Floor Statements

Madam President, PPP. In addition to these nominees, the Senate has another important matter of legislative business on the agenda this week: an extension of the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program, which is set to expire at the end of the month.

Since its inception, the Paycheck Protection Program has generated more than 7.8 million loans to keep America's businesses afloat during what has been the worst economic crisis in three-quarters of a century, since the Great Depression. With the help of the American Rescue Plan, our economy is finally turning the corner, but businesses are not out of the woods yet and are likely to need assistance for another few months as the country continues to recover.

Most borrowers are currently awaiting loan approvals at the Small Business Administration, and many more are still looking to apply. Working with the Biden administration, we made important changes to the PPP program to expand eligibility and access to nonprofits, to hard-hit independent venues, and to make it easier for the smallest, most underserved businesses to get relief, particularly microbusinesses, sole proprietors, and woman-owned and minority-owned businesses.

There is no reason--no reason--to let this program expire while there are still scores of applicants in line and billions of dollars left in the program. The House already passed the extension of the program by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, 415 to 3. A bipartisan group of Senators, including Senators Cardin and Collins, Shaheen, Marshall, Sullivan, and Murkowski, support identical legislation here in the Senate.

So we are not going to end this week without passing an extension. Again, the Senate must pass another extension of the Paycheck Protection Program before the end of the week and make sure the Nation's small businesses can have access to this very vital lifeline.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I have a request for one committee to meet during today's session of the Senate. It has the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committee is authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

Committee on Foreign Relations

The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Monday, March 22, 2021, at 6 p.m., to conduct a closed hearing.

Mr. President, I understand there is a joint resolution at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading, and in order to place the joint resolution on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Tuesday, March 23; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the nomination of Shalanda Young to be the Deputy Director of OMB; further, that the cloture motions filed during Thursday's session of the Senate ripen at 11:45 a.m., and if cloture is invoked on the Young nomination, all postcloture time expire at 2:15 p.m.; finally, that the Senate recess following the cloture vote on the Young nomination until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.

For the information of Senators, we expect to have four rollcall votes during Tuesday's session of the Senate in relation to the Young and Murthy nominations.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order following the remarks of Senator Portman.

Mr. President, first, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings.

Mr. President, the Asian-American community is still reeling from the senseless murder of eight people near Atlanta, six of whom were women of Asian descent. It will be some time before we understand what drove the madman who perpetrated this crime, but there is no doubt that abuse, prejudice, and violence against Asian Americans is on the rise, and it is so un-American and so despicable that we all must be speaking out about this.

The same day that six Asian women were killed in Georgia, the Stop AAPI Hate organization released a report naming 3,800 incidents of hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and that is just in 1 year alone.

The fear in the Asian-American community and the threat of violence against its members should be a topic of national conversation.

In the last 4 years--you know, we all know there have been forces of racism, dark forces, that have been often seen in America, but the last 4 years, where Donald Trump, at the very minimum, refused to condemn the bigotry in the instances when he should, have allowed them to come far more up to the surface. It is as if the society's superego that keeps these dark forces down has been greatly diminished or even removed.

It is up to us, particularly under the new President, who fights bigotry at every step of the way--but it is up to all of us to speak out against it and to act against it.

The story of the Asian-American community is quintessentially an American story, and we cannot allow the rising tide of bigotry against them, the intolerance against them, the prejudice against them to go unchecked because in a multicultural society like ours, an attack on any one group is an attack on everyone.

I love the Asian-American community. They are such fine, good American people. The story of the Asian-American community is quintessentially an American story. It is a story of coming here, building strong communities, opening local businesses, churches, civic organizations, and slowly but surely gaining the political representation they so deserve.

Just yesterday, we confirmed a nominee whose parents emigrated from Taiwan to become the U.S. Trade Representative. That is notable and important progress. But, unfortunately, the past few years have shown us that America has not excised the age-old demon of racism, and to too many it has become acceptable, permissible, or just shrug your shoulders. That cannot be.

With respect to the Asian-American community specifically and all communities, we must condemn rhetoric that is racist. In this case, we must condemn any rhetoric that blames the Chinese people for the coronavirus. President Trump did that, despicably, and that notion was too often encouraged by others who repeated his harsh, nasty, and bigoted words.

We must stand beside and stand up for our Asian-American brothers and sisters. Americans of every faith, every color, every gender and sexual orientation must band together against these dark forces of hate. As I said, they are always with us, but somehow after the 4 years of the Trump Presidency, they are rising to the surface and seem too acceptable to too many people. Fight them, fight them, fight them we must.

As we mourn with the people of Georgia, let us recommit ourselves to that most American of creeds that is right above the mantle where you sit, Mr. President, ``e pluribus unum.'' Out of many, one.

America: ``e pluribus unum.'' Out of many, one.

Mr. President, on nominations, today, the Senate will vote to confirm another member of President Biden's Cabinet, Xavier Becerra, to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

In truth, Attorney General Becerra's nomination should not have taken this long. From the moment the Attorney General Becerra was announced as President Biden's pick for HHS, Senate Republicans have tried to derail his nomination. Their arguments almost verge on the ridiculous. They complain loudly that he had no direct experience as a medical professional, even though Republicans voted in lockstep to install Alex Azar, a pharmaceutical executive, who raised drug prices and tried to undermine our Nation's health law as the previous HHS Secretary.

Becerra, by contrast, has decades of standing up for working and middle-class Americans in Congress, fighting to protect and expand Medicare and Medicaid and working to safeguard our healthcare system from attacks by the Trump administration.

As the Biden administration works to defeat this pandemic, the President deserves to have his Cabinet confirmed, especially a post as important as HHS Secretary. I look forward to completing his nomination today.

A few days after Democrats gained control of the Senate, we had big tasks ahead of us right away. I said that we had three important priorities to do quickly: One, the impeachment trial of Donald Trump; two, big and bold COVID relief; and, three, President Biden's Cabinet. We have already finished the first two priorities, and very soon we are going to finish the third.

I want to thank my colleagues, my Democratic colleagues, for working so quickly, so hard, and in such a unified team effort to allow all of this to happen. I am very proud of what we have done in these first few months.

Later today, the Senate will take its first vote on the nomination of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to be our Nation's Labor Secretary. Early next week, after we confirm him, the Senate will have confirmed every available Cabinet Secretary and many more Cabinet-level appointments besides. That is excellent progress, and, again, I want to thank my colleagues in the Senate on both sides of the aisle for their votes in supporting these fine nominees.

What does it mean? It means the Biden administration will have the personnel in place to implement the American Rescue Plan, finish the fight against COVID-19, and bring our country roaring back. In the meantime, the Senate must continue to work to get the rest of the President's team in place.

Mr. President, now on the American Rescue Plan. As Americans learn more and more about ARP, the American Rescue Plan, the more popular it becomes and the more optimistic Americans feel about our economic recovery.

Across the country, the support for the rescue plan has risen to over 70 percent. In January of this year, before President Biden took office and Democrats assumed the majority of the Senate, more than four in five Americans believed America was on the wrong track; less than one in five said it was on the right track.

Now a majority, 55 percent, believe the country is headed in the right direction. It is back on the right track. That is a dramatic turn rather quickly, but I think it is, in part, because of the good work we have done here in the Senate.

Now we have learned something else: Consumer confidence has increased faster after the passage of the American Rescue Plan than after any of the other stimulus bills passed by Congress, particularly among low- and middle-income Americans, who have suffered the most.

That is fantastic news. Americans at the top have been able to survive the pandemic much more easily than Americans at the lower end of the ladder. For that reason, economists have long feared a K-shaped recovery in which high-income earners recover quickly, while middle- and low-income earners are left behind.

The American Rescue Plan is finally restoring confidence and support for Americans at the middle and at the bottom, helping drive a robust recovery for everyone.

One crucial aspect of that recovery is support for housing. As we all know, during the pandemic, tens of millions of Americans were out of work and drained family incomes. Americans were forced into impossible choices: Do I pay the rent and utilities this month or do I buy another few weeks of groceries?

Sadly, more than 13 million Americans report that they have fallen behind on the rent, especially Black and Brown Americans.

So when Senate Democrats put together the American Rescue Plan, we made one of the most significant investments in housing assistance in recent history: more than $20 billion in emergency aid for low-income renters, those at the greatest risk of eviction; $10 billion to help homeowners behind on mortgages and utilities to avoid foreclosure.

We include crucial support for rural America, homeowners struggling with the mortgage, and Americans, particularly veterans, who have recently fallen into homelessness or at risk of homelessness.

The American Rescue Plan goes further in delivering housing assistance to Tribal Nations and Native Hawaiians, more than any other housing bill in history.

The American Rescue Plan, quite literally, will keep a roof over Americans' heads. It is just one of the many ways the ARP delivers relief to struggling Americans and sets the stage for a supercharged economic recovery.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate consider the following nominations en bloc: Calendar No. 28 and Calendar No. 36; that the Senate vote on the nominations en bloc without intervening action or debate; that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate; that any statements related to the nominations be printed in the Record; and that the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the postcloture time on the Walsh nomination be considered expired and the Senate vote on the confirmation of the nomination at 5:30 p.m., Monday, March 22.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 32.