Joe Manchin

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Madam President, today the Senate will take the first steps toward passing the great American Outdoors Act, with the vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the House bill, which will be used as the underlying legislative vehicle. The majority of my Senate colleagues have cosponsored this bill, and we have an incredible opportunity to enact this important bipartisan legislation. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that our Nation is in turmoil and hurting. We are still very much in the midst of both a health and economic crisis, and this weekend we saw millions of people join peaceful demonstrations in communities across the country. It is so important that we in Congress take action, and I am so pleased that we have returned to legislating. There is no shortage of important business for us to address as a body. The Great American Outdoors Act will create jobs while protecting and expanding access to the great outdoors across our country for everyone, whether that be hunting, fishing, or hiking in the Monongahela National Forest in my great State of West Virginia or rafting down the Gauley River or learning about Civil War history--just to give a few examples of what my home State of West Virginia has to offer. This is a legacy that we can all pass down to our grandchildren and generations to come, and it has been a long time coming. I want to thank my good friend Senator Lisa Murkowski for working with us through the committee process. I would also like to thank my colleagues, Senators Gardner, Warner, Daines, Cantwell, Portman, King, Alexander, and Heinrich, for their work over many years on the Land and Water Conservation Fund--or as we call it, LWCF--and deferred maintenance bills that are now joined together in the Great American Outdoors Act. This bill would realize a goal that so many of us in this body have fought hard to attain for so long, to provide permanent, mandatory funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund at its fully authorized level of $900 million annually. Last year, the Senate passed a public lands package by an overwhelming vote of 92 to 8 that permanently authorized the LWCF--the most successful land conservation program in our Nation's history. A vote that bipartisan is, unfortunately, unheard of today and speaks to the overwhelming popularity of conservation programs in every State in the country. The day after we secured permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, we made it clear that our next hurdle was achieving mandatory full funding. The Great American Outdoors Act includes the mandatory LWCF funding bill that I introduced, along with a lot of help from all my friends on both the Democratic and Republican sides. We had strong bipartisan support for mandatory LWCF funding, with the majority of the Senate cosponsoring the bill, and a strong bipartisan vote coming out of committee. We need to secure this funding because since the LWCF was established 55 years ago, over $22 billion--think about that--over $22 billion has been deposited in the LWCF fund but was never appropriated and instead went into the Treasury. Although every State and territory and almost every county has benefited from LWCF, it has been fully funded only twice in the 55-year history--only twice have we gotten full funding. Think what we could have done with that $22 billion. Despite that, LWCF has been able to do wonderful things with the funds that have been appropriated, which in recent years have been at half of the authorized funding level and, in previous years, less than that. Just imagine what we can achieve for our country with this full funding. The LWCF is the primary conservation funding tool that helps provide public access for hunting and fishing and recreational use of public lands. It also helps fund State and local parks. It helps maintain working forests through the Forest Legacy Program. It protects historic battlefields through the American Battlefield Protection Program, and it helps landowners voluntarily protect habitats for endangered species. Permanent LWCF funding will improve access to public lands, improving access to hunting and fishing opportunities, and will ensure the program remains an important contributor to a strong and growing outdoor recreation economy that will benefit State and local economies throughout our Nation. A recent analysis from Boston University shows that at full funding of $900 million a year, the LWCF could support approximately 15,000 to 28,000 jobs at a time when our country needs them most. Passing permanent LWCF authorization last year was an important step, and we are so close to realizing the ultimate goal of fully fulfilling the original intent of the LWCF Program and securing a permanent, dedicated funding source for the multiple conservation programs funded by the LWCF. The Great American Outdoors Act also includes $9.5 billion for deferred maintenance projects on Federal lands, with 70 percent of that amount dedicated to our national parks. Senators Portman, Warner, Alexander, King, and many others worked so hard on that original legislation, and I was proud to cosponsor and support as it went through the Senate's Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The legislation will be the most significant reduction ever in eliminating a major portion of the deferred maintenance backlog of our national parks and public lands. The impact of failing to fund our national parks and maintenance for so long is clear to see. Last year, I visited Pearl Harbor with my family, and I was incredibly disappointed to see the state of disrepair it was in. There were faded and torn signs and audio displays and lights that were not working. It was an embarrassment. The infrastructure projects that will be funded through this bill are critical to protecting many of our national treasures. The LWCF funding will provide a significant benefit to the national outdoor recreation economy. Investing in deferred maintenance projects will create over 40,000 direct jobs and over 100,000 total jobs, and that is just for deferred maintenance projects in our national parks. This bill also includes funding for deferred maintenance projects at other land management agencies and Bureau of Indian Education schools. The Great American Outdoors Act will help us to be good stewards of our public lands while, at the same time, creating thousands of new jobs--a bipartisan win-win, which we should have more of. We have broad, bipartisan support, with 60 Senators signing on, which is representative of how important these bills are to every State and every county in every State. We have support from the administration and unwavering support from over 900 conservation and sportsmen groups throughout the Nation. It is a shining example of Democrats and Republicans coming together to put politics aside to do what is best for conserving the natural resources of this great Nation. The passage of this bill will be an historic achievement, and I believe this will be one of the most significant conservation bills ever enacted into law. What a legacy all of us can walk away with and look at our children and grandchildren, knowing that we have helped protect our wonderful national parks and outdoor recreation opportunities. I ask all of my colleagues to join me in voting yes to invoke cloture this evening and begin consideration of the Great American Outdoors Act.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Equally divided? An hour on both sides?

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Would the gentleman yield?

Mr. MANCHIN. Well, truly, we are friends, and there is not a person over there I don't consider my dear friend. A lot of times, that is used in a very colloquial way, but I mean it. The Senator from Nebraska, let me--from Kansas--let me just say this. Excuse me for pronouncing the wrong State here. You don't have a problem on this side with the 30-hour wait. That has never been. We very seldom object on anything. That is not where the problem comes from. So everyone thinking that we are going to make everybody stay here for 30 hours--that is not going to happen from the Democrats objecting. We will not. There is not a person I have spoken to who is going to stop it. What they want to do is, in good faith, get to the bill. Once we get to that bill--and in the meantime, they said: Well, let's get on the bill. Can't we at least get on it and work on it? Usually we don't move to that unless there is good faith in the beginning. Right now, there is very little good faith there from the top end of the food chain. That is the sad scenario we are in. But I can assure you, as soon as there is an agreement, we are moving, unless somebody on your side would object. There are no objections on this side. So I would hope that you all you would not use that 30-hour obstruction because it is not here. I will have a chance to speak about this more, but I just thank you because I know rural--your State is rural, my State is rural, and it is the same. These people are out there, and they are depending on us, and we have to get together here as Americans.

Mr. MANCHIN. Please.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I want to thank all of my colleagues, who truly are all my friends, who are here expressing their concerns. I think we are all on the same side. I think that for every one of you and me and everybody within the House and Senate, we have this disease in our States and we have it in our neighborhoods and backyards. This COVID-19 doesn't know whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent. People are scared right now. We have States that are sheltering in place. My State just announced that at 12 or 1 p.m. today, they are going to shelter in place, and I have a very vulnerable population I am concerned about. I have a very vulnerable healthcare system I am very much concerned about, because if they are not able to provide the services we are going to need and that we need now, then, Good Lord, help us all. We will be in trouble then. We are going to protect them, and that is what we are fighting for. I know they are talking about this: Why are the Democrats stalling just to get on the bill? If we just got on the bill, everything would be fine. How can we? For people to understand how this process works, we usually have an agreement before we get on a vote to pass something. If there is not an agreement, then, there is political posturing. That is what is happening. The political posturing is going on because they know there is a difference. So where can the pressure be put? I have been here for 10 years, and I have never seen the place work at all. So I appreciate those of you who give me some historical values on how it used to work. I wish it did. I always thought that when there was good faith, whether I agreed or not, you could have a chance to amend the bill or change the bill or do something to it. We don't get that chance here. So if we start moving before we have an agreement, then there is going to be no conciliatory movement toward something to then make it happen. Where are we at right now? Let me state something with regard to the $500 billion in that bill. I don't know whether it is $1.3 trillion or $2 trillion, but I know it is moving up rapidly. But in $500 billion of it that we can basically identify, this is where I have had some problems in what I understand. First of all, there is no strong language that prohibits the stock buybacks. I know they keep saying corporate bailouts. OK, forget about the bailouts, but you tell me if this is not pretty favorably slanted to one side. There is no strong language to prohibit stock buybacks. As written, the buyback limitation can be waived by Secretary Mnuchin. Secretary Mnuchin can direct funds to whom he sees as necessary but with very, very little oversight. There is no restraint on taking the assistance and firing employees at a later time, as employers only have to keep employees ``to the extent possible,'' which is in the language. These are the concerns. The bill allows for a 6-month delay on releasing the names of businesses. Tell me why we would put a 6-month delay on releasing the names of businesses that take advantage and get this economic opportunity. Why shouldn't we be transparent? There is only a 2-year prohibition on increasing executive compensation. We have seen what happens when it runs amuck. Those are the concerns we have. Those are the concerns I have. With that, let's take the measures we agree on. We agree we should be protecting the healthcare industry. We have agreed on $100 billion. We were way off from that, but, finally, by not agreeing to move on to the bill, it is now up to $75 billion. I think when we come out this afternoon, there will be $100 billion to take care of our hospitals, our rural and other healthcare systems, so they can survive, making sure that all of our healthcare providers are protected. These are the things that we are talking about and the things we have asked for. So they start saying: Oh, just get on the bill. Yes, just get on the bill And then what happens? Nothing else happens, because then it is out of our jurisdiction, if you will, because we have little chance to intervene. The rules are that, basically, the majority has the rule. They can rule, and that is exactly how it works. So, we are trying to get a bill. There is no need for us to take a vote today because we are still working on it. I know the Secretary of Treasury is in there working on it. They are all sitting there working on it. Why would we have a vote when we knew we didn't have an agreement? But we are getting close to one, and if we get an agreement, I will state that every Democrat will vote to suspend the rules, and we will move immediately, unless there is an objection from my friends on the Republican side. That is what we are talking about. Please, let's quit blaming each other. People are depending in my State on our taking care of healthcare workers, taking care of people laid off and who don't have a paycheck through no fault of their own. Businesses have had to close through no fault of their own. Those are the people on the frontlines. I have people scared and sheltered in place right now, an elderly population. So there are things we have agreed on. I heard Senator Lankford from Oklahoma, who was speaking on the things that I agree on 1,000 percent with him. Why can't we be on that? If we can't get anything else done, let's vote today on the things we can agree on. Let's move on the healthcare, take care of COVID-19, and take care of the healthcare industry and the workers and take care of the people who lost their jobs and businesses. We are worried about a $500 billion payout with very little oversight and transparency. That is truly the problem in a nutshell, and all we are asking for, basically, is, Shouldn't the people and the taxpayers of this country understand where their money is going and the people who are going to be able to use it? Add some transparency and oversight to it. That is all we ask for, and that is all I ask for. About all those other things that have been thrown in, I am not for that, and I think you all know that. I am not for the green deal, and I think you all know that. I think there has to be an all-in energy policy approach. I think we all have to have common sense, and we have to produce affordable, dependable energy and use everything we can-- renewables and using fossil fuels in the cleanest possible way. So who is throwing that stuff in? I have no idea, but I can guarantee I wouldn't vote for it. But what I will vote for is exactly what we should agree on and what I think we do agree on. Let's come together as Americans and forget about Republicans and Democrats and get this place working again. If we had the amendment process--I was totally opposed when Senator Reid basically kind of shut things down and we weren't able to have amendments. You all were, too. We were promised that no matter who takes over leadership, by golly, the system is going to open up, and we are going to have amendments and debates on the floor. And guess what. It got worse. It didn't get better. It got worse. If you want to know why people are throwing everything but the kitchen sink into a piece of legislation, it is because they have very little opportunity to do anything here. There is too much power in the two basic leaderships. This much power should not be in so few people. All of us should be involved. I believe--and I have said this--that we all have that better angel inside of us. I hope you let her fly. I hope you let her fly today. She needs to get out and go a little bit. We need her. We need the better angels in all of us to start looking out and taking care of each other. There are a lot of people hurting and a lot of people with uncertainty right now, and I want to make sure that we fix it. I will stay here all day and all night to make sure it gets fixed--whatever it takes. With that, I ask all of my good friends--and I mean that, all my good friends--let's work together for the sake of this great country. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Sir, anything I am saying--30 hours or 30 days--as long as you have the majority, 51 votes rule. The final vote is going to be on passage, whether you have to negotiate or not with us.

Mr. MANCHIN. I understand.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I have the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN. I know where you are coming from on this. We have a little difference of opinion about this.

Mr. MANCHIN. If I could make my remarks.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President.

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I rise because my dear friend, I can tell, is very upset. I am upset that we are at this point. I really am. I am working with you on so many things in a bipartisan way. I always have and always will. With that being said, let me make sure of this. I haven't been here as long as you have and haven't the experience that you have. The way I understand it, voting for cloture takes a 60-vote threshold, except for the judges, which, basically, the previous leader, Senator Harry Reid from Nevada, changed. I was opposed to that. We are in a situation now where, if you vote yes on cloture and then you are not in agreement with the bill, it only takes 51 votes. That seems to be the reason everyone is saying: Wait a minute. Let's get an agreement so we can move it through. That is what I always heard and that is what I understand. They are afraid, basically, that if you vote for cloture--even though it is not the things you want or have been negotiated on--then the vote is 51, even with the 30 hours of curing. Then, it goes from there, and, then, we are back to where we have not had any negotiations because the majority has the control with 51 votes. That is what I think the fear is here. The problem we have in West Virginia right now is that you can throw all the money at Wall Street that you want to. You can continue to put trillions upon trillions there. People are afraid to leave their home. They are afraid because they are afraid of the healthcare. I have workers who don't have masks. I have healthcare workers who don't have gowns. I have hospitals that will not be open another 60 days because they don't have cash flow. It looks like we are worried more about the economy than the healthcare and well-being of the people.

Mr. MANCHIN. Yes, sir.

Mr. MANCHIN. We know about the 30 more hours.

Mr. MANCHIN. Let me ask you a question.

Mr. MANCHIN. We should be able to get a bill that we can move forward on with unanimous consent. We really should. That is what I am hoping for. I think we can do it Let me go back to where I am coming from. My whole thing is based on the healthcare right now. You can't throw enough money to fix this if you can't fix the healthcare. If you can't give my people in West Virginia and across this country the feeling that we have a treatment and we are moving forward on a vaccine, they are not leaving their homes. My restaurants aren't going to open up. The most important thing is, How do we take care of the workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own because businesses have closed? It is the same in my State as in your State--through no fault of their own. That is the package we have to get out. We have $160 billion moving right now--moving right now. I am saying this: It looks like things are weighted toward the Wall Street corporations' side. True or false? We are not in the frontlines. We are not one of the big four. Many of us--100 of us--are not there negotiating at the table. Our staffs are all having input, and we are working on that. But sitting there and making the final decisions comes down to this: Can we give the confidence that we can rise to the occasion to keep the people healthy in our States? My hospitals need to stay open. My healthcare workers need to be healthy. They need to be protected. It seems like we are talking about everything else about the economy versus the healthcare. That doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever. For the people who aren't getting a check right now, we can get a check to them. We should. It seems like we are more focused on the big corporations and the healthcare of Wall Street than we are on the healthcare of the people in rural America and Main Street. That is the problem I have had on this. That is the problem we have been talking about. We want to fix this. I am not talking about all the regulations you are talking about. I don't know anything about that. I will find out if it is buried in the bill and it is not what I would approve right now if we don't need it. But if you are giving all of the preferences to the large corporations, they can shill and hide and do buybacks and everything else. Don't you think the American worker ought to get something or be protected in some way? That is what it is like.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I would like to just say a few words about what we are going through and what we are experiencing. I can only give you my experiences back home in West Virginia. I have been on conference calls because we are social distancing, as we all are. I have talked to the nurses' association, the medical association, and the hospital association. The main concern we have right now is of our medical providerships' being stable enough and protected enough so, if need be, they can continue to take care of us. Right now, they are scared to death because they are not getting the protective equipment they need. They don't have the personal protection equipment, such as the masks or the shields or the gowns--all of the equipment that a first responder or a medical provider should have. That is what we are fighting for right now. Also, we have rural hospitals and rural clinics throughout all of America--West Virginia is mostly all rural--and they are all scared to death that they are not going to have the finances with which to stay afloat. The proposal that we have right now, that they are working on--that both sides are working on--is inadequate and insufficient. Mitch McConnell's proposal falls short of delivering the protection the medical providerships need. They talk about the economy and the recovery of this economy, but we need to find a treatment for the virus as we know it. For the people who do contract it, they will know they have a treatment that can cure them, and then we must find a working vaccine as quickly as possible. We have been told that this could take 12 months or longer. The treatment is the most important thing, and protecting our healthcare workers is the most important thing. Keeping our hospitals and clinics and all medical providers vibrant right now and able to survive this economic downturn is the first and foremost thing, and it is the thing that didn't get the attention that we needed. I am hoping that between now and before we vote, at 6 o'clock, the two sides can come together. I implore of my colleagues on the Republican side to basically express their concerns to their leader, Mitch McConnell, that we need to have a balanced approach. I am concerned about the economy. I am concerned about the workers. Through no fault of their own, we have had workers throughout West Virginia who have been laid off. They have done nothing wrong except to have been in professions, basically, because of the health concerns of our country, that had to lay them off. The businesses they worked for had to stop--cease and desist. They had to stop. It was through no fault of their own. Basically, for the health of this country, it was best if they closed. These people have no control whatsoever over their destinies except to ask: When can we get this thing cured? When do we get ahead of this cycle, or ahead of the curve, so we may get back to normal? Wall Street will not return, I can assure you, no matter how much money we throw at Wall Street. It is not going to have confidence built into it is as long as the virus is out there without any type of a treatment or a vaccine coming down the pike that is going to cure and protect us. That is what this is all about. Don't you think we should be putting the resources on the front end to help these providers, to give some assurances to the American public, to the people in West Virginia that we have found and we have a treatment now that will work? God forbid if you contract the disease, and the virus attacks you, but we can help you. You are not going to perish from this. But with that being said, it doesn't make any sense to me that--the proposal that Leader McConnell from the Republican side has put forth is absolutely, totally worried about Wall Street at this time. I am worried about the people in rural West Virginia and all over Main Street. Those are the people we are worried about, and Wall Street is going to do just fine. It has always rebounded real well. They always come back strong. But the market has to have stability to it and it has to have confidence in it and the people have to have confidence. So that is where we stand. Let's take care of the people whom we are asking to take care of us if we need them. Let's take care of our healthcare workers, our nurses, our first responders, all of our doctors. Let's take care of the facilities that they are keeping open for us, which is the hospitals and the clinics--everything that we possibly can to protect them. Let's make sure that our workers and these healthcare providers don't go down because if that system goes down, I can assure you, you can't print enough money for Wall Street to rebound. If the healthcare system in this country is not able to take care of the people of America, that will not happen. And if West Virginians can't count on our hospitals and clinics to take care of them, and if the workers who work there--the nurses and all of the different people who work within that system--aren't able to go to work because they might have contracted the virus, we have done nothing special to help them with their childcare and everything because they will be working extraordinary hours. This is where our emphasis should be right today. This is what we should be talking about. Yet we are miles apart now because Wall Street is not maybe taken care of to the likes of what they would like. I can't understand it at all. I really don't. I want them to succeed, and they will succeed. I want them to have a generous loan program--not a gift but a loan program--and I want to make sure that people who have lost their jobs and the business has closed down due to no fault of their own have the backing of this great country of ours and the government right here. That is whom I am worried about. The proposal that is on the table today does not do that. If we had to vote today at this time, I would vote no, not to proceed. We will stay here all night long. They are worried about what happens when the markets open in the morning. We will work around the clock. I am fine. I can stay here until 7, 8 o'clock. We can all work around the clock, but there has to be a balanced approach and putting healthcare first.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in recess until 5 p.m. today.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, thank you. I want to thank my colleague from Oregon for his big heart and his compassion, continually always worrying about those being left behind and forgotten. I can assure you that Mr. Merkley does not leave anybody behind, and he never forgets those who are in need of help. Let me just say, in speaking about what we are dealing with, unlike anything we have ever seen in my lifetime and most people's lifetimes, up until a couple days ago, my State of West Virginia felt like we were immune. There were no cases reported, and we were like an island in a sea of infestation around us. I knew that was not the case. Many people did not know that we were just not testing and the amount of tests were just not out there, so people had a false sense of hope and security. That has been shattered. We have our first case now. I am praying to the good Lord we don't have many more, but I suspect because of the fragility of our citizens and the elderly population that we have, those who have done hard work all their lives and have respiratory ailments could be in jeopardy. We are very concerned about that. I was reluctant to come and speak, but I think there are some things that need to be said. We are moving in an unprecedented way to how much money should be thrown at a pandemic and how much money do they believe it will take to get us through this horrible time. First of all, we should be thinking about are we investing and trying to build our healthcare defense system back up? It has been basically decimated over the last 2 or 3 years. Should we not put the scientists and people who know back in positions where they can be looking at these horrible illnesses and diseases, pandemics, and viruses that we have coming from different parts of the world to protect us from them hitting our country again like this? Next of all, should we not be putting everything we have into our research capabilities and working with all the scientists in all the different centers so that we can find a way to treat this virus with a vaccine that would prevent people from contracting this virus? Those are the measures we should be totally and absolutely committed to and spending our time and effort immediately upon. Next of all, the financial help that we are going to need. First of all, don't you think we should be using this--through every challenge that we have ever had in this great country, we have found a way to come out of it bigger and stronger. Don't you think we should be manufacturing the medical devices that we need to heal and cure and take care of American citizens right here in the good old USA? Don't you think we should have the amount of products it takes to make the pharmaceutical pills that we need in order to keep us healthy or cure us, if you will? Don't you think some of that should be done in the USA that we have allowed to leave our shores and which now we find is desperately needed? Don't you think we should be making the medical masks to protect our first responders and all of our medical workers whom we need to have on the job? Those are the things we are worried about from the fallout that can come from this horrific pandemic. It gives us a chance to reconnect and also a way to correct the lackadaisical approach we have had to manufacturing over the years. This is a time for change. Let me throw something else out. I don't think that you and I need a $1,000 check. I don't think we need that. I think there are an awful lot of people in America who still have a job, even if they are working from home, and that basically is not going to change their life with that $1,000 check. Think about the people who truly do need that check and a lot more--people on the frontline who have no control of this whatsoever, that don't have a guaranteed source of income unless they are out there earning it every day. Don't you think we could help them more through expanded unemployment benefits, working through the system that we already have in place in all of our States and in this country? Don't you think that might be a better way? How about the small businesses that are not capitalized to the point that they have no ability whatsoever to continue to operate when there is no capital or cashflow or reserves to take care of themselves? Don't you think we can help them through the SBA by removing the restrictions and redtape we have? Unemployment benefits: Basically, waiving all the wait times, increasing that to a $500-a-week limit? Things of that sort would help, don't you think? The large corporations, which I know everyone is concerned about, got one tremendous tax break. That being said, they will come back. They can afford to pay back a loan at zero percent interest, if you will, helping in some way to keep that part of the economy stimulated but not to the point where we are putting our children and grandchildren into a debt that we can avoid--but not being compassionate and sympathetic toward those who really need it on the frontline, which is the average working person who gets up every day and finds out there is no work for them. They are already on unemployment. They are in the system. Also, the small businesses are struggling. They are there. We are to the point now where we are going to bite off a lot more, and we are going to write checks that our children can't cash. That is exactly what we are doing, if we are not smart about this. It seems that everyone is gathering around now for whatever type of cover. I am not sitting here blaming the President or blaming any administration or anybody else for what we didn't do 2 or 3 or 4 months ago. I am asking now: Are we going to take responsibility for what we are about to do that doesn't make any sense whatsoever? With that being said, let's make sure that the money we are putting in the system is fixing the medical end of it, finding a cure for this virus, making sure that other viruses or pandemics don't attack us. Let's make sure we are doing everything we can with what we are responsible for. Every leader takes an oath of office. When you raise your hand, whether you are a mayor or Governor or President, whatever, you should be thinking immediately upon taking that oath, what can I do to protect the people I am responsible to represent? If you can't do that, then you are going into the wrong job with the wrong ideas, I can assure you of that. I am saying that I have the most at-risk population in the country. It is an older population that has done heavy lifting and heavy jobs and basically has respiratory concerns and ailments. They are the most vulnerable, and this pandemic can take a horrific toll on the population of the State of West Virginia if we are not careful with what we do. We can also change the course of how we do business and how we look after each other in America. This situation is asking all of us and challenging every one of us to look to humanity with compassion and to bring us together as a people. The American people are a most generous, caring, and compassionate people. West Virginians treat everybody as their neighbors. That is who we are. We must take care of our neighbors and reach out and help those in need. Right now, we have a situation where I am concerned. I am concerned that all of us have not done our job as well as we could have, and we are just throwing caution to the wind, thinking we can make everybody happy with this political coverage because we are going to be throwing money at everything, thinking this will take care of it. It will not. It will not unless we deal with the root problems we have. That means fixing our manufacturing base, taking care of Americans, making sure people who can't work and who have no other recourse, basically have no control of their destiny--basically provide the services. That means the jobs have to be there to meet the demand. We cut most of that out. Let's make sure we can take care of them and do that without bankrupting our future generations. I think it can be done. I will say this. I spoke to Vice President Mike Pence last night and told him the dire need we were in. I said: Mr. Vice President, I know the people are thinking that West Virginia has been spared. We have not. We haven't been tested. We need more test kits. We need more protection for our first responders. We need respirators and ventilators. We need the tents and first-tier operations. We are not in a second tier. We are too vulnerable to be in that second tier. If you want to stop the carnage that could happen if this thing breaks loose in my State full-fledged, then please help us. I want to thank the Vice President for basically reaching out and helping West Virginia. We are going to get through this. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel. There will be a new day. We will have a chance to right the problems we have right now that have been of our own making, and we can correct them by our own actions right now. I want to thank you, Mr. President. I hope all our colleagues are working in a bipartisan way. We should be working together. There are few times this opportunity comes. In a political arena, there are two things that happen. You better never ever take advantage of a crisis, and make something better happen. That is what we are dealing with now. It is a mandate. People are mandating us to do our job. They are mandating us to work together, not to be irresponsible or act like we are not in touch with the average person. We are because that is whom we represent. I yield the floor.

Mr. MANCHIN

Mr. MANCHIN. Mr. President, I agree with everything that has been said. I agree that, basically, we should never have left here Thursday night. So many of us could, maybe, drive home. I was able to drive home and was able to drive back. Yet so many people were put in harm's way when they went home on airplanes. As you might know, we don't have the youngest crowd--I think our average age is about 62 here--so it is putting them and their families and, basically, the people they work with in danger also. Let me tell you what we are talking about here. If we are going to come to the aid of the economy of this country, I have no doubt that Democrats and Republicans will come together to take care and help people. I hope they realize the people who really need help are the people who cannot make it from one week to the next, let alone from one paycheck to the next. I was out last week just in DC, and I talked to a young waiter--a very, very nice, young man. I asked: What happens if you have to go home for 2 weeks? He said: I am finished. I can't make it. I can't make my payments. I can't make my house payment. I can't make my rent payment. I can't make my grocery payment. He was done. That is how worried he was. He said no one had asked him that question. These are the people we have to worry about. I want to bring to your attention one more thing. As of 2:30 this afternoon, my State didn't have one reported case. Now, that is great. That is wonderful. I pray to the good Lord that this is the case that we have none, but let me tell you the thing that scares me. I have the most at-risk population base in the Nation. The Kaiser report that came out showed the State of West Virginia as being the most in danger of all of the States with its having the most vulnerable people. I have over 720,000 elderly. I have over 220,000 who are critically ill under 60 years of age. If you put all of this together, of the over 1.8 million people, I have over 1 million who could be absolutely, totally devastated by this virus if it hits, and we haven't shown one case yet. Of the 1.8 million people I have told you about and of the 1 million who are in vulnerable situations, we have had only 84 tests in my State as of 2:30. Now, 80 have come back negative, and as of 2:30, 4 are unknown. I am surrounded by five States in this wonderful, little State of mine, West Virginia. These are the most beautiful people in the world, and they have worked hard. A lot of them have respiratory illnesses, and they will be the first to be attacked. If it hits my State and if we are not prepared for it because, basically, we won't even have the tests to identify who will be ill and who will need these treatments and will need the healthcare, the hospital care, what will we do? I don't have the ventilators, and I don't have the respirators. I don't have anything available to that many people who are that vulnerable. What do we do? I know of all of the financial aid we are talking about and of all of the help that we are going to need. We had better concentrate on how we find a cure--on how we basically take care of the people who are the most vulnerable--and that would, first and foremost, protect the people of America. They are scared to death. I am scared. I am concerned. I am afraid that my State of West Virginia is falling into a lapse to where the people of West Virginia might think: Oh, we are protected. No cases have been reported, so we are in good shape. I pray to the good Lord that this is the case, but my gut tells me that it is not. We just don't know.

Mr. MANCHIN. I yield to the Senator.

Mr. MANCHIN. This is out of 1.8 million people in the most vulnerable State in America.

Mr. MANCHIN. Senator, if you have seen the map of the United States, West Virginia stands out and doesn't show anything. I think, how could that happen?

Mr. MANCHIN. We have tested 84 total.