Benjamin Cardin

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I know that we are all looking forward to trying to finish our legislative work this week. The majority leader has announced that next week the Senate will be in recess for the traditional Memorial Day recess. Let me just urge our colleagues that before we leave for the recess, we need to act on the challenges that COVID-19 is imposing on our State and local governments. To me, it would be irresponsible for us to leave and go into recess recognizing that our State and local governments are so much impacted by COVID-19. They are making decisions now. They have to put their budgets together. They have to adjust this year's budget and plan for next year's budget. What is in the balance? Well, it is our municipalities, it is law enforcement, it is police, it is fire, it is emergency rescue. For our counties, it is our schools and funding of our schools. It also deals with public health for our State. It is public health and so many other different issues that are dependent upon the State having the resources in order to respond to the needs of their citizens--our constituents--as well as to deal with the challenges of COVID-19. I will give you one example on that. This week, by teleconference with representatives of our higher education, University of Maryland-- they depend very much on the revenues they get from the State and the revenues they get from their students. Both are very much in jeopardy today. The least we can do is to make sure that the States have the resources to continue these critical missions. They just don't have it. Let me give you some of the numbers so that my colleagues are aware of it. For the State of Maryland, in the revenue projections for the current fiscal year that ends June 30, the revenues will be off by as much as $925 million to $1.25 billion. Those are revenue losses. On top of that, their fiscal year 2022 revenue projection is another loss of $2.1 to $2.4 billion. That is for the State of Maryland. Those are not our subdivisions. Baltimore City is projecting a reduction in revenues by $141 million this year. That is going to require layoffs. They have already talked about layoffs and not hiring additional police officers. Those police officers are needed in order to keep Baltimore safe. We know the challenges we have in our municipal centers, and Baltimore City is under a consent order decree. That is being jeopardized by the inability of Baltimore to deal with these costs. They have to balance their budget. The State of Maryland has to balance its budget. Baltimore City has to balance its budget. It doesn't have the leeway we have in order to respond to a crisis by pumping money at a problem. Baltimore County has a $172 million revenue projection. That is a 22- percent reduction in this year's budget in regard to income tax revenues alone. They have a 70-percent reduction in motel and hotel tax revenues. For Montgomery County, our neighbor that borders DC, there is a $250 million projected revenue loss for this year. Prince George's County has a $134 million revenue loss for this year, and that includes a reduction of $886 million in income tax revenues. Anne Arundel County anticipates a $63 million loss of revenue. They have frozen all positions. Howard County projects a $30 to $40 million loss of revenue. They normally have a growth of $25 million. That is a swing of $55 million to $65 million for a county that wasn't large enough to get direct help under the CARES Act. I mention the CARES Act because it was an important bill. When we first took it up, it did not include a robust provision for State and local. We put that in on the Senate floor, and we are pleased we were able to do that. It is limited. It is limited because the money that we made available under the CARES Act provided help to State and local governments on their direct costs associated with COVID-19. That money has been used for direct costs associated with COVID-19. I have already pointed out the revenue losses in the State of Maryland and in our subdivisions. The CARES Act doesn't provide any help in regard to making up for the revenue losses. The CARES Act went only to jurisdictions of 500,000 or more--over 500,000. Only a few of our counties were eligible for help in my State. Most of our counties were not eligible for help directly. They had to apply through the State, but they were not eligible for direct help. Let me give you one county: Wicomico County, Eastern Shore of Maryland. That is where the poultry processing plants are located. That is where the problems of COVID-19 needed to be contained. We did not provide any direct help to Wicomico County in regard to stabilization funds. That was wrong. As we all know, we treated our host jurisdiction here, the District of Columbia, wrongly by not allowing them to get the same minimum distribution as a State. The CARES Act helped, but it didn't deal with the current crisis that we now find at State and local governments. The Governors have issued a bipartisan plea. Governor Hogan, who is the chair of the National Governors Association, the Republican Governor from Maryland, and Governor Cuomo, the Democratic Governor from New York, have joined with all of our Governors in saying that they need help now from the Federal Government in order to maintain critical missions of public safety, of public health, of education and, yes, to meet the direct needs related to COVID-19. They need help now. Yes, we need to respond. I am pleased that there is a bipartisan group of Senators who have filed the SMART Act. The Governors say they need $500 billion in order to get through this immediate crisis--$500 billion more. Well, the SMART Act provides $500 billion. Two-thirds would go to the State and one-third to the local governments. That is an important start, but we could do better than that. The HEROES Act, the bill that passed the House of Representatives, provides $875 billion, and 57 percent goes to the States, meeting what the States need; that is, basically the States' needs. And 42 percent goes to local governments, half to the counties, half to municipalities over 50,000. That would go a long way to meeting the needs of our local first responders, our police, our fire, our emergency rescue, our schools. Those types of issues could be addressed under that need. We have to respond. We just can't go home and say that this is not our problem. These are our constituents. They depend upon local police and fire. They depend upon our schools being prepared to educate their children. They depend upon sanitation being collected. They depend upon the public health capacities. That is where they get those services. If we don't provide the wherewithal under the balanced budget rules, they are not going to be able to provide those essential services. My plea is that before we go into recess, let us take up at least the issues affecting State and local governments and do something to help so that they can continue to provide essential services to our constituents and they can deal with the direct costs associated with COVID-19 in their communities. As we are beginning to reopen our communities, we need to make sure our State and local governments have the resources to respond to the challenges when more people are getting together. We also need to respond if we are going to get our economy back on track. It is not going to get back on track if our State and local governments are laying off their workers. We need to respond in a positive way, and we need to do that now. I urge my colleagues to take up legislation before we go into recess in order to help the people of our Nation through our State and local governments. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am pleased that earlier this week the Senate passed S. Res. 586, a bipartisan resolution designating this week National Public Works Week. National Public Works Week celebrates the profound impact our public works professionals have on our safety and quality of life. Public works are the shared assets that make up the backbone of our Nation. Public service professionals build, manage and operate our nation's most essential services. Many of us take for granted work that goes into the services we rely on every day. This week provides an opportunity to reflect on the men and women behind those services. Let us consider the way our daily life is powered by public service professionals: We wake up in the morning to turn the tap on and expect water to come out. We place our trash bins on the street and expect it is collected in timely manner. Some of us may drive over bridges built to last generations and follow traffic signals that were carefully planned to keep us safe. The work of public service professionals has a tangible impact on our lives every single day. Consider the employee who replaced the aging pipe that brings water to your home or the scientist that ensured that water is safe to drink. Consider also the sanitation worker who keeps your street clean and healthy. We can also think of the engineer who designed the bridge and the construction worker who started the workday before dawn to ensure the construction minimally impacted your routine. National Public Works Week gives us a formal opportunity to humanize these services and say thank you to the people working behind the scenes to keep our communities running. There is no more important time than now to recognize these individuals. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged our communities in ways previously unimaginable. However, we can count on public works employees to rise to the occasion. Public works employees are often on the frontlines, risking their own health to ensure that services are delivered. While much of public life has come to a standstill, the rhythm of public services continues. Water mains break and require repair and garbage must still be collected. The pandemic has thrust millions of Americans into financial uncertainty, unsure how they will pay for basic services. Many public works agencies, like the Baltimore Department of Public Works are continuing to offer discounted water rates as the pandemic continues. Public works also offer hope for our Nation's economic recovery. From the Great Depression came a formative era in the history of public works in America. President Franklin D. Roosevelt understood the power of transformative projects to jumpstart America's economy and provide a higher quality life than previously known. The New Deal made an indelible impact on the structure of our government and trajectory of America's financial recovery. The projects themselves now stand as a physical representation of our young Nation's capacity to overcome adversity with ingenuity and grit. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our Nation is profound. However, our Nation is ripe for investment in public works projects that will put people back to work and stimulate our economy, as was done with the New Deal. As the ranking member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, I understand the urgent need to address our Nation's aging infrastructure. That is why I am proud that the Committee reported favorably, on a bipartisan basis, a surface transportation reauthorization bill last year, America's Transportation Infrastructure Act, S. 2303, which authorizes billions of dollars to State and local governments to invest in roads, bridges, and highways, and why I hope my colleagues in the Senate will come together and follow through with important infrastructure legislation. There is no better time than now to invest in our Nation's infrastructure and employ a new class of public works professionals. Public works are central to the American story of resiliency and fortitude, even in the face of despair. This week, and always, we should look to public works professionals with gratitude for their contributions to our lives.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I think each person in this body recognizes the importance of small business to our economy and to our way of life. Small businesses are called the job creator in our economy. They create more jobs than larger companies. They provide innovative ways in order to move forward on our economy. They can figure out better ways to do things more efficiently, meeting the needs of the people of our community. They are also more vulnerable. They don't have access to the type of capital that larger companies have. They don't have the resiliency. So when COVID-19 struck, we recognized--those of us in the Senate and the House recognized that we had to take special effort to protect the economic viability of the small businesses in our country. They did not have the reserve capital and they did not have the resiliency to deal with this prolonged downturn in our economy. Eight weeks ago, we came together, Democrats and Republicans, by a 96-to-0 vote and passed the CARES Act. I was proud that a significant part of the CARES Act responded to the needs of small businesses. We had a working group, a bipartisan working group. Senator Rubio, the chairman of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee--I am the ranking Democrat--we were joined by Senator Shaheen and Senator Collins, and we worked in an expedited way in order to see what we could do to help small businesses get through COVID-19. The CARES Act provides new opportunities for us to help small businesses during this unprecedented disaster. We passed the PPP program, the Paycheck Protection Program, and provided $660 billion of help for America's small businesses. I want to compliment the men and women at the Small Business Administration and at Treasury for putting this program together literally overnight, and today 4.3 million loans have been given under this program that didn't exist just 8 weeks ago. There are $513 billion in loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. That is quite an accomplishment, but there are challenges. There are challenges with any new program, but this program has major concerns. When we passed the program, we thought that 8 weeks later, our economy would be performing at a much higher level than it is today. We need to revisit that. A second program that we modified and changed was the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program. We provided an additional $50 billion of funds for the EIDL loans so that the Small Business Administration, which makes direct loans, could provide $360 billion of additional loans to small businesses. The EIDL Program works with the PPP program. The PPP program covers payroll for 8 weeks, plus some additional expenses. The EIDL Program provides working capital so small businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19 can stay afloat. Here, the results are nowhere near as promising. Only 252,000 loans have been issued under the EIDL loan program for under $25 billion. As I pointed out earlier, they have the capacity for $360 billion. It has been very slow at the SBA in issuing EIDL loans. Then we provided for grants under the EIDL Program. Initially, we provided $10 billion, and we increased that to $20 billion. Yet the number of loans that have been issues or grants that have been issued under EIDL--a little over a million--a little over $10 billion. But this program has not operated as we intended. We wanted these grants to be given within 3 days--we put that in the statute--and we certainly didn't expect that the average loan would be between $4,000 and $5,000 when we gave grants up to $10,000. So challenges exist on both the loan and grant program under EIDL. Then we provided debt relief for those who have micro-loans or 7(a) loans or 504 loans under the SBA--6 months of relief--and, quite frankly, we don't know a lot about how that program has been working. We don't have much information about it. That is what we did 8 weeks ago and then supplemented it with some additional funds. What should we do now? The Senate has not finished its work as it relates to helping the small businesses of America. We still have work we need to do. First and foremost, we need to have transparency and data related to how these programs are working. Expediency does not excuse transparency and accountability. Yes, we wanted to get the money out quickly, and we got the money out quickly under the PPP program. That was our desire. But we need to have transparency, and we need to have accountability. We need to get the geographical information, including how many loans can be given in the traditionally underserved communities--minority businesses, women-owned businesses, veteran-owned businesses, the rural community, and the smaller of the small businesses. We need to get information by the size of the business, the number of employees they have, the industries, and the lender types. We need to get the numbers on how much has gone to the nonprofit community and to affiliates and those under the NIC code exception. All that is information we need to have in order to carry out our responsibilities in the Senate. And, yes, we need to get information from the Small Business Administration and from Treasury so that we can properly prepare for additional resources that may be needed in order to fund these programs. This is not a new request that I have made. On April 17, I joined with Senator Schumer, Senator Shaheen, and Senator Wyden in a letter to Secretary Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza asking for this information to be made available on a regular basis. To date, we have still not gotten that detailed information. So I filed legislation in order to mandate that that data be provided, much of that on a daily basis. We tried to get a UC on it, and we could not do that, but we had certain promises that information would be made available. We are still not getting the granular information that is necessary for us to properly evaluate this program. We need to get that information. We need to have transparency. We have to have accountability. You have heard about the highly visible loans that were made that were given back by the pro-basketball team and by the larger public corporations. We need to see exactly how the money was allocated. Then there is a second thing we need to do in addition to getting the data and having transparency. We need to have a hearing in the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee with Administrator Carranza being there answering questions from the members of the authorizing committee as to how this program is working. We have to have that public hearing, and, quite frankly, Senator Rubio, the chairman of the committee, has been trying to get that for us, and he has been rebuffed by the SBA. That is not acceptable. We need to have a public hearing. I support Senator Rubio's request that we schedule this hearing. It should have been scheduled by now. We should have already had this hearing, but we are scheduling it for the week we return, the week of June 1, and I hope Administrator Carranza will adhere to the request of both the chairman and ranking member to be here to answer questions about these programs. We have a responsibility. We have appropriated over $700 billion. We have a responsibility to conduct an adequate oversight hearing on how those funds are being used. We need to do more than that. We also need to recognize what is going to be the next step and what is going to come next. I will tell you, there are certain things that can be done administratively. Some might require the action of Congress, but some things can be done administratively, and we need to get that done as quickly as possible. One of the things we need to get done is to make sure that the underserved community gets adequate resources. When we reauthorized the extra $310 billion for the PPP program, we allocated $60 billion to smaller financial institutions, and that was a step in the right direction. I noticed that Secretary Mnuchin mentioned in a hearing this week that he was amenable to allocating additional monies to the CDFIs. We need to allocate at least $10 billion to the CDFIs and the minority depository institutions in order for the resources to be targeted to the underserved and the underbanked community. But, quite frankly, I think we need to do even more than that. I have introduced legislation with Senator Booker that will help to develop the financial institutions in the underserved, underbanked communities. It will strengthen the abilities of those communities to have institutions in place that can help deal with the credit gap in the underserved communities. Our legislation would also strengthen the SBA tools that serve the underserved communities. We believe all of this can be done to help strengthen our commitment, which was in the CARES Act, to make sure that all communities are fairly treated with the tools that we made available. Another thing that we can do immediately is to get the data. That information can be made available now. I noticed that Secretary Mnuchin has tried to help us get certain data, but we are still not where we need to be. We need to get that information now. Another thing we can do--and, quite frankly, I think there is bipartisan support and a willingness on behalf of the administration-- is to deal with returning citizens who were denied any ability to participate in the PPP program. My goodness, for a person who has paid their debt to society, who has returned to the community, who is working a small business, should we say no, we are not going to help them survive? They have enough challenges out there. We certainly don't want to take away their ability to take advantage of tools that are available to all Americans in order to help their small businesses. I believe there is bipartisan support for this, and we hope that we will be able to get that done administratively. After all, the restrictions were imposed administratively. They can be removed administratively. Then there is another issue that we need to deal with immediately, and that is the 8-week restriction that is in the PPP program. It was well intended when we passed it. It was based on the dollars that were available, and we thought that after 8 weeks, by June, we would see our economy back performing at a level in which small businesses could be expected to be able to do well. Well, that is clearly not the case. We now need to provide additional help to small businesses as it relates to the 8-week period. We can do that. We recognize that. The monies have already been appropriated. This does not really require any additional funding, but it will allow us to give small businesses the opportunity to spend the money over a longer period of time. Why? Because their businesses aren't open. The 8 weeks started the day they got the loan. Yet today they are still not at full operation, and some are not at any operation. So I was pleased to see that the House acted on this by extending this to 24 weeks. I hope that we could find common ground, because I think there is support on both sides of the aisle and with the administration to give greater discretion on that 8-week period so that it is a longer period of time and so that the small businesses have the opportunity to spend the funds that are under the loan in a way that they can get maximum forgiveness of that loan, which will also require us to extend the June 30 date for those businesses that need extra time in order to bring their workers back. I think there is general agreement on this. I hope that we can act this week on that provision, because by the time we come back after recess, the very first loans that have been issued under the PPP program will have reached their 8-week period, where loan forgiveness applications are going to start to be processed. We need to act before that date. There is a sense of urgency. We need to get that done this week, if at all possible, and we should work to try to get that done. Let me also point out that, even when we fix the problems with these programs--and I hope that by oversight we can get the EIDL Program working properly and get those loans out there--we can increase the size of the EIDL grants, get more information about the loan forgiveness, and get the PPP program working in all communities, including the underserved communities, giving more flexibility to businesses on the 8-week period. We are going to need additional help. Eight weeks of payroll help is not going to be enough for many small businesses. So as we start to consider the next round, I hope that we will look at a program that is targeted to the small businesses that need the help the most. When we passed the bill 8 weeks ago, our objective was to get money out quickly, and we succeeded in doing that. It was successful. Now we need to look at those small businesses that have the greatest need. We need to target it to those that have had significant revenue losses. We need to target it to the underserved communities. We need to target it to the smaller of the small businesses. If we can target the program properly, the cost will be much less than the original cost, and we can save businesses that otherwise would have a hard time surviving. The key to what we did is that we worked together. It was bipartisan from the beginning. We need to do that again. Our small businesses, our workers, and our economy depend upon our getting this right. I look forward to working with my colleagues in order to get this done With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to honor the bravery and dedication of our Nation's law enforcement personnel. Even under normal circumstances, police officers put their lives on the line every day to defend our communities; now, as our country struggles through an unprecedented public health crisis, policemen and women are taking on even more personal risk to keep Americans safe. They deserve our wholehearted gratitude and respect. I am proud to cosponsor Senator Feinstein and Senator Graham's resolution designating May 10 through May 16 as National Police Week and emphasizing our support for the law enforcement officers across the United States who work to preserve our safety and security. The resolution also pays respect to the many police officers who tragically fell in the line of duty in the last year, including Officer Kyle David Olinger of the Montgomery County, MD, Police Department. Officer Olinger served with the Montgomery County Police Department for 2 years and had previously served with the Reading Police Department for 6 years. On April 18, 2019, Officer Olinger succumbed to complications of a gunshot wound he sustained on August 13, 2003, while making a traffic stop at the intersection of Second Avenue and Spring Street in Silver Spring. He observed one of the passengers in vehicle attempting to conceal a handgun underneath the seat. He ordered the man to drop the weapon before a struggle ensued. The man shot Officer Olinger in the neck, injuring his spinal column. The subject and the three other occupants drove away but were all apprehended a short time later. The man who shot him was convicted of attempted murder and subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Officer Olinger was paralyzed below his chest because of the shooting. He was married and had two sons. We will not forget his courage and the courage of his brothers and sisters on the force. Police officers around the country have devoted their lives to protecting us, and we must do everything within our power to protect them, too. During the COVID-19 pandemic, that means ensuring that all law enforcement officers have the equipment, training, and resources they need to stay safe while they continue their duties. Even though there is an extremely contagious and dangerous virus spreading all over the U.S., police forces cannot simply stop responding to crimes and emergencies. Policewomen and men, like healthcare providers and other essential workers, face a higher risk of contracting the coronavirus so that the rest of us can be safe and healthy. As of May 11, 2020, 101 officers have died from COVID-19. The least we can do is try to mitigate the risk that they face and save as many law enforcement lives as possible. There are concrete steps that we can and must take to safeguard our Nation's police officers during this epidemic. First and foremost, it is critical that we make the required personal protective equipment-- PPE--and testing universally available to the police. I have heard heartwarming stories about communities in Maryland donating PPE to their local police stations, but the bottom line is that public citizens should not need to take on that responsibility. The government should ensure that law enforcement agencies have the tools and equipment they need to perform their duties safely, especially during a period of increased risk like this one. I hope that we will significantly expand funding to State and local governments in upcoming coronavirus legislation so that they have the means to do so. Unfortunately, even with added protective measures, there will still be law enforcement officers who contract COVID-19 in the line of duty. We owe those brave men and women support to recover medically and financially from this disease. That means that we need to make workers compensation and comprehensive healthcare, both physical and mental, fully accessible to police officers and men whom COVID-19 has affected. We also need to recognize that serving as a police officer is much more dangerous now than it was 6 months ago, and it should be compensated accordingly; law enforcement officers deserve hazard pay for putting themselves in harm's way during this pandemic in order to keep our communities safe. Of course, we need to work not just during National Police Week and not just during this health crisis but year-round to show law enforcement officers our gratitude. We must do everything we can to protect them in the line of duty and care for them when their service causes them harm. I will continue fighting to support the heroes who bravely risk their own security to make this country a safer place for all of us.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am sure all of us are hearing a common question from our constituents, and that is, As we are starting to reopen our States, is it safe? Does our State have all it needs to safely reopen? It is now clear, as 50 States are starting to reopen, that they are doing so without having a vaccine in place--because a vaccine, at the earliest, will be available next year--and without therapeutic drugs that can minimize the healthcare risk of COVID-19. We are starting to reopen. So the question is: How do we safely reopen? Yes, we have the CDC guidelines, and we should be looking at the number of new infections in our States, at the number of deaths, and at the number of hospitalizations and be on a trend line that shows that the virus is under control before we reopen. Yet then there is a second element to safely reopening, and that is having adequate testing available in our communities. We need to have adequate testing so that we know where the COVID-19 virus is at any given time and so that we can trace those who come down with new infections in order that we don't have a massive communal spread of COVID-19, which would cause a second wave of misery for our communities and for our Nation. So these questions are being asked of me by people in Maryland: Can we safely reopen our businesses, and how will we go about doing that? Can we send our children to school? How about summer activities for our children? How about reopening places of worship? In each one of these cases, they have to be able to know whether there is an infection in their places of business, in their schools, and in their places of worship. That requires testing. The challenge today is that we do not have a national strategy on testing. The Federal Government and the Trump administration have not acted to set up as to the need. How much testing do we need to have to safely reopen our communities, and how do we develop that capacity? How do we determine priorities? I was pleased to see that, in the bill she recently released, Speaker Pelosi has recognized this and has provided additional Federal support to establish a national strategy on testing and will implement that strategy by having an adequate supply so that what we say we can do in testing, in fact, we can do. Despite the claims of President Trump, the United States does not lead the world in testing. This has been a failure of the Trump administration. America is not ahead of the curve in testing. We have a hard time even justifying being in the middle of the curve. Yet America usually leads and helps to bend that curve so that we can provide the global leadership to help all people, including those in the United States. Instead, under the Trump administration, we have abandoned our international involvement and U.S. leadership, which is not only hurting the global effort, it is hurting the American effort. We need a detailed strategy on testing. We need to know that we have that strategy in place and implement it so that we can reopen safely. We need to have adequate supplies, and we must reverse the attitude that we have seen under the Trump administration that each State is on its own. We need to have a national strategy. Maryland, like many States in the United States, has struggled to procure all of the components that are needed to perform diagnostic COVID-19 tests: nasal swabs, viral transport media, and chemical reagents. A lab must have all components in order to test properly, but due to unreliable supply chains, States do not have all of the needed components at one time. For example, a lab may have 8,000 nasal swabs, 6,000 viral transport media, and 2,000 chemical reagents. The amount of testing that lab can perform is limited to the number of reagents, and it has to run the diagnostic tests. So, as we look to be able to have the capacity to do what we need, we need to make sure that we have all three elements that are necessary for these tests. States' attempts to increase testing have been further hindered because there has been no action from the Federal Government to coordinate the supply chain. This week, President Trump announced that the Federal Government would provide States with 12.9 million swabs and almost 10 million tubes of viral transport media to help States test at least 2 percent of their population. That is a first step, but what about the reagents needed to analyze the patient's viral sample to determine if she is COVID-19 positive? Again, the States will be unable to perform substantial testing without all of the components. The Trump administration must not shirk from its responsibilities and leave the States to fend for themselves. For example, only the executive branch can solve the underlying problems of coordination in the supply chain to help States, businesses, and healthcare providers prepare for and respond to the trajectory of this pandemic. Testing is critical. In order to reopen businesses and schools, it is imperative for States to understand the extent of COVID-19 circulating in their communities. True testing capacity means the ability to test all infected people and any close contacts that they may have. One measure of whether the United States has enough testing capacity is the ratio of tests that come back positive. Roughly 15 percent of U.S. tests are positive for the virus. The World Health Organization has stated that a positive rate below 10 percent reflects adequate testing. If the rate is higher, this means the United States is missing many active infections. For example, in countries such as South Korea that have virtually eliminated their coronavirus outbreak, the test- positive rates are below 2 percent. For the past 7 days, the United States has averaged around 291,000 tests performed each day, for a total of 9.3 million tests performed to date. Many public health experts estimate that the United States would need to double or triple that number of tests performed each day to ensure that the country can effectively test people with symptoms and their close contacts and conduct ongoing surveillance to detect new clusters of infection. The lack of any Federal plan not only mars the Nation's public health response but also hinders any economic recovery. The unemployment rate has surged to a level unseen since the Great Depression, the Labor Department announced last Friday. Only about one-half of American adults have a job, the lowest number of the population employed since measurements began in 1948. Data shows that the economic turmoil is driven not primarily by State and local governments' shelter-in-place policies but by Americans' fears that going outside would result in illness. Weekly surveys of thousands of Americans by the Democracy Fund and UCLA Nationscape project have found that a majority of Americans will not eat in a restaurant, go to the movies, or return to a shopping mall even if they were told they could. Our concern is that the Federal Government must partner with the States to increase this country's testing capacity in order to not only be able to reopen our economy safely but also to have Americans feel safe again. How do we do this? Well, we first need a national strategy on testing so that we can reopen safely. To date, we still do not have that. We need the protocols for testing. Yes, we do test people who have symptoms, but we also have to have enough testing done so that we know where the virus is in our community, because many people do not have symptoms and are infected by COVID-19. We need to have a national supply chain of the supplies necessary to conduct these tests. We need a game plan to get there. Yes, the Defense Production Act was passed by Congress for the purpose of national security. As President Trump said, we are at war. Let's use the Defense Production Act in order to have the domestic production of supplies we need to have adequate testing in our community. If we do all that, then, Americans indeed will feel safe that the plans that are being implemented by our Governors to reopen are backed not only by sound public health recommendations but by the support in our community to keep them safe. I urge my colleagues to do everything we need to make sure America has the testing capacity it needs, so that the American people understand that and we can get beyond COVID-19. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, in honor of Public Service Recognition Week, I rise to express my gratitude and appreciation for the millions of men and women who serve as Federal, State, county, and local government employees across the United States of America. Since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week has brought communities together to give tribute to our Nation's public servants on the first week of May. I am proud to be a co-sponsor of the annual Senate resolution marking this occasion each year, and I thank Senators Sinema and Lankford for their leadership in introducing this year's edition, which the Senate will pass momentarily. We must never take for granted that public servants are committed to serving the public. In a time of unprecedented crisis, with millions working from home and the real risk of falling victim to disease by going into the workplace, public servants work for us. In more ordinary times, with people less concerned but still dependent on essential public goods such as clean water, schools, and a safe community, public servants work for us. The COVID-19 pandemic only makes more apparent what has always been true: we owe so much, from the daily operations of our society to the rapid relief to emergencies, to the men and women who form our public service. Now more than ever, public servants are working on the front lines, often times potentially putting themselves at risk, to continue those daily operations of our society and provide critical rapid relief to this immense national crisis. At the Federal level, they have dutifully taken on the responsibilities charged upon them by Congress through the CARES Act. Thousands of workers at the Department of Treasury and Small Business Administration, making due with insufficient staff and resources, are playing an instrumental role in responding to the economic downturn by distributing billions of dollars in stimulus payments to individuals and loans to small businesses. At the state level, workers of State unemployment insurance agencies now face truly historic demands of their abilities as the unemployment rate approaches levels not seen since the end of the Second World War. Despite the stress, despite the technical challenges, and indeed despite the system infrastructure that makes it exceedingly difficult for applicants to receive benefits in the first place, these workers are doing everything they can to make the system work for people. And at the county and local levels, public servants are striving to ensure compliance with special quarantine orders and offering testing and other emergency services. The United States will undoubtedly overcome this pandemic. But we must recognize that it would not happen without our public servants. We have the example of Nancy Sullivan, resident of Bethesda, Maryland and an employee at the National Institutes of Health, honored this year as a finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals for developing a highly effective medical treatment for the deadly Ebola virus that ravaged Africa between 2014 and 2016. I have no doubt that we today enjoy the service of brave public servants who will contribute similarly in finding a breakthrough for COVID-19. Or for that matter, the innumerable public servants across our Nation, across countless fields and areas of expertise, from senior executives to call center workers, each in their own way working for the public interest of America. Public Service Recognition Week therefore bears a special significance in 2020. It is my hope that amidst the pandemic, we are able to reflect on the absolutely essential role our public servants play, and that this does not go forgotten once we emerge from this crisis. The men and women who make up our public service are fighting for us every day, just as they were before the crisis, and just as they will be afterward. Either we can take their work for granted or, perhaps, we can remember to fight for them, too.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I rise today to highlight the heroes of my home State of Maryland who are working on the frontlines to fight COVID-19. On January 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States. Since then, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States has ballooned to over 1.2 million cases and over 72,000 Americans have died. The CDC has designated the Baltimore-Washington corridor as a hotspot, as cases continue to rise in the region. As of May 6, there have been 28,163 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,290 confirmed deaths in the State of Maryland. These are trying, unprecedented times for all communities in America, and Maryland is no different in this regard. Fred Rogers once said that in times of crisis, times like these, we should ``look for the helpers.'' I would like to take this time to recognize some of the heroes who are helping communities in Maryland. I am very proud of our State's hospitals, distilleries, manufacturers, and biomedical and pharmaceutical companies that have come together to perform their own testing, manufactured personal protective equipment and hand sanitizers, and are at the forefront of developing a vaccine. Maryland is home to some of the world's premier academic medical systems, including the University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins University, which have been critical in preparing our State for the pandemic. I am particularly proud of Johns Hopkins' coronavirus tracking system, which public health officials worldwide have come to rely on for up-to-date, accurate information. I applaud Johns Hopkins officials and staff creating the vital public health tool, which has already proven itself critical to fighting this disease. Lord Kelvin stated so long ago: When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind. In the early days of the pandemic in Maryland, our State officials, like officials in most States, were desperately searching for ways to increase testing capacity. Johns Hopkins developed its own coronavirus test to help meet demand. The university has been especially helpful in Maryland's effort to combat the virus in nursing homes. Johns Hopkins has closely collaborated with local nursing homes to train their employees and test residents to protect our most vulnerable populations. I commend Johns Hopkins' ingenuity, which has been critical to efforts to identify those afflicted with COVID-19 and to prevent the spread of the virus. The University of Maryland Medical System has stepped up to lead efforts to address the devastating impact of COVID-19 in our State's minority communities, which is likely due to the underlying healthcare disparities. The university has assembled a team of public health experts to execute the proposed Maryland Health Equity COVID-19 Consortium. The consortium will be critical to the developing of strategies that inform our State's response efforts to protect our communities of color, who are more susceptible to COVID-19. Despite the immense burden Maryland's small businesses are facing, they have stepped up to help local hospitals, nursing homes, and other frontline workers. Sagamore Spirits Distillery in Baltimore is one such small business. Sagamore has completely converted its operation to distill corn ethanol to produce hand sanitizers. The distillery is sourcing its corn from Maryland farmers. Hardwire, an armor company on the Eastern Shore in Pocomoke City, now produces sustainable face shields that can last up to 6 months. By the end of this week, Hardwire will have shipped out 1 million face shields to healthcare workers, first responders, and others on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19. The demand for Hardwire's face shield is so great that it has hired 115 new employees, providing much needed economic relief to communities on the Eastern Shore. In addition, Maryland's world-leading biomedical and pharmaceutical companies are working tirelessly to find a vaccine for COVID-19. AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical and life sciences company with research and development facilities in Gaithersburg and Frederick, has partnered with the University of Oxford on a potential vaccine that has already entered phase 1 clinical trials. Emergent BioSolutions in Rockville is collaborating with Johnson & Johnson on its lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Emergent BioSolutions will be providing contract development and manufacturing services in Maryland to support Johnson & Johnson's recently announced commitment to supply 1 billion vaccines worldwide. I would be remiss if I did not also thank Maryland's frontline healthcare workers who risk their lives every day to care for those with COVID-19. These physicians, physician assistants, nurses, lab technicians, EMT personnel, and many others go to work day after day facing the unimaginable strain of caring for patients who are fighting this deadly virus and comforting their families. These examples are by no means exhaustive. There are countless other healthcare providers, law enforcement agencies, nonprofits, small businesses, higher education institutions, and individual Marylanders pitching in to defeat COVID-19. Marylanders are stocking grocery shelves, driving buses, delivering groceries to elderly neighbors, hosting virtual events to keep families and young children entertained as they continue to practice social distancing, and they are making homemade face coverings for those who need them. I have seen my neighbors come together to make lunch packs for families in need. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, ``Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.'' The COVID-19 pandemic is not testing our character; it is revealing it. I am so proud to represent all the great Marylanders who are serving on the frontlines, and I will continue working as hard as I can to ensure that we in Congress are doing everything we can to support them as they lead the fight against COVID-19 I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, today I rise to commemorate World Press Freedom Day, which was this past Sunday, and to celebrate the brave journalists all over the world who safeguard the values of truth, democracy, transparency, and justice through their work. Every year, we set aside this day to reaffirm our commitment to the free press. This year, however, is a little bit different. This year, we are in the midst of a brutal global public health crisis. One of the reasons that the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked so much havoc--taking hundreds of thousands of lives and devastating the economy--is that people with power have propagated misinformation about the virus. In the words of the World Health Organization, we are witnessing an ``info-demic.'' Now, more than ever, it is vital that the public receives the truth, and that means protecting the free press. We are relying on the press to bring us crucial, often life-saving, information about testing sites, shelter-in-place orders, school closures, government aid, and how to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. That is why many States, Maryland among them, have designated local news outlets as ``essential businesses'' that are allowed to keep operating despite social distancing policies. In a noble effort to keep the public informed, many local media outlets have removed their paywalls for COVID-19-related news, forfeiting desperately needed revenue. Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to place immense economic pressure on local news outlets and jeopardize their ability to function at all. Dozens of local publications have had to furlough reporters, reduce their publication frequency, or drop their print editions completely. This financial nightmare comes on the heels of more than a decade of hardship for local news. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is not the only threat facing journalists today. All around the globe, reporters face harassment and persecution for their attempts to spread the truth and hold leaders accountable. Reporters Without Borders has determined that at least 229 journalists worldwide currently are imprisoned for their work. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 25 journalists were killed around the world in 2019, and at least six journalists and media professionals have been killed in the first 4 months of 2020 alone. Corrupt and powerful governments and individuals understand that free expression is a mighty tool against injustice, so they go to horrible lengths to stifle it. One courageous reporter who was murdered for pursuing the truth was Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi. The Central Intelligence Agency concluded with high confidence and the Senate unanimously approved a resolution stating that Saudi Government officials executed and dismembered Mr. Khashoggi in 2018 at the behest of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman. To this day, however, justice for this crime remains elusive. The Global Magnitsky Act, which I authored with the late Senator John McCain to combat human rights violations like this one, requires the U.S. administration to declassify its findings regarding who was responsible for Mr. Khashoggi's death and to impose additional sanctions on the culpable parties. President Trump has refused to do so. This failure to stand up for an American journalist an authoritarian regime silenced is just one example of how the Trump administration has turned its back on the freedom of the press. The President and his supporters have continuously tried to demonize and delegitimize news outlets whose reporting upsets them, to the point of labeling the media an ``enemy of the American people.'' As the illustrious journalist Edward R. Murrow so famously noted 66 years ago in responding to then- Senator Joe McCarthy's vile smear tactics and intimidation: We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men--not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. When the leader of the United States, a country devoted to principles of liberty and democracy, flouts the truth in this way, it reverberates all across the world to the detriment of free expression everywhere. Between 2016 and 2019, the number of journalists imprisoned on spurious charges of disseminating so-called fake news more than tripled globally. We Americans feel the impact of this vilification of the press much closer to home, too. I will never forget learning about the fatal shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, MD, almost 2 years ago. In the most deadly newsroom shooting in American history, a man who was angry that the newspaper accurately and merely reported his guilty plea in a criminal harassment case stormed into the Gazette office with a gun and killed five people. Those individuals--Gerald Fishman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith, and Wendi Winters--died defending one of the most sacred institutions in our country. They died protecting every American's right to know the truth. But they and hundreds of other journalists worldwide should not have to die in the line of duty. For the sake of our democracy and global human rights, we must do everything we can to eliminate the violence and repression news media face. The United States can help lead this effort by loudly voicing our support for the free press as a key component of an informed civil society and a government accountable to its people. That is why I am proud to cosponsor Senator Menendez's resolution in honor of World Press Freedom Day declaring the need for a truly free press and condemning threats to the freedom of expression around the world. The resolution applauds the bravery of journalists and media workers and remembers those who have lost their lives in the course of their duties. We can also demonstrate our commitment to a free press by remembering those journalists and media professionals who have lost their lives in the course of their duties. To that end, Senator Portman and I have introduced a bill, S. 1969, to authorize a national memorial to fallen journalists. The National Capital Region has numerous monuments and memorials to honor those individuals who have helped make our country stronger since its founding days. Currently missing from that honor roll is a memorial to reporters and other journalists, such as those at the Capital Gazette, who have sacrificed everything to protect the free, open, and transparent society that all people deserve. My hope is that Congress will pass the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act soon. Once we establish this memorial, we will have a visible reminder to pay tribute to these heroes not just once a year, but every day.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, while the Senate was out of session, the American people celebrated the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge that historic anniversary. We first celebrated Earth Day in 1970 when then-Senator Gaylord Nelson brought more than 20 million Americans together to mobilize in defense of our planet. In the half-century since, our Nation has benefitted from a passionate environmental movement that has pushed lawmakers, businesses, and communities to foster a healthier Earth. While this movement has yielded significant progress, we nonetheless must do more to address the gravest threat to our environment: climate change. I recognize that, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it might be difficult to wrap our heads around a second crisis, but we have an important opportunity here to learn from one global emergency about how to navigate another. The first lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic: We must listen to experts. Public health experts have long forecast the risk of a viral pandemic. Still, our leaders failed to prepare for COVID-19 and even denied the magnitude of the threat we faced when it was at our doorstep. The novel coronavirus has now claimed over 72,000 lives in the United States, a death toll higher than any other country. We are witnessing a parallel problem with climate change. For decades, experts have warned that human-caused climate change is heating the Earth. Ninety-seven percent of the world's scientists agree on this. Scientists are no longer just predicting the future implications of this crisis; they are pointing out the very real consequences of climate change that have already arrived. These include the rise in extreme weather events like floods, hurricanes, and wildfires that we have experienced across the United States in recent years. In Maryland, we have seen communities like Ellicott City devastated by flash flooding from increased rainfall. Our State's many miles of low-lying coast make us particularly vulnerable to high tide flooding and storm surge. The longer we wait to address climate change, the more natural disasters we will face. Nevertheless, many of our Nation's leaders continue to ignore and deny the science of climate change. President Trump has nominated several individuals to oversee environmental regulations, despite their alarming lack of expertise. Federal agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture have suppressed climate science while carrying out crucial environmental research. And the Trump administration has advanced a policy agenda that unravels critical environmental protections. Right now, we need to be doing everything possible to protect our planet, not make it more vulnerable. Experts tell us that we have a short and critical window for action before the climate crisis becomes far more dire. According to the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have 10 years to reduce global carbon emissions by 45 percent, or the Earth's ecosystems will likely begin to collapse. That will mean even greater sea-level rise, more high tide flooding, more devastating hurricanes, more and faster-spreading wildfires, and more global infectious diseases. It is vital that we listen to experts and take steps to curb the development of climate change before it is too late. The second lesson: We must work with the international community to tackle this crisis. Much of President Trump's foreign policy seems to rest on the assumption that the United States can become stronger through isolation. But the spread of COVID-19 makes it painfully clear that we are part of a global community and that there are certain threats that we will either overcome together or succumb to together. Climate change is one such threat. The United States is the second- largest emitter of greenhouse gas. Our failure to improve our environmental practices will have enormous impact on the rest of the world. Likewise, America's long-term security depends on other countries' efforts to protect the environment. For example, as climate change continues, the number and severity of natural disasters in the United States will increase, which will take a substantial toll on our economy. A report that I requested from the Government Accountability Office shows that the 14 climate disasters in 2018 cost the U.S. at least $91 billion in damage. And today, taxpayer spending on Federal disaster relief in the U.S. is almost ten times what it was three decades ago. We need help from our friends around the world in order to avoid these repercussions of climate change. And if we ask for help, we had better be prepared to do our part, too. It is, therefore, extremely disappointing that President Trump is finalizing the withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement, which we joined alongside more than 190 other countries in 2016. Parties to the agreement committed to lowering carbon emissions with investment in clean and renewable energy sources, placing them at the forefront of the fight against climate change. Our Nation's retreat from this agreement undermines our global credibility and leadership and threatens devastating environmental consequences. I led the U.S. congressional delegation to the conference where the parties originally adopted the Paris Agreement; therefore, I could not stand by and watch that important work be undone. So I introduced a bipartisan resolution expressing support for the agreement and calling on the U.S. to continue working with the global community to address the causes and effects of climate change. It will be up to leaders at the local, State, and national level to ensure that the United States pulls our weight in this worldwide effort. The third lesson: Meaningful progress is within reach if Americans commit to urgent and bold action. Though it pains me to see the suffering that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing, I have been proud to watch communities across the country make the adjustments required to slow the spread of the virus and keep each other safe. People are staying home, teleworking, helping their kids learn remotely, and isolating from friends and family. Health workers, first responders, and other essential employees are inspiring us with their bravery and dedication. And in Congress, we are working in a bipartisan fashion to pass major legislation that will help us weather this storm. The resilience of the American people in the face of this public health emergency gives me faith that we can similarly pull together to combat climate change if we recognize it for the life-threatening emergency that it is. After all, the World Health Organization predicts that climate change will kill an additional 241,000 people per year by 2030, and the World Bank estimates that, by 2050, it will force more than 140 million people out of their homes. The good news is that, unlike with COVID-19, the adaptations that will help us tackle climate change will also create jobs and stimulate our economy. The U.S. clean energy economy employs more than 3.3 million workers, a number that has been on the rise for the last 5 years. Furthermore, producing renewable energy is cheaper in the long run than continuing to rely on coal. By 2025, almost every existing coal plant in the country will cost more to operate than building replacement wind and solar plants nearby. And crucially, energy efficient infrastructure will strengthen communities by lowering the cost of utilities, improving residents' health, and increasing economic development. For my part, I will keep working as a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to advocate for laws that protect Americans by protecting our planet. This Congress, I was able to get the first ever climate title included in the surface transportation reauthorization bill in order to reduce vehicular emissions, the single largest source of U.S. carbon pollution. I have also cosponsored bills that will lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and increase the development of renewable energy technologies by supporting the wind and solar industries. As always, I will continue to defend the vital wetlands and marshes of the Chesapeake Bay. As climate change causes severe weather patterns to increase, these ecosystems will act as pollution filters and buffers from storm surge and flooding, minimizing the damage to Marylanders' homes and businesses. The Chesapeake Bay restoration program is a model for the local, State, and Federal cooperation that we need to reach our environmental goals. I am confident that we can address the climate crisis as a whole in an equally collaborative manner. Now is the time for an ``all hands on deck'' approach. Just as we have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans must urgently work together, on Earth Day and every day, to slow the causes and consequences of climate change. If we do things right, then perhaps on the 100th anniversary of Earth Day, someone will be standing here, thanking her predecessors for protecting the Earth and looking forward to many more golden anniversaries on our beautiful home planet.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I take this time to go over with my colleagues the status of where we are in regard to the provisions in the CARES Act that relate to small businesses. First, I want to make it clear that our top priority for America's businesses, whether they be small businesses or large businesses, is to get this COVID-19 behind us, to stop the spread of this deadly disease, and to give confidence back to the American people that it is safe to pursue their economic desires and therefore to have businesses be able to go back to a situation where they have customers and they can be open for business. We have appropriated significant resources in order to make sure we do what is right financially to deal with this deadly disease, and we have provided the tools to protect our economy. Let me talk a little bit about the attention to small business. I am pleased and proud to be the ranking Democrat on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. I serve with Senator Rubio, who is the chairman of the committee. We have worked together, Democrats and Republicans, in order to help small businesses during this pandemic. We did that because we understand that small businesses do not have the same degree of financial resiliency that larger companies have. When they are going through an emergency situation, when they are going through a pandemic, they don't have the same capacity to get credit and to get the cash they need that larger companies have. We also understand that small business is where the job creation mostly will take place in our country. Most jobs are created through smaller companies. We also understand that smaller companies are more innovative. They come up with new and creative ways in order to build our economy. But we recognized that we had to do something to make sure they could survive through the pandemic, and that is where the CARES Act came in. On a bipartisan basis, we crafted new tools under the Small Business Administration to help small businesses. I was proud to work with Senator Rubio, Senator Shaheen, and Senator Collins. The four of us got together well before the CARES Act was brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate in order to deal with what is necessary to keep small businesses afloat during the pandemic. New tools were created, and the CARES Act enacted tools that can help small businesses survive this pandemic. The program that is getting the most attention is the Paycheck Protection Program, the PPP program. In the original CARES Act, we authorized and appropriated $349 billion for that program, and then we replenished in a second round an additional $310 billion, for a total of $659 billion for the PPP program. It is a program in which small businesses go to their financial institution and take out a 7(a) loan, which is a loan that is provided for under the Small Business Act, but there are private lenders that lend the money to the small businesses. But we made special provisions in this law to provide 100 percent Federal guarantee so that there is no risk to the borrower. We made it easier for companies to be able to get those 7(a) loans and provided additional lenders for other communities. We expanded the 7(a) program to include not only conventional, for-profit small businesses but also nonprofit businesses, as well as individual proprietors. To date, the program has been very successful. Over 4 million 7(a) loans have been made under the Paycheck Protection Program. But we have concerns. Let me talk a little bit about the concerns we have. One of our concerns is that it has been difficult for the underserved community, the underbanked community, to be able to get these 7(a) loans as a priority. We failed them in the first round. It was the larger companies that had established relationships with their banks that got priority on the processing of these loans, so that minority businesses, women-owned businesses, businesses located in rural communities, and veteran-owned businesses did not receive the same attention as the larger businesses did. So our first priority is to find out exactly how the program is working. We need to get the data. We need to know where these loans were made. We need to know what industries got the different loans. We need to know the location of these loans. We need to know the size by dollar value and by number of employees. We also need to know how the different provisions of the PPP program have been allocated by loans. For example, we made exceptions on the 500-employee limit for those companies that come under the NAICS code 72--this is our hospitality industry--and for good reason: They are really hurting during this time. We need to know how many hotels and how many restaurants qualified under the NAICS code exception. We need to know how many franchisees have been able to get loans. We need to know how much went to the nonprofit community and how much went to the self-employed community. For that reason, I have introduced legislation with Senator Shaheen and Senator Schumer to require the SBA to make that information available to us on a very regular basis. We need to get that information in order to properly carry out our oversight function. Today, the Small Business Committee in the Senate had a briefing with Secretary Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza, and we talked about one of the problems we have in administering this law. There is a self- certification; that is, the business makes the certification that they meet the standards and need under the act. We are concerned that there may have been abuses. But until we see the information, it is difficult for us to do our respective oversight. We don't know if we still have adequate funding. To date, there has been somewhere around--over $500 billion, closer to $600 billion has already been lent out; $550-some billion has already been lent out under this program. Are we going to need more money? Until we get this information, we don't know what the future funding needs are going to be. So we need to be able to get that information so we can provide adequate resources. I must tell you that I think every Member of the Senate has been approached with ways this program can be made better. There are questions as to why certain groups are eligible and others are not. There is going to be a need for modification in this program, and it will be difficult for us to make those modifications unless we get the data we need to understand where the loans have been made. There is a second program that was created under the CARES Act and expanded under the CARES Act, and that is the EIDL Program, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, and we added a grant program to that. The initial CARES Act provided $10 billion. When we went through the second round of funding, we put another $60 billion into this program. Why did we do that? Because the loan program under EIDL, which is an emergency program for businesses that have suffered disasters, and COVID-19 qualifies as that, gives relief beyond just the 8 weeks of payroll and the other expenses covered under the PPP program. So small businesses need help with working capital. They can get that help under the EIDL Loan Program. A small business might need an immediate influx of cash. They can get that under the grant program under EIDL, up to $10,000. Yes, when the programs were announced, they were overprescribed. We had over 1 million small businesses make immediate applications for these funds, and the Small Business Administration was overwhelmed. That is why we provided, in addition to the original $10 billion for the grant program, another $10 billion. And in addition to the loaning capacity, we put another $50 billion into that program so they could execute $300 billion worth of loans. But it has been very slow at the SBA, which is a concern of ours. Only about 50,000 loans have been successfully processed under EIDL. We just got that information today. Yes, there have been over 1 million grants given out. Most of them have been under $10,000, whereas the maximum we thought most small businesses would get is a $10,000 grant. There needs to be better coordination between the PPP program and the EIDL Program, and we must make sure that the window remains open. But, today, a non-agricultural business that applies for an EIDL loan is told that they can't process that loan, that the window is basically closed. That is not the intent of Congress. We want to make sure those windows are open. So I come here today to tell you that the first priority is that we need to get the facts, and we need to fix the program to make sure it works well. But I want to qualify that by saying how proud we are of the men and women at the SBA and Treasury. They are implementing this new program literally overnight and working 24 hours a day in order to make sure this program can work. We recognize that, and we recognize this is a major challenge, but we need to make sure the program works right. We need oversight and accountability, and we can't do that oversight and accountability unless we get all of the facts and unless we get the information. Those who abuse the program need to be held accountable. I was pleased to hear Secretary Mnuchin talk about that today in the briefing to our committee. We have to have oversight as to the program working efficiently. We also have to make sure that we take care of the problems that we have seen in the program with the underserved community. We can do a better job in reaching those businesses that are traditionally underserved. We specifically allocated $60 billion of PPP to smaller financial institutions. We now need to make sure they really get to the institutions that can serve minority small businesses, that can serve those smaller of the small businesses, that can serve women-owned businesses and veteran-owned businesses and businesses located in rural communities. I would suggest that we need to make sure that the CDFIs and minority depository institutions get their fair share of allocations under the PPP program in order to reach these hard-to-serve small businesses. Yes, we do need to look at how we can modify the program to make it work even better. We recognize that when we crafted the program, we thought that 8 weeks would be enough. We now know that our economy in most of the country is not going to be up and running within that 8- week period. How do we improve that program? I want to tell you that we all recognize that the Paycheck Protection Program may not be enough. Even in conjunction with the EIDL program, it may not be enough because businesses are not returning to normal within the next few weeks. We need to design a program that provides the next level of relief to those small businesses that really need it, those that have had significant revenue losses, those small businesses that are really small businesses, like the mom-and-pop-type businesses, and, yes, those small businesses that have traditionally been left out--the minority-owned businesses, and women-owned businesses, and businesses in smaller, rural communities, and veteran-owned businesses. The success of the PPP program and the success of the EIDL program were because Democrats and Republicans worked together in a strong bipartisan manner. We are continuing to do that in the Small Business Committee. I applaud our leader, Senator Rubio, for reaching out to work together between Democrats and Republicans. We need to continue to work together and enact the type of oversight that is necessary for the programs that are currently existing and make the modifications so these programs can work effectively and well. We heard today about the inflexibility of the 8-week period and how we need to deal with that. We need to work together to improve the program and to make sure that the next level of help for small businesses is targeted to those small businesses that really need the help so that we can continue to have an economy that can grow, that can create jobs, that can be innovative, and that protects the ability of small business owners to be able to participate in our economy. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, let me thank Leader Schumer for initiating this discussion. I am very pleased Senator Shaheen is also on the floor. The two of us worked on the Democratic side, with Senator Rubio and Senator Collins on the Republican side. We are very proud of the tools we made available to small business. These are important tools to keep small businesses alive during COVID-19. The Paycheck Protection Program got money out quickly and helped small businesses stay afloat. We have provided $660 billion under the Paycheck Protection Program. The economic disaster loan program, the loan and grant program--we have now provided $70 billion for that program. But here is the issue. We had to adjust both of those programs without even knowing all the specifics on how the first amount of money was distributed. We are hearing that we are going to be running out of money again soon and that Congress is going to be asked to make additional changes in these programs, and we still don't know the specifics on how this money was distributed. We are all frustrated here. I really appreciate the leadership. I know my chairman is on the floor. He has been demanding this information and has been unable to get it. We are going to be asked to act again without having the specific information. Senator Schumer is absolutely right. We know in the first round that those who had preferred relationships with banking institutions got priority. That we know. But we don't know how much. We don't know how many loans the big banks have issued and what size they have issued, what their compensation has been, and how those loan decisions were made. We need to know that because we are relying on the private banking institutions to make the 7(a) loans in all communities. We expanded this program to nonprofits. That was a good thing. But we don't know how many of the nonprofits have received help under this program--the specific dollar amounts, the specific loans, the specific locations. Here is the challenge. I got a call yesterday where they wanted to expand eligibility under this program. We know there are some difficulties in the programs themselves that need attention. There is now a desire to expand eligibility. They are also being asked what comes next. Restaurants are still ordered to be closed in my State. They are going to need additional help. How do we go about crafting what we need to do if we don't know what has been done already? We have been asking for this information over and over again. We haven't been able to get it. It is our responsibility to oversight these programs. Now I am quoting from my chairman. He said--and I agree with him--it is our responsibility to oversight. But if we don't have the information, how can we oversight? I am concerned about underbanked and underserved communities getting their fair share of this help, and yet we don't have the specifics on the number of minority small businesses, the number of women-owned small businesses, the number of veteran-owned small businesses. We don't know about rural small businesses and how well they have done. We need to have that information in order to make the next judgments in this Congress. And yes, we do need transparency because we have even heard from this administration that there may very well have been small businesses that didn't qualify for this loan that have gotten help or had their own ability to handle this crisis but yet still asked the government for these funds or may have violated the size standards that are in this legislation. We need to have that transparency for oversight. It is our responsibility. That is why we do need to act as a Senate. The legislation that we are going to bring forward is very common sense. It just tells the Small Business Administration to make available the information on the PPP loans, on the EIDL loans and grants, so that we can analyze this, know how these loans have been made and make the proper oversight and adjustment that we may need to make in these programs in order to make sure small businesses get through COVID-19. I urge my colleagues, let's get this done and continue to work in a bipartisan way to make sure small businesses in this country are protected. I see Senator Shaheen is on the floor. I will yield the floor so Senator Shaheen can be recognized

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I am pleased that we are ready to act and we will be able to pass legislation in a few moments that will help deal with this pandemic. Like my colleagues, I have been in teleconferences with different groups in Maryland, and I have seen the pain caused by the coronavirus. In Maryland, we are losing around 30 citizens every day to the coronavirus. Over the last week, our Nation has lost over 15,000 to the coronavirus. This pandemic is with us in a very serious way, and we need to respond. I am pleased that, this afternoon, we will be providing additional resources to our healthcare providers, particularly those that are on the frontlines, in dealing with the coronavirus and that we will be passing legislation to establish a national strategy on testing, working with our States to make sure all communities have adequate testing so that, when we reopen our society, we can do so in a safe manner. I am also pleased that we are acting on the small business provisions. The programs that we passed in the CARES Act that provide help to small businesses was very popular and was oversubscribed. I am particularly pleased that we are able to pass today provisions that are greatly improved from when I was last on the floor a little over 1 week ago when the majority leader made the unanimous consent request that would have included only additional money for the Paycheck Protection Program,--$250 billion--and would not have dealt with the healthcare issues or the challenges that I expressed on the floor at that time in regards to the small business provisions. The reason that we now have a bill that we can be very proud of is because this has been negotiated with all Members of the Senate being involved through a bipartisan process, rather than just being brought to the floor by the majority. We saw that happen on the CARES Act originally. The original bill that was brought to the floor by the majority leader that he attempted to pass did not include major help for our State and local governments, did not include major help for our healthcare institutions, did not provide funds for many of our programs that are critically important to our local communities. We were able to improve that program because we worked together. Democrats and Republicans have produced a bill that we can be proud of. As I said when I was last on the floor in regards to the small business provisions, we have a bipartisan process. Senator Rubio and I have been working closely together to develop the tools for small businesses. Yes, I do acknowledge the work with Senator Collins and Senator Shaheen because we have come together to try to put together a package that could work. What I had mentioned on the floor when the last UC was made was that there were problems with the original request made by the majority leader, and I pointed that out. Underserved communities have not been able to get in, in the same number as those larger small businesses who have relations with banking institutions. I pointed that out to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the Small Business Administrator on April 7 by a letter I authored along with Senator Schumer and the Democratic members of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. We pointed this out 2 days before we had the original UC request. Quoting from that letter to the Secretary and the Administrator: We believe that more can be done to reach out to and authorize those lenders, such as Community Development Financial Institutions, Minority Depository Institutions, and mission-based non-profit lenders, which are best positioned to bridge the trust gap between many underserved communities and the traditional financial sector. For example, a survey conducted by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity found that more than half of Black respondents indicated they felt unfairly treated by financial institutions, compared to only 26 [percent] of White respondents. We knew we had to do something to bridge that gap. When the request was made 10 days ago, it did not include any help for these minority businesses or the rural areas or women-owned businesses that have been shut out in great numbers to the first requests under the Paycheck Protection Program. What this bill that we now have on the floor does corrects that. It corrects that by providing $60 billion, in addition to the $250 billion. We are now up to $310 billion more going into the Paycheck Protection Program; but $60 billion is dedicated to dealing with minority communities, rural communities, and women-owned businesses by having more funds going out to the community banking institutions and minority banking institutions and mission-based nonprofit lenders so that we can get more of the funds into the hands of those small businesses that are in desperate need: the smaller small businesses. I have numerous examples. I will just use one, if I might, from a business in Maryland, e-End Frederick, that writes to us and says that thanks to this program--this employer has 20 employees. This is a small business, 20 employees. What he says basically is: I was looking to how I could transition my employees to unemployment because I couldn't afford to continue to keep them on payroll, but now, thanks to the Paycheck Protection Program, I am able to keep my employees on the payroll. He says, ``That's the best thing about the PPP.'' I couldn't agree more. That is what we are trying to do. It is paycheck protection--keep workers employed so small businesses don't have to go back out when this virus is over and try to find a workforce in order to be competitive. They can keep their workforce in place and, by the way, keeping the pressure off our unemployment compensation system. We were able, through the change we were able to make--and I applaud Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi for sticking to the principle that all small businesses needed to be included, and as a result, this package now includes these allocations that will get to our minority and underserved communities. There is a second issue I raised on the floor 10 days ago, and that is the Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the EIDL loans. It ran out of money before the PPP program ran out of money. It was not part of the unanimous consent request by the majority leader, as well as the grant program that was created under CARES. Smaller small businesses use these disaster loans. Why? Because it gives them working capital so they can stay in business. PPP covers payroll, but they need more than payroll. These are longer-term loans with no payments during the first year so that businesses can stay afloat after a disaster, and we qualify the coronavirus as one of those disasters. This is a critically important program in our State and in our Nation. We added to it by providing a grant program up to $10,000 in grants, not loans, to small businesses. In my State of Maryland, we had 12,000 small businesses that applied for that grant. We had 26,000 apply for the PPP. I am just pointing out how popular this program is. The grant program is $10 billion. The PPP program is $349 billion. It ran out of money before the PPP grant program. We need to put more money in that grant program. The unanimous consent agreement didn't do that. Thanks to the negotiations of Senator Schumer and the Democrats, we were able to get $50 billion put into the EIDL, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, which will be able to leverage about $300 billion of additional loans under that program that will help the smaller of the small businesses. We were able to get $10 billion put into the EIDL grant program so that they can open, once again, applications from small businesses that want to get the cash grant from the Small Business Administration. These loans and grants are made by SBA, not by financial institutions, so all small businesses have access. I did some rough calculations, and if my math is correct, in Maryland, the average size of the business that qualified for the EIDL grant was between four and five employees. These are really the smallest of small businesses, and that is the group I hope we would want to help. The original UC did not have that. We now have funds in it. This package is much better to reach those small businesses that desperately need help. I brought this to the attention of Secretary Mnuchin shortly after our conversations on the floor last time, and I want to thank Secretary Mnuchin. When I explained to him the EIDL program and I explained to him how these programs work for smaller small businesses, he showed interest, and I am glad that we were able to negotiate with him the additional $60 billion going into those programs. It is a better package thanks to the bipartisan process. I do want to mention one additional issue that we need to deal with, and that is accountability. We need to get information on how these programs are working, and I would hope we would get bipartisan support for that. On April 17, I authored a letter with Senators Schumer, Wyden, and Shaheen to Secretary Mnuchin and Administrator Carranza in which we asked for the PPP to give us the numbers and amount of loans disbursed to small businesses, including a breakout of loans by State, demographics, industry, and loan size; the number and amount of loans disbursed to businesses under the NAICS 72 exception--that is the one for restaurants and the hospitality field; including a breakout of loans by State, demographics, and loan size. Give us a number of loans provided to nonprofits--nonprofits were for the first time eligible for these 7(a) loans--and religious institutions, including a breakout of the loans by State, industry, and loan size; and the number of loans disbursed by lending institutions, so we could find out what the concentration is of these loans. We asked for similar information in regards to the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program, the numbers, et cetera, giving us that information, including those who received the grants. Lastly, we ask for information about the loan forgiveness program because there is another program under the CARES Act that allows for a 6-month forgiveness of repayment of existing 7(a) or 504 loans, and we need information on that in order to carry out our responsibility of accountability. We have a responsibility to make sure the money is getting to the right places. I had a communication with Senator Rubio this week in which we both agreed that we are concerned that we might be seeing some large chains getting more money than we think we intended under the act. We intended there would be a $10 million cap; yet we see reports where certain businesses were able to find a way to get more than $10 million. We also had self-certification that there is need. You have to show that you were damaged by the coronavirus. We think we should examine whether there was any false certification. The first thing we want to do on the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee on a bipartisan basis is do our oversight to make sure that, if there is abuse, that we put a spotlight on it and correct it to make sure that the moneys go to the small businesses that we intended to receive help. We need now to work on the next stimulus package. I was glad to hear the President talk about this. Senator Schumer talked about it. Yes, our first priority should be the health and welfare of the American people in dealing with the coronavirus itself, and we need to do more. We clearly need to do more with State and local governments. That is going to be a critical part of the next package. But we also need to look at improvements in the small business package. We know that, through this 8-week period for repayment, many of us have heard that they need additional flexibility. After all, how do they predict when they can reopen if government has told them they have to stay closed? We need to give some degree of flexibility in the 8-week period. We have different small businesses that want us to consider their eligibility. What happens after 8 weeks? If we are still seeing our economy not up to full speed, we need to talk about how we transition after 8 weeks to make sure these small businesses can succeed. The lessons learned on the CARES Act, the lesson learned on this legislation we are taking up this afternoon is, when we work together, when we negotiate together, when we do a bipartisan package which the American people expect us to do during this national emergency, we get a better product, and we can do it quicker. I urge us all, as we move on to the fourth stimulus package, let's start from the beginning in a bipartisan way so that we can get the very best product for the American people and deal with this national crisis. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Reserving the right to object.

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, let me just clarify some of the issues the majority leader pointed out. I am afraid that this unanimous consent is basically a political stunt because it will not address the immediate need of small businesses in the legislation that we have passed, and let me clarify that. The majority leader indicated that the PPP, the Paycheck Protection Plan, is running out of money. It hasn't. Thirty percent hasn't been committed. It hasn't been yet released. But there are programs under the CARES Act that have run out of money. The EIDL program, the emergency disaster relief loan program which provides funds for businesses--we have allowed businesses that have been affected by the coronavirus to file those claims--that has run out of money, and I will give you the numbers in a few moments. And the grant program that is included in the CARES at up to $10,000, where a small business can get a grant from the Small Business Administration, is out of funds. They need money today in order to process applications. The SBA doesn't need money today to process the Paycheck Protection Program. The Paycheck Protection Program was negotiated in good faith by Senator Rubio, Senator Collins, Senator Shaheen, and myself, and we are very proud of that program. It is working very well. It is a good program. We strongly support it. It is bipartisan. But this unanimous consent request was not negotiated. There was no effort made to follow the process that we could get this done, so it won't get done. It is not going to be enacted, and the majority leader knows that. So what Democrats are prepared to make clear--every small business that is eligible to receive the Paycheck Protection Plan, we are going to support their applications being received, processed, and fully funded. We will put as much money as needed to make sure that every small business can participate that is eligible in that program. The UC does not affect that today, but what the UC leaves out is where small businesses need help today from the U.S. Congress. Yesterday, we had an opportunity to find out the numbers--and as the majority leader pointed out, we have got to get this right. There are 6.6 million more uninsured today, as we learned from the current numbers. We have to protect small businesses to protect their payroll, and that is what our plans do. Yesterday, we were informed by the SBA, as the majority leader indicated, that we have about $100 billion that has been processed. Now, that has not been distributed yesterday. It hasn't been distributed in large numbers because of documentation problems and know your customer rules have prevented some of these funds--a lot of these funds, the majority of these funds--to be released. Today, applications are being processed. Tomorrow, applications are going to be processed. The day after that, applications are going to be processed because we provided $350 billion. At this moment, we are at about $100 billion. We are going to have to probably provide more money, and we are all for that. But where is the urgency, as far as the small businesses are concerned? So let me go over those. One, the emergency grant program-- this is a program where grants are offered by the Small Business Administration. You don't have to have a banking relationship with a commercial bank in order to get these loans. It is very, very popular-- 3.8 million requests have come in, in regards to these loans--3.8 million, representing $372 billion of loans. But here is the problem: We have only authorized $7.3 billion of loans under the program. That is why we are suggesting, if you add another $50 billion--you can authorize another $300 billion of loans under the emergency disaster relief program. Today, if you have requested that loan today and you requested the average amount that is being requested--and you have to show need in this program--you have got to document the need that the disaster has affected your viability as a business. The average loan is $200,000. That is what they are requesting. Guess how much money the SBA can issue today? It is $15,000. That is an urgent need that we should deal with today, and we are prepared to deal with it. There is a second program for small--by the way, smaller businesses participate in these programs more so than the PPP program. There is a second program. It is a grant program up to $10,000. Our working bipartisan group recognized that there are some businesses that are in desperate need of cash immediately. These loans are processed within 3 days. We have had--so far requests for the grant program, 3.5 million small businesses have requested funds, totaling a request for $11 billion on a sliding scale. It doesn't even give every small business $10,000. How much money did we appropriate? $10 billion. SBA cannot release those funds in 3 days because they don't have the money to do it. The UC by the majority leader does not provide that money so that those small businesses can get that cash. That is not provided. Now, we got that information yesterday, and maybe the majority leader didn't have it, but we can tell you they can't issue those grants, and that is under the CARES Act, and that is out of money. I am also going to tell you some stories we have heard in Maryland, and we have heard it all over the country. I have heard from small businesses that went to their bank in order to participate in the PPP loan, and they were told that they didn't have a credit card, so the bank wasn't going to write the loan, or they hadn't had a previous loan with that bank, so the bank is not going to write the loan. We have heard from some community banks that they can only handle existing customers; they can't do additional customers at this point. We have heard from rural small businesses; they can't find lenders who will write these notes. We have to do a better job. What did we find out yesterday? Of the total 7(a) lenders that are out there today, about 90 percent were certified before the CARES Act. We have only increased their numbers by about 10 percent. That is not enough. We can't reach these underserved communities. We have to do a better job in reaching these underserved communities so that a small business that doesn't have that type of relationship with a bank can still participate in the Paycheck Protection Plan. This UC does nothing at all about that issue--nothing at all about that. The urgent issues are not dealt with in this UC. That is why the process of negotiating--allowing us to come together and figure out what is the best way to move forward--will result in us actually getting something done to help the small business community. There are other urgent needs. My colleague, Senator Van Hollen, is going to talk about some of these. The healthcare issues, my colleague and I have participated in numerous conference calls over the last 2 weeks. I am sure my other colleagues have done the same. We have heard from our healthcare providers, that they are ready to close the doors. They need immediate help and a lot more than the $100 billion that has been provided. We talked to our Governor yesterday. He is the head of the National Governors Association. They requested $500 billion. They need money. Their revenues are down. We know we didn't do right for the District of Columbia. We know we didn't do right for smaller communities. We need to correct that now because they can't stay in business today. It is urgent, and the UC does nothing to help in that regard. So, Mr. President, if I could, I would like to allow my colleague from Maryland, whom I believe has a reservation also, and then he has a UC request of his own.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. I object.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, the people in this Nation are hurting. We know that. They are very concerned about their own health. They are worried that they may be carrying the virus and may take it home to their elderly parent, who could come down with the virus. They are worried about how long this social distancing and commuting from home and staying at home are going to be required in order to control the spread of the virus. They are worried about their economic circumstances, whether they are going to get a paycheck. I am pleased that, today, we have an agreement with our leaders to move forward on the third stimulus package to deal with this crisis of COVID-19. I, first, want to express my appreciation to our leadership. I have been in daily, almost hourly communication with Senator Schumer, and I know how hard he has worked to make sure that this package really deals with the medical emergency we have and deals with the workers, to make sure they are protected and they are protected in whatever we do; that it provides the help for State and local governments; that it provides the much needed attention to these particular issues; and that we have accountability for any of the monies that are going particularly to our largest companies in this country. So I want to express my appreciation. I am very pleased that our first priority--our very first priority--is to deal with the public health challenge. This is including what is happening in my State of Maryland and what is happening in every State in our Nation. I am pleased that in our State it is ``Team Maryland.'' Our congressional delegation is working very closely with Governor Hogan and his cabinet, and we are working closely with our county executives and our mayors and our private sector to do everything we can to protect the public health of the people of our State. We have done what we can locally to make sure that testing is available so we understand the dimensions of this problem, and the Governor has taken extraordinary steps in order to increase our medical capacity in the likelihood that we are going to see a significantly increased number of those people who have the coronavirus. Yes, we need to stay at home unless there is an urgent reason for us to be outside. I am frequently asked by my friends why don't we do as much as we can in the U.S. Senate remotely. I think we should, including voting. So we need to distance ourselves and minimize social contact in order to prevent the spike of this disease, which would test our medical capacity to handle it. So I was pleased that the third supplemental--the agreement that has been reached that we will vote on, hopefully, today--does have a surge in our medical capacity, a Marshall Plan, to deal with our healthcare needs. I could go through a lot of the specifics. I think some have already been gone through, but I particularly appreciate the fact that we have $100 billion for our hospitals and healthcare facilities, including clinics, in this bill. I am pleased that there is a 20-percent increase in hospital reimbursement rates. I thank Senator Grassley and Senator Wyden for including in that provision a unique clause for the Maryland hospitals so that they can be qualified for this. As I think some of you know, Maryland has an all-payer rate structure, and we had to make sure that these provisions would apply in Maryland. I thank them for their attention to that detail. There is also money in here for our hospitals to be ready for preparedness, which I think is extremely important. And there is a separate line appropriation for our community health centers and our federally qualified health clinics. That is critically important there. They are being stressed as the needs are increasing and as the cost of treatment is increasing. We need to replenish the national stockpile. We know the concerns for protective gear. We know that. We know that ventilators and respirators are in short supply. We have to make sure that we have adequate replacement of what has been taken out of our national stockpile and available now to deal with the surge that is coming under any scenario, so that our healthcare workers have the protective gear that they need and our patients have the medical facilities and the respirators that they need. We have also plussed up the work being done to deal with the development of a vaccine. I am pleased that NIH is getting the monies they need in order to do the work. We know that we are not going to have a vaccine in time this year, but we want to make sure that we get it as soon as possible and that it is on a fast track. These funds will help us develop that vaccine for the future needs of controlling this type of a virus. But, in the meantime, we are also putting resources into therapeutic drugs--drugs that could help people who are sick today. Those drugs are not yet available, but we want to make sure we do everything we can to make them available as soon as possible FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been bumped up substantially in this bill and for good reason. That brings me to the point that is a major improvement that has been brought to this legislation to help our State and local governments. They are the frontlines of providing these public health needs, and we need to provide them the resources they need. So FEMA needs to be properly appropriated. We have the money in here to help FEMA, but we also need direct help for our local governments to deal with this problem. We see that our State and local public health officers are getting extra money for better reporting, so that we know exactly what the status is in each of our communities. All of that is important for our Marshall Plan to control this disease and to get it under control. But I wanted to take this time to talk about a matter that I was working on for small business, and I mention that, recognizing that we have to get our economy back on track. The best way to get our economy back on track is to get this virus controlled, enable people to be able to get out, to work, to buy, and to participate in our economy. That is the best thing we can do. But this package also recognizes that unless we help businesses and workers today, we are not going to be prepared for our economy when we are able to rebound. So my role as the senior Democrat on the Small Business Committee, working with Senator Rubio, the chairman of that committee, was to make sure that we had a robust provision to preserve the growth engine and innovation engine of our economy, and that is small businesses. There is more job growth for small companies, and there is more innovation for small companies. We need to preserve the ability of small companies to get through this time. Quite frankly, they don't have the same deep pockets that large companies have. They don't have the same availability of credit that large companies have. They don't have the same banking arrangements that large companies have. They don't have the flexibility that large companies have. So we have to provide special attention to small businesses, and this package does that in a very, very robust way. I already mentioned Senator Rubio. I thank him for his leadership. The two of us were working together well before this week, and that is why we were probably further along in helping small businesses than the other parts of this package dealing with the various economic areas. Senator Shaheen was a valuable Member of our team. I have worked with Senator Shaheen on small business issues for a long time. She was a key player in putting together the package that we have to present to our colleagues here in the U.S. Senate. I also want to acknowledge Senator Collins. It was the four of us who were meeting regularly and communicating regularly and who recommended this package that we will shortly be voting on as it relates to small business. Also, if I could, I would like to acknowledge members of my own staff who have worked literally 24/7. I have talked to them at various times during the night and day. It has been very stressful for all of us, but our staffs get no rest whatsoever. So to Sean Moore and the entire staff on the Democratic side of the Small Business Committee, thank you on behalf of America's small businesses and workers and on behalf of our country. And to Ron Storhaug on my staff, who has been working on a lot of these provisions in regard to the tax issues and in regard to a lot of these issues, I thank him for all of his work. And to Lauren Jee, who is our health person, who has not only helped us put together this small business package, but she has been available to help Maryland health providers and patients to try to get through where we are today. All of that is reflected in the bill we will be voting on later. I know on the Republican side, there has been dedicated staff who have done equal work to ensure that we have a bill that we can present today. Let me go over, if I might, some of the provisions we have in here for small businesses. We have three new programs--three new programs-- to help small businesses in our community. They will have different titles, but every one of them provides grant help to small businesses. I want to repeat that. You might hear this is a loan. No, these are going to be funds that go to small businesses that do not have to be repaid. These are grant monies. Why? Because a small business owner can't incur more debt today when they have no idea how they are going to be able to survive in the future. We have to provide immediate help--immediate help. It has to be substantial, and it has to be in a way that they know that they are not encumbering their future. And that is what we do. We want to get the message out that this is going to be immediate help to help America's small businesses. One program provides $350 billion of relief to small companies under 500 employees--$350 billion. It is triggered by going to your financial institution and getting what is known as a 7(a) loan. But let me caution you, it is going to be forgiven if you follow the rules here. You go to a bank or a financial institution; you do a 7(a) loan; it is 100 percent guaranteed by the Federal Government, so the bank has no risk factor here. There are no payments due for a year. So, even getting into this loan, there is no obligation for cash outlays on behalf of the borrower. The fees have been waived, so this is a cost- free opportunity to get the cash you need to keep your small business open. That is the purpose of this new program under the Small Business Administration. The amount of the loan: You take your average payroll before the coronavirus was here--you take your monthly average payroll and multiply it by 2.5. Basically, what you are getting is 2 months of payroll for your workers plus an extra--it comes out to an extra 25 percent of your payroll because it is 2 months of that. Now, what are the eligible expenses? What can you use this for? Well, you can use the 2 months of payroll for payroll. Pay your workers. Keep them employed. It saves you the cost of rehiring if you had to furlough or lay off workers. You can keep them employed. You can use the extra funds to cover the expenses that you have on their healthcare or related expenses. You can use the extra 25 percent for rents or mortgage payments or utility bills. So it gives you cash to conduct your business for the next 2 months. It gives you the ability to keep afloat so that you are ready to rebound when the economy rebounds. Who is eligible? As I said, companies under 500, but we went beyond the traditional 7(a) eligibilities. For the first time under 7(a)s, we are also allowing nonprofits to be able to get into this program so that they will also be able to stay afloat because we know the important work that nonprofits do for our community. They are also eligible. And we gave some relaxation to the 500 rule for locations--for restaurants or hotels that have multiple locations. This is a program that is aimed at keeping businesses open and ready--small businesses--for when we get through this coronavirus. Then this amount of money that you borrowed is totally forgiven--totally forgiven--if you maintain your workforce to the precoronavirus level or bring back your workforce to the precoronavirus level during the stated period of time of this bill. So, if you keep your workforce or bring back your workforce, the government is going to help you maintain your ability and make sure your workers get paid and their benefits are maintained. It works very well with the other provisions that are in other parts of this bill, such as the unemployment insurance benefits. Yes, if you furlough workers, you can collect unemployment benefits at basically full salary for the next 4 months, so that is also available to small businesses. But we want you to also know that you can keep your employees employed--there, ready for the business to rebound--as we hope it will shortly. So that is just one program. We have other programs available. We have a new program which is labeled as a grant, a $10 billion grant program for emergency cash availability for small businesses. There are many small businesses that have a hard time going to a bank and getting a commercial loan. There are many small businesses that need cash today; they can't wait for that process to work its way through to get that check from the Small Business Administration through one of their financial institutions. It is going to take a little bit longer for them to be able to get that done. So we have emergency disaster relief loans in the first supplemental. We made it clear that small businesses qualify for emergency disaster relief loans if they have been adversely impacted by the coronavirus. These are direct loans coming out of the Small Business Administration. These are not loans that are from financial institutions. We have included that in the first supplemental. We now allow you to make that application, and with that application, if you need to get cash immediately, the SBA can write you a check for up to $10,000. And we want that done within 3 days. We want that money out in days, not weeks. We hear that all the time from small businesses: We need help now. I was pleased to work on this program. I filed legislation on it. This is a need that is out there today and will be available to small business owners. Now, we have a third program. Those are two programs where you can get this, basically, 2-month help from the Federal Government to pay your payroll and related expenses. You can get a $10,000 immediate cash advancement on that through applying for a disaster relief loan and showing a need at this stage. Then, there is a third program. There are many small businesses today that have existing loans under the Small Business Administration. These are 7(a) loans or 504 loans. The 7(a) is the traditional loan. The 504 are the larger loans. What this bill does is provide $17 billion of relief so that those who have these existing loans do not need to make any payments on those loans. They are forgiven for the next 6 months. I particularly want to acknowledge Senator Coons' work on this. This is a bill that we have been working on, and it is only reasonable--we are asking others to relieve debt. Let us do it for our small businesses under the 7(a) and 504 programs. So there are a lot of provisions here that help our small businesses. I want to tell you that, in addition to those three I just mentioned, I am pleased that we do have contract protection in this bill. Let me explain what that means. If you are a business and have a contract with the Federal Government--this applies to all businesses, not just small businesses, but small businesses are particularly impacted by it--but you can't perform that government contract because you can't get access to the facility because it is shuttered as a result of the coronavirus, this bill allows the Federal Government to make sure you have adequate funds available to pay your workers so that those individuals who should have been working at the Federal facility will get paid during this period of time. We have also provided money for the Women's Business Centers and the Minority Business Development Agencies that are there in our community. Why? Because we have got to get the message out to small businesses about these new tools, how they can access banks to get these 7(a) loans that are forgiven--that are actually grants, how they can apply to the Small Business Administration for disaster relief loans and get a cash advancement and how they can get relief from their current 7(a) and 504 loans. So we give money to these entrepreneur service groups so that they can help women businesses and minority businesses get access. We have also put a clear intent that we expect the financial institutions to make loans to all size small businesses in all communities so that all communities can benefit from this legislation. We have increased the size of Express loans under this. And I just want to compliment the work of other working groups, particularly on the tax provisions. I was very pleased to work with Senator Wyden. The two of us worked on what is known as a retention credit, which allows companies that have furloughed workers to bring those workers back and get a credit up to 50 percent of that wage, up to $10,000, as a tax credit in order to bring back those workers. Well, for some small businesses, that may be a better option than what I have outlined before in regard to the 2\1/2\ months of aid based upon payroll. You have a choice. If you can do better under the retention credit-- it is a new credit--use that credit; if not, use the other. Small businesses are given more flexibility. Thank you, Senator Wyden, for helping us. I also want to acknowledge Senator Warner, who was very instrumental in getting that provision adopted. So you see that there are a whole range of tools in here to keep small businesses operating--paying their workers--so that they don't have to reinvent their employees after this crisis is over, so that they can keep qualified people employed, they get the paychecks, and our economy is ready to get back into shape. Now, there are many other provisions in this bill, including the cash payments under the IRS--$1,200 per taxpayer--that will help in this regard. When you put this all together, this is a robust package to hold our economy so that it can perform at a level that it is ready to take off again without the dire consequences of people not having income in order to pay their bills. Through these small business provisions, small business owners can keep their businesses intact. Through unemployment insurance, those who are laid off or furloughed can get their salaries. Through the IRS checks, people will have some cash. Through some of these other programs, we are providing relief, like delaying the time of paying the employer share of the FICA taxes. You put that all together, there is a lot of help out here to keep our economy going during this crisis, with particular focus on the workers and on small business. The last point I should point out, the self-employed, the gig economy, are fully covered under the small business provisions. They are fully covered under the UI provisions. We are trying to make sure that we preserve our economy; that we preserve workers and their families and their abilities to pay their bills. I think, when you take a look at this whole package, the challenge will be to get the information out to our constituents, to these businesses, to these workers, so they know what is in this package so that they can act now because, quite frankly, people are desperate, companies are desperate. When malls are closed, as they are in Maryland, and you are operating a small business in that mall and have no business at all, you don't know how you are going to make your next payroll, you have to make decisions today. That is why it is important that we vote on this bill today, we get it to the President as soon as possible, get the information out to the small businesses and to the workers and to all businesses that we are here to help keep them open, to keep the paychecks flowing, to keep our economy moving; that we are in this together. We are going to get through this period of time. Our economy is going to come back. We want you to know to take advantage of these tools so we can minimize the adverse impact of the coronavirus. With that, I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, this Women's History Month, we have the opportunity to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. We recognize the countless women who have put their own safety and comfort on the line in order to make this country more just, democratic, and inclusive. These include heroes like Margaret Brent, a daughter of Maryland who was the first to demand a vote for women in the colonial legislature, and Sojourner Truth, who advocated for a more diverse and intersectional women's suffrage movement. Thanks to their bravery and that of many other activists, our Nation witnessed the largest expansion of suffrage in its history. A century later, we ought to celebrate that monumental achievement. The ability to vote has empowered women to demand a government that represents them and their interests, and they have taken their power seriously. Women have voted in higher numbers than men in every national election for the last 55 years. In 2018, we saw the results that can happen when women raise their voices and fight for a more inclusive democracy as a record 117 women won elections to Congress across the United States. We cannot overstate how dramatically the adoption of the 19th Amendment has changed our country for the better, but it is also incumbent upon us to take stock of the progress that still needs to be made. Just a few years after women won the right to vote, a suffragette named Alice Paul introduced another critically important constitutional amendment, one that would go even further in guaranteeing the equal status of women. It was called the Equal Rights Amendment, or the ERA, which reads as follows: ``Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.'' That is it. It is just 24 words. Yet those 24 words have the power to correct a 250-year silence in our Constitution when it comes to recognizing and protecting women's equality. The ERA was ratified by the U.S. Congress in 1972, and with Virginia's ratification this past January, enough States have adopted the amendment to meet the threshold for it to be added to the Constitution. So what is the holdup? Why isn't it a part of the Constitution yet? When Congress ratified the Equal Rights Amendment, it imposed a deadline for State legislatures to ratify. That deadline has passed. There should never be a deadline on equality. The Constitution does not call for time limits for the ratification of amendments, and there is precedent for amendments being added to the Constitution as many as 200 years after having first been proposed. Most importantly, just as Congress had the power to impose and extend the deadline by resolution, we have the power to remove it through the same means. That is why I have introduced a resolution with Senator Murkowski to remove the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment. Representative Jackie Speier introduced a companion resolution that has already been passed by the House of Representatives. We are closer than ever to making the Equal Rights Amendment a reality. This measure has historically enjoyed bipartisan support. The vast majority of Americans--94 percent of them--is in favor of a constitutional equality amendment. Perhaps it is because they understand that this is an issue not of politics but of basic human rights. If you have any doubt about that, just look at the rest of the modern world. Every constitution written around the globe since World War II recognizes the equal stature of men and women. Ours does not. That is shameful. Among those who are hesitant to support the ERA, one of their most common arguments is that it is not necessary. People argue that women already enjoy equal rights and protections in our society, so what is the need to write it down? To them, I say think again. Although the wage gap between men and women has narrowed over time, it still exists today. In 2019, women earned only 79 percent as much as their male counterparts for similar work. This disparity is even worse for women of color. It affects women their entire lives, and it affects their retirements. Recent data show that women over 65 are twice as likely as men to live below the poverty line. We owe it to America's women--to our mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, and selves--to remedy this societal failure. Furthermore, as it stands, women in the United States have no Federal recourse for gender-based violence. Because of that, the courts have allowed police officers to refuse to defend victims of domestic abuse and have even struck down the protections offered by the Violence Against Women Act. The Equal Rights Amendment would require the Federal Government to prohibit and penalize this type of discrimination. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg once said that, if she could choose an amendment to add to the Constitution, it would be the Equal Rights Amendment because she would like her granddaughters, when they pick up the Constitution, to see that notion--that women and men are persons of equal stature--as being a basic principle of our society. As a grandfather of two granddaughters myself, I couldn't agree more. I want them to know that, in America, they will enjoy the same protections and opportunities as anyone else. I want every young person to grow up understanding that her dreams are within reach, that her autonomy is respected, and that her life is significant. In order to make that a reality, women need more than the right to vote, as fundamental as that is; they need a promise that they will be free from all forms of discrimination and injustice. That is why men, women, Republicans, and Democrats must come together in order to correct that silence in our Constitution--a silence that speaks volumes. We must all unite to support the Equal Rights Amendment. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I want to thank Senator Udall for his leadership on the For the People Act, and I want to thank Senator Merkley for his leadership on this bill. This bill contains many provisions that deal with the fundamental values of this country. I also am proud of my colleague in the House of Representatives, Congressman Sarbanes, who is the lead sponsor of H.R. 1, which is the For the People Act. It passed the House of Representatives over a year ago, and there has been no action on the floor of the Senate as a result of the majority leader's decision not to bring these bills to the floor. As I said, it includes a lot of different bills that all deal with America's values. These are the values that are the strength of this Nation--free and fair elections. That is what we promote globally because we know that is key to a stable democratic society. Yet when you look at the way we conduct elections in this country, we are not setting a very high example. Look at how much money is involved in elections in this country. From the President of the United States to our local offices, too much money speaks to who is going to be able to get the attention of the voters. We need to change that. We know that suppression of voters has been institutionalized as a strategy to win office. That should have no place in America. We should want the maximum amount of voters to participate in our political process, not try to prevent people from exercising their right to vote. The For the People Act brings about meaningful change so that America, which is the shining example of democracy, can lead the world by the way we conduct our own elections. Let me mention two provisions that I am particularly pleased are included in the For the People Act. One is democracy restoration; that is, to allow those who have been convicted of crime, after they have served their penalty, to be able to participate in elections. We are one of only a few western democracies that permanently disenfranchise an individual who has been convicted of a felony. There are 6.1 million adults who currently are disenfranchised as a result of that provision, yet only 22 percent of those individuals are incarcerated. The other 78 percent have paid their penalty, have done their time, and are now reintegrated into society. It is in our interest to have them participate in our democratic system. It reduces recidivism. And, quite frankly, it is targeted at people of color. They are who have been most disenfranchised as a result of this provision. Thirty-four States still have restrictions, and 12 have lifetime restrictions on those convicted of a felony. The Democracy Restoration Act would remedy that situation. The second bill I am going to refer to very briefly is the Deceptive Practices and Voter Prevention Act that targets primarily minority voters to suppress their vote. It is the modern Jim Crow laws in which we find we are using modern technology. We have campaign strategies aimed at minority communities to give them misinformation about how they can vote or whether they are eligible to vote or where they can vote. That is being used today. We have to make sure that doesn't happen in the American election system. For the People provides meaningful changes so that we don't allow suppression of votes to be an institutionalized strategy to try to win an election, so that we have the maximum participation of voters in our process, and it deals with the ever-flowing increase in the amount of dollars that are put into American elections. The U.S. Senate should not be a graveyard. Majority Leader McConnell has prevented hundreds of bills--bipartisan bills--from coming to the floor of the U.S. Senate. It has been a year since we have had the For the People Act passed by the House of Representatives. It is well past time for the Senate to take up this legislation so that we can show the American people we support the values that have made America the great democracy in our country. Thank you very much. I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, this past weekend marked the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, one of the darkest moments in our democracy. On March 7, 1965, Alabama law enforcement officers brutally attacked hundreds of peaceful demonstrators marching from Selma to Montgomery to demand full civil rights for African Americans. These brave protesters put their safety and liberty on the line to build an America that lives up to its ideals of freedom, justice, and equality. It is thanks to their heroism--and the heroism of many civil rights activists before and since--that our country has made great strides towards those ideals. However, in order to fully honor their struggle, we must also recognize that much of the hatred and discrimination which they fought to root out persists, although perhaps in less overt or easily recognized forms. One of the strongest, most disheartening examples of this phenomenon is the ongoing assault on the right of minorities to vote. This is not ancient history. States all over the country continue to ``modernize'' strategies developed a century ago to suppress African-American voting power. Some of these strategies are blatant and recognizable, like mass purges of voter rolls; the gerrymandering of districts with ``surgical precision,'' according to one court; and intimidation of voters of color. Some of the strategies are disguised behind excuses or fear tactics, like obstructive voter ID laws, felony disenfranchisement, and closures of polling sites in heavily minority-populated areas. So long as we allow these sorts of practices to continue, we are denying American citizens the right to vote promised to them by our Constitution, and we are undermining the integrity of our democracy. This is a problem on principle, of course--until we guarantee the right to vote regardless of race, we fall short of the unique promise and potential of the United States of America. But it is also a problem for broader practical reasons--when we exclude people from fully participating in our democracy, we prevent them from achieving the social, economic, and civic reforms they need to strengthen their communities. So, what are we going to do about that? I know what I will do: I will fight for laws that will guarantee every American a voice in our democracy. That is why I have introduced bills like the Democracy Restoration Act, S.1068, to restore the Federal right to vote to ex- offenders, and the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation and Suppression Act, S.1834, to penalize the voter suppression efforts so frequently aimed at minority communities. It is also why I am a fervent supporter of H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act. This bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives at the end of last year, would remedy the Supreme Court's 2013 decision decimating section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and thereby strengthen our ability to prevent discriminatory changes to State voting laws and procedures. I thank Senator Leahy for championing this bill and call on Leader McConnell and Chairman Graham to urgently bring H.R. 4 for consideration in Committee and in the Senate. Let's honor all of those whose struggles for freedom and equality throughout our Nation's history have been met with violence and hatred. Let's carry on their torch and help make their dreams a reality. Let's fulfill the right to vote.

Mr. CARDIN

Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that floor privileges be granted to Michael Thomas, a member of my staff, for the remainder of the 116th Congress.