Congressional Record—Senate S1219
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March 5, 2021 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1219 with school closures but only if they one set of political spin. The White The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- are Federal employees. To all the par- House Chief of Staff is going around pore. The Senator from Vermont. ents without government jobs, no such town admitting that they have written UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENTS luck. ‘‘the most progressive domestic legisla- There are provisions to let abortion tion in a generation.’’ That is the Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I providers raid the small business res- White House Chief of Staff. Meanwhile, ask unanimous consent that for the du- cue funds that were meant for Main here in the Senate, Democrats are still ration of the Senate’s consideration of Street businesses. pretending this is some down-the-mid- H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan They want to pay people a bonus not dle proposal and lecturing us for not Act of 2021, the majority and Repub- to go back to work when we are trying supporting it. They can’t even get their lican managers of the bill, while seated to rebuild our economy. stories straight. or standing at the managers’ desks, be There is an effort to create a The administration campaigned on permitted to deliver floor remarks, re- brandnew, sprawling cash welfare pro- ushering in a new day of unity and bi- trieve, review, and edit documents, and gram—not the one-time checks but partisanship, but in 2020, under Repub- send email and other data communica- constant payments—that ignores the lican leadership, the Senate negotiated tions from text displayed on wireless pro-work lessons of bipartisan welfare five rescue bills totaling $4 trillion, personal digital assistant devices and reform and which the White House has and none of them got fewer than 90 tablet devices. already stated they want to make per- votes. That is how this Senate was run What do we think about that? manent. last year in a time of divided govern- The unrelated liberal policies are ment, and now, in this supposed new All right. I further ask unanimous simply endless. It is like they have for- era of healing leadership, we are about consent that the use of calculators be gotten we have a pandemic to fight. to watch one party ram through a par- permitted on the floor during consider- Larry Summers, a top economist in tisan package on the thinnest margins. ation of the bill; further, that the staff both the Clinton and Obama adminis- Go figure. be permitted to make technical and trations, says this plan piles way more Republicans have many ideas to im- conforming changes to the bill, if nec- debt on our kids and grandkids than we prove the bill, many ideas, and we are essary, consistent with the amend- need to spend right now. That is Larry about to vote on all kinds of amend- ments adopted during Senate consider- Summers, Bill Clinton’s Secretary ments in the hopes that some of these ation of the bill. Treasury. Jason Furman, who chaired ideas make it into the final product. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- President Obama’s Council of Eco- We are going to try to improve the bill. pore. Without objection, it is so or- nomic Advisers, said the State and The millions who elected 50 Republican dered. local bailouts are ‘‘overkill.’’ These are Senators will have their voices heard liberal economists, Madam President. loud and clear. AMENDMENT NO. 972 TO AMENDMENT NO. 891 By one analysis, the Democrats’ Our country is already set for a roar- (Purpose: To provide for increases in the extra cash bonuses for laid-off workers ing recovery. We are already on track Federal minimum wage) who stay home will result in almost 60 to bounce back from this crisis. That is Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I percent of workers earning more not because of this bill; it is because of call up my amendment No. 972. money staying home than they would our work last year. This is a trend this earn from returning to work—more new Democratic government inherited. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- money by staying home than they We are going to come roaring back and pore. The clerk will report. would earn from returning to work. mostly not because of this bill—in fact, The bill clerk read as follows: What a great idea. This isn’t State un- in some ways, in spite of this bill. It employment insurance; it is borrowing will be because of the bipartisan foun- The Senator from Vermont [Mr. SANDERS], from our kids and grandkids to pay yet for himself and others, proposes an amend- dation we laid last year and the ment numbered 972 to amendment No. 891. an additional cash bonus for not work- strength and resilience of our people. ing. Democrats inherited a tide that was al- Mr. SANDERS. I ask unanimous con- This would extend deep into 2021, ready turning. sent that the reading of the amend- when we anticipate serious job growth. We could have worked together to do ment be dispensed with. Just this morning, we had a jobs report something smart to finish this fight as The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- that shattered expectations, nearly fast as possible. Democrats decided to pore. Is there objection? doubling the job growth experts had ex- do something else. pected to see. Without objection, it is so ordered. f This is what the Washington Post (The amendment is printed in the says about this mess. This is the Wash- CONCLUSION OF MORNING RECORD of March 4, 2021 under ‘‘Text of ington Post about this mess that is be- BUSINESS Amendments.’’) fore us: The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I For policy experts and even members of pore. rise to offer an amendment to increase Biden’s own party, the improving picture is Morning business is closed. raising questions about whether the stim- the Federal minimum wage from a ulus bill is mismatched to the needs of the f starvation wage of $7.25 an hour to $15 current moment. an hour over a 5-year period. LEGISLATIVE SESSION That is from the Washington Post As I think you know, Congress has editorial. not raised the minimum wage since It is mismatched all right because it AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2007. The result of that is that half of was never designed to meet Americans’ 2021 our people are now living paycheck to needs. The goal was to ‘‘restructure paycheck, and many, in fact, are work- things to fit’’ their ‘‘vision.’’ That is The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- ing for wages that are much too low in why there was no bipartisan process pore. Under the previous order, the order to take care of their families. So, after a year of completely bipartisan Senate will resume consideration of to my mind, the American people in COVID bills that we worked on to- H.R. 1319, which the clerk will report. poll after poll and State after State un- gether. That is why the Senate Repub- The bill clerk read as follows: derstand that we have to raise that licans who went to the White House to A bill (H.R. 1319) to provide for reconcili- minimum wage to a living wage of 15 propose working together were told: No ation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 5. bucks an hour. I intend to do every- thanks; take it or leave it. Pending: thing that I can to make that happen, This is such a poorly targeted rush Schumer amendment No. 891, of a per- and I will be offering that amendment job that Democrats can’t even settle on fecting nature. this morning. VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:42 Apr 14, 2021 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD21\MARCH\S05MR1.REC S05MR1 ejoyner on DSKJLYS7X2PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S1220 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 5, 2021 Madam President, before I do that, tion. That means, all over this coun- of our young people have seen edu- let me begin my remarks by explaining try, we have old people, elderly people, cation disrupted. Think about all of why this reconciliation bill that we are in their homes. They can’t interact the implications of what that means. It debating today, the American Rescue with their grandchildren, with their is likely that hundreds of colleges in Plan, is so enormously important that own kids, with their friends. You have America, which were struggling before it must be passed and must be passed young people who want to go to school, the pandemic, will cease to exist. as quickly as possible, in my view. This who want to socialize, who want to So you have the public health crisis legislation is the most consequential date, who want to do things that young with a half a million people dead, an and significant legislation for working people do. They can’t do it and have economic crisis with real unemploy- families that Congress has debated for been unable to do it for the last year, ment at 10 percent and small busi- many, many decades. and that has resulted in a very sharp nesses going out of business, and an Now, why is that? increase in mental illness in this coun- educational crisis. The answer is that, as I think all try—something, by the way, that this Meanwhile, in the midst of all of Americans know, the last year that we legislation also deals with.