mr. carper: happy to yield. mr. sasse: i don't think any of us believe that a math debate is the most productive way to spend our time in the senate. but $400, add $600, is $1,000 a week. that's $25 an hour in a 40-hour week. i don't know how i explain that, that you're now going to the pay them $25 if they become uninsured. the senator from illinois said this is a program only for people who are involuntarily separated. if that's the way the program worked, it would be great. but everybody knows that's not how it works. how it actually works is once you create a disincentive to work, employers regularly work with employees to say, i kind of would like to drive you off the system. i think you should realize this would be better for you if you casualize it. that's exactly what happens. mr. carper: i'll go back and reengage in our secretary of labor and make sure we have our mathreavement the other point he made. i asked him how hard would it be to administer? is it something we could stand up in a couple of weeks or

mr. carper: madam president, i rise this afternoon -- this evening, rather. i rise this evening to discuss the national environmental policy act of 1969, which is oftentimes referred to as the magna carta of environmental laws. when i think of our nation's most illustrious documents, i'm reminded of americans aspirations, i'm reminded of our declaration of independence and its embrace of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. i'm also reminded of our constitution. delaware is known as the first state because we were the first state to ratify the constitution, september 7, 1877. our constitution is the most replicated and enduring constitution in the history of the world. it's not entirely unlike a more recent expressions of america's values and guiding principles like the national environmental policy act of 1969 or nepa. nepa has served as one of our bedrock environmental laws for a half century now. according to its six pages of statute, nepa's includes effort which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and stimulate the health and welfa

mr. carper: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: mr. president, i would say to my colleague, my west virginia colleague and friend, don't lose that sense of optimism. and it's going to carry us through this and hopefully well beyond. i live in delaware. my wife and i live in delaware. we live in the same house we've lived in for, gosh, 33 years and raised our sons there. sent them off into the world. every morning i get up. i come here and i go to the train station and it used to take maybe 15 minutes from my house to get to the train station. today there's just a few cars on the road. no buses. and i got to the train station and most of the doors were closed up on the platform. i think two people were on the platform to catch the train that ultimately brought me down here. a lot of people that i rush by on the way to the train station, some people that have slept out overnight, destitute, asking for money, off the train station here, an hour and a half later in union station, walking through the train station almost empty. the train i'

mr. chairman, but it bought us time. it bought us time. >> senator carper. >> thanks, mr. chairman. welcome. thank you for joining us today and for your testimony and for your work. dr. kadlec, given the potential for a fairly rapid spread of this virus, we can't afford for patients to delay screening because of concerns of affordability due to insurance dedu deductibles and co-pays. recently, the news documented one short-term health insurance plan in florida, i believe, billing a patient more than $3,000 for his coronavirus screening and flu test, $3,000. what are you and your staff doing to ensure that coronavirus screenings and treatment are low-cost and affordable? have you asked health insurers and employers to lower or remove financial barriers to coronavirus screenings? >> well, sir, that was appreciated, and that is why sima verma, dr. sima verma is now a member, who is part of the cms, is part of the task force, is to focus in on that part of the problem. one is about the accessibility of people who might have the coronavirus and how that is being covered as well as afford

mr. carper: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. carper: thank you, madam president. i want to commend the senator from louisiana for his leadership and for his courage in pushing -- not just helping to develop this proposal that we've offered in legislative form but to try to make sure that it gets the vote that it needs, the debate it needs and the vote that it needs 0en this floor. -- on this floor. for a couple centuries, members of the united states senate would introduce legislation. that legislation would be debated. democrats and republicans would have the opportunity to offer amendments to that legislation. to get votes on that legislation, on their amendments, and we would hammer out a compromise in the senate and eventually with the house and with whoever was president. that's -- there's an old movie the presiding officer may remember, "the way we were." that's the way we were. and we need desperately to get back to the wait we were. when we were the world's greatest deliberative body. and a good way to get started 0 than