartisan effort. We now have some 36 sponsors and cosponsors of this legislation.

Immigration can be a divisive issue, but this is an immigration measure that is not divisive. It has unified us on a bipartisan basis, as it should. We are talking about the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act. We are talking about men and women who, as we speak on the floor of the Senate in the safety of this Chamber, are literally risking their lives as healthcare professionals across the United States to deal with this pandemic, which we fight every single day.

Last week, we sent a bipartisan letter urging congressional leaders to make this bill part of any COVID-19 relief legislation. Currently pending before the Senate is a negotiation with the White House, the House, the Senate--Democrats and Republicans--to make sure that we continue to move forward to fight this pandemic and to restore the vibrancy of our own economy. The letter we sent was cosigned by Senators Leahy, Young, and Coons, as well as Representatives Schneider, Cole, Finkenauer, and Bacon, who were the lead sponsors of the House version of the same bill. We are now up to, I understand, 37. They said 36 earlier. I am told we have 18 Republicans and 19 Democrats, and the window is open for those who want to join us in this bipartisan effort. They will not regret it.

Our bill is a temporary stopgap measure, but it is designed to strengthen our healthcare workforce and improve healthcare access for Americans in the midst of this crisis. Consider this reality when it comes to fighting the COVID-19 virus: In the United States, 1 in 6 healthcare and social workers, 3.1 million--1 in 6--of the 18.7 million are immigrants. Yet our broken immigration laws prevent many of these immigrants from contributing more fully to the battle against this pandemic.

Under current law, there are not enough immigrant visas, which we also call green cards, available each year. As a result, immigrants are stuck in crippling backlogs for many, many years. The green card backlog, which I have debated with Senator Lee on the floor many times--but this green card backlog includes thousands of medical doctors currently working in our country on temporary visas. This backlog puts them and their families at the risk of losing their immigration status and being deported. It hinders their ability to fight against COVID-19 because these doctors face many restrictions due to their temporary status.

For example, many of these doctors cannot take shifts at hospitals in COVID-19 hotspots where they are desperately needed. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, which we bring to the floor, would reallocate 25,000 unused immigrant visas for nurses and 15,000 unused immigrant visas for doctors. These are visas Congress has previously authorized but were never used.

It is important to note that our bill requires employers to attest that immigrants overseas who receive these visas do not displace the employment of any American workers. We want to ensure that the beneficiaries of this bill complement, not replace, the American healthcare workforce.

I am going to tell you the story of one of these doctors who is practicing in downstate Illinois in the Quad Cities area in Moline. I can tell you, as a downstater myself, there are many areas of downstate that are rural, small town, and cannot bring in the specialists who are needed. That is why these doctors become so important when they step in and provide their services. Let me tell you about this doctor.

His name is Dr. Bhanu Vakkalanka. He sent me a letter and told me his story, and he asked me to help work to pass this piece of legislation. Dr. Vakkalanka and his wife, Dr. Sasi Royyuru--excuse me for mispronouncing--Royyuru--are both physicians. They met in medical school in India, and they came to the United States 15 years ago in 2005--15 years ago. At the time, their children--a young girl and boy-- were 5 and 3 years old.

Before they came to the United States, they had trained and worked for 10 years in England. Both achieved great professional success, but they were drawn to move to the United States. They were drawn to our freedom, our equality, and the opportunity that really is our trademark in the world.

This is what Dr. Vakkalanka told me about his family's move to the United States, and I want to quote his words:

It was not an easy transition. We had to start all over again as residents. It was challenging to take care of two young children in the middle of our long working hours and paltry salaries with no one to fall back on. . . . But we had not come this far to give up on our dreams easily.

Dr. Vakkalanka now works as a medical oncologist for the UnityPoint Health System in Moline, in my home State of Illinois, a well-respected institution. Dr. Royyuru is a family physician in Bloomington, IL. There is a long drive between the two, Moline and Bloomington. Here is what Dr. Vakkalanka told me about his life in America:

Despite the initial hardship, we fell in love with the United States soon after we came here. People were welcoming and generous. We were made to feel like we were part of this society from day one and we felt that this is where we belonged. We felt blessed, happy and proud to be able to live here, raise our children and call it our home.

Let me tell you, he tells me how fortunate he was. I believe we are the fortunate ones--fortunate to have two exceptional physicians and their children as residents of my home State.

Unfortunately, Dr. Vakkalanka and Dr. Royyuru, his wife, are two of thousands of doctors who are stuck in a bureaucratic backlog called the green card backlog. They have lived in the United States for 15 years. Their green card petitions were approved nearly a decade ago. Yet, even today, after more than 10 years, they are not lawful residents. Why? Because the backlog of people seeking these green cards--these immigration visas--is so large.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the temporary immigration status of this family puts them at real risk. Why? If, God forbid, they would contract COVID-19 and become disabled or die, their family will instantly lose their immigration status and be forced to leave the United States. For 15 years they have waited, and for 10 years they have been on the actual queue, the waiting list for green cards, and if one of them takes ill and cannot work, they could all be deported.

Now their children, who were 5 and 3 when they arrived in the United States, are 20 years old and 18 years old. This is significant. They grew up in this country, but they are at risk of aging out in this bureaucratic system. If they reach the age of 21, these two children, who have lived here virtually all of their teenage and adolescent life--if they reach the age of 21 and have not been able to apply for a green card, they are subject to deportation. Can you imagine how devastating it would be for this doctor and his wife to think that their children, after all these years, would be deported from the United States? It is a very real risk.

Dr. Vakkalanka told me:

Our children waited for 15 years or longer along with us for their turn. They laughed with us and cried with us for all these years. It is not fair to kick them out of the line for no fault of theirs. They have nowhere else to go. This country is their only home!

Dr. Vakkalanka and Dr. Royyuru's family story makes clear why Congress needs to include the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act in the next coronavirus relief legislation. Under our bill, these two good doctors from India, and thousands of others like them, would finally receive their green cards. They and their families would get the permanent immigration status they deserve and be able to use their skills to serve on the frontlines of the pandemic wherever they are needed most.

Let's face it. This pandemic is testing us as a nation, testing us as to whether we will have the endurance and the determination to get through this pandemic but equally testing us as to whether we care for one another. Certainly, we care for our families. We spend a lot of time with them. We worry about not being able to be next to our children or grandchildren because of fear of infection, and it is a real test. But it is also a test of our values of who we are.

This man, after giving 15 years to the United States, practicing medicine in areas where he is desperately needed, is simply asking for a chance to become a legal, permanent resident of the United States. It is not too much to ask. For all he has given us, and his wife as well, we owe it to him and his family to give them the peace of mind that they have a future in the United States. They have proved that they are deserving.

I hope, even in these divided political times, we can come together in Congress to quickly aid these immigrant health heroes.

I commend my colleague from Georgia. I thank him. He had to step away from the floor at this moment, but I thank him for joining me in this bipartisan effort.

Let's get this done. Let do the right thing for this doctor, for his family, and for so many others Racism

Mr. President, the great writer, James Baldwin, told us:

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.

The national discussion on race and racism in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis has really opened the eyes of many Americans and people around the world. Many people are seeing more clearly--some perhaps for the first time in their lives--the extent to which injustice has embedded itself in parts of America.

We see how some of our laws and institutions don't match our stated and professed belief that all men and women are created equal and endowed with the same inalienable rights.

Later today, John Lewis will make his last departure from the U.S. Capitol. He is going home after a long and noble life of service, a life that has helped us to live up to our ideals. How often did we hear John Lewis say: When young people tell me that nothing has changed, I tell them to come walk in my shoes.

He was so right. America is different and America is better because of the enormous sacrifice and courage of men like John Lewis, Reverend C.T. Vivian, who passed away, as well, last week; Joseph Lowery; Mamie Till; Martin Luther King; Coretta Scott King; Rosa Parks; Daisy Bates; Julian Bond; Bayard Rustin; Elijah Cummings; and, of course, my friend and the current House Democratic Whip, James Clyburn, and so many other leaders of our modern civil rights movement--just too many to name.

We are a more perfect union today because so many ordinary men and women and children whose names are mostly forgotten by history risked their lives for dignity and democracy in little towns like Selma and Birmingham, AL, and Chicago's Marquette Park neighborhood.

Thank goodness we are better, but the work of true justice and equality is far from over. We know that. A month before he died, John Lewis spoke out about how he was moved to see so many people from different backgrounds marching together for racial justice and healing. Most Americans today are appalled--almost incredulous--that only decades ago young people like John Lewis and Diane Nash were accosted by angry mobs simply for having the audacity--the audacity--to sit at a Whites-only lunch counter or ride on a segregated bus.

We reject racism as individuals, but many of us are only beginning to understand the existence of the corrosive consequences of the system of racial injustice. This national reckoning on race in which we are now engaged is helping us to see more clearly how old, discredited ideas about race, which have been rejected by most, still linger in the minds of many individuals, regardless of the laws that have been passed.

I believe that most Americans believe very deeply in fairness. It is one of our defining values as a people. I also believe Maya Angelou was right when she said:

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

How can we do better to reduce systemic racial injustice and heal the wounds and divisions that false notions of racial superiority have caused in our Nation and our fellow citizens? As John Lewis told us often, achieving great, genuine equality is the work of a lifetime. Let me suggest briefly a few ways that this Senate can begin that work.

First--and this is so easy and obvious--let the Senate debate and vote on the Justice in Policing Act. The President can send unidentified Federal agents to as many cities as he likes, but the calls for justice in our streets will not end until we make a clear stand against policing tactics that killed George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Laquan McDonald, and too many other men, women, and children of color in America.

Our Republican colleagues acknowledged the need for policing reforms when they brought up the bill that included certain changes, but the bill did not proceed, and it should. This Senate can--and must--do better. This belief is shared by an overwhelming majority of civil rights organizations in our Nation.

The Justice in Policing Act is sponsored by Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. It has passed the House of Representatives, and I am proud to be a cosponsor.

The House, in passing its version with a bipartisan vote, gave us an opportunity, I say to Senator McConnell, to debate the Justice in Policing Act, which passed the House, and here in the Senate we should.

Second, let this Senate debate the Economic Justice Act that has been offered by Senator Schumer.

Third, Martin Luther King called racial disparities in healthcare one of the most shocking of all racial injustices. It was more than 50 years ago when he said. Yet the disparities persist to this day and may be worse in many ways.

This pandemic has laid them bare for us to see. Black and Brown Americans are three times more likely to become infected with coronavirus than White Americans and twice as likely to die from COVID- 19.

The Affordable Care Act has done more to reduce racial disparities in healthcare than almost any act since the creation of Medicaid. It is hard to believe that there are many on the other side still trying to kill the Affordable Care Act in the midst of a pandemic that has already taken the lives of 145,000 Americans. Many more have been sickened, and it is still burning out of control in large parts of our Nation. Think about what it would be if we had no Affordable Care Act and doubled the number of uninsured people in this country. How could that bring us any consolation or confidence that we can continue to fight this battle?

For the sake of African Americans, Latinx Americans, and all Americans who rely on the affordable coverage and patient protections, it is time to put an end to this endless assault on the Affordable Care Act.

I hope my colleagues--especially my colleagues who speak passionately about protecting mothers and babies--will join me in passing a bill I have introduced to reduce the shocking high rate of maternal and infant mortality among African-American women and their babies. It is inexplicable that in the United States of America, we see so many Black women dying in childbirth and so many babies dying as well. It is unnecessary. It is time for us to focus the great resources, health resources, of America on this issue.

In America, a woman of color is three to four times more likely than a White woman to die as a result of pregnancy. Why? The answers are very obvious. We need better, more focused, more understanding medical care. I am sad to say that in Illinois, the situation--the numbers--are that bad, if not even worse.

The United States is 1 of only 13 nations in the world in which the maternal mortality rate is worse than it was 25 years ago. In the United States of America, we are 1 of only 13 nations in which the maternal death rate is worse today than what it was 25 years ago. How in the world can we explain that?

I have introduced a bill called the MOMMA Act. My companion in this effort is my Congresswoman from Chicago, Robin Kelly. Let's get that debated, I say to Senator McConnell. It will not take long. I bet it passes easily. We owe it to many across America to show the initiative and to bring it to the floor.

Fourth, because our friends across the aisle could not agree among themselves on what would be in the next coronavirus relief bill, critical protections included in the CARES Act have now or will soon expire without replacement.

These protections include payments for the jobless for tens of millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in this pandemic--it wasn't because they were lazy; it was bad luck--as well as the Federal moratorium on evictions for families who have had difficulty paying their rent because of economic devastation brought on by COVID-19.

Unless we extend this moratorium, as many as 28 million could lose their homes in the next 3 months. I can't imagine the devastation that would bring to a family--losing your home and perhaps having no place to turn. For the sake of those families and for our ability to fight this virus, we must extend the moratorium on evictions and help families who are struggling to pay rent.

Senator Warren introduced a bill that I have cosponsored to extend this critical moratorium through March. It is called the Protecting Renters from Evictions and Fees Act.

I am proud to cosponsor a bill with Senator Brown that provides $100 billion in emergency rental assistance to help families and individuals pay their rent. Let's keep these families in a safe, quality living environment

The crisis of affordable housing didn't start with this pandemic. The shortage of safe, affordable public housing has been building for decades, and it disproportionately harms African-American families.

Senator Harris of California has introduced a bill, which I am proud to cosponsor, called the Housing is Infrastructure Act. It would invest $100 billion to repair our current stock of public housing and to build new units of safe, affordable public housing.

I could just walk you through a map of the State of Illinois and the public housing I have visited and witnessed that is in desperate need of repair. It is time, you think, to call the landlord and say: What are you going to do about this housing unit that you own that is falling down? Except, it turns out, we are the landlords. The Federal Government owns this property. The Federal Government has the responsibility to fix it.

Last week, President Trump moved to repeal an Obama-era rule meant to ban discriminatory housing and zoning laws and policies. It is not pricing from this President, but it is wrong. We need to move forward and not backward. The housing infrastructure needs to move in the right direction.

Finally, once again, in the name of John Lewis, I believe that the right to vote was ``almost sacred,'' in his words, and I share that feeling, but that right is now threatened by a series of misguided decisions in recent years by the Supreme Court and other courts.

The House passed a bill last year to restore the Voting Rights Act to its original intent. That bill is being reintroduced in the Senate this week by Senator Leahy and in the House by Congressman Clyburn. The difference? They are naming it in honor of Congressman John Lewis.

John Lewis did not risk his life in Selma and so many other places so people would praise him in speeches or name things after him. He did not risk his life for the right to have a bridge named after him-- although it is a fitting tribute. He risked his life over and over again to protect the right of every American to vote.

Americans' faith in our electoral system--the cornerstone of our democracy--continues to be under attack by entities that wish us ill.

For those who gathered in the Rotunda yesterday to honor his memory and to stand in silent respect for all the work of his life, I say to my fellow Senators who were there: Let us pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act in the name of Congressman John Lewis. Let us make it clear that his life was worth this and so much more.

When you know better, you do better. Our eyes have been opened, and now it is time for us to act.

It is my honor to serve in this Senate, but I am sorry to say that when it comes to production of important, meaningful legislation, this institution has fallen far behind.

We seldom take up bills of great importance and magnitude. We just passed the Defense authorization bill--a very important piece of legislation, which I believe has passed for 59 straight years in Congress, and I am glad it passed again, but now you see an empty floor and an empty Chamber where we are not taking up the issues that we should.

There is one person who controls the agenda and the schedule of this Chamber, and that is the Republican majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Let's not waste this opportunity to make America a better place. Let's do things that make a difference.

America is counting on us in the midst of this massive health crisis with COVID-19--perhaps the worst health crisis our Nation has faced in over 100 years. With the state of our economy and so many--tens of millions of people out of work, shouldn't we be acting together on a bipartisan basis, as we did in March of this year, to pass legislation?

The reports we have is that the other side of the aisle is in disarray. I might remind Senator McConnell that the best legislation that passes here is bipartisan. And this measure, COVID relief, moving forward, should be bipartisan as well. For it to be bipartisan, we need people of both parties to sit down together and negotiate. That has to continue, along with the participation of the White House, in order to achieve these goals.

First and foremost, we need to restore unemployment assistance to the millions of families who will see it end in just a few days. I cannot imagine having lost your job, worried about whether there is another one waiting or whether one will be available, and then having to worry about whether you can make that rent payment, the mortgage payment, the utility bills, food, health insurance--the basics--and to be told that Congress just let unemployment assistance expire, which happens in just 3 days. What are these families going to do?

I sincerely hope that every Member of the Senate will reach out to one of these unemployed families and listen quietly to their stories. I have seen them as they come to the food pantries. I have seen them come and ask for help, which they never dreamed they would have to do. It must be heartbreaking to go through that experience. Let's stand by them now. They need us now more than ever.

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