With mr. Graham madam president . The presiding officer the senator from South Carolina. Mr. Graham i ask unanimous consent that terminate the quorum call. The presiding officer we are not in a quorum call. Mr. Graham i also ask unanimous consent to be able to enter into a colloquy with my good friend be, senator daines from montana. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Graham he will be on the way. So heres the state of play. If youre a nurse, a doctor, and youre running out of supplies, there is a lot of money in this bill that will help you. We just need to pass the damn bill. Endless negotiations. In case youre watching, tell Steven Mnuchin to come back to the white house and end negotiations. I think understand the giveandtake of life and politics. But ive been called by two good friends on the democratic side in the last five or six hours wanting more money. End the negotiations. This bill is 2 trillion. Theres a ton of money in this bill for people who need it. But what were doing now is every special Interest Group in town is trying to get a little bit more. Nickeling and diming at a time when people are dying, literally dying. Businesses are having to make a decision, do i send my employees on unemployment or do i hope the congress can act so that i can keep them on the payroll . I tried to do bipartisan in terms of bipartisanship, but this is ridiculous. Steven mnuchin has done a good job. I appreciate his efforts to negotiate a bill that will help america. Senator mcconnell says were on the twoyard line. I believe t the problem is that there are 20 people playing defense. And we need to take some people off the field. What bothers me is that at that late hour im still getting calls from people wanting more money. This is not the last bill we will do, but this is the last chance we have to save some lives in real time. So i am encouraging the president , begging the president to end negotiations now. Write what we have done and lets vote. And if its not perfect, well try to fix it later. But it is damn good. Theres money in here to help people in Small Business whove had to close because theyve got no customers. Maybe we can change the containment policies, but it needs to be based on science. States now are sheltering in place. Anything the president does to try to open up the economy, count me in if its based on sound science. It needs to be conditionsbased. I want to leave afghanistan like everybody else, but its got to be conditionsbased. So i think were a long way from beating this disease. I want to bomb it, i want to starve it, and i want to kill it, but right now i want to get money paychecks up and running that have been shut down, no fault of your own. So if youre on a own a bar or a restaurant, if we can pass this bill, you can go to a bank, a credit union, and you can borrow money that we will forgive, that wont be a loan. It will be a grant. For your employees, up to 80,000 per employee. You can borrow money which will become a grant to pay the rent. We just need to pass the bill. If youre on unemployment in South Carolina, the most you can get is 326 a week. We add 600 to that, if we can pass this bill. To the hospitals on the front line, there is a ton of money to help you with supply shortages on the medical side. To the nurses and doctors, theres money there for you. Elective surgery has been banned in some states. That loss of revenue, we need to help hospitals who are losing revenue. Its all in the women. Its all in the bill. If you have student loan debt, we defer all payments. I think until october. I cant remember. Its in there. Thats good for you. It takes one rock out of your sack that you got to carry. It relieves your burden. Pass the damn bill stop negotiating. Enough is enough this has been going on for two days. Like everybody else in the country, i have lost my patience with the political process. Were being nickeled and dimed now. The big stuff weve got pretty well right, and if its not perfect, we can fix it later. But we need to vote tonight, and the reason im on the floor is because ive been called by two democratic colleagues in the last five or six hours wanting more money. The store is closed. Mr. President , end negotiations. Require us to vote. Draft the bill, do it tonight. Theres 10 billion in this bill, a 2 billion bill that may do more good than any 10 billion in the bill in terms of defeating the coronavirus. Everybody says were at war. Senator daines, do you agree were at war with this virus . Mr. Daines were at war. Mr. Graham okay. How do you win the war . I want to starve the virus. Starve the enemy. If we will practice good containment policy and stop going to the beaches and interacting with each other in an irresponsible way, well starve the virus because it needs human transmission to survive. So containment policies wellpracticed will starve the virus. Therapies, bomb the virus. The antimalaria drugs, i hope they work. But therapies are in the pipeline that can take the virus from a ten to one or two so its not so fatal. Bombing the virus is therapeutic drugs that lessen the morality rates. Killing it is a vaccine or an antibody that will get to the underlying problem. Senator daines has been a one man band to try to accelerate the ability to produce a virus that is the nuclear bomb to kill this damn thing. So we have 10 billion in this bill, thanks to senator daines, that will tell the Drug Companies who are in the business of creating vaccines and antibodies, do your trials. But if theres any promise, start production and we will cover you. If its a dry hole, well pay the cost. But if we strike oil, well all benefit. That 10 billion is going to allow Drug Companies who are in the virus destruction businesses creating viruses and antibodies, money to start production of anything that is promising. A dual system. Heres when we turn the corner when infections go down, not up, when therapies begin to degrade the virus and when a vaccine is on the horizon. Thats when we have turned the corner. The money in this bill will accelerate turning the corner. So i want to thank senator daines and my good friend from south dakota presiding, whos been a governor, who understands give and take, getting to yes. Nobody does a better job of getting to yes than our presiding officer. Both of you come from the part of the world, the big sky country where you have to live off the land where neighbor helps neighbor. Well, we need that attitude in this body. The store needs to close. Mr. President , end negotiations. Write the bill and lets vote. And the reason we need to vote is because people are suffering and literally dying. Senator daines, can you tell me what its like in montana right now. The presiding officer the senator from montana. Mr. Daines senator graham, thank you for joining me here tonight. I wish the cspan camera fora moment could pan this chamber. It is empty. There are three senators in this chamber right now. Senator rounds is the presiding officer from south dakota. He has to be here because hes presiding officer. Senator graham is here from South Carolina, and im here. Senator graham, this chamber is empty tonight. We should be here at this moment voting. Our phones are ringing off the hook. 23 hours ago in fact, i was presiding. And we were told that we were at the oneyard line. The minority leader came down here and said, were at the oneyard line. Were going to have discussions all night. Mr. Graham would you yield for a question . Mr. Daines i would. Mr. Graham have you gotten calls from democratic colleagues wanting more money . Mr. Daines i have. Mr. Graham that makes it appear to me that for example goes are not on the oneyard that makes it appear to me that negotiations are not on the oneyard line. Mr. Daines so were at the oneyard line, we were told last night. Negotiations would go all night. Everybody here said its got to be a good, bipartisan bill. But what we have right now is we have a situation, weve got an economic emergency on our hands. This is like somebody has been seriously injured and theyve called the ambulance and were debating right now about what color of ambulance to send. While the patient is dying on the side of the highway. Listen to some of these stories just today that ive had from the people of montana. There was a 60yearold woman, she provides cleaning Services South of missoula county. Normal business is almost down to nothing because folks are scared to let her clean their homes and businesses buse of the coronavirus. She says she is even willing to do outside yard work during his times. Shes worried about becoming homeless. This is a real story that came from a montanan today. I posted a video, senator graham, about her plight. And a couple of others im going to share with you tonight. Heres a warming part of this story. We had montanans hear about her situation and they said, were going to band together here and help her, were going to hire her and try to make sure she doesnt become homeless, which are her current concern. We were told were at oneyard line last night to get this d all ive got to say is the senate may think its at the oneyard line now but. Mr. Manchin ians are getting sacked but. Mr. Daines but montanans are getting sacked. Our unemployment claims are up 14,350 montanans have filed for unemployment in the last week. A gentleman from cal callasville, he wrote, help, both for the businesses to remain afloat and our team members that are being laid off or having reductions in work hours. Hes worried about his employees. Emergency personnel in missoula, montana. They let us know that ambulance drivers, e. M. T. s must travel longer distances because the volunteer Fire Departments dont have enough equipment or staff. They cant get enough personal protective equipment. Thats in this bill, senator graham. Immediate billions of dollars right now to get more p. P. E. To the front lines. And he said this. Many are working while spouses have lost their jobs and theyre wondering if theyll be able to pay their bills. If theres no relief soon. And their family members have lost their jobs in the community. They need relief now. I just got this letter. This came from this evening. In fact its stamped 7 50 p. M. Dear senator day, im the general manager of Fairmont Hot Springs located just outside of anaconda, montana. I am not going to read you the distribution of the plight that hes in. But heres the bottom line. I just processed 146 layoff notices for 85 of our staff. This is this evening. Its breaking the hearts of these employers to lay their people off. Its breaking the hearts of these employees who are losing their jobs while the senate is sitting here fiddling at the moment. We have got to come together and pass this bill tonight. Senator graham. Mr. Graham i would like to ask the question. I dont know how many employees the gentleman has, but do you agree with me that if you have 500 or less employees, youre a Small Business, under this bill, instead of laying off your employees, you can go to a bank or credit union and get an s. B. A. Loan that will eventually become a grant to pay your employees up to 80,000 per employee. You can also pay the rent thats coming due. Do you agree that thats in this bill . Mr. Daines senator graham, that is in this bill. For these Small Businesses, help is on its way. But we cant send the help, senator graham, until we pass the bill. But the good news for the general manager of Fairmont Hot Springs is that if we pass this bill, hell have the ability, as you just said, it is not a loan. Itll be a grant thats forgiven. In other words, he wont have to pay it back as long as he keeps the payroll paid, the rent paid, the mortgage paid. Well, that makes a lot of sense. Mr. Graham and hire back the people . Mr. Daines he wouldnt have to lay them off today. He just continues to write. They just canceled conferences totaling 848,000 in the last week. This is a big deal in montana. In fact, another Small Business owner in montana wrote this, and by the way to let us know that two other of our wellknown kind of resorts, Grouse Mountain resort in white fish and chico hot springs, thats where we had our homecoming dance dinner. Mr. Graham Everybody Knows that. You dont need to tell us stuff everybody already knows. Mr. Daines they are in trouble. They are temporarily closed. They closed Yellowstone National park and Glacier National park. They are looking at additional layoffs and cash flows of nearly zero. We are hearing the plight of montanans losing their jobs. 14,000 plus montanans from filing unemployment claims. And what is the senate doing tonight . Look airnd this chamber. Theres around this chamber. Theres nobody here. Its me and you. Mr. Graham all the people negotiating are my friends. Ive been in tough negotiations. Its hard to get to yes, but we never faced a problem like this since world war ii and 9 11. This is not any time. This is not any bill. This is not just another legislative endeavor. This is life, its death. Its the difference between bankruptcy and having economic hope. Its the difference between having supplies you need to save lives and not getting it. So to my colleagues who are doing the negotiation, stop. Its over. Write the bill. Lets vote. Every time i hear its close, that means were just a couple of 00 billion away hundred of billion dollars away. The reason im agitated is not because its too cheap. Ive been called wanting more money for this and that. All of them may be very worthy projects, but we need to stop negotiating at this very moment, write the bill and vote tonight, no later than tomorrow, and senator daines, i want to make a proposition to you. If we cannot do that as the United States senate, dont you agree with me that we should stop getting paid . Now legally maybe we cant stop our salary because it takes a future congress to do that, but we can all voluntarily give up our money. And i have a hard time with keep getting paid when we cant solve the problem. Weve been doing this for days now, and enough is enough. Senator daines, do you believe it is time for there to be consequences to the body for failing to deliver for the American People . Mr. Daines senator graham, i support the idea that if we dont get something done here that members of congress shouldnt be paid, and again, theres constitutional issues, but we can get around that by just saying well donate our paycheck to how about some important covid19 relief effort thats going on. Here in the senate tonight, we have a choice of whether we want to donate our paycheck or not. There are 14,700 montanans who dont have that choice. They lost their paycheck in the last seven days. Im usual usually a guy who stays pretty calm, cool, and collected you can probably testify to that. Mr. Graham yes, i can. Mr. Daines i hear the fear in the voices of montanans. Who are saying what is going on in washington, d. C. . We have a package, as you can see what happened today in the markets around the world, there was optimism. Why . Because we have something here thats going to be first they called it a stimulus, then they called it a recovery package. I think this should be called a rescue package many were in a rescue here to rescue this economy, to rescue these jobs, the Small Business owners. We could spend the next 40 minutes going in detail all of the things that will help working people in this country and Small Businesses. But in the meantime, senator graham, i agree with you. If we cant get this passed, every member of congress should start donating their pay to a charity that is currently on the front lines of dealing with the coronavirus and covid19. Mr. Graham i think youre speaking for most montanans and most carolineians. Lets go to the 14,000 people in montana on unemployment. I have been to montana, a great place. A lot of land, not that many people. Hardy folks. They dont want to be laid off. Theres nothing we can do about it until we control this virus, and we will. Do you realize, senator, that in this bill every unemployed person in montana will get 600 on top of the state unemployment benefit . And in South Carolina, the maximum benefit is 326. This bill will take it up 600. And dont you think that will matter to people in montana . Mr. Daines it more than doubles what they would receive in the state of montana. By the way, this Unemployment Insurance backstop thats part of this rescue package, thats not what montanans are asking. They want their jobs. So their first choice is, would you please help me keep my job. Now, if for whatever reason we cant do that, the unemployment, the backstop, ill tell you, montanans, we dont want a handout but its there if you need it. Its a hand up as a bridge until we get this economy back on its regular course. Mr. Graham if i may, we keep talking about being at war. Ive done some 50 trips to afghanistan and iraq. Were at war with a virus, not radical islam, and we need to destroy this virus before it destroys our economy and kills thousands of americans. Your legislation, your proposal of 10 billion to accelerate finding an antibody or vaccine is the ultimate nuclear weapon, and thats the best 10 billion in this package to kill the virus. But people in montana and South Carolina are out of work because we had to stop the spread of the virus. One of the most radical decisions since twar. I want you to know it wont be easy. Its going to take a while until we find the therapies and the vaccines to kill this virus. Until then, we need to act in congress to get help to those who need to, to the people you just described, the Business Owner and the unemployed person. Theres a lot of help. You can call this bill whatever you would like, but the two senators here tonight with me are from out west. This is the calvary coming over the hill. Youre under attack. Youre under siege. If we can pass this bill, the calvary will be there for your business, it will be there for your family, and the only way were going to pass this bill, senator daines, is to stop negotiations and write the bill. Do you agree . Mr. Daines theres been plenty of time to negotiate, senator graham. Theres been goodfaith negotiations on both sides. Theres been diplomacy going on between both sides. Theres been a lot of give and get. Were at a point where we should vote. We should be voting tonight. Regarding that 10 billion thats in this bill, ive been spending a lot of time thinking about how do we get out of this war . How do we mr. Graham you kill it. How do you kill the virus . Mr. Daines step back and think about the baisks the basics, the panic, the fear that the American People have will not stop until the pandemic stops. The pandemic wont stop until these great drugs start. So here is what were thinking about. And i want to give a reason for great hope and optimism around how were going to get over this great hurdle that we face in our nation today. We have some amazing vaccines in development as we speak. In fact, they started a trial in seattle a week ago monday. They vaccinated 45 adults aged 18 to 55. They are getting initial results. They are look being at the safety and efficacy, how well does it work, over the course of several weeks . We have some other amazing miracle drugs that are monoclone antibodies. And what those do, when you take that drug, it provides protection against the coronavirus so that you dont even get the covid19 disease. Heres the challenge, senator graham. Is it weve got to be operating in parallel paths right now to be sure we get those drugs available to the American People in a widespread fashion before the next flu season hits this fall. Were seeing reports right now from singapore, hong kong, theres some reinfections going on. That should put us on notice that assuming our containment strategy works and that we bend this curve, as we talked, so we look more like south korea than italy. We pray and hope for that and working to that end. The challenge will we be will not have enough immunity in our Society Coming up this fall that leaves us vulnerable for a second wave of this virus. The solution, the way we win this war is to start manufacturing some of these drugs earlier in parallel with the testing thats going on so that by the time the fall hits, we have it available for the American People. Thats in this bill. Listen, every hour that goes by that we dont pass this bill is an hour lost in this fight. And as we see whats going on, if you look at the World Health Organization numbers, were calculating it on al daily, sometimes hourly basis. Every hour matters, every day matters, and we lost now this week two days. Lindsey, its wednesday tomorrow. Its time to vote. This chambers empty, senator graham, lets get this chamber full of senators and lets have an upordown vote. Lets get it done. Mr. Graham the reason im here with senator daines is because ive been getting phone calls over the last several hours about wanting to add more money, and its not that its a bad idea as much as it is we need to get this bill done. It wont be the last time we get to address this problem. It rattles me to no end to know that people are still asking for billions of dollars at 8 30 at night or 8 00 at night. That tells me that we havent sent the right signal that this is a good bill. Its time to write it. Its time to vote on it. Its time to end the negotiations. Mr. President , youve done a very good job today. That News Conference with you and dr. Fauci was the most encouraging i have seen. Youre going to listen to good science, and we will turn on the economy in a good way, you were very nice to the congress. The reason we are here tonight is that were both upset that people are still talking about adding to the bill 48 hours after were on the 5yard line. So we may be on the 1yard line, but apparently there are 20 people on defense and we need to get the ball in the end zone and im just begging my colleagues who have worked very hard im not being critical as much as im being insistent that enough is enough. You have done a good job for the democratic causes. We have done a good job for republican causes. The cause is the country. If youre out of work, were going to keep you on the payroll so you dont have to go on unemployment if your employer decides to go that route. If youre on unemployment, we will give you 600 more so you can actually survive better than you would be without this bill. If youre a nurse or a doctor and youre running out of supplies, this bill has a tremendous supply chain in it. So our message is simple. No more negotiations. It is over. Lets vote. Mr. Daines senator, graham, thank you. And well conclude here. This is a moment in our history as a nation truly weve got to come together. The American People are asking us to come together. Senator graham, i thought for certain wed have a vote today and here we are approaching 8 3. Were going to lose another day while the unemployment claims are rising, people are getting sicker, theres help on the way with this historic package. It is time to forget whos a republican and whos a democrat. The question is niece are 100 the question is these are 100 members serving the u. S. Senate. Its time to rise above the current fracas and vote. Graham gray mr. Gray mr. Graham whos the gentleman thinking about laying people off . Mr. Daines steve ruback. Mr. Graham give us 24 hours. Im hoping and praying we can write the bill and vote on the thing, house and senate and put it on the president s desk in the next 24 hours. Sir, if we cant, we have let you down and everybody else in the country like you. To my governor in South Carolina, you had to institute some very strong containment policies so we dont become new york. People in my state, there are 1,700 restaurants in myrtle beach, restaurants and bars. Were going into easter in a few weeks and thats when the season begins. Our canadian friends will be coming down any day now. They want to go swimming in march. Were glad to have them. We dont like swimming in march because its too cold for us, but the canadians like it. Its a winwin. Theyre not coming and those 1,700 restaurants and bars in this bill, if we pass it, you can go to a credit union or bank, you can borrow money to pay your employees up to 80,000. You can borrow money to pay the rent, pay yourself as the owner, and well forget it and make it a grant for six or eight weeks. That will change everybodys life all over South Carolina. And it is time to change peoples lives. It is time to stop negotiating. It is time to vote. I ask unanimous consent the Senate Recess until 9 30. The presiding officer without objection. The Senate Stands in recess until 9 30 p. M. Recess president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell for weeks now the American People have been contending with