works for an unemployment office in the state of massachusetts. she wrote, and i quote, and this talks to the job that she now has -- quote, i have heard heart wrenching stories. i have heard moms crying that they can't feed their kids, families telling me this they've been evicted and are homeless. a single dad who is a self-employed musician, he cried with me, saying that his savings had run out. he has no money for food. this man's story will stick with me for the rest of my life. i cried so many days for all of these people i can't help. i suggest the government officials work in an unemployment call center for a day. the heart-wrenching stories -- end of quote.

i thank amanda for that. i thank amanda for the work she'sing to and trying to do -- sthees doing and trying to do, but in too many instances, members of congress are not aware of the reality out there. the stories go on and on and on. now that the $600 a week in unemployment benefits has expired. now that the moratorium on evictions has also expired, this crisis is only to get worse and worse and worse. in my view, we need to extend the extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits for the 30 million measures who have lost their jobs. i think that is a no-brainer. people are hurting. people are desperate.

people cannot feed their kids. people are going to be evicted from their homes and their apartments. we have got to respond to that pain and extend that $600 supplement to normal unemployment. i would go further. i believe that we need to make sure that every working-class person in this country receives $2,000 a month until this crisis is over so they can have the security that they need, that they and their family are going to survive this crisis with dignity. and we cannot continue to ignore the reality that 92 million americans today are uninsured or under insured. and while i, of course, agree in medicare for all, and will

continue that fight at least during this crisis, we should make sure that all of the 92 million who are uninsured or under insured get covered by medicare for their out of out-ot expenses. it is not asking too much that during this crisis people who have private insurance or medicare or medicaid not have to pay out-of-pocket expenses. we need a coronavirus bill that helps the lower income and not the wealthy. mr. president, what i think many people do not fully understand -- it hasn't gotten a whole lot of attention -- is that during this pandemic not everybody is hurting. not everybody out there needs the senate to act. while over 30 million americans have seen their $600 a week in

unemployment benefits expire, thanks to the emergency actions taken by the federal reserve to prop up the stock market, 467 billionaires in this country have seen their wealth go up by over $730 billion since the pandemic has begun. let me repeat that. 467 billionaires have seen their wealth go up by over $730 billion in the last several months of this pandemic. millions of people are unemployed, struggling to put food on the table, but

467 billion -- 467 billionaires have seen their wealth go up by over 3 r $ -- by over $700 billion. meanwhile, during the last four months while the very, very wealthy have become much richer, american households have seen their wealth go down by $6.5 trillion. in all likelihood, in the midst of everything else that we are experiencing, we are currently looking at what is likely the greatest transfer of wealth from the middle class and the poor to the very rich and -- in the modern history of this country -- massive transfer of wealth, working class, middle class, poor, getting poorer, the people at the very, very top becoming phenomenally richer. in other words in the midst of a

pandemic, in the midst of an economic meltdown for working families, in the midst of the great struggle regarding racism and police brutality and in the midst of climate change and in the midst of a president undermining democracy and moving this country into an authoritarian direction, in the midst of all of that, we are also seeing a massive increase in income and wealth in equality and the movement in this country toward oligarchy. let me just give you a few examples of the incredible growth in inequality that is taking place right now as we speak. while amazon is denying paid sick leave to its employees,

while they are denying hazard pay and personal protective equipment to 450,000 of their workers, jeff bezos, the owner of amazon, has increased his wealth by over $70 billion. yes, one person during the pandemic has seen his wealth increase by 70 -- 7-0 -- billion dollars. while u.s. taxpayers are suffering the wages at wal-mart by affording housing and medicaid, the walton family, the owner of wal-mart has made over $20 billion over the pandemic and now has a net worth of over 200 bdz. while 40 million americans face

ee viks, ee lon -- eviction, elon musk has a net wealth of $70 billion. while some are lining up for food, mark gluckerberg has -- zuckerberg has increased his wealth to over $70 billion. mr. president, in a time of massive wealth and income inequality, when so many people on our country -- in our country are hurting, it is morally obscene for billionaires to use a global pandemic as an opportunity to make outrageous profits and to very substantially increase their wealth. and that is why, mr. president, i will be introducing

legislation tomorrow to tax the obscene wealth gains billionaires have made during this public health crisis. according to americans for tax fairness, if we taxed 60% of the windfall gains these billionaires made from march 18 until august 3, we could raise over $420 billion. that's enough revenue to allow medicare to pay all of the out of pocket health care expenses for every man, woman, and child in this country over the next 12 months. so that's the choice that we have to make. do we have a tax on the obscene increase in wealth that has taken place for a few00

billionaires -- for a few hundred billionaires during this pandemic, or do we have a fair tax on their wealth and say to every man, woman, and child that during this crisis you will no longer have to pay anything out of pocket for the health care you and your family needs. mr. president, by taxing 60% of the wealth gains made by just 467 billionaires, so in a nation of 330 million people, we're talking about a tax on 467 of them, a tiny, tiny, tiny fraction of 1%. just by doing that, we could guarantee health care as a right for all people in this country for an entire year. and, by the way, if anybody out there is very worried about the impact of this tax on the

billionaires, on the people who are being taxed, how will they survive a 60% tax? mr. president, that's a high tax. do you think they are going to make it? well, we have left them more than $310 billion to survive with. that is a 310 billion-dollar increase in their wealth. that's what we have left them. in my view, mr. president, above and beyond this circumstance, above and beyond the pandemic, this nation must address the obscene level of income and wealth inequality which exists. it existed before the pandemic and it is even worse now. in my view, we can no longer tolerate three people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of our nation at

a time when 30 million americans have lost their jobs and 92 million people are either uninsured or underinsured. we need to reconsider our value system and to make it clear that so few cannot have so very much -- such obscene wealth, which is exploding during the pandemic while so many of our people are living in economic desperation. mr. president, now is the time to set a new -- develop a new set of priorities and a new set of moral values for this country. now is the time to tax the winnings of a handful of

billionaires to improve the health and well-being of tens of millions of americans. mr. president, the time is lock overdue for the senate to act on behalf of the working class of this country, the people who are hurting like they have never hurt before, not in our lifetimes and have the courage to tell the billionaire class who are doing phenomenally well that they cannot have it all. mr. president, with that, i yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. casey: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: mr. president, i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. casey: thank you, mr. president. i rise tonight to talk about a couple of issues that i know we'll be considering -- at least i hope all will be considered in the negotiations that are under way. i know later in this hour we'll be joined by three of my colleagues, senator whitehouse, senator blumenthal, and senator duckworth. each of us will be talking about these issues from a different perspective, but all focused on those in our society who are most at risk in the midst of

this worldwide pandemic, in the midst of this economic and jobs crisis that we're confronting right now. we know that this is the most difficult public health crisis in a century and one of, if not in the top two job -- crises that we ever faced. when we talk about americans who are most at risk, older americans, and tonight i will talk about older americans in nursing homes who are at risk if we don't take action, people with disabilities, as do many older americans, need the benefit of home and community-based services. third, americans who are in communities of color who need the benefit of medicaid, among

other programs that we should be focused on. let me start with nursing homes. we know that in the context of nursing homes, the care that is provided there is the highest level of care for an older american or sometimes a person with a disability and that's skilled care. we also know that that's care that's provided to men and women who have done so much for the country. americans who have fought our wars, worked in our factories, built the middle class, built america in so many ways and gave us life and love and all that they ask and all that their families ask is when they are in a long-term care facility, especially a nursing home, and that they are receiving skilled care, that it's quality care and

that in the midst of this crisis that we're taking every step possible to protect them from the virus and to keep them safe. unfortunately, that hasn't happened in america today. as we speak tonight more than -- and just a couple of days ago the number was lower than this, but now it's more than 62,000 americans have died in long-term care settings. most of those in nursing homes. when you add up the residents who have died, contracted the virus and died, with the workers who have died, 62 -- more than 62,000 americans. that's about 40% of all the deaths in america. we have to take steps to get those numbers down, both the death number as well as the case

number. and, of course, the two are directly related. a number of months ago now senator whitehouse and i -- and he joins us on the floor tonight -- introduced senate bill 3768, which was the nursing home protection and prevention act, which was a $20 billion -- proposed $20 billion investment in best practices. the tragedy here is that we know what works to get the death number down in nursing homes. we know exactly what works. and those nursing homes that were instituting, implementing these best practices months ago, way back in early march or early february, are the ones that had lower numbers, fortunately, of death and case numbers of we know that you have to invest in a series of best practices.

that means having enough personal protective equipment for everyone in a nursing home, but especially the residents and workers. we know that that is essential to keeping people safe. we know that testing is part of that, of course, in having the capacity to -- and having the capacity to test, to test frequently and to have results transmitted very quickly. we know that cohorting, and it's not a term that we hear a lot about, but it's a very simple concept. cohorting means you separate the res. debts with covid-19 -- residents covid-19 from those who don't have it. although it is easy to say, it is difficult to do in a nursing home. sometimes you have to retrofit. sometimes you have to take other

steps that funding is needed for. but cohorting works. it stands to reason, but we know it works after having experience with the virus. we know that surge teams are critically important as well as part of these best practices. if you have an outbreak in a nursing home, and we had so many examples of that in my home state of pennsylvania and so many other states, when that happens, when the virus is spreading and there is a crisis in that nursing home because of the virus, you might need more help, you may need more doctors or nurses or certified nurses assistants or so many other critical personnel in that nursing home. so $20 billion is a good down payment on protecting americans in nursing homes. so our bill would do that and i'm grateful for the help of senator whitehouse as well as so many other members of the senate who joined in that bill. unfortunately, the bill

proposed, i guess it was july 27, some of the last days of july, the bill proposed by the majority has no meaningful investment in these best practices. and we have to ask ourselves, i guess, is this what america is going to settle for, the greatest country in the history of the world is just going to throw up our hands and say there is really nothing we can do, it's ar pernicious -- it's a pernicious virus and the virus is spreading in settings in settings like nursing homes and there is not much we can do? that is a defeatest anti-american attitude. we know we can feet these numbers down if we make the investment. the america that we claim to be would have a full-court press, a

pull-out-all-the-stops effort to make sure we get these numbers down. so i don't think most americans believe that we should throw up our hands and surrender to another 62,000-plus deaths a couple of months from now, which is where we could be headed if we don't take these steps. now, no one -- no one would assert that we can get these numbers down to zero or there's some magic wand that will allow us to remove this threat from those we love so much in these nursing homes. but, my god, in america we're not going to take steps that we know will work to get the case number down and the death number down? i think america is ready for an action plan that has been developed here in the united states by smart people who know how to attack this problem.

so that's issue number one among the most at-risk americans. second, in terms of at-risk americans, older americans and people with disabilities, they need the benefit of home and community-based services. again, the republican bill proposed by the majority here in the senate, doesn't mention medicaid. in order to attack the nursing home issue, the nursing home death problem or to invest in home and community-based services, we need to invest in medicaid of we must stabilize and strengthen home and community-based services to keep older adults and people with disabilities both safe and healthy. and to do that, you have to pay the workers more. the workers should be paid a living wage and those workers, when they are going into a home to provide that critical care, should be provided the personal

protective equipment that they need to keep themselves safe but also that person with a disability or a senior needs if someone's coming into their home. without sufficient dollars human service organizations cannot recruit and retain the direct service -- i should say the direct support professionals and personal care attendants who provide essential health care and community inclusion services for seniors and people with disabilities. just one example among many, a picture -- an enlarged picture of marissa, she's from allegheny county, pennsylvania. and you can see by the picture, you may not be able to see it from a distance. on the t-shirt she has, proud to be your neighbor and the words giant eagle. that's one of the great

supermarket chains in the pennsylvania area. marissa uses services to live voluntarily. she works at one of the giant eagle grocery stores and she's done that work for 19 years, all these years later she is one of the beneficiaries of this program where she can get services in the home and in her community. the key to this is without dedicated dollars agencies like achieva, one of the many agencies that does this work, that provides these services, these agencies will not be able to provide services for people with disabilities like marissa and families like hers need. pennsylvania, like so many states, have centers for independent living. they told me last week in a phone call, helping people move from a nursing home or a care

setting where the risk is higher with the virus, moving people from that setting who want to go into a home or apartment, often their ability to move those people is fully dependent upon the dollars that they have, the funding that they have. they've been able to move some people, but very, very few because they don't have the funding to move them. another implication of this concern we have is that direct service providers have scaled back these services. most don't have enough cash reserve for longer than a month. just imagine that, because of the lack of funding. now, i introduced a bill four months ago, senate bill 3544, 3544, which provided dedicated dollars to respond but it wasn't until the heroes act passed by the house, not yet passed by the senate, but passed by the house

ten weeks ago included provisions of my bill which was supported here in the senate by 27 senators. mr. president, i have just two more issues, one is medicaid and the other i'll address is on the liability debate. medicaid, of course, we know what that program is. it's been around since 1965. medicaid is the program that helps 75 million americans. if you add up the children in medicaid, about 31 million children, people with disabilities, another nine million, you have roughly 40 of the 75 million. so medicaid is not just a program, it's a program that saves lives, maybe ever more so in the middle of a public health emergency that we've been in all these months. medicaid's also, i believe, a reflection of who we are as a

nation. it reflects, i think as well whom we value, and that's why medicaid is so critical to seniors living in nursing homes, sometimes from relatively middle-class families who could not afford long-term care. so many americans with disabilities, as i mentioned, nine million at last count, and, of course, 31 million children, many of them in rural pennsylvania, rural america. in fact, if you look at it by percentage, it's often the case that in rural counties there's a higher percentage of children on medicaid than the children's health insurance program, a higher percentage in a rural county than in a county that has a lot of urban communities in it. so rural and small-town america depends heavily upon medicaid. it depends on medicaid in

another way. when you consider rural hospitals. often the often the larmest employer in a rural county in pennsylvania -- or the second or third largest employer at least -- is a rural hospital. we've got 48 of our 67 counties that are rural. in those 48 rural counties, more than half, the top employer in the county is is a hospital -- is a hospital, or i should say the top or second or third highest employer. medicaid is so vital to those rural hospitals. operating on thin margins and ever-more stressed in a pandemic. medicaid expansion, of course, made it possible for millions of americans to get health care through the affordable care act and now we just saw yesterday in the state of missouri the vote there to expand medicaid, and it's been happening in a lot of

states that may not have embraced medicaid expansion a number of years ago who are now embracing it. medicaid is a safety net in this time of crisis in terms of the economic and jobs crisis we're living through. it, of course, impacts state budgets. one of the biggest expenditures in state budgets is medicaid. and when people lose their job -- for example, in our state, we've got -- our unemployment rate in june was 13%. 821,000 people out of work in pennsylvania. in some counties, the unemployment rate is 14% or 15% or 16% or 1%. -- or 17%. so when 821,000 people are out of work in the state, a lot of them have lost their health care, and these turn to medicaid. now in the family first bill, way back in the early part of march, the matching dollars, the so-called fmap, the federal matching dollars for medicaid,

was increased by 6.2%. that was a good step in the right direction. but governors in blue and red states will tell you now, as will a lot of other people will tell you now, they need an additional increase in medicaid. i think the 14% fmap or matching dollar percentage in the heroes act in the house made a lot of sense. i hope we can get to that number in the bill that we're considering -- or we hope to be considering soon. the republican bill does not have additional dollars for medicaid, matching dollars, despite the fact that a lot of republican governors around the country have asked for this kind of help. so i hope that will change as we -- as the negotiations move forward. finally, mr. president, let me end -- i want to end on time, if i can, maybe in the next ten minutes -- that's the goal.

i want to talk about the liability shield issue. there are a lot of different perspectives on this. let me talk about it in the context of those we're discussing tonight -- seniors? nurse -- seniors in nursing homes, people who need community-based services, folks who are in communities of color and others who need the benefit of medicaid. the republican proposal in my judgment when you look at the liability proposal would slam the doors of justice to those who want to bring an action. we know that we've got -- we've had a lot of commentary lately on our criminal justice system and the defects, the shortcomings, even the racism that i believe is -- that permeates that system. in this context we're talking about the civil justice system. what do we do about that part of our justice system? the ability for a citizen to bring an action in a court of

law to deal with an injury of some kind, either by way of negligence or intentional conduct. but in this context, we have a proposal by the majority to short-circuit, to undermine that system of justice. it will affect those we're here to talk about tonight in very real ways, whether they're low-income workers or people with disabilities or older adults or even just more broadly essential workers. why do i say that? well, because if you're going to use a crisis like we're in now to try to achieve gains that some in this chamber have tried to achieve for years in the so-called tort system that really the civil justice system, and you paint with a very broad

brush, you're going to slam those doors of justice pretty tightly. just by way of a comment from the law professor, georgetown law professor david vladik recently explained in reference to this proposal that -- and using his words here -- the extreme reach, unquote, of the proposal vastly exceeds, quote, any prior so-called tort reform bill that has been introduced in congress, unquote. he went on to call this corporate liability shield provision, quote, essentially impenetrable. that's how he described the strength of this shield and warned that they -- such proposals would give, quote, license for irresponsible and reckless conduct, unquote. the bill when it comes to liability would also preempt all

state laws requiring businesses to act reasonably. it would impose a heightened so-called clear and convincing burden of proof on plaintiffs instead of the typical preponderance of the evidence standard. we know that in our system, in a civil system, the preponderance of the evidence standard is the lowest standard, just a little more than 50% the jury would have to determine in terms of liability. we know that under the criminal system, in order to find guilt, it has to be found beyond a reasonable doubt. that's the highest standard. there's some cases that are given the middle standard of so-called clear and convincing, so that burden of proof is right in the middle. what this bill would do would be to elevate it from preponderance to clear and convincing, which

would be i think a step in the wrong direction. the proposal would also force a worker, a consumer, a resident of a nursing home, or even a patient to show that a business failed to make, quote, reasonable efforts, unquote, to comply with any applicable government standard. the issue here is that the federal government hasn't issued any mandatory standards, so these entities, many of them employers of one kind or another, sometimes very large employers, would be able to follow any standard they choose. they could choose a local standard or a state standard or a federal standard, even if the one they choose is the weakest standard as it relates to the protection of the worker. now, what the administration could have done, which i called for and many members of the senate called for, is to promulgate a standard against

which the actions of an employer could be measured. one idea was to promulgate an emergency temporary standard. i don't know why the department of labor wouldn't do that. in the middle of the worst public health crisis in a century, why the department of labor would not sum simply take that step -- would not simply take that step. that would give clarity for employers. that would give clarity to so many americans about what the standard has to be in a workplace to keep people safe from a raging virus. but they chose not to do that. so, without any mandatory standards, it's wide open. and then we're supposed to believe that taking away the right to bring an action is somehow going to be just fine for a period of time. so a temporary emergency -- or

emergency temporary standard by the department of labor should have been promulgated months ago. and they could still do it and remove the uncertainty, the lack of clarity that prevails right now. so this bill with regard to the liability provisions would immunize health care providers in facilities from any claims -- any claims -- arising from, quote, coronavirus-related health care services, unquote. that's pretty broad. now, how does the bill define that? well, the bill defines that as follows. the treatment of patients, quote, for any purpose. quote, for any purpose, unquote. not merely the treatment of covid-19 patients during this public health emergency. so that is about as broad as it

gets, and it would be in place, that liability -- impenetrable liability shield would be in place for several years. now, it gets worse when it comes to people of disability. to add insult to injury, just consider what we did just last week. our nation celebrated the 30th anniversary of the americans with disabilities act, a law that extended civil rights protections to people with disabilities in every state. president george h.w. bush signed the bill into law and republicans and democrats and independents all over the country celebrated the 30th anniversary. literally the next day the majority proposed this corporate liability shield, which would blow a hole in the protections provided by the so-called a.d.a. after the celebration of 30

years. that makes it possible -- that bill, the americans with disabilities act, makes it possible for people with disabilities to be full participants in american society. but this corporate liability shield would undermine those very protections. it would also decimate federal protections granted under other landmark employment and civil rights laws, including the age discrimination unemployment act, so-called adea, the genetic nondiscrimination act, the occupational -- osha -- occupational health and safety act, one of the seminal actions or pieces of legislation to protect workers. it would also adversely affect the fair labor standards act, as well as title 7 of the civil rights act of 1964. i don't know how you could have more of a wrecking ball in place for these landmark pieces of

legislation in the middle of a pandemic. so, mr. president, i will wrap up by saying that we have a lot of work to do obviously in these negotiations, and in the midst of the negotiations, we ought to be thinking about the most vulnerable, whether it's older americans or children, people with disabilities, folks in communities of color who have been adversely impacted in so many ways, ever more so at any time of crisis. i won't enter it into the record because it'll be on the record anyway, but i'm holding in my hand a letter that we sent to leader mcconnell that outlines all of these concerns. it's a letter led by senator duckworth from illinois, senator warren from massachusetts, and myself, as well as now more than 40 of our colleagues that goes through these concerns that we have for investments in

strategies to get the nursing home death number down, investments in home and community-based services, the concerns we raised about the corporate liability shield as well as an overdue investment in medicaid, the program that takes care of the most vulnerable among us. with that, mr. president, i would yield the floor. mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, i'm grateful to have the chance to follow my friend from pennsylvania, who has shown such great leadership with respect to health care and with particular respect to the nursing home population. and i'm delighted to join hum to discuss what covid is doing to the elder americans who are in our nursing homes and long-term care facilities because this ill ness has swept like a savage sythe through those facilities. in my small state, in rhode island, 750 residents of

long-term care facilities have died of covid. we just crossed 1,000 deaths statewide. 750 are in these facilities. if that doesn't attract the concern of this senate, something is very wrong with this senate. across the country, the death toll in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, just as senator casey said, is 62,000 americans. my dad served five years in the vietnam conflict. decades of the vietnam conflict, we sustained over 58,000 american military casualties. that means the death toll in our nursing homes and long-term care facilities, just in covid, just

in these months, is greater than the death toll of our soldiers in vietnam. and if that is not enough to attract the attention of the senate, something is wrong with the senate. in rhode island there's a little nursing home, by way of example, called hall worth house. it's a great little place. it's been operating for half a century. it opened in 1968. it's got a five-star rating from c.m.s. they do a great job. if is announced that it will permanently close at the end of august due to covid. it will had 51 residents and by june 29 had been infected, 12 had died. of its staff, 20 were infected

and had to be quarantined. it couldn't survive that. it's closing. and the stories behind the institutions at hall weather house -- worth house are by people like terese in lincoln. the senator from pennsylvania is amicably disposed to women like terese. she is in a nursing home in manville, rhode island. that facility has not allowed visitation since march 11. she has not seen her mom since march 11. this is a woman with alzheimer's living in a facility.

as a result her mom's cognition has declined and her daughter kept her moving, she used to take her for walks every day. now the best they can do is skype and her mom barely recognizes the little image on skype. so behind 750,000 deaths, behind collapsing institutions that have served elderly people for 50 years are these broken stories of broken relationships. barry from narragansett can only see his wife through plexiglass and only twice. that's a real cost. jermaine not being able to see her daughter, barry not able to see his wife, being separated by

plexiglass. those are small concerns but you can multiply them across the population of our nursing homes an long-term care facilities, and if that isn't something that the senate cares about, there is something wrong with the senate. we tried to give the senate something to do, so we have the nursing home covid-19 protection act. it's $20 billion for staffing support for testing because there's not enough testing, for personal protective equipment for the staff who serve really heroically and tragically underpaid in these circumstances in these facilities. it encourages successful practices like cohorting, it provides responses like surge teams when a place becomes so hit with covid that the staff are quarantined out.

who's going to come in? we were deploying the national guard in nursing homes. no, we need trained surge teams that provide for those things, and data so people learn fast and know what to do to take care of us. we have a solution and i hope very much the senate will care enough to consider our solution in whatever bill we end up beginning to negotiate on. i'll close by talking about what's been called liability protection but is, in fact, corporate negligence amnesty. i've been around here a little while and i've been through the immigration debate. and in this building we heard people talk about children -- children who are brought to this country who were innocent of any misconduct. in fact, they were minors. they were by law innocent. and they had done no one any

harm, children guilty of no misconduct, innocent, who had done no one any harm. and what was the word we heard? amnesty. we can't have amnesty. there are laws around here that have to be followed for children who are innocent and have done no one any harm. what does the corporate negligence amnesty bill do? it gives corporations who are not innocent who are negligent and who have caused harm and who have even caused death amnesty. if that is the standard when you're small and innocent and a child and have done no harm, then we're going to be outraged at any amnesty for you, at any

kindness? but if you're a big corporation and you actually are negligent, and as a result of your negligence, someone dies of this disease, oh, what's the solution? amnesty. that's what we'll do. we'll help our corporate friends. if that is where this senate is going to stand, then there is something wrong with this senate. i yield the floor. oh, and by the way. this is no small thing, reclaiming one additional minute. this is no small thing by the way. the right to a jury began really at about the time of henry ii in the 12th century and followed through english common law,

through blackstone's legendary commentaries, the book that informed the early creation of american law, through to the declaration of independence where the jury was part -- a part of our country and then into our constitution. this is an important part of our anglo-american rule of law tradition. and the fact that we're willing to throw it over the side because big corporations come and say we can't bear the indignity of having to be treated equally and fairly in court with these people we're so used to pushing around and legislatures who have lobbyists and money, that's why we're going to throw out eight centuries of tradition and learning? there's a great movie called wine and winter, it's a great

movie about henry ii, and that's when this tradition started and we're going to throw it out here for corporations who have been so negligent as to cause death and injury. something is wrong. now i yield the floor and i thank the senator from connecticut, my friend, senator blumenthal for his indulgence in that last historical exercise. mr. blumenthal: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: i would be happy to listen much longer to that kind of eloquence and the powerful and significant comment on the blanket shield that some of our republican colleagues seek to provide to wrongdoers, whether they are corporate wrongdoers, or others, who have severely harmed innocent people. and it is not just about the rule of law that provides

accountability for victims and survivors of wrongdoing, it is also an important part of the deterrent function of our legal system, accountability and penalties for wrong doing are essential to protecting vulnerable people in the future and so our side will stand for keeping the courthouse doors open. those rights that some of our republican colleagues would destroy are essential not only to the anglo-saxon concept of rule of law, they are also important to vindicating rights. and some of the folks who lived in nursing home and who passed away as a result of this virus,

are veterans of wars. they fought for these rights. they risked their lives and sacrifice and many were wounded and they have now reached an age where they are now in nursing homes one of the reasons that they fought was to preserve these very rights that some of our colleagues would sacrifice so needlessly and so readily. today we're here not look back. there will be time enough to establish a commission, as i hope there will be, a 9/11 type commission, to learn from the mistakes that were made obviously we need to hold accountable other countries, including china, that may have failed to reveal the extent and magnitude of the health threat

posed by this pandemic. we need to hold accountable officials in this country who may have failed to warn and who denied the severity of this pandemic. we need to look forward. and right now in this relief package save america from the raging pandemic that continues, a health crisis, and from the collapse of our economy happening before our eyes, an economic crisis. and part of our package must be to provide funds for those nursing homes where those veterans live where grandparents live, community leaders, people who have served our nation in all kinds of capacity, raised

our children, served in our religious places of worship and been there for us. they have served and sacrificed. and we owe them places that are safe and clean and, yes, healthy. at least conforming to standards that we know are necessary to preserve them from disease. and here is the blind truth. a disproportionate number of deaths have occurred in nursing homes. the pandemic hit nursing homes especially hard, over 4,400 covid deaths in connecticut so far, about 65% of all of them, that is 2,900, have been amongst

individuals living in nursing homes. that is a searing indictment of our society. it is staggering. and so i'm proud to join with my colleague, senator casey, others who have come to the floor like senator whitehouse. i especially want to thank senator casey because his leadership has been so instrumental in this effort. we need now to make nursing home reform and funding part of the next package that we pass here. we've all seen the signs, heroes work here outside nursing home, and they are well deserved. i have visited a number of them, most recently the riverside health and rehabilitation center

in east hartford and the mary way facility in new haven. what struck me most was, in fact, the heroism of these workers. heroes do work there. they have put their lives on the line. they have reported for duty despite the threats to their own well-being and the threats to their own health and safety and their families. they have been there for the people who live in those nursing homes. and they deserve to be recognized and rewarded, not just in words but in money, in hazardous duty pay. the $13 per hour, on top of regular wages that is part of the heroes act, it's known as the heroes fund, it should be part of what we do next as a relief package.

we need to put our money where our mouth is in saying we support those essential frontline workers. let's recognize them and reward them but also retain them and make sure we recruit more of them because we need more of them. and let's put our money where our mouth is, not just for those frontline workers, not just for hazardous duty pay, not just for the heroes fund, but for the people they serve in the condition and care that prevail in these nursing homes. the heroes are not only the workers, they are the residents, because they are the veterans and teachers, firefighters and nurses, parents and grandparents , friends, community leaders, mentors. they are the little league coaches who now are at an age

where they are not going to the baseball field. they are the firefighters and police who once stood proudly in protecting our community and now depend on others to help them stand. we know that older americans are more vulnerable to this insidious virus. we cannot simply surrender. we must act, and we must protect those nursing home residents. and let's also be blunt about where the effects fall, because these health disparities also have a racial equity component. they not only affect older people who are more vulnerable, they also affect older people in

communities of color, even more heavily. those disparities are unacceptable. a "new york times" analysis of nursing homes found that nearly all, 97% of connecticut nursing homes where at least a quarter of the residents are black or latino reported a coronavirus case. so there is a gap between homes with significant minority populations and homes that do not have them. and addressing this crisis in our nursing homes means we must address the racism that accounts for those disparities and mars our nation. and we can never forget that these residents of nursing homes are more than numbers, more than

statistics. they are real people. as shocking as the numbers are, they are less dramatic than what you and i have seen when we visit those nursing homes, and my guess is everybody listening to me now, almost all americans are touched by the deaths that have occurred there in one way or another, directly or indirectly. and so i'm proud to join senator casey in fighting for the nursing home covid-19 protection and prevention act. it would provide $20 billion in emergency funding specifically targeted toward protecting those nursing home residents. and providing the kind of personal protective equipment, training, other kinds of resources that are necessary, and making sure that the heroes,

the frontline workers have the capacity to do their job and the heroes who live in those nursing homes both receive the care and resources they need. i'm also proud to have introduced legislation with senator booker, the quality care for nursing home residents and workers during covid-19 act, which would provide for additional reform to address the egregious number of nursing home deaths in connecticut and throughout the country. it would require weekly testing of every resident and testing before every shift for health care workers. it would also mandate that all health care workers have sufficient p.p.e. and comprehensive safety training around covid-19, and each facility has a full-time infection control preventionist

on staff to keep residents and workers safe, and it would guarantee that sufficient staff is available to facilitate weekly virtual visits between residents and their families. the sense of isolation of many of these nursing home residents is one of the major failings of how they have been treated during this pandemic. we need to move forward without delay. there is no excuse for spending time debating this issue. we all know that these steps are necessary. there should be no politics. nursing homes do not provide care for red or blue residents. they do not employ red or blue frontline workers.

this cause should be bipartisan. unfortunately, the republican proposal fails to provide virtually any resources, certainly nothing like the $20 billion that we are asking. and so i hope we will move forward as reasonable, caring minds and hearts must do, and make sure that we provide the resources necessary to do justice to these heroes. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. ms. duckworth: mr. president, i am speaking tonight on behalf of the millions of americans living with disabilities and on behalf of the many more who, whether they know it or not, are just one day, one accident, one devastating medical diagnose away from acquiring a disability as well. i've come to the floor to -- on their behalf because i came to the floor by rolling through the

capitol's corridors in the wheelchair you see me sitting in now. and i could come to the floor because 30 years ago, congress passed the americans with disabilities act, granting millions of americans like me better access to the full independent lives that we deserve. that landmark legislation only passed because of the dedicated activists who crowded in front of this very building in 1990 to demand that their country finally give those with disabilities the basic rights that the constitution provided. it only became law because dozens of them got out of their wheelchairs, sat down their crutches, and crawled up the 83 steps of the capitol building. because jennifer kieland, an 8-year-old with cerebral palsy pulled herself to the top of the steps, saying i will take all night if i have to. and because those around her refused to leave a fellow american behind, offering jennifer the support when she needed it, one step, one shoulder to lean on at a time.

30 years ago, these activists changed senators' hearts, minds, and most importantly, votes. 30 years ago, this legislative body said that people like me mattered. but last week, the republicans in this chamber proposed a bill that said that we don't. i speak out of a sense of frustration as i watch my republican colleagues, including the ones who once championed the a.d.a., attempt to deconstruct brick by brick the shameful wall of exclusion that congress sought to tear down less than three weeks ago. after celebrating the 30th anniversary of a republican president declaring that the a.d.a. would bring us, and i quote, closer to that day when no americans will ever again be deprived of their basic guarantee of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. senate republicans have now put forward legislation that threatens to deprive our community of those same fundamental rights.

many interpreted the timing of the heals act as confirmation of an alarming fact -- the g.o.p. has declared war on the disability community and the a.d.a. i truly hope that this is not the case, and that the timing was a deeply unfortunate coincidence, but at the end of the day, actions speak far louder than words. if senate republicans want to demonstrate that they value life, that they value the civil rights of all americans, they must join democrats in supporting two measures that would show the disability community that their party actually gives a darn about them. first, we need to save lives by preventing mass institutionalization. placing individuals with disabilities into congregate care facilities where the risk of serious illness and death are high is reckless and unacceptable. to achieve this goal, we must increase the federal medicaid

assistance percentages or f-map by 10% for medicaid home and community-based services. republican and democratic governors alike desperately need this change. the house already passed this 10% f-map increase months ago, and the senate must follow suit in any covid relief deal that is reached. real-world experience has tragically demonstrated how vulnerable congregate care settings are to deadly super spreader events like covid-19. and we know from existing data that americans with intellectual and developmental disabilities are killed at far higher rates than other americans when infected with covid-19. so investing in state efforts to provide medicaid services to vulnerable populations in the safety of their own homes is just a commonsense policy that would save countless lives. second, senate republicans must abandon efforts to gut the a.d.a. once and for all.

disability rights are human rights, and these civil rights must never become optional benefits that can be taken away whenever it's convenient or cheaper for employers and those who are in power. allowing businesses to exclude employees with disabilities from reopening plans is exactly the type of discrimination that the a.d.a. sought to abolish. yet the g.o.p.'s heals act seeks to relegate millions of americans back to second-class status, sending the offensive message that our community can be cast aside if the costs to companies are too high. but the harsh reality is that these efforts are anything but new. decades ago, when my friend judy human, passed her exams to earn a teaching license, she was nevertheless denied the license by the school board, all because of so-called concerns about legal liability in the workplace. they said that because judy used a wheelchair, she represented a fire hazard and could not safely

teach in a classroom. do these types of concerns sound familiar? the passage of the a.d.a. was supposed to relegate such workplace discrimination stories to the history books. those outrageous examples of injustice were supposed to represent the nightmares of yesterday, not the reality of tomorrow made possible by a republican proposal today. yet here we are in 2020, and senate republicans are shamelessly using a deadly pandemic as cover to gut the a.d.a. and hoist that brick wall of exclusion right back up. no one is asking for special treatment. what we are asking for is to not take away those basic rights the constitution promised all those centuries ago, and this chamber affirmed three decades ago under a republican president. so as we debate this next relief package, the questions that every member of this body must ask themselves are simple. are we going to leave americans with disabilities behind?

are their lives worth saving? are their jobs expendable? for anyone with a conscience, for anyone with an ounce of compassion, even just a lick of respect for the rule of law, the answer to those questions should be obvious. you know, in the army, our soldiers' creed included to never leaving a fallen comrade behind, and i'm alive today because my buddies in iraq who risked their own lives to recover my body when they thought i was dead, refusing to leave me behind. the activists who crawled their way up the capitol steps did much the same for each other. helping one another make their way up inch by inch, closer to the chamber i am sitting in right now, refusing to let any one of them struggle, to let any one of them fall behind. i'm here on the floor tonight because of those two acts of courage from two different groups of people continents away and a deck and a half apart. and now, as a senator, my north star is paying that debt of honor forward and trying to live

up to the sacrifices that they have made for others. so today, tomorrow, and the tomorrow after that, you better believe that i am going to keep fighting to hold the senate accountable for living up to the motto of the nation that we serve, e pluribus unum. out of many, one. because this country was built on that idea. it was born from the phrase we the people, and it grew out of the belief that there is nothing more powerful than the will of the citizenry when the citizenry works with each other and for each other. our response to this pandemic is a test of our faith in that founding doctrine. if we focus on the we, if we think about uniting the many into the one, then we can save lives and move past this national trauma together. but it's up to each one of us to act in a way that protects all of us, to act in a way that ensures no one, nobody, disabled or otherwise, will be left

behind. with that, i yield the floor.

mr. moran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, i am pleased to be on the senate floor this evening, but i'm here

to discuss a significantly is tragic issue that affects way too many americans all across our country, certainly at home in kansas, and that is the lack of treatment for mental health conditions and in many instances the consequence that comes from that -- suicide. sadly, veterans in particular face risks for suicide and, unfortunately, covid-19 has increased the problem. veterans have a higher rate of suicide and mental health issues than people who have not served in our armed services. we know there is not a single explanation or reason for suicide, and there's no single treatment or prevention strategy. one veteran lost to suicide is one too many, and of course we all have the obligation to help those who served our nation, those who fought bravely for our

country, to help fix this tragedy. every day we fail to act, every day we lose another 20 veterans to suicide. they need our help. mr. president, i want to highlight one veteran who fought a battle with his mental health condition, commander jon scott hannon. commander hannon was a decorated navy seal. i met his family through senator tester. but he, like every veteran, was more than just what his service record would show. his famines friends remember him as a -- his family and friends remember him as a passionate veteran advocate. he tried to help other veterans. he said he had a gentle heart and fierce belief in taking actions to tackle big challenges. sadly, commander hannon lost his

fight with post-traumatic very, with bipolar order and the affects of a brain injury. he lost that fight in february of 2018. he now lives on in the memories of his friends and family and when s. 785 becomes law, the namesake, the commander john scots hannon mental health improvate act, he will be remembered even more. more by other americans than his family and friends t i'm proud to lead this effort in passage of this legislation and its development, creation, the study and efforts, the conversation that went on with my colleagues in the senate, our colleagues in the veterans' affairs committee, the veteran service organizations, his family. i'm proud to lead that effort with the senator from montana, the senator who represents commander hannon's family.

for several months now, our committee has been working closely with the department of veterans affairs and the white house to improve upon and advance 785. this bill will make necessary investments in suicide prevention. it will improve and support innovative research. it will make improvements and increase the availability of mental health care. this bill establishes a grant program championed by senator boozman, the senator from arkansas. the v.a. will be required to better collaborate with community organizations across the country serving veterans. senator testerred and i, senator boozman, we come from rural states, and it is hard to find the services where they're necessary, and if we can allow the department of veterans affairs to deal with local organizations, we have a better chance of fighting suicide. this legislation represents a team effort, and i appreciate

secretary wilke and david ballenger, chris anderson for their help and commitment in addressing mental health services. the president and his support for veterans is well-recognized. the second lady, karen pence, has also been a longtime advocate for mental health. and i appreciate our conversations on this. the staff at the white house on the domestic policy counsel, joe groban, brook robbins, virginia mcmillan deserve recognition as well. the senate v.a. committee is known for its spirit of bipartisanship, and i want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their input on this important legislation. along with the lead sponsor of this legislation, senator tester, the efforts i mentioned of senator boozman, i would recognize senator sullivan and senator tillis, senator cassidy

and senator rounds, senator kramer, the presiding officer this evening, senator loeffler and senator mcsally and senator kaine for their substantive contributions to primary sections of this bill. these contributions by our colleagues range from studies on overmedication, the effect of hyperbaric testing on ptsd, and many provisions that will provide more direct oversight of the v.a. to ensure the department is equipped to better serve veterans. as a result of this bipartisan legislation, it has 51 cosponsors and it received a unanimous 17-0 vote in the senate committee on veterans' affairs earlier this year. and today is the time we pass this measure out of the senate. i'm calling on my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do our part to make certain that every veteran has access to

lifesaving care and support, the support they need. we need to ensure that every v.a. medical center is equipped with the proper personnel, evidence-based treatment options and the best research-informed care to fit the needs of each veteran that walks through its doors. for veterans and service members like commander jon scott hannon, we in congress is have the opportunity to help them know they don't have to struggle alone. our legislation will help connect these vents and service members to -- veterans and service members to their needs. we have a significant role and responsibility to combat this struggle and here today we can do our part to make certain that in their struggles our veterans are equipped with the care and services they need to be successful to win. we must take real and urgent action to tackle the challenges together. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senator from

rhode island, senator reed, be added as a cosponsor to senate bill 785. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, i also ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 498, senate bill 785. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 498, s. 785, a bill to improve mental health care provided by the department of veterans affairs and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute be withdrawn and that the moran substitute amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to and the bill, as amended, be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. moran: i know of no further debate on the bill, as amended. the presiding officer: if there is no further debate, the

question is on passage of the bill, as amended. all in favor say aye. opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed, as amended. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you for that. i now ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, i would yield to the senator from montana for his conversation and discussion of this legislation. the presiding officer: the senator from from montana. mr. tester: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank the chairman of the v.a. committee, senator moran, for his leadership. what we've done here today is a very, very good thing. i think the biggest challenge facing the v.a. today is that we're losing 20 veterans a day to suicide. it's been that way for some time. people have been looking for solutions and looking for solutions and the fact is there is no silver bullet. but what we've done today is

give the v.a. more tools in their toolbox to be able to address this problem of mental health and veteran suicide amongst our veterans. i want to thank chairman moran for his comments about commander john scat hannon, who this bill is named off. as senator moran has pointed out, this navy seal served our nation for 23 years and after combat scot returned to hellen in a, montana, but unfortunately the invisible wounds of war followed him right back home. he was open about his journey to recovery, getting involved in a montana chapter of the national alliance for mental illness and using animal therapy and programs of montana wild. unfortunately, and i know his family is watching right now, but unfortunately on february

25, 2018, scot succumbed to the wound of war because of his mental illness. but as chairman moran pointed out, this bill honors his legacy by supporting the kind of programs that helped improve his quality of life, but expanding the mental health treatments and diagnosing the treatments easier. i'm not going to go into everything the bill does because senator moran did a fine job on that. all i can say is that we have got a great v.a. committee in this united states senate. it is a committee that works to get things done in a bipartisan way. i've had the honor of serving with johnny isakson as chairman and now with chairman moran, and we haven't missed a step. we continue to work together to support our veterans across this country. there is no better way of

supporting our veterans than passing this bill, which is what we just did, from the united states senate about two minutes ago. and so the bottom line is this -- this isn't the final bill we're going to pass out of the united states senate dealing with veterans. we have plenty more. in fact, i think we passed a dozen bills in the v.a. committee dealing with a myriad of issues that affect veterans in our country. but the bottom line is, today we can be proud. we can be proud of senators in the united states senate for doing something that needed to be done that's going to help our veterans and move this country forward. i'm going to close by going where i started, and that is thank you, senator moran, thank you for your leadership, friendship, and trust. and it's great working with you, and i look forward doing many more good things before this congress ends. thank you, mr. president. mr. moran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, let me extend the courtesies that

were extended to me by the senator from montana, senator toaster. it's been a privilege to work with him on this and many other issues. many of them related to our nation's service men and women and women and those who served and are now veterans. i appreciate the ability for senator testered and i to work together to resolve differences and find common ground for the benefit of those who served. mr. president, before i conclude my comments this evening, i would use this as a moment to -- on behalf of you, mr. president, on behalf of senator tester and i, but on behalf of all members of the united states senate, to express our gratitude to all who've served our country and to express our respects and honor for those who are no longer with us, who because of those battle wounds have lost their life to suicide. we express our condolences and

sympathies to their family members and to their friends. and in each and every instance, we recognize what sacrifice they've made for the benefit of each and every one of us here today and across the country. mr. president, i would say to those family members that this legislation, we hope, and the example that their loved ones demonstrated in their lives will be something that will inspire us to do the right thing and care for those who served. so i express my condolences and sympathies to families and to all who served and i do so on behalf of all members of the united states senate. finally, mr. president, i'd be remiss if i didn't thank the many dedicated staff members who helped this legislation through to this point. emily blair, who is with us on the senate floor tonight,

tiffany, mark, asher, scott, pat, david, and careline. and senator tester's staff, sophie, tony, a kansan, as well as the house veterans' affairs committee staff members. mr. president, suicide is preventable and with the passage of commander john scott hanon veterans mental health improvement act here tonight, moments ago, we take a stand to protect the lives of the people who have given us so much in their protection of each and every american. mr. president, i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i understand there is a bill at the desk and i ask for its first reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. the clerk: s. 4461, a bill to provide for a period of continuing provisions in the -- appropriations in the event of a lapse in appropriations and so

forth. mr. moran: i now ask for a second reading and in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14, i object to my own request. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be read for the second time in the next legislative day. mr. moran: now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the foreign relations committee be discharged from further consideration of s. res. 658 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senate resolution 658, calling for a free, fair, and transparent presidential election in belaruse and so forth. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. moran: thereof, mr. president, i further ask that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. moran: and now, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., thursday, august 6, further, following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. further, following the leader's remarks the senate proceed to executive session and resume consideration of cal 645. i ask that notwithstanding rule 22, the cloture motion with respect to cal 645 ripen at 11:30. if cloture is invoked, postcloture time expire at 1:30 p.m., and if confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. moran: mr. president, if there is no further business to come before the senate i ask it stand aid understand under the

previous order. the presiding officer: the the presiding officer: the >> the u.s. senate gaveling out for the day, lawmakers are negotiating off the floor of the coronavirus economic aid package, here's what they had to say about the relief fund. >> first madam president i extend the condolences to the people of lebanon following the horrific explosion paid more than 100 have died in 4000 others were injured. the lebanese people have seen more than their share of tragedy, civil war, occupation, terrorism and assassination, secretary on balance, economic and political corruption, appein