The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“CORONAVIRUS” mentioning John Thune was published in the Senate section on pages S80-S82 on Jan. 21.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I am happy to be standing here today on the Senate floor during an exciting week and one that really provides us with hope for the future. I welcome President Biden and, of course, Vice President Harris to their new roles and look forward to their leadership that they will provide in these difficult times.
We can never forget that America is still in the midst of a deadly pandemic. Tragically, we lost over 400,000 Americans. In my State of Illinois, we have seen more than 1 million COVID cases, and 18,398 of my neighbors and friends in Illinois have died due to this deadly virus.
As we continue to try to stop the spread of this pandemic, I am glad that the vaccine rollout has been able to help some in my State--
537,000 people in Illinois have received vaccines. It is a refreshing and long overdue sight to have the President and White House fully engaged in addressing this pandemic with a focus on science and racial equity.
On his first day yesterday, President Biden signed several important Executive actions, including instituting a mask mandate for all Federal facilities and buildings.
Secondly, he moved to rejoin the World Health Organization. This was one of the most confounding decisions by the Trump administration. In the midst of a global pandemic, President Trump opted to remove the United States from the World Health Organization, which was focusing on the spread of this pandemic and its impact on nations around the world.
Finally, President Biden created an office to coordinate a national response to the pandemic. Today he is outlining a strong plan to provide a national strategy to liberate us from this threat.
I must say that I was disappointed in the transition when at first President Trump refused to acknowledge that he lost the election, and then his Agencies dragged their feet when it came to informing the Biden administration of the status quo in America. Thus, today, we learn that we were not as prepared as we should have been when it came to distributing the vaccines that were being manufactured across this country. Now we almost have to start from zero to find a way to meet President Biden's challenge of 100 million Americans vaccinated in the first 100 days that he is in office. I pray that he is successful. We should do everything in our power on both sides of the aisle to give him the resources and the cooperation he needs.
The fact sheet of things that will be done by the Biden administration on COVID-19 is lengthy and impressive. The President, on the first day, established a White House COVID-19 Response Office and Coordinator, as I mentioned, required mask wearing and social distancing in Federal facilities, and rejoined the World Health Organization.
Today, President Biden also unveiled a national strategy to leverage Federal resources. It outlines detailed plans for a comprehensive vaccination strategy. If there was cheering--and there should have been--for the Warp Speed project developing successful vaccines in a short period of time, it was followed by some disappointment that even with these vaccines and the knowledge of how to make them, we are not producing them in the quantities necessary, and we are not addressing the logistics of spreading these vaccines across America where they are needed the most.
The President is setting out to restore trust by leading with experts for public outreach, and he is relying on science. That is refreshing. It is hard to imagine something that basic is as refreshing as it is. He is providing resources and guidance to reopen most K-8 schools in 100 days. Wouldn't that be a blessing? There isn't a parent or grandparent in this country who won't cheer that particular goal. He is addressing supply gaps and State capacity. We are finding them virtually all across the United States. And he is focusing on vulnerable populations, including those in long-term care facilities and communities of color.
To implement this plan, President Biden will sign Executive orders today to direct agencies to exercise all authorities, including the Defense Production Act, to accelerate the manufacturing and delivery of vaccination, testing, and medical supplies. Let me say, I have never understood why President Trump refused to use this Defense Production Act to its full capacity, to use his leadership as President to marshal the resources of production and distribution of vaccines and other absolutely necessary medical devices.
President Biden also is directing FEMA to increase Federal reimbursement to States from 75 to 100 percent for emergency supplies, such as PPE, and National Guard personnel. He is establishing a Healthy Equity Task Force to provide recommendations on how to allocate and address racial and ethnic disparities that have been magnified by this crisis
We know the economic damage of this virus continues to linger. Nearly one in four people in my State in renter households reports being behind on rent, and one in three households reports having difficulty just covering usual household expenses.
We continue to see historic numbers of Americans filing for unemployment, including more than 100,000 people in Illinois who applied for unemployment last week. But to fully address the health and economic toll of the pandemic, Congress needs to build upon the work we did in December and heed the call of the $1.9 trillion plan that President Biden outlined last week.
I was part of a bipartisan group of Senators who met several months ago. We talked about following on the CARES Act with some measure of COVID relief. We proposed a plan of $908 billion, which was then embraced by the leaders on both sides of the aisle and the White House, and they negotiated further. That resulted in the measure we passed just a few days ago. But make no mistake, that was not the end of the story, nor did we envision that it would be. This was done on a temporary emergency basis to cover the first quarter; that is, the first 3 months of this calendar year. I pray that this pandemic and all of the problems it has caused will soon be gone, but I doubt that it will happen in the next 3 months.
We have more work to do, and President Biden knows it. I think we all do. We need to come together again on a bipartisan basis.
The first CARES Act passed the Senate by a vote of 96 to nothing. There were no dissenting votes. The second measure, I believe, had 91 or 92 votes in favor of it. So we have shown real bipartisanship. We can't quit on this challenge.
Janet Yellen has been named as the Treasure Secretary designate by President Biden. I had a conversation with her 2 weeks ago. We talked about the perilous state of the economy. It is naive for us to believe that the worst is behind us. We have to face the reality that we may have darker days ahead, and we have to be prepared to deal with them--
first, with the pandemic and, second, with the economy. Even the Chairman of the Federal Reserve has encouraged us not to take our foot off the accelerator, lest we lapse into a recession or worse.
Let's take this seriously. Let's help the businesses, help the workers, help the families, and do our best to get this economy back on its feet.
Illinois has spent $843 million in our health departments to expand testing and vaccine delivery from the December package. But with half a million people vaccinated so far in a State of 13 million, more resources and support are needed. That means providing the $20 billion for vaccine distribution and $50 billion for testing that President Biden has asked for as part of his rescue package so we can finally, once and for all, crush this virus, get the economy back on its feet, and get our kids back in school.
It also means investing in the health workforce, such as through a bill I have introduced with Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, to provide scholarship and loan repayment through the National Health Service Corps for doctors and nurses to serve in communities with a shortage of providers.
I say to the Presiding Officer, I am sure you are personally aware that there are fewer African-American doctors in the United States today than there were 10 years ago. I am sorry to report that. It should be just the opposite. We should have so many more, for many reasons, not the least of which is to overcome health inequity.
This scholarship program that Senator Rubio and I are proposing builds on the model of the National Health Service Corp, which tracks young doctors to come and serve in underserved areas and to help underserved populations, and then helps pay off their student loans. We take this approach: Keep that; it is good. Expand it where we can, but let's look at another aspect. What if we provided scholarship assistance and really directed it toward minority candidates to become doctors and dentists and nurses and healthcare professionals? All of those aspects would be encouraged if people knew that they had a scholarship through the National Health Service and the promise that they would serve where they were needed after they graduated. We hope this will be included in any measure that is passed in the near future.
The President's plan sets out additional relief measures that will float to those in need. I am especially encouraged by making the child tax credit fully refundable. That is going to benefit 1 million kids in my State.
Also, the Biden plan aims to safely open schools, businesses, and travel while protecting workers in these areas and committing to protecting our most vulnerable populations.
I am ready to continue pushing for COVID relief. The job isn't finished by any means. We must provide American families and workers the tools they need to survive in this difficult economic time.
As Chair Yellen said earlier this week, ``Without further action, we risk a longer, more painful recession now--and long-term scarring of the economy later.''
Let's do this, America. Let's do it together. Let's let the spirit of unity that we saw on the West Front of the Capitol yesterday bring us together here in the Senate and the House in a joint effort to help the American people with the resources they need to survive this pandemic and this lengthy financial hardship.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of the quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). Without objection, it is so ordered.
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