Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Colleagues, here is an understanding of where we are. We have been fiddling around for 2 days on the motion to proceed.

Mr. McCONNELL. My friend, if that were invoked, there are still 30 more hours postcloture on the motion to proceed. Once you get on the bill, you have to go through it again. There is no way in which--

Mr. McCONNELL. Will the Senator yield for a question?

Mr. McCONNELL. Even if cloture were invoked, there are 30 more hours.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask the Senator from West Virginia, in what way would your side be disadvantaged by that? The American people are waiting for us to act today.

Mr. McCONNELL. Senator Collins has laid it out. We don't have time for this. We don't have time for it.

Mr. McCONNELL. I have a question. In what way would the Democratic minority be disadvantaged?

Mr. McCONNELL

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Senators have now spent days engaged in vigorous bipartisan discussions among ourselves and with the administration. Earlier today, I hosted a productive meeting in my office with the Democratic leader, the Speaker of the House, the House Republican leader, and the Secretary of the Treasury. These intense conversations have built a piece of legislation that is as bold and as big as the American people deserve and as thoroughly bipartisan as our process demands. Now what we need to do is to move forward. This national crisis is not going to wait around if Congress slips back into conventional politics or haggles endlessly over the finer points. Every day, more Americans' jobs are disappearing or coming ever closer to the brink. Every day, more small businesses are faced with hard decisions that could change local communities, literally, forever. Every day, major American companies that employ countless people are seeing their commerce crushed by their own government for the sake of public health. Every day, doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals will keep reporting to work and treating patients, whether or not Congress has their back. The risks to our country grow every single day that we do not act. The needs of hospitals and healthcare providers grow every day that we do not act. That is why we have worked around the clock to craft a major bipartisan relief package. That is why we are going to hold our first procedural vote in just a few minutes. It is so that we can keep moving forward, because this virus is not going to wait for politics as usual. These past few days have brought unity and bipartisan energy here to the Senate. I think Members on both sides agree that it has been very encouraging. Since Senate Republicans released our initial framework to give some structure to these discussions, both sides have worked hard to create something that can pass the Senate, pass the House, and be signed into law by the President. The bipartisan product delivers strongly on each of the core priorities we identified at the outset. It puts urgently needed cash in the hands of American workers and families. It delivers historic and rapid relief to small businesses so they can make payroll and keep people employed. It helps stabilize key industries to avoid layoffs wherever possible and preserve the greatest economy in the world for when we come out on the other side of this. And, of course, it sends a massive--massive--new infusion of resources to the frontlines of the medical response. That is what we have to do: inject a significant amount of money as quickly as possible into households, small businesses, key sectors, and our Nation's hospitals and health centers. This bill would do that, and it would do it fast. The comprise product also contains many ideas that our Democratic colleagues brought to the table. It balances the administration's focus on sending direct cash to Americans as quickly as possible with our Democratic colleagues' focus on bolstering State unemployment insurance programs. It places conditions which our Democratic colleagues have sought on the loans that would flow to major businesses, conditions which the President has also endorsed. And both parties have made sure to keep strengthening the resources that will be pushed out to the frontlines. The bill includes $75 billion in a new fund for hospitals and health providers, and more than three-quarters of the funds in the appropriations section--nearly $200 billion--will not stay in Washington but will go straight to State and local priorities. So what we have is a comprise product which contains ideas, contributions, and priorities from both sides and which can become law as soon as tomorrow--as soon as tomorrow. In other words, it is just about time to take yes for an answer. We are now at a point which every American who has ever negotiated anything would recognize, whether they have purchased a home, bought a car, or negotiated for their small business. We are at the point where both sides have come a long way toward each other, and each side has to decide whether to continue elbowing and arguing over the last several inches and risk the whole thing or whether to shake hands and get it done. Thus far, throughout this crisis, the Senate has risen to the occasion. It was just a few days ago when the Senate Republican majority moved expeditiously to pass the House Democrats' phase 2 legislation, even though many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle and I had serious reservations and would have written it very differently. We passed it anyway. It was basically written on the House side. Nevertheless, as I just said, I pushed the Speaker's legislation through the Senate because urgency and results matter during a national crisis; because, imperfections notwithstanding, it was the right thing to do for our country. So, look--look--I hope and anticipate that a similar degree of bipartisanship and urgency will be reciprocated now. I understand the Speaker said following our meeting this morning that she may simply give up on these bipartisan talks and begin writing her own separate bill. Perhaps that is related to the remarks of one of her senior House Democratic leaders who reportedly told colleagues a few days ago: ``This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.'' `` . . . a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.'' Well, I sincerely hope that nobody actually views this crisis in such a cynical manner. This is not a political opportunity. It is a national emergency. That is why we have engaged in days of bipartisan talks to get to this point. It is why it is time to move forward. Americans don't need to see us haggling endlessly. They don't need us to jeopardize all the progress we have made over the past several days for the sake of some eleventh-hour brinkmanship. The American people need an outcome, and they need it tomorrow. They need us to vote to advance this legislation today and pass it tomorrow. As I said yesterday, Congress should take inspiration from our own constituents. We should be inspired by our own constituents. Look at what they are doing. Even during this pandemic, the American people are showing the world the soul of our country. In my home State of Kentucky, the official motto is ``United we stand, divided we fall.'' And every day I hear about new ways Kentuckians are standing united, even if they have to stand 6 feet apart. I recently heard about a resident of Campbell County in Northern Kentucky named Debbie Buckley. In her day job, Debbie works for the local government, but recently she heard about some students at a nearby university who were still living in the dorms even though in- person classes have been canceled. Some had to remain in the area for work. Others were international students who couldn't get home. Their situations were completely uncertain. The local shelves were not fully stocked, so Debbie decided to do something. She put out a call for help, and Kentuckians answered the call. Churches, restaurants, and neighbors all pitched in with food and supplies. Debbie drove all over Northern Kentucky collecting those donations and then delivering them to these young people. She has found everything a college student could need: canned goods, microwaveable meals, and even Airheads candy, which I am proud to say are made right there in Kentucky. There are so many stories like this pouring in from all over our country. Americans are stepping up to the plate. Americans realize this is no time for selfishness and no time for division but a time for solidarity, generosity, and, yes, courage. Americans are rising to the occasion. The Senate must do the same. Let's move this legislation forward this afternoon, as the last few discussions begin to wind down, and then let's get this done tomorrow. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, the cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 748 occur at 6 p.m.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, colleagues, as everyone now knows, the coronavirus has arrived here in the Senate. There are at least five Senators who are in self-quarantine at the moment. The discussions continue on the package that we have been working on, on a bipartisan basis, over the last 2 days. It is time to move forward, and the next step is the vote we are going to have at 6 o'clock. No one is disadvantaged by having that vote because, by getting cloture on the shell that we are having the vote on, there is time--what we call postcloture time--after that vote. So it doesn't interfere with any further discussions that are going on, on a bipartisan basis. We need to signal to the public that we are ready to get this job done, and the way to do that is to vote aye in 5 minutes on cloture on the motion to proceed. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I enter a motion to reconsider the vote.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the American people are watching this spectacle. I am told the futures market is down 5 percent. I am also told that is when trading stops. So the notion that we have time to play games here with the American economy and the American people is utterly absurd. I want to explain what just happened. Our good friends on the other side would not have been disadvantaged one bit if this vote had succeeded because it would have required potentially 30 more hours of discussion, during which these seemingly endless negotiations could go on as long as they would like. Now, the buildup to this, so everybody fully understands, is that we had a high level of bipartisanship in five different working groups over the last 48 hours, where Members who were participating were reaching agreement. Then, all of a sudden, the Democratic leader and the Speaker of the House show up, and we are back to square one. We are fiddling here--fiddling with the emotions of the American people, fiddling with the markets, fiddling with our healthcare. The American people expect us to act tomorrow, and I want everybody to fully understand that if we aren't able to act tomorrow, it will be because of our colleagues on the other side continuing to dicker when the country expects us to come together and address this problem. Now, I changed my vote, which gives me the opportunity to move to reconsider at a later time. That is all I can do in the face of this obstruction. Look, I can understand obstruction when you are trying to achieve something. This obstruction achieves nothing--nothing whatsoever--other than preventing us from getting into a position where there are literally 30 more hours that they could use to continue to dicker. So at a time when the country is crying out for bipartisanship and cooperation, and we saw that over the last 48 hours when regular Members of the Senate, not in the leadership office, not in the Speaker's office--for goodness' sake, she is the Speaker of the House, not the speaker of the Senate; we don't have one--we were doing just fine until that intervention. So I want the American people to fully understand what is going on here. The markets are already reacting to this outrageous nonsense. We have an obligation to the American people to deal with this emergency and to deal with it tomorrow, and if we don't, I want everybody to fully understand, you have seen everybody who is on record. Now, I have conspicuously avoided trying to turn this into any kind of partisan effort for 2 days, but it is pretty clear what is going on here. We will have this cloture vote again at some point of my choosing, and, hopefully, some adults will show up on the other side of the room and understand the gravity of the situation and the need to act before the markets go down further and the American people become even more depressed about our lack of ability to come together under the most extraordinary circumstances. We have never been confronted with anything like this before. It is totally different, and we are not immune to it in terms of the public health risk. Coronavirus has hit the Senate today as well. We have five Members--five Members--in self- quarantine. Everybody understands the emergency, particularly when it hits close to home. It is not just back in our States, but right here in the Senate. So I will say to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle: Step up. Step up. Help us reach an agreement so that we can do what needs to be done for the American people no later than tomorrow. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, well, here we are, the eyes of the Nation are on the Senate, but, tonight, Senate Democrats blocked coronavirus relief from moving forward. Republican and Democratic Senators just spent days collaborating in a bipartisan way with these working groups that we set up. Democratic ideas were incorporated, major changes were made at their request, but, today, the Speaker of the House, is back in town after taking a week off, and poured cold water on the whole bipartisan process. Incredibly, what we witnessed a few hours ago is Senate Democrats voting to filibuster the bipartisan package that they helped craft over the last two days. It wasn't even a vote on final passage. It was simply a vote to limit further debate, after which there would have been 30 more hours to continue to negotiate if they wanted to drag this out endlessly. After that, of course, the futures market tanked in anticipation of an ugly tomorrow based upon an absence of the bipartisan agreement we have been seeking. They voted to block, specifically, surge resources for hospitals, a massive expansion in unemployment benefits, historic relief for small businesses to prevent mass layoffs, direct checks for millions of Americans, and expanding healthcare workers' access to the masks that they need. Even if Democrats reverse course tomorrow--tomorrow--the vote they cast today will almost certainly cause more Americans to lose their jobs and more seniors' hard-earned retirement savings to literally evaporate. Our Nation cannot afford the game of chicken. We can't afford the cynical partisanship that one senior House Democrat owned up to just the other day. Here is what he said: ``This is a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.'' It is an unconscionable statement to view this as a partisan opportunity. This is a national emergency, not a partisan opportunity. Doctors, nurses, small business employees, laid-off Americans, and vulnerable seniors need our help right now. So here is the way ahead, colleagues. We are going to vote at 9:45 in the morning--the same vote we had at 6 o'clock tonight. We are going to vote at 9:45 in the morning, 15 minutes after the markets open, and see whether there is a change of heart. That vote will occur, unless we can finally reach an agreement sometime between now and then. I just want all of our colleagues to know when our next vote will be in the absence of an agreement--9:45 in the morning, 15 minutes after the markets open. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9 a.m., Monday, March 23; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 748.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, as I have said repeatedly and as, I think, all 100 of us know, we had a good bipartisan bill that was developed on a bipartisan basis with Members in the Senate, over the last 48 hours, until the Democratic leader and the Speaker of the House decided to blow it all up and play Russian roulette with the markets. The futures market is dramatically down, going into tomorrow. The Asian markets, I suspect--I haven't checked--are probably rattled by all of this. Nothing would have been lost by allowing us to get on the bill because they could have used 30 more hours--not that they should have but they could have used 30 more hours--to continue to negotiate. But, alas, every single one of them has been on record as preventing us from taking the next step toward getting the agreement the American people are waiting and waiting and waiting for us to get. The result of what the Democratic leader just did was to prevent us from voting right after the markets open in the morning and will allow the markets to be rattled until 12 noon, further evidence of the reckless behavior we have witnessed on the Democratic side in the Senate over the last hours.

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 12 noon, Monday, March 23; further, that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; further, that following leader remarks, the Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 748.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session for a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of the following nomination: Executive Calendar No. 595.