Richard Durbin

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) and the Senator from Washington (Mrs. Murray) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, is there an urgent need for us to help America in this time of crisis? I think most people would agree there is. As a result, the House of Representatives more than 6 weeks ago passed legislation to continue to provide assistance to Americans who are in need. Certainly, that would include those who are unemployed. We created an unemployment Federal benefit of $600 a week over and above the State benefit, expanded eligibility and the time the benefit would be awarded, and made it available across this country right at the moment when some 40 million Americans were announcing that they had lost their jobs, were unemployed. It was a helping hand that was long overdue and certainly made a difference in the lives of many families. I think it is responsible for the fact that we did see welcome news last week that some 2 million Americans have gone back to work. I hope that trend continues, but in the meantime, of the 20 million who are unemployed, this helping hand of $600 a week from the Federal Government is essential. It is not exactly a windfall when you calculate it. The Federal benefit, plus State benefit really comes up close to the average wage of most Americans. It is not a major benefit that they can live off of for any long period of time--that is for sure--but it gets them through the crisis, we hope, in paying their rent, their mortgage, utility bills, and providing food and clothing for their family. Here is the problem: If you want to know if there is some urgency involved in unemployment insurance, consider the fact that on July 31, the program I have just described disappears. Do you think unemployment will disappear on July 31? We should be so lucky, but we know better. It is going to take a while for us to get back on our feet as a nation. We have to stand by those who are unemployed in the meantime, until they can get back to work and provide for their families. Unfortunately, the program we created ends July 31. Is there an urgent need to extend it in some form? I believe that is obvious to virtually everyone. I can't understand why Senator McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, doesn't feel this sense of urgency in his home State of Kentucky, as I do in my home State of Illinois, right across the river. We have common areas. Downstate Illinois and Kentucky are somewhat similar in their economies, and I know there are people who need a helping hand. I hope Senator McConnell will consider giving them that helping hand--but not just in this area. There is also included in the bill that passed the House of Representatives, the Heroes Act, an extension of COBRA benefits. What is COBRA? If you are working for a company that provides health insurance, you pay part of the premium, and they pay the other part. If you lose your job but want to continue that health insurance plan, under COBRA you can if you pay both sides, employer and employee, on the premium. The average cost is about $1,700 a month. It is a pretty hefty sum for anyone who just lost their job. Under the bill that passed the House of Representatives, there would be 100 percent coverage of the employer's portion of the COBRA premium during the period of your unemployment. That is a helping hand, which most workers desperately need. I am sure they need it in the State of Kentucky, just as we do in the State of Illinois and all across the Nation. There is a sense of urgency if you don't have health insurance, isn't there? We are more conscious than ever about the need for good health insurance. I would hope that Senator McConnell would consider that when he decides whether there is an urgent need for us to pass the bill that was enacted by the House of Representatives. In addition, there is a major portion of the House bill that provides assistance to State and local governments. We desperately need it across the Nation. Hardly any State--county, major city, even cities of modest size--hasn't seen the cost of government go up as government revenues from sales tax, for example, have diminished and the cost of government related to the COVID-19 crisis have increased. The helping hand to these State and local governments is consistent with what we did in the first bill, the CARES Act, and is desperately needed. What is the alternative? I know what it is, and most everyone does as well: There will be dramatic layoffs of State and local employees if we don't provide a helping hand from the Federal Government. These employees include, of course, teachers, medical personnel, law enforcement, and the like. If we want to make certain that we maintain the basic protections of government at the State and local level, then Senator McConnell should consider supporting the bill that already passed the House of Representatives. There is one major stumbling block when it comes to this issue of Senator McConnell taking up any measure to help our economy from this point forward. It was 6 weeks ago, in April, when Senator McConnell announced that he was drawing a redline that he wouldn't budge from, and that redline said that we had to provide immunity from liability for businesses and others before he would even consider additional benefits for American businesses and families. We don't know exactly what the Senator had in mind. He announced on several occasions from the floor here that he wanted to put this immunity provision into any future package, but as of today, we still haven't seen it. We are still waiting. One of his colleagues, Senator Cornyn from Texas and my colleague on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has given several speeches on the subject. There was one that he gave on May 19, which I would like to refer to because it is perhaps his longest statement and the longest Republican statement on just what they have in mind. Senator Cornyn said that there has been a wave of COVID-19-related lawsuits rolling in. He called it an avalanche of lawsuits. He went on to use other terms equally cataclysmic. He called it a litigation epidemic, a tidal wave of lawsuits. He went on to talk about those as creating a need for us to provide some protection against lawsuits. I decided to take a look at this avalanche, this tidal wave that we heard about so much from Senator McConnell and Senator Cornyn. You see, there is a law firm tracker service that takes a look at every lawsuit filed in America to see what they are all about. They have a category of lawsuits related to COVID-19, and they give regular reports on how many lawsuits are filed. Let's take a look at the avalanche of lawsuits that have been filed as of yesterday. Remember, 2 million Americans have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 infection--2 million. Out of 2 million Americans with COVID-19 infections and over 115,000 deaths, as of yesterday, how many medical malpractice lawsuits do you think have been filed based on COVID-19 against healthcare workers, doctors, nurses? How many across the whole United States of America? Five. Five. Some avalanche. How many lawsuits have been filed by those who say that they are forced to work in unsafe working conditions because of COVID-19? In this tidal wave, there have been 49 of those lawsuits filed--49 across the entire United States. By way of comparison, how many lawsuits have been filed involving COVID-related disputes between businesses and insurance companies? Six hundred and thirty-one. Five hundred and sixteen lawsuits have been filed by prisoners because of what they have alleged to be unsafe living conditions related to COVID-19 and 194 lawsuits challenging governments' stay-at- home orders across the board. This doesn't strike me as an avalanche or a tidal wave or some spate of frivolous lawsuits being filed by workers or customers. Part of the reason, you learn in your first year of law school. In tort law classes, one of the first things you are told is, before you can recover in a lawsuit, you have to prove causation. What was it that caused your injury? How is that defendant responsible for your injury? It is a difficult thing to prove in many lawsuits and very difficult when it comes to an invisible virus as to what circumstances or what individual would be responsible for the fact that you became infected and are filing this lawsuit. Causation is hard. Here is what it really gets down to: I believe--and most people do-- that if a business or an entity is really making a reasonable, good- faith effort to protect employees and customers, that should be a defense to any lawsuit. What would that consist of? We had a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee 3 weeks ago. The star witness on the Republican side was a very impressive individual who represented the convenience stores of America. He was from the same State as Senator Cornyn, the State of Texas. His name is Mr. Smartt. He came in and told the story about many facilities that he had which were providing goods and services to the people of Texas and how he was making a good-faith effort to protect those who work for him and those who did business in his establishment. He talked about plastic shields. He talked about hand sanitizers. He talked about spacing and distancing. It was really clear from the start that this CEO of this major Texas corporation was doing his best to protect the people who came into his business and his workplace. I thought it was a good statement when, on page 7 of his testimony-- and I will refer you to it if you would like to look at the Senate Judiciary Committee testimony--he said that his biggest problem was he didn't know what standard he had to live up to, what was the proper thing for him to do from a public health point of view. He didn't know which way to turn. Was it the Centers for Disease Control? Was it the Occupational Safety and Health Administration? Was it the State of Texas? Was it some Federal agency? He was really begging us: Give me a standard to live up to, and I will do my level best to live up to it. I don't think that is an unreasonable position. I salute him. I would like to be, if necessary, in court defending him, saying: This is a man who is trying his best in the business environment to be a responsible citizen, both for his workers and for his customers, but he doesn't have a standard to operate by. Why don't we have this Federal standard? Well, you point the finger of responsibility to the White House. President Trump and his administration have refused to come forward with enforceable and inspectable standards that we can use to take a look at those who are trying to protect others from public health exposures. Without that Federal standard, companies like that one in Texas really don't know where to turn. If OSHA came up with a standard and said ``This is what we expect in the workplace'' and you lived up to that standard, I would say, as an attorney who spent a lot of time in the courtroom, you have a pretty strong defense going for you--first, the issue of causation, and secondly, whether you have done what is reasonable on your part to protect people. That is what it comes down to. Democrats and others argue that we should hold businesses to a reasonable standard of responsibility. We certainly don't encourage or defend frivolous lawsuits. But we don't want bad actors who are ignoring any reasonable standards or responsibility to get away with murder. They should be held responsible, and they should be reliable in terms of their own activity. That is what it comes down to. Senator McConnell is holding back assistance for State and local governments, money for hospitals, money for the unemployed, because of the so-called redline when it comes to immunity. Listen, it is human nature. If you say to businesses across the board ``You are immune from lawsuits,'' I am afraid some people will take advantage of that. They will not even try. And people get sick as a result of it or maybe worse. We don't want that to happen in this country. We want people to do the right thing--to protect themselves, their families, and to protect others, and in business, to make sure they are protecting the public at large. If they live up to a certain standard, I think they have a good defense to any lawsuit. But the so-called avalanche and tidal wave of lawsuits--5 medical malpractice lawsuits after 2 million Americans have been infected by COVID-19--really tells the story. I would encourage the Republicans to finally produce and present to us the standard they want to make part of the law of the land. Let's see what is in it. Let's talk about it. And if you are willing to establish reasonable standards based on public health to protect the public at large, I want to be at the table. We can find common ground. But if you are saying ``We want immunity for these businesses. We want to let them off the hook no matter what they do, even if they do nothing,'' I am sorry, that is worth a fight. We have to make sure that people across America have a reasonable expectation that when they enter a business or go to work, they are going to be in a safe environment, and that the people who employ them, the ones who want to do business with them, have lived up to that responsibility. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I thank the Senator from New Jersey. During the course of one of his political campaigns, Abraham Lincoln's opponent said to him: You have switched your position. You have reversed your position on an issue. You have changed on an issue. Abraham Lincoln said: It is true. You see, I would rather be right some of the time than wrong all of the time. Well, I learned that lesson, as many of us have who have served in Congress, when you vote for a measure and, many years later, have to reflect on whether it was the right vote. I voted for something called the War on Drugs. It seemed like a sensible thing to do, and many joined me: Black and White Members of the House of Representatives. It was after the death of Len Bias, the Maryland basketball star who overdosed. In the moment of panic over crack cocaine, we did something which was going to just make a very clear public statement. The penalty for crack cocaine was going to be 100 times the penalty for powder cocaine--100 times. We were going to let America know: Don't mess with crack cocaine. What a colossal failure it turned out to be. The price of crack cocaine on the street went down instead of up; the number of users on the street went up instead of down; and we filled the prisons of America, over the next 10 years, to a level we had never seen before, primarily with African Americans who had been convicted of possessing and selling crack cocaine. I realized, as I am sure many others did too, that it was a big mistake. It was an experiment that failed at the expense of many people and their families and their lives. So 10 years ago, I started out to try to change it. The 100-to-1 standard, in my mind, was indefensible. It didn't work, No. 1. No. 2, there was no scientific evidence that crack cocaine was that much more dangerous than powder cocaine. So I set out to make it 1 to 1, where it should be. I ran into an adversary by the name of Senator Sessions from Alabama. He didn't like the idea very much of my change. After long negotiations, we agreed to drop the standard to 18 to 1. I can't tell you the wisdom behind the number 18, but it was a compromised number. It changed a lot of things. Thousands of people in prison were able to leave early, and many had their sentences reduced. But it wasn't enough. We needed to go further. It was clear, when it came to mandatory minimums and ``Three Strikes, You're Out'' and all of the things that led to imprisonments--which were almost impossible to describe--we needed another bill. I joined with Senator Mike Lee, a very conservative Republican in the Senate, and we moved forward with the legislation. Others joined us as well, but we were stopped by one man who happened to be the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley. Senator Grassley said: I don't like this bill. He came to the floor many times and gave speeches against the bill. So it became obvious to me, if anything was going to happen, I needed to win over Chuck Grassley. So I sat down with him and--literally for 1 whole year--negotiated changes in the bill, things that I didn't want to give up but were part of the process to move us forward. We came up with the FIRST STEP Act, and he, proudly, was the lead sponsor on it, and I was his cosponsor--happy to be. Then we found an ally in the White House, Jared Kushner, who is open about the fact that his father spent time in prison and who believed in reform. We put together the FIRST STEP Act. One of the first people I went to was Cory Booker, then a new Senator from New Jersey, and said: I want you to support this bill. Read it, and tell me if you can. He came back to me with several proposals. One of them was the incarceration of juveniles that you wanted to make sure would be changed in America--and several other worthy suggestions we incorporated in the bill. And he became part of the team. The team was ultimately successful when, to the surprise of everyone in Washington, President Trump signed the FIRST STEP Act into law. So those who are skeptical that what we are about here cannot result in legislation have ignored the obvious--something that occurred in the last year or two with this White House, with this President, and with a Republican majority in the Senate. We did something significant, and we can do it again, and we should. What we are talking about now with Justice in Policing is so obvious to the world. What has brought us to this point of this debate? I think two things have brought us here, and maybe we didn't see it coming: videotapes and DNA. That is what brought us here. It is no longer speculation as to what happened in a parking lot. It is no longer conjecture as to what happened at the side of a curb in Minneapolis. We see it. We see it, and we can't get the images out of our mind. A knee on the neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds. Just in case that sounds like a short period of time, try kneeling, as Senator Kaine did in our moment of silence in the auditorium just a few weeks ago. Try imagining someone's knee on your neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds. George Floyd lost his life in that period of time. I think the image that sticks with me is not only that man on the ground begging for his life but the image of the policeman who was being implored and begged by all the people around: Take your knee off. Let him breathe. And he just looked with those cold, hard eyes as he took the life out of that man. That image is something I will carry for the rest of my service in life, as are the images from the Wendy's parking lot in Atlanta, GA. All of these things have brought us to the moment where we realize something must be done. I listened, Senator Kaine, when he talked about the rally he attended in Richmond over the weekend. What a coincidence that he would talk about the young people who organized it. In my home State, I have been to several rallies in the city of Chicago held by leaders in the community, religious and otherwise, but the meetings that I attended that had the most impact on me have been organized by high school students. In my hometown of Springfield, Nykeyla Henderson is a junior in high school. She is a tall young woman, kind of rangy, and doesn't look like the type of person who would ever speak up for anything. But she and her twin sister, Nykia, decided to put together a rally at the State capitol 2 weeks ago in Springfield. Fifteen hundred people showed up. No windows were broken. No curses were thrown around. Nobody was throwing anything. They made it clear that it was going to be a peaceful rally and all about Black Lives Matter. I told her later that it is an amazing achievement at her stage in life that she were able to do this. How unusual it was that a young woman--a young African-American woman--took on this role of leadership with others. This last Sunday, I went to Jerseyville, IL. I was telling Senator Booker about this. I don't know if there are many, if any, Black families in Jersey County. I represented this area for a long time, and I don't remember any. They had a rally on the lawn next to the courthouse at 4 p.m., Sunday afternoon. I went down there because of another African-American high school young woman named Lay'Lhany Davis. Lay'Lhany goes to high school about 20 miles away in Alden. She called for a Black Lives Matter rally in Jersey and asked if I would come. I said I wouldn't miss it. She had done the same thing in Edwardsville, another small town. They had a rally, and when they started cruising with banners supporting political candidates and all the derision they were throwing at her, she said to these people: We are not going to be like that. We are not going to do that. This is going to be peaceful. I respect her very much for it. Here are these two 16-, 17-year-old young African-American women who are true leaders and inspiring in their humility. They are not looking for a headline. They wouldn't know what to do with it. They are wide- eyed at the number of people who are showing up. The people who show up, by and large, are young people. White, Black, Brown people come there begging for freedom and liberty and hoping that we can do something in Washington. And why shouldn't we? The reason we ran for these offices is to address the issues of the day in our time, to take on the tough chores of finding compromise when it looks like it is impossible. I think we can do this, and I know that we must. I want to recount one other thing before I yield the floor. I see others arriving here. It was 10 days ago when I asked the African- American members of my staff to get on a conference call. We spend a lot of time on conference calls. There were quite a few on the call, and I started talking about their experiences. They were a little reluctant to volunteer much. Then the dam broke, and one of them said something that led another one to say something. It turned out to be one of the best conversations I have ever had with my staff. They told me some things that I needed to hear because listening is sometimes more important for a Senator than speaking, although I do a lot of speaking. I can recall so many of them described for me the very first time-- and they remember it, and they remember who said it--they were called the N-word. They remember it. Each went through that experience on the playground or in a school. I am thinking to myself that I never had an experience in my life that was that profound that I remember it to this moment of someone using a word against me. Another young woman talked about the fact her mother sat her down at a young age and said: Listen to me. When you go to the store to buy something, always ask for a receipt. Always ask for a receipt. You put that receipt in that bag because somebody is going to stop you at the door and say you stole it, and you can show them you paid for it because you have the receipt. I thought, my mother never gave me that lesson. She never had to. I will never be stopped at the door. I am White. This young woman was Black. Time and again, the stories they told reminded me that the issue of racism is one we have faced in this country, as you said, for over 400 years--when slavery came to our shores, before we were known as the United States of America, to this day. The greed and racism behind slavery still challenge us to this moment. Can we come up with an approach that is sensible? I hope we can. When you look at the history of Reconstruction, the Black codes, Jim Crow, the Great Migration, and everything that followed, you realize that we are still in the midst of this debate. We are as drawn to it as any moment in American history, and we have to face it and face it squarely and honestly. I think we can, and I think we must Let me say one word about the anti-lynching law. I read about the history of the anti-lynching law in the U.S. Congress. I am sure Senator Booker knows it well. A Congressman from Missouri, Leonitis Dyer, was not African American. He was a White Congressman, a veteran of World War I, an attorney from St. Louis, and a former prosecutor who was outraged by the East St. Louis race riots. East St. Louis is my hometown, born and raised across the river. He was outraged by the race riots there and people killed. He introduced the anti-lynching laws. He got it through the House, and it came over here and died in the Senate. That measure has languished in this Chamber ever since. I thought to myself, lynching is a terrible, Southern phenomena. Boy, am I wrong. I did a little research and studied the history over the weekend. I was saddened to learn that in my home county, St. Clair County, on the Belleville Square, an African American was lynched. Another African American was lynched in Decatur, IL, a town in Central Illinois I represented for years. Sadly, other lynchings took place in parts of Illinois that you might not have guessed. I learned the history of Anna, IL. I won't say it on the floor because I don't want to put it in the Record. Unfortunately, the name ``Anna'' has some racial connotations to it, which I will share privately with others. There was a lynching based on a person living in Anna who was lynched in Carroll, IL. This happened in the land of Lincoln. It happened in the North. It happened in my home State that I love. It is a reminder that hatred can be found everywhere. It is our job here with this bill to move forward and say to the good police: Thank you for serving us. Now join us in making sure we don't have bad police. In your ranks, you know the people who cannot be trusted with their badge and gun to use them responsibly. You know the people who shouldn't be policemen. Join us in making sure your ranks show real quality in the recruitment, in the training, and in the review of performance of all those who are serving in law enforcement. We need to do so much more. I am sure there is much more to be said. I want to thank my colleagues, Senators Booker and Harris, for bringing us to this moment. This is our moment. I beg Tim Scott, whom I dearly love as a colleague and a person, to join us in a bipartisan effort to do something historic at this moment. Don't believe we can't do it. Believe we can do the right thing that will stand the test of time. I yield the floor.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren), are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, even during this pandemic, people have been forming lines--6 feet apart and masked--at the corner of Emerson and Green Bay Road in Evanston, IL, to pick up Hecky's Barbeque. They come for the pulled pork, chicken wings, and especially the sauce. And for years, Hecky Powell was there with his family's recipes, his hard work, his smile, and his wisdom. Sadly, on May 22, Hecky passed away from pneumonia after a diagnosis of COVID-19. He used to say that people kept coming in for the sauce--that is what made the food great. Well, part of what made Evanston great was Hecky. For 37 years, he brought good barbeque, leadership, and kindness to Evanston, and today we pay tribute to him. Harry William ``Hecky'' Powell was born in 1948 at Cook County Hospital. Verna, his mom, had to give birth there because there was no room at the Community Hospital of Evanston, the only hospital in town that accepted Black patients. Hecky was one of nine siblings. He had a successful career in public service, serving as the director of several nonprofit agencies. One day, Hecky got an idea for a restaurant. He was dating Cheryl Judice, a sociologist who would later become his wife. They didn't know much about food, but Hecky's mom did. Verna had lost her job at a restaurant, and his dad was unemployed at the time. So when the restaurant next to Hecky's office went on the market, he figured he would buy it, and his parents could actually run the restaurant. On October 13, 1983, Hecky's Barbeque opened up with only $100 in the register. Many of the first recipes came from Verna and his Creole grandmother's native New Orleans. Everyone enjoyed Hecky's. Chicago Bears legend William ``The Refrigerator'' Perry was an early customer, drawn to the sauce-drenched ribs, fries, and two slices of Wonder Bread. Chicago Bulls great Scottie Pippen had Hecky's cater the team's private plane on occasion. When the Northwestern Wildcats faced off with the University of Southern California Trojans in the Rose Bowl in 1996, then-mayor Lorraine Morton and Hecky bet the mayor of Pasadena that the Wildcats would win. The Trojans won 41 to 32, and Hecky made ribs and chicken for the entire Pasadena City Council. But it was more than a restaurant. Hecky used his place to help high school kids learn responsibility and social skills, giving many of them their first jobs. He worked long hours, starting early in the morning, but he always had fun. No task was too small. He was cook, cleaner, and manager alongside his mother and the kids he was mentoring. Hecky was a champion for local youth. In 1994, he founded the Forrest E. Powell Foundation. Named after his father, the foundation offers grant and scholarship opportunities. In 2016, he started the Evanston Work Ethic Program, which helps young people prepare for vocational or trade school. In 2011, Hecky left work early, thinking he had the flu. He made light of it, but his wife knew better. He later was diagnosed with liver failure and told he had 6 to 7 months to live. Hecky resolved that he was going to be fine and against tough odds, he lived to receive a liver transplant in 2015 and was able to get his life back. Hecky then joined the Northwestern Medicine Transplant Advisory Council Board to help people get their own lives back too. For all this work, Hecky received the key to the city of Evanston in 2014, Abner Mikva Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015, and the street in front of the restaurant was officially renamed ``Hecky Powell Way.'' A person did not know Evanston until they experienced it with Hecky. When the COVID-19 pandemic reached Evanston, Hecky stepped up. Hecky's kept the whole staff on payroll and donated meals to hospital workers, shelters, and the Evanston Fire Departm. Hecky, as the unofficial mayor of Evanston, was the face of the community poster that read ``No Mask, No Sauce.'' Evanston has lost a true leader of the community. He was kind and generous without ever asking anything in return. I was honored to count Hecky as a friend and enjoyed many great times together with him. Squeezing in a stop at Hecky's was part of every Evanston visit. This June 19, people will celebrate with Hecky's Juneteenth Strawberry pop. For years, Hecky was part of the Jubilee, celebrating the arrival of news in Galveston, TX, that the Civil War was over and President Lincoln had issued his Emancipation Proclamation. He was Evanston's biggest supporter of making Juneteenth a holiday. This year, Evanston has its first Juneteenth Parade, and Hecky was going to be a big part of it, so it is fitting that the community will be dedicating part of the celebration to him. Hecky is survived by his wife Cheryl, seven children, Sharmin, Terry, Dawn, Joy, Hecky Junior, Jason, and Gigi, as well as his mother and seven siblings.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I was necessarily absent for rollcall vote No. 17, the motion to invoke cloture on the Gardner amendment in the nature of a substitute, No. 1617, to H.R. 1957. Had I been present for the vote, I would have voted yea.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I would like to follow up on the speech just made on the floor by my colleague from South Dakota because his observations about shortages when it comes to healthcare across America affect not just his State, South Dakota, but certainly affect Illinois and many other States as well. We are in desperate need of additional doctors and nurses and dentists and medical professionals. We are in need of more technology-- telehealth, of course, is one of those technologies--to make sure we expand the reach of Medicare in the United States. In the midst of this coronavirus pandemic, we understand that now more than ever. That is why I have introduced legislation called the Health Heroes 2020 Act with specific design to dramatically expand the number of healthcare professionals. There is one way to reach that goal, I believe, and that is to incentivize medical students and dental students in America to make a commitment to serve in areas of greatest need in this country for at least 2 years and to remain in a reserve, if needed, for medical emergency. What would they receive in return? Forgiveness of the cost of their medical education. Do you know that most doctors and dentists who graduate have a minimum of $240,000 in additional student debt over and above the undergraduate experience--$240,000 in debt when they become licensed doctors and dentists? Some have even more. Imagine if those young men and women with all this talent and all this determination want to serve in the areas of greatest need but throw up their hands and say: I have to pay off this loan. I have no choice but to go to a different place. If we had the National Health Service Corps expanded to provide loans for the cost of medical education, with the incentive that those new medical professionals would serve in areas of great need, it would certainly help to solve a major problem in America. We feel it in the inner cities, but we feel it as intensely, if not more so, in the rural and smalltown areas of the Senator from South Dakota's State and my State of Illinois. Could we work together to do this? Could we work to come up with the money to make sure these medical professionals are there? When we talk about doctors and nurses, don't overlook the need for dentists. There are millions of people in my great State of Illinois who do not have ready access to dental care. The Illinois Dental Society once or twice each year has a free dental service weekend, and they--usually on a Saturday--will allow any patient to come in and have dental care given to them for nothing. People wait in a queue, in a line overnight for this opportunity. Can you imagine having a problem with your teeth, some pain or discomfort or perhaps a disfigurement, and being unable to afford the care you need? For many of these people, this is their last chance, to wait in line all night to get in for free dental services from the Illinois Dental Society. I have seen it. It is remarkable, and my hat is off to the dental society and the dentists who provide these services. What an eye-opener to see all of these people who are in desperate need of dental care. We need more dentists. We need to make certain that they are accessible and affordable for Americans wherever they may live. I support the suggestion of the Senator from South Dakota when it comes to telehealth, but let's make sure we have the men and women on the front end of the process who are still an important and critical and essential part of the kind of professional medical service and dental service we all need. There is another way to help make sure we have enough dentists and doctors. It is to make sure that those who are currently in the United States in dental school or medical school, who are protected by DACA, have a chance to remain in this country. By way of background, 20 years ago, I introduced a bill called the DREAM Act. The DREAM Act was designed for those brought to the United States as children, infants, and toddlers, who were brought into this country perhaps on a visitor's visa and overstayed their visa and didn't file the necessary documents and soon became undocumented in America. They didn't leave. They grew up here. They were little kids who grew up in this country going to our schools, being part of America, and believing America was their future. Usually, sometime in their adolescence, their parents would sit down and tell them the grim reality that they have no legal right to be in this country. Despite the fact that they knew no other country, spoke no other language, pledged allegiance to the same flag we do, they were technically not legally in America. We introduced the DREAM Act to give them a chance. If they completed school and had no serious criminal issues, they would be given a chance to become American citizens. The bill went back and forth. It would pass the House one year and pass the Senate the next year. It would come up the majority of the Senate but not 60 votes. It languished until I appealed to the President of the United States--then Barack Obama--and asked him if he would consider creating by Executive order some protection for these young people, and he did. This was the DACA Program, and under DACA, these same Dreamers I mentioned earlier would pay a substantial filing fee, go through a criminal background check, and be given, for 2 years, the--be spared of any threat of deportation and be given the right to legally work in this country. How many young people showed up for this Obama DACA Program and went through it successfully? There were 800,000. There were 800,000 from all around the country just to get a chance to go to school, to complete their dream, and to even serve in America's military. They just want to be part of this country--800,000. What was going to happen to this program when a new President named Donald Trump came to office? The very first time I met President Trump was just minutes after he had been sworn in as President. There was a lunch for him--an inaugural lunch--in Statuary Hall, and I went up to him and introduced himself. I said: Mr. President, I am begging you, do what you can to extend the protection of DACA to these 800,000 young people. They are counting on it. He leaned over, and he looked at me, and he said: Oh, Senator Durbin, don't worry. We are going to take care of these young people. Well, that was the President's assurance, but unfortunately he didn't keep his word. He decided, unfortunately, to abolish the DACA Program, saying that President Obama had no authority by Executive order to give this kind of protection. Then a number of people filed a case in court saying that the Executive order of the President should or should not be sustained. It had to be contested in court. Luckily, for the DACA recipients--800,000 of them--while the court case has been pending, they have been protected by court order from being deported. But the decision is going to be made by the Supreme Court, and it could be made next week or in the 2 weeks that follow. So in the month of June, the fate of 800,000 of these young people will be decided across the street in the Supreme Court. These are the young people who have become an important part of America. When the Republican Senator from South Dakota talks about shortages in medical personnel, I hope he knows that 41,000 of those DACA recipients are currently providing vital healthcare services in this pandemic that we are facing as a nation, and if they are judged to be deported and illegal to work in this country and leave, it will leave a gap in the medical services that this country desperately, desperately needs. Some of these young people are incredible. Their stories are nothing short of amazing. I would like to tell you of one here at this moment-- Mariana Galati. This is her photograph. Today, I want to tell you that she is the 122nd Dreamer whose story I have told on the Senate floor. Mariana came to the United States from Mexico when she was 5 years old. She grew up in Camden, NJ. It wasn't an easy life. She grew up in a single-parent household, and her mother did not speak English. Here is what she told me about it: I had to fend for myself at a young age. I feel like I never got to have a childhood. I tried to never let that backdrop define me or stop me from my dreams. What was her dream? To become a nurse. While working at a bakery, she went to a technical school to become a medical assistant, and then in 2012 President Obama created DACA. Mariana was able to work as a medical assistant. Here is what she said about DACA: Before DACA, I had no future, purpose, or chance of a better life. The fear with DACA is that it can go away--an expiration date approaching that means that I would have to go back to the way things were. Now I understand why we are called Dreamers--it is because before DACA all we could do was dream of the life we wanted to have--a dream about being ``someone.'' While working as a medical assistant, Mariana is studying to become a nurse. She is now a junior at Rutgers University Nursing School. Here is what she said about that experience: To be a nurse is a way of living. I do not look at it as a job, it is beyond that for me--it's a calling. Advocating for and giving people a voice is a reward within itself. Helping people in their time of need where they are most vulnerable is a privilege. Mariana is currently on the frontlines of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a registered medical assistant at the Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital COVID-19 testing center. She faces exposure to that virus every day that she goes to work. She takes every shift that she is offered. She said: I have to be there. I want to be there. I am not scared, but I am scared at the same time. I know what the risks are. I want to thank Mariana Galati for her service. She is an immigrant health hero. She is putting herself and her family at risk to save American lives. She shouldn't have to worry about whether she is going to be deported next week. We can do better for Mariana and for thousands of other DACA recipients just like her. They are counting on those of us who serve in the Senate to solve this crisis that President Trump created. I cannot imagine, as I tell the 122nd story of a Dreamer on the floor of the Senate, that anyone listening believes we would be a better country if Mariana were deported. That is the option that the President has created. He has failed and refused to consider any solution or any effort to rescue people like Mariana and to give them a chance to be part of America's future. When we look at those in essential services, medical and social services, it turns out that one in six of them are immigrants to this country. I know it is not a popular thing to say to this administration, but I have to remind him that we are a nation of immigrants. My mother was an immigrant to this country, and her son has been fortunate enough to be elected Senator and represent the great State of Illinois. That is my story. That is my family's story, but it is also America's story. We are in this together. People from across the world have come to this country to be part of its future. Mariana is an example--a young woman who could have thrown up her hands and said: I am undocumented. I am not going to have any way of legally being part of America. My dreams are just going to be put on hold. But she didn't. She was determined to make the best of her life. Then when President Obama created DACA, a door opened for her that she couldn't have imagined. She had the opportunity to move from medical assistant to become a nurse. She is studying at Rutgers for that purpose. Really, Mr. President, do you think New Jersey or America would be better if Mariana is deported out of this country? As soon as next week, maybe even next Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court is about to rule on the future of DACA. The President of the United States can solve this problem if they decide that DACA is to be abolished. He can fix this himself. There is another person who has a critical role, too, and that is Senator McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate. He has the power to bring this issue to the floor of the Senate for a debate and a vote. The House of Representatives has already passed the Dream and Promise Act, which would solve the challenge that would be created if the Supreme Court abolishes the DACA Program. Are we overwhelmed with business in the U.S. Senate, as I peer at an empty Chamber with my wonderful speech being the only thing as an item of business at this moment? We have time. We have more than enough time to deal with this issue. For 800,000 protected by DACA, it is literally a life-and-death issue. I would appeal to Senator McConnell to use his power as the Republican leader to solve this problem, to address this issue, to say that, if you qualify for the DACA Program, you are going to be protected until the end of the year or, beyond that, given an opportunity to become citizens of the United States, a goal which I have been seeking for the 20 years that I have worked on the Dream Act. We know that we need the help of wonderful young people like Mariana Galati to make this a better nation. The question is whether the President ever will realize that or whether Senator McConnell would make room in our schedule for us to debate this issue. Let's get this right. Let's make sure that we have sensible immigration policies in America. The notion of abolishing DACA and saying to Mariana, ``you will now be deported back to a country you cannot even remember,'' is not the answer. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) is necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Maryland (Mr. Cardin) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, this week, my State of Illinois is saying a fond and final farewell to a deeply loved and respected public servant, Larry Walsh. He devoted 50 years of his life to serving, as he called them, the folks back home. He won his first election to the local school board in 1970 at the age of 21. He served in local and county government positions and in the Illinois State Senate. For the last 16 years, Larry was county executive for Will County, the fourth largest county in my State of Illinois and one of the fastest growing. Larry Walsh was as good at retail politics as anybody I have ever seen. He loved politics and he loved people and it showed. People loved him back. Democrats, Republicans, farmers, city folk--they all loved Larry. He was one of the longest serving county executives in Will County history. When he announced last August that he would not run for a fifth term as executive because the cancer he was battling for 5 years was gaining the upper hand, there was hardly a dry eye in the room. Everyone with whom he had worked was saddened by that announcement. He said at that press conference: ``I've been a very blessed man and a very lucky man.'' From where I am sitting, I think the really lucky ones were Larry's folks back home. Also lucky were those who worked with him and called him a friend. I am honored to count myself among them. Lawrence Michael Walsh, born on a farm in Elwood, IL, about 10 miles outside of Joliet. He was the second of eight children. His parents were farmers, as were his grandparents and great-grandparents. He carried on that family tradition. Farming was in his blood. He won his first election to the school board about 3 weeks before his first child was born. Three years later, he was elected to the local board of supervisors. He was elected to the Will County board in 1974 and again in 1992. From 1997, until the year 2005, Larry served in the Illinois State Senate in Springfield. His Senate district--the 43rd--included most of Will County, parts of Kankakee and Iroquois Counties. There were cities, suburbs, and farms. In Springfield, he sat in the back row of the chamber. He became good friends of another senator who sat in the seat right next to him. To some, it was an amazingly odd couple to see the two of them, Larry the farmer and conservative Democrat and his seatmate, a very liberal, left-leaning lawyer from Hyde Park in the city of Chicago. Both men had an ability that is all too rare in today's brand of politics. They could see beyond labels. They were both passionate about building coalitions and finding common ground, and they both liked a good game of poker. So they became good friends. In 2004, when his friend decided to run for the U.S. Senate, Larry Walsh was the first Senator to endorse him. Larry took his seatmate to meet the farmers and other folks in small towns in Will and Kankakee Iroquois counties. Four years later, that seatmate of his was elected President of the United States, and Larry Walsh was right here in Washington to see Barack Obama inaugurated as the leader of our great Nation. Larry Walsh was a fine and decent man. He was thoughtful and witty, loyal and trustworthy. He seemed to radiate joy, and his joy would fill a room. He was grounded in reality and modest. He had a big booming voice--you couldn't miss it--and you sure as heck could not miss his laugh, and there were plenty of them. His friends included a President, Cabinet members and Governors and men and women who swept the floors in his offices. In 2007, Will County Democrats created a new award to honor those working to promote progress and the common good. They named the award after the man who exemplified those qualities--the Larry Walsh Lifetime Achievement Award. Well, fittingly, the first recipient of the Larry Walsh Lifetime Achievement Award was Larry Walsh. I laughed about that so many times and never let him forget it. Every time he visited my office, I would remind him that he was the first recipient of the Larry Walsh Award. Larry's admirers transcended party labels. George Pearson, chairman of the Will County Republican Party, told a reporter that Larry ``greeted me each time we met with a handshake, a smile and a pat on the shoulder. You would never have known we were on opposite sides of the political aisle, and that is what made Larry popular with Will County residents.'' The other thing that made Larry Walsh so popular with the people of his county was that he was just incredibly good at his job. As county executive, Larry worked hard to professionalize and modernize county government and make it more responsive. He built a strong financial foundation for this great county, which improved its bond rating and enabled him to lead the largest capital improvement program in the history of the county. The county built new roads and bridges, a new public safety complex, new county health facilities, and a new courthouse scheduled to open in October. In the Illinois State Senate, he was instrumental in, among others things, developing the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood; the redevelopment of the Joliet Arsenal into a modern intermodal freight terminal, the CenterPoint Intermodal Center; and the designation of the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie--the first national tallgrass prairie in the United States. There was a time when we thought it was the end of the world for Will County when Joliet Arsenal was given up by the Federal Government, but thanks to Larry Walsh and his buddy George Sangmeister and many others, it became a showpiece for the rest of the United States to see how this piece of Federal real estate had a bright, bright future. Larry was most proud of his family. My wife Loretta and I offer our deepest condolences to Irene, Larry's wife of 50 years, and the love of his life. I called her on the phone just the other day when Larry passed, and we talked about the rough period toward the end of his life, but we knew it was coming. Today, we look back on it as a moment of trial that he endured until that moment when he left and left behind not only that love of his life Irene but their daughter Sarah, their five sons, Larry Jr. and Shawn--both of whom followed dad into public service--Frank, Matthew, and Brian and 20 grandkids. He was so proud of every single one of them. Because of the pandemic, the sendoff for Larry is going to be much smaller than it would have been in Will County. There will be visitation from 2 to 8 on Thursday, followed by a private funeral mass on Friday, and local folks are expected to line the route from the church to the cemetery. A couple of final thoughts about my friend Larry: He was a bridge builder. He had inexhaustible patience when it came to searching for common ground in order to make government work and solve big problems. Don't we need more leaders like him today? Larry loved life. Every Christmas season, for years, the local theater company in Joliet put on a stage production of that classic movie ``It's a Wonderful Life.'' The show was always broadcast on a local radio station, and for many years, right up to this last Christmas, Larry Walsh played the part of Clarence. You will remember Clarence at the end of the movie. He was the guardian angel. Clarence was always hoping to earn his wings. Clarence was assigned to watch over George Bailey, who is so despondent one Christmas Eve he is thinking about jumping off a bridge. Clarence the guardian angel's assignment was to get George to change his mind. Clarence did that by showing George how much the people in his hometown would have missed had George not been part of their lives. Clarence tells George: Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he? Many of us are feeling an awful hole today with the passing of Larry Walsh--this good man and devoted public servant. Even though we can't schedule the kind of Irish wake that Larry so richly deserved, there is something we can do. Besides his family, his faith, his community and public service, there was something that Larry was also fond of. After a hard day of work, Larry was known to enjoy a Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. In his honor, if you are so inclined, may we raise a PBR to Larry and a life well lived, and may we resolve to fill the hole he has left by following his uncommon example Criminal Justice System Mr. President, this past weekend, I went back to Illinois and visited with two different groups--one on Friday, another on Saturday. They were young African Americans on the South Side of Chicago and in my hometown of Springfield. I wanted to sit down with these young people, some just barely high school students, who had been engaged in protests and demonstrations in their hometowns and ask them what it was about, what it meant to them. I wanted to hear it firsthand. They talked about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and how it changed the conversation about justice in America, and it moved them to stand up and speak up. I am proud to say that those I met with have engaged in peaceful demonstrations consistent with American values and our Constitution. I am proud of them because there were no distractions. They were focused on Black Lives Matter and true justice in America. When we met, I asked questions of some of them. I wanted to know a little bit more about them and their lives and what brought them to this moment. I asked each of them about the conversation--you know, that conversation when young people are called in by their parents and warned about the perils and challenges of being Black in America. One young woman remembered her mother cautioning her to always ask for a receipt with every purchase to prove, if ever challenged, that the item had not been shoplifted. Many talked about hairstyles and clothing that they learned to be dangerous in the eyes of some White Americans. They were even warned about the danger of any contact with the police and how their tone of voice and every move had to be carefully considered--every one of them. Every one of them remembered the first time they were called the ``N'' word. That graphic video of the last moments of George Floyd's life, when he was pleading ``I can't breathe'' and the cold stare of the policeman, with his knee on George Floyd's neck, ignoring the pleas for mercy--those images touched the conscience of America and the world, and these young people were touched by it. They know and we all know, sadly, that what happened to George Floyd was not an exception. Since 2015, the Washington Post has been following the number of people shot and killed by police. Through 2019, the total number has hovered near 1,000 annually. Ninety-four percent of the victims were armed. The Post reports: The number of black and unarmed people fatally shot by police has declined since 2015, but whether armed or not, black people are shot and killed at a disproportionately higher rate than white people. They note in their newspaper this morning the death rate by race in unarmed shootings was 7.3 percent for Whites, 10.7 percent for Hispanics, and 30.3 percent for Blacks. The anger and pain that we have seen on the streets in recent days is a reflection of generations of trauma. People are fed up with racism that has led to this injustice, and many of these young people leading this protest are determined not to live in its shadow any longer. There are hundreds of thousands of police officers in our Nation. Most will never use their firearms. Many who do must make split-second, life-or-death decisions. I know many of them personally. I believe the ones I know are professional and humane. If we are honest, we know that within their ranks are police officers who do not have the training or temperament to be entrusted with the authority and power they have been given. We need an honest conversation with police chiefs and law enforcement leaders on inherent bias, use of force, training and accountability for unjust actions. Prosecutors and judges need to join us in the pursuit of real justice, and legislators like myself need to undo the damage of a criminal justice system fraught with racial disparity. The Obama Task Force on 21st Century Policing released a report in 2015 to strengthen community policing and restore trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve. The Trump administration shelved this effort in 2017. It is time to take it off the shelf. This week, I join Senators Booker and Harris in cosponsoring the Justice in Policing Act of 2020--a comprehensive approach to bring accountability to policing, change methods and practices, and build trust. It draws the line on odious police practices and sets goals and standards for recruitment, training, and retraining. Even that is not enough. Justice in America requires more than improving law enforcement. We cannot put racism behind us until we invest in opportunities for quality education, medical care that meets the highest standards, jobs with livable wages, opportunities, and safe affordable housing. The young people I met with want an America that is more just. Let them lead us into a future where we can all breathe more easily. I held hearings on race in America when I was chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Rights--one in December of 2014. The hearing was held just a month after the death of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland while he played with a toy gun. I said then, and, sadly, I must repeat today, when unarmed African- American men and boys are killed in our streets, there is much work to be done to find justice in America. This followed a hearing I had held the previous year where we heard heartbreaking testimony from Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, and Lucy McBath, the mother of Jordan Davis. Lucy has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Georgia since. Both of these innocent young Black men were gunned down by violent White vigilantes. Now we again grieve the lives of two Black men and a Black woman-- lives cut far too short in incidents of inexplicable and inexcusable violence--Ahmaud Arbery out for a jog; Breonna Taylor at home in her bedroom; and George Floyd on a curbside in Minneapolis. Once again, those gut-wrenching words ``I can't breathe'' bring tears to our eyes. How many more names of Black men, women, and children will we cry out in protest before things change? We need to have an honest American conversation with law enforcement officers about training, inherent bias, use of force, and consequences for wrongdoing. We need to prohibit police misconduct that is discriminatory and deadly. We must recruit and train the next generation of law enforcement to protect and serve everyone in America. We need to invest in social services instead of expecting law enforcement to intervene in crisis situations that they are not equipped to deal with. This will require us--Senators, other legislators--to continue to undo the damage of a criminal justice system that is unfair, in many respects--most importantly, require those of us with privilege and power to step back and listen to African Americans affected by pervasive, systemic racism. What can we do? A good place to start is President Obama's task force. As I mentioned earlier, it was that administration's response to deal with community policing and trust in the community. It was shelved by the Trump administration, and I think it would be a good start--a bipartisan start--for the Trump administration to bring it down from the shelf and start a conversation. We have an important role to play right here in Congress. Unfortunately, since Republicans took the Senate majority in January 2015, the Senate Judiciary Committee has rarely addressed issues of racism in our Nation. The last hearing on policing in the Judiciary Committee was actually 5 years ago--November 2015--chaired by the junior Senator from Texas. It was entitled ``The War on Police: How the Federal Government Undermines State and Local Law Enforcement.'' It was a thinly veiled attack on the efforts of the Obama administration's Civil Rights Division. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Lindsey Graham, has announced the Senate will hold a hearing on police misconduct next week. I was glad to hear it. I hope it is not just one and done. We need multiple hearings--long overdue. It is critical that we also hear from Attorney General William Barr. We need to know whether the Justice Department will revive the efforts of the Obama administration to address police misconduct, and we need answers about what happened at Lafayette Square last week--right outside the White House, when the Attorney General reportedly ordered Federal law enforcement to clear peaceful demonstrators. They used rubber bullets and some form of gas. The Attorney General insists it wasn't tear gas, but I have seen it, and it looks like some sort of a gas spray designed to push the demonstrators away. Hearings aren't enough. We need to do something the Senate rarely does anymore--pass a law. How about that? We need legislation on this subject, not lamentation. I am proud to join Senators Cory Booker and Kamala Harris in introducing this Justice in Policing Act. Our bill includes the End Racial Profiling Act--legislation I have cosponsored for many years, finally prohibiting the scourge of racial profiling. In 2012, I held a hearing on this bill to end racial profiling. This was the only hearing that the Senate has held on racial profiling in 20 years. Our bill would ban choke holds--like the one that killed George Floyd. It will ban no-knock warrants--like the one that led to the death of Breonna Taylor. In 2014, many Americans were shocked to see tanks rolling through the streets of Ferguson, MO. Shortly afterward, I held a hearing in the same subcommittee where we heard compelling testimony about the shocking reality that local police departments all over the country are armed to the teeth with billions of dollars of military surplus equipment. Our bill will limit the transfer of military-grade equipment to State and local police so the weapons of war do not become commonplace in the streets of America. The Justice in Policing Act also requires the use of dashboard cameras and body cameras for Federal officers, State, and local law enforcement. Our bill establishes a National Police Misconduct Registry to prevent officers who have engaged in misconduct from simply moving to another department without accountability. It will ensure that individuals whose constitutional rights are violated by police officers can recover in court. After the Civil War, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1871 to ensure that any person acting in official capacity who deprives another of a constitutional or legal right can be held liable in court. However, judges have strictly limited the use of this statue to recover damages for police misconduct by creating what is known as qualified immunity for police officers. The Justice in Policing Act will end this. This is a doctrine created by judges and never approved by Congress. I call on Senator McConnell to do more than just join in speeches about George Floyd. I call on him to bring the Justice in Policing Act to the floor of the Senate as soon as possible. Wouldn't it be amazing, with all the protestations and all of the statements made by all of the people in the streets, by representatives in this administration from the Department of Justice who came before our committee today, and each and every one standing up and saying they are concerned about George Floyd, if we in the U.S. Senate actually considered a bill on the subject--actually considered passing a law on this matter? We owe it not just to the Senate, we owe it to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, to Ahmaud Arbery, and all of the Black and Brown lives we have lost in these brutal acts of racial injustice. I yield the floor.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar) and the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), and the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), the Senator from Arizona (Ms. Sinema), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), and the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), and the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, Americans owe a great debt of gratitude to the healthcare heroes on the frontlines of the fight against the COVID- 19 virus. Today I would like to spend a minute talking about one special group of those healthcare workers: immigrants. Consider this: One out of every six healthcare and social service workers in America is an immigrant--3 million out of 18 million immigrants. They are playing a critical role in the battle against the pandemic. Yet our broken immigration laws do not allow many of them to fulfill their dreams of actually becoming Americans. I have come to the floor today to tell the story of one of our immigrant healthcare heroes. I will continue to highlight these stories in the coming weeks. There has been so much negative publicity about immigrants. Yet, when you follow what is happening in hospitals across America--large and small, rural and urban--and so many times you ask ``Doctor, where were you born?'' you find they weren't born in the United States, but they came here to practice medicine, and now their work is saving lives every day. I invite my colleagues and others to share stories from their own communities and their own States and to use the social media hashtag ``Immigrant Health Heroes.'' Thousands of immigrant health workers are suffering because of a serious problem in our immigration system. It is called the green card backlog. If you are not in immigrant status, you may not know anything about it, but trust me, they do. This backlog puts them and their families at risk of losing their immigration status, and it hinders their ability to join in the fight against COVID-19. Under current law, there are not nearly enough immigrant visas--also known as green cards--available each year. As a result, many immigrants in the United States are stuck in crippling backlogs, not just for years but for decades. Close to 5 million future Americans--close to 5 million--are in line waiting for green cards. Hundreds of thousands are working in the United States on a temporary visa while many more are waiting abroad, separated from their American families. Only 226,000 family green cards and 140,000 employment green cards are available each year. The backlogs are a real hardship on these families caught in immigration limbo. For example, children in many of these families age out and face deportation. While their parents are waiting for the green card, the child reaches the age where they are deported, at age 21. The green card backlog includes thousands of doctors currently working in the United States on temporary visas. These doctors face many restrictions due to their temporary status, such as not being able to take shifts at hospitals in COVID-19 hotspots where they may be desperately needed. The solution to the green card backlog is very clear: Increase the number of green cards. In 2013, I joined a group of four Republicans and four Democrats who authored bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform legislation. Our bill, which passed the Senate on a strong bipartisan 68-to-32 vote, would have eliminated this green card backlog. Last year I introduced the RELIEF Act, legislation based on the 2013 comprehensive immigration reform bill, which would clear the backlogs for all immigrants waiting in line for green cards within 5 years. I will keep fighting to help these immigrants here in the United States who simply want a chance to continue to serve this Nation. Last month I joined with my colleagues--Senators Perdue of Georgia, Young of Indiana, Cornyn of Texas, Coons of Delaware, and Leahy of Vermont--to introduce legislation to quickly address the plight of immigrant doctors and nurses stuck in this green card backlog. This backlog poses a significant risk to our ability to effectively respond to this pandemic. Our bill, the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, is a temporary stopgap effort that will strengthen our healthcare workforce and improve healthcare for Americans in the midst of this national emergency. Our bill would reallocate 25,000 unused immigrant visas for nurses and 15,000 unused immigrant visas for doctors. These are visas that Congress has previously authorized but were not used. It is important to note that our bill requires employers to attest to a very important fact. They have to attest that immigrants from overseas who receive these visas will not displace an American worker. We want to ensure that the beneficiaries of this bill help build our workforce but not at the expense of those already here in the United States. Our bill now has 13 Republican and 13 Democratic cosponsors and broad support from the medical community. As Congress works on the next legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic, I am going to join my Republican colleagues and push for the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act to be included. Today, let me tell you the story of one immigrant healthcare worker stuck in this green card backlog waiting indefinitely, for years, and he would benefit from the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act: Dr. Parth Mehta, born in India. As a child, he was inspired to pursue a career in medicine by his grandfather, who worked as an assistant to a physician, and by his older sister, who is a surgeon. Dr. Mehta came to the United States in the year 2004. He has been here 16 years. He obtained a master's in public health at Saint Xavier University in the city of Chicago. He then completed his residency in internal medicine at St. Joseph's Hospital in Chicago. In 2010, 10 years ago, Dr. Mehta began working as a hospitalist at UnityPoint Health Methodist Medical Center in downstate Peoria, IL. He sent me a letter, and here is what he says about being a doctor: I feel that it is a great privilege to help people, comforting them, healing them, and making them better when they are most vulnerable. Dr. Mehta lives in Peoria with his wife and his 10-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, and he writes, in addition: We have called Peoria home for 10 years now and we love our community here. We have bought a home here, built a career here, and we plan to stay in this community as long as we can. Now Dr. Mehta is on the frontlines of the pandemic, treating COVID-19 patients. He was also selected as the principal investigator for a COVID-19 trial for which the hospital has applied, but unfortunately, Dr. Mehta is one of thousands of doctors who are stuck in this green card backlog. He has been on a temporary work visa for 13 years. He has been forced to renew his visa four times since he became a doctor. His green card petition was filed in 2011, but he will have to wait years and years and years before he receives a green card. In the midst of this pandemic, Dr. Mehta's immigration status puts him at great risk. If, God forbid, he contracts COVID-19 and becomes disabled or dies, his family would immediately lose their immigration status and be forced to leave the United States. Dr. Mehta has written goodbye letters to his wife and kids and prepared an emergency binder with all the necessary information for his family if he dies. To keep his family safe, Dr. Mehta has isolated himself by living in the basement of his home. He is especially worried about his wife, who has asthma. In March, she was diagnosed with pneumonia and was hospitalized for 10 days, including a stay in the intensive care unit. Here is what Dr. Mehta wrote to me about this: Seeing COVID patients, treating them, taking care of them, and saving their lives is part of my job, and I will never shy away from doing my job. But how is it fair that my family gets no protection if I die doing my job? Dr. Mehta's story makes it clear why Congress needs to pass the Healthcare and Workforce Resilience Act. Under our bill, Dr. Mehta and thousands of others like him could receive their green cards. They and their families would get the permanent immigration status they deserve and be able to use their skills to serve on the frontlines of the pandemic, where they are needed most. Don't put a sign in the window saying that you love healthcare workers, don't come out at 7 at night and beat on a pan to show that you care for healthcare workers and ignore the reality that this man in Peoria, IL, is risking his life every day to treat those patients, and we have written a law that says you are basically not welcome in the United States. How can we say this to him, to thousands just like him, doctors and nurses who are really caring for the people we love and risking their own lives in the process? It would be great, in these times of political division, if we could come together in this Congress to quickly aid these immigrant healthcare heroes. The bill that I have introduced with Senator Perdue, Senator Young, and others is a step toward reality, toward realizing that people just like these make us a better nation and a stronger nation. Dr. Mehta and his family, with all their fears, should know that there are many here in Congress, particularly here in the Senate, who want to move as quickly as possible and make sure that their lives are better because they have done so much to make the lives of others better. I yield the floor.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, there are so many critical jobs that go on around the Capitol that may not always get the spotlight or appreciation they deserve. Today, I would like to mention one such amazing person, Pia Corona, or as she is affectionately known, Ms. Pia. You see, Pia is a teacher at the Senate Employees Childcare Center, a caring, nurturing, and deeply special component of the Senate community. Six years ago, on the 30th anniversary of the center, then-Senator Tom Harkin described the teachers and administrators at the center as, ``some of the unsung heroes of the Senate.'' I couldn't agree more, and it is a privilege to pay special tribute today to one of those unsung heroes. This month marks Pia's 25 year anniversary teaching at the center, a monumental accomplishment that has allowed her the opportunity to have a lasting impact on countless young lives. A number of children of my staff were fortunate to have Ms. Pia as a teacher and cannot say enough wonderful things about her, so much so that they still keep in touch and bring their children by to visit years after leaving the center. Elle, Oliver and Leo, just three of many examples, still recognize Ms. Pia as an impactful figure in their early lives and in their education. Pia, a stalwart New York Yankees fan, started at the Senate Employees Childcare Center in May 1995, always working in the pre-kindergarten class to help children prepare for the big jump to elementary school kindergarten. Over the last two and half decades, she taught more than 400 children, including many siblings. Ms. Pia has a unique understanding of how each child learns differently and loving ability to meet those individual needs at such a tender and formative age. Not surprisingly, she is described by her colleagues as a walking encyclopedia of knowledge on child development, and her classroom lessons and caring style reflect these incredible talents. One of her special field trips was a walk over to the late Senator John Glenn's office when her students were studying space. A picture of this outing still hangs at the center. Pia also helped organize a visit to this very Senate floor for her class. They listened patiently as the Secretary of the Senate gave her own pre-K version of School House Rock. It was, without a doubt, the most well-behaved gathering that the Senate floor has seen in years. Pia makes such an impression on children that many of her former students still reach out to her, including one recent college graduate who wanted to say thank you all these years later. I know children of some of my staff have returned to the center to read to Ms. Pia's students during storytime. As we struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, we have all been reminded once again of the critical importance of our teachers and schools. Ms. Pia's students certainly knew that was the case from their time in her class. We all remember a teacher or two who made a lasting impact on our lives growing up--challenging us, inspiring us, nurturing us. Ms. Pia will surely be one that many remember as just such a special teacher. I congratulate Pia Corona on her notable anniversary and deeply meaningful contribution to the Senate community. Our country and our world need good news and kindness right now. Simply put, that is Ms. Pia.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Markey), the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders), the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Schatz), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Smith), and the Senator from Montana (Mr. Tester) are necessarily absent.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, 2 weeks ago, I came to the floor of the Senate to ask for consent on the simple, timely Senate resolution sponsored by nearly half of the Members of this Chamber. What did the resolution call for? Well, it urged the United States to join global coronavirus vaccine and treatment efforts. That doesn't sound like a radical idea, does it? In the midst of a global pandemic that is causing so much suffering and so many deaths, it would seem that asking the United States to join other countries of the world in searching for therapies and vaccines is just common sense. We don't know where or when a vaccine will be discovered. We don't know if an effective treatment will be discovered in the United States or in some other place. Certainly, with the respected medical and scientific leadership in the United States, you would hope that it would be here, but let's be honest. If a safe and effective vaccine against the coronavirus is discovered in some other country, the United States would want to be there and be part of the discussion about its production and distribution. Wouldn't we? That is all this resolution says. Why not team up with allies around the world since we are all looking for the same thing--a safe and effective vaccine. Whether that vaccine is stamped ``Made in the USA'' or is made in some other country is secondary. Is it safe? Is it effective? Will it save lives? Do we really want the American people to be left out of such an effort? It was a global effort to eliminate smallpox, Ebola, polio, and so many other deadly diseases we took for granted. We were all in it together. These viruses and diseases don't know any boundaries. People around the world have the same fears and concerns that we have in the United States about what we are paying in price of suffering and death until we find a way to avoid it. This resolution would just call on the United States to be part of a global effort to find a therapy and a vaccine, but this resolution was blocked here in the Senate. Since then, since the 2 weeks that have passed, we have lost over 100,000 American lives. Sadly, the number still grows. This has been 100,000 lives in just a few months--the same number of American casualties in the wars of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined. What was President Trump's response? Was there empathy or a message of national unity or healing during this tragic moment? No. Once again, President Trump refused to take any responsibility for leadership during this crisis. Sadly, he has cast blame in every direction and ignored his own responsibility amid a deadly global pandemic that has had devastating consequences for the American people. Sadly, we lead the world in infections and death, but President Trump has decided that now is the moment in history for the United States to pull out of the World Health Organization--the same body that is heading the global pandemic response. What is he thinking--that we would walk away from the organization that has called to the table countries from around the world in an effort to find a safe and effective vaccine? Here we are, on the 40th anniversary of the World Health Organization's historic achievement in eradicating small pox, stumbling along with a President who is more interested in settling a score, casting blame, and finding ways to divide us. Once again, the majority of his party here in the Senate is not chiming in and joining us in this effort to pass this resolution. While we continue to have some of the world's best researchers and experts, it is plausible that a vaccine will be found and developed elsewhere. In a rush to research and validate a vaccine, ramp up production, address global allocation and supply needs, ensure affordability and access worldwide, and make sure the United States gets its fair share of any safe and effective vaccine, where will we stand if the President insists on being on the sidelines, unengaged? When the United States pursues this Trump go-it-alone approach while the rest of the world is working together, where does that leave us? Pride cometh before the fall. Just as with the smallpox effort, a global, collaborative approach makes obvious sense, and it will save American lives. Joining forces with other countries around the world will help to speed the development and eventual distribution of the coronavirus vaccine we desperately seek. Do you want to know what one Republican Senator from Tennessee said about this? He said: ``I disagree with the President's decision.'' Withdrawing U.S. membership from the WHO could, among other things, interfere with clinical trials that are essential to the development of a vaccine. No one knows where this vaccine will eventually be perfected or produced. God willing, it will be soon. Yet why shouldn't we be joining in this global effort? Why? Why, at this moment in history, has President Trump said we are stepping away from the organization that leads this effort? Given this President's--sadly, I hate to use the word--``obsession'' with blaming everyone but himself for mishandling this situation, maybe his dereliction of duty should come as no surprise, but what a bitter, bitter disappointment it is. I return to the floor to ask unanimous consent on a straightforward resolution--a simple resolution that should have passed without any fanfare by a voice vote unanimously in the Senate. This resolution calls on the United States to join in the global effort to find a safe and effective vaccine--something that we have done consistently throughout our history until this President took office. Ultimately, let's remember that this is a pandemic that affects the world, and any solution has to be a worldwide solution as well. We cannot isolate ourselves from the international ways of finding treatments and the development of a vaccine. Doing so not only wastes time but risks there being a loss of life.

Mr. DURBIN

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I have respect for my colleague and thank him for his positive statement about the work to be done in the Foreign Relations Committee. There is nothing in this resolution that preempts or tries to impact on anything he mentioned. The operative language is a few words, ``urging renewed United States leadership and participation in any global efforts on therapeutics and vaccine development and delivery to address COVID-19 and prevent further death.'' How we do that, whether we create an agency or not, this is simply an expression of policy that I hope we can embrace. I will be back if we don't move forward with alternatives. Lives are at stake, and we should be part of the international conversation to avoid it.

Mr. DURBIN. Certainly.