Coronavirus
Floor Speech
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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, this country faces the worst set of public health and economic crises that we have faced in over 100 years.
As a result of the pandemic, more people than ever before are becoming infected, right now. Hospitalization is higher than it has ever been before, right now. And more people are dying than ever before, literally day after day.
Now, we all hope and pray that the new vaccine will be distributed as quickly as possible and that it will put an end to this nightmare. But, today, the truth is that millions of low-income and middle-class families are suffering in a way that they have not suffered since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Today, the reality is that over half of our workers are living paycheck to paycheck, trying to survive on a starvation wage of 10 or 12 bucks an hour. The reality is that millions of our senior citizens are trapped in their homes, unable to see their kids or their grandchildren, unable to go to a grocery store, and many of them are trying to get by on $12,000-, $14,000-a-year Social Security and scared that they may come down with the virus and die.
In addition, millions more with disabilities are suffering. Further, in our country today, one out of four workers is either unemployed or makes less than $20,000 a year. And in the midst of this pandemic, because we are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people as a right--in the midst of this pandemic, the worst healthcare crisis in 100 years, over 90 million Americans are uninsured or underinsured and unable to go to a doctor when they need to.
Further, we have the worst eviction crisis in modern history. Some 30 million families worry that because they cannot pay their rent, they may end up out on the street.
That is where we are today economically, and if this country means anything--if democracy means anything, if the U.S. Government means anything--it means that we cannot turn our backs on this suffering, not in Vermont, not in Wisconsin, not in New York, not in any State in this country where people are hurting in an unprecedented way.
It means that we cannot leave Washington, as Senators, for the holidays to go back to our families unless we address the pain and anxiety of other families throughout this country.
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Mr. SANDERS. I would be happy to yield to the minority leader.
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Mr. SANDERS. Let me thank the senior Senator from New York, the Democratic leader, for his strong statement. He is exactly right. In this kind of crisis, it is comical that suddenly our Republican friends, once again, discover that we have a deficit. This is a moment of emergency--of emergency--and we have to respond to the needs of working families. And I thank Senator Schumer for his strong support for this legislation.
Members of Congress should also be aware that we are far behind other major countries in terms of protecting working families during this pandemic. Not only does every other wealthy country guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right, almost all of them are providing far more generous benefits to the unemployed and the struggling in their countries than we are doing in our country.
Several months ago, I introduced legislation, along with Senator Kamala Harris--now our Vice President-elect--and Senator Markey that would, during the course of this economic crisis, provide $2,000 a month--$2,000 a month--to every working-class person in this country. And, frankly, that is exactly what we should be doing. But, unfortunately, given the conservative nature of the Senate, I understand that is not going to happen.
Yet, at a time of massive income and wealth inequality, as Senator Schumer just indicated, at a time when huge corporations were making recordbreaking profits, the Republican leadership here in the Senate was able to provide over $1 trillion in tax breaks to the 1 percent and large corporations.
Yes, at a time when climate change--yes, climate change is real-- threatens the entire planet, this Congress was able to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare to the oil companies and the gas companies and the coal companies that are exacerbating the climate crisis.
Yes, just the other day, here in the Senate and in the House, legislation was passed which would provide $740 billion to the military--the largest military budget in history, more than the next 10 nations combined. We spend more on the military than the next 10 nations combined.
So we could do all of those things--tax breaks for billionaires, massive corporate welfare, huge military expenditures--but in the midst of the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression, somehow Congress is unable to respond effectively to the needs of working families.
As the Presiding Officer may know, I have recently introduced legislation to provide every working-class American an emergency payment of at least $1,200, which is $2,400 for a couple and $500 for each of their children.
This is not a radical idea. This is an idea that is supported by President Donald Trump. It is an idea that is supported by President- Elect Joe Biden. It is an idea, by the way, that according to a recent poll, is supported by 75 percent of all Americans, including 77 percent of Democrats and 72 percent of Republicans.
Further, importantly, this amount of direct payment is exactly what Congress passed unanimously 9 months ago as part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act. Let me repeat. In March, every Member of the House and Senate, appropriately, including myself, voted to provide a direct payment of $1,200 for working-class adults, $2,400 for couples, and $500 for their kids.
That was the right thing to do 9 months ago. And given the fact that the crisis today is, in many respects, worse than it was 9 months ago, that is exactly what we should be doing right now.
As a result of the pandemic, the government told restaurants, bars, retail stores, movie theaters, schools, malls, small businesses all over this country: Shut your doors. It is too dangerous for you to be open now. And they did that because that is what the public health experts said was the right thing to do in order to control this horrific pandemic.
But what the government has not done is provide the workers who lost their jobs and lost their incomes as a result of those shutdowns with the help that they need in order to pay their bills and to survive economically.
The $600 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits that Congress passed unanimously in March expired in July--over 5 months ago--and during that time, the Republican Senate has done nothing to help working families pay their rent, feed their children, go to a doctor, or pay for the lifesaving prescription drugs they need. And the Senate has not done anywhere near enough to provide help for the struggling small businesses in Vermont and all across this country that are desperately trying to stay afloat.
Further, as bad as the economy has been in general, it has been far worse for African Americans and Latinos. During the pandemic, nearly 60 percent of Latino families and 55 percent of African-American families have either experienced a job loss or a cut in pay.
For 9 months, we have asked tens of millions of working people in this country to survive on one $1,200 check, with no help for healthcare, no support for hazard pay, no assistance for rent relief-- absolutely nothing. Meanwhile, I should mention that over the same 9- month period, 651 billionaires in the United States became over $1 trillion richer. A trillion dollars in increased wealth for the very richest people in our country and one $1,200 check for tens of millions of Americans desperately trying to survive. That is unconscionable, that is immoral, and that has to change.
Now, let us recall that way back in May, the House of Representatives passed the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act, which, among other things, included $600 a week in supplemental unemployment benefits; another direct payment of $1,200 for working-class adults and $500 for their kids; and generous support for small businesses, hospitals, education facilities, and State and local government. In other words, the House passed a $3.4 trillion bill that was, in fact, a very serious effort to address the enormous crises facing our country.
I should also add that in July, several months later, the House passed another version of the bill, so-called Heroes 2, and this legislation was for $2.2 trillion.
That same month, in July, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed a $1.1 trillion bill that also provided a $1,200 direct payment for working-class adults and $500 for their kids. Then, in October, Secretary Mnuchin, in negotiations with Speaker Pelosi, proposed a COVID relief plan for $1.8 trillion. That is Mnuchin representing the Trump administration.
So in the last number of months, we have had major proposals of $3.4 trillion, $2.2 trillion, $1.8 trillion, and from Majority Leader McConnell, $1.1 trillion. Yet today, right now, after months of negotiating by the so-called Gang of 8, we are now down to just $908 billion in legislation, and that includes $560 billion in offsets, in unused money, from the CARES Act.
So what we are talking about now is going from an original House bill passed in May calling for $3.4 trillion in new money, down to today $348 billion in new money--roughly 10 percent of what Democrats thought was originally needed. In my view, the $348 billion in new money that is included in the proposal now being discussed is totally inadequate given the nature of the unprecedented crises that we face.
The American people cannot wait any longer. They need economic relief right now. Their kids are going hungry. They are being evicted from their homes. They can't go to the doctor. They need help, and they need it now. Every working-class American needs $1,200 at least, $2,400 for couples, and $500 for children.
Let me be clear to emphasize a point that Senator Schumer made, and that is, what I am talking about now is money that must not be taken from other important priorities like 16 weeks of supplemental unemployment benefits; aid for small business, nutrition, housing, education; and the other important provisions in this bill. We need adequate funding to address the unprecedented crises that we face. We should not and cannot and must not take from Peter to pay Paul. We cannot cut unemployment benefits in order to help small business. We have to do it all, right now.
So, Madam President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 5063, which I introduced earlier today, which would provide a $1,200 direct payment to every working-class adult, $2,400 for couples, and $500 for their children; and that the bill be considered read three times and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
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Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, the Senator from Wisconsin talks about Democrats not taking yes for an answer. Let me tell you what we did not take for an answer. We did not take for an answer the Republican bill, which did not have a nickel for unemployment benefits. We did not take yes for an answer for a bill that did not have a nickel for direct payments.
The Senator from Wisconsin talks about the deficit. Yet the Senator from Wisconsin voted for over $1 trillion in tax breaks for billionaires and large, profitable corporations. That is OK.
The Senator from Wisconsin voted for a bloated military budget, $740 billion. That is OK.
The Senator from Wisconsin supports hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare. The Senator from Wisconsin threw out some numbers. Let me throw out some other numbers. Half of the people in this country are living paycheck to paycheck. Millions of workers are trying to survive on starvation wages of 10 or 12 bucks an hour. Ninety million people are uninsured or underinsured, can't afford to go to a doctor. Nineteen million families are spending half of their limited incomes on housing.
Today, we have the most severe hunger crisis in America that we have had in decades. Children in this country are going hungry while half a million people are homeless and many millions more fear eviction.
Today, as a result of the pandemic, not only do we have the worst healthcare crisis in 100 years but the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
I say to my colleague from Wisconsin, yes--I will not support proposals that do not provide a nickel in unemployment benefits, not a nickel in direct relief to tens of millions of low-income and middle- income families.
I would hope very much that this Congress appreciates the pain that is out there and that instead of worrying about tax breaks for billionaires or corporate welfare, let's pay attention to the needs of working families, and let us pass legislation which includes $1,200 direct payments to working class families, as we did in the CARES Act, 500 bucks to their kids, and certainly not taking a nickel away from unemployment and the other important provisions that are currently being negotiated
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