Coronavirus

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, for over a year now, people worldwide have experienced immeasurable pain, suffering, and loss. This pandemic has tested each and every one of us in ways that we didn't know possible.

But perhaps no one has been more tested than our Nation's frontline, essential healthcare workers. They, like so many other frontline workers, did not have the option to telework, to socially distance, to remain in their homes, with their families, while the coronavirus ravaged our communities--no, just the opposite. They showed up more than ever before.

Not only did our Nation's doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals put their own health concerns aside to treat COVID patients, they continued to see all their other patients who couldn't afford to delay treatment, the heart attack and stroke victims, the chemotherapy and dialysis patients, the pregnant moms and new babies, people who had been involved in car accidents or were victims of gun violence.

When the rest of the world was being encouraged to stay home and avoid interactions with people, our medical providers continued to report to hospitals, community health centers, doctor's offices. They did so even when they weren't provided the proper personal protective equipment. They did so even when it meant that they had to quarantine from their own families. They did so even when it meant extra shifts on little to no sleep. They did so even when it meant spending each day watching dying patients say their final goodbyes to loved ones over Zoom. And they did so even when, in the midst of all of this, they were subjected to racism, sexism, and hate.

An essay that appeared in the New York Times last month detailed one doctor's experience. Dr. Chaya Bhuvaneswar--a female, Asian-American, Boston-area physician--recalled an incident last April, when a patient spit on her and said she ``brought the sickness.''

Anti-Asian bigotry is, sadly, nothing new in this country, and the rise of it during COVID was certainly fueled by our former President, who seemed to delight in coining hateful, racist terminology to describe the coronavirus. Like so many others, our healthcare providers, whether they are Asian American or African American, or members of other minority groups, are subjected to racism, simply in the course of doing their jobs.

Racism is inexcusable always, but imagine how much worse it must have felt this past year, risking your life every single day to help a nation in the midst of a deadly pandemic, only to be subjected to racial slurs, offensive stereotypes, and vile actions. If this past year has taught us anything, it is that our Nation still has a long way to go on issues of race and immigration.

Consider this: One in six healthcare and social service workers are immigrants. Yet our broken immigration laws prevent many immigrants from contributing more fully to the battle against the pandemic.

As long as I am a U.S. Senator, I will continue to come to fight for all immigrants. We must ensure that the hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers in our essential workforce are not forced to stop contributing when the need for their service has never been greater, and we must give them the chance they deserve to become American citizens. They have waited long enough.

I hope that, even in these divided times, we can come together in Congress to quickly aid our immigrant healthcare heroes and other essential workers. Whether we are witnessing horrific, racially motivated acts of police brutality on the nightly news or reading about bigoted verbal and physical assaults in our hospitals, it is clear that the epidemic of racism, which long predated this pandemic, has not gone anywhere.

It is my hope that, someday soon, we can look at one another and see how much more unites us than divides us, but for now, let me just offer another word of thanks to our Nation's healthcare workforce: You have all given so much and endured so much. We are eternally thankful for all you have done and all you will continue to do.

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