Those who needed it most. So today we are not any other action on the floor dealing with covid, so we thought we would take this opportunity to ask unanimous consent to get Something Real done that should have bipartisan support on both sides of the aisle. Who can be against transparency . Who can be against accountability . An to know where close i to 700 billion of the taxpayers money is going . Is it going to the right places . Unfortunately today at least 200 publicly traded companies have managed to secure ppp loans, and most of those are not very small, including some Companies Whose owners are large contributors to President Trump. Truly, Small Businesses, however, hundreds of thousands of momandpop shops with less than 20 employees, the proverbial restaurant owner, or the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker have been mostly shut out because they didnt have a standing relationship with a big bank. Thereve been great despairs when it comes to minorityowned businesses. According to the center for responsible lending, over 90 africanamerican owned and latino owned businesses are likely shut out of ppp funding. Womenowned businesses have also been neglected. Now we have tried to fix some of these problems in covid 35 working closely with the senators from maryland and New Hampshire, and the senator from florida, but much more needs to be done. We need data to help further inform who is being left out so we can continue to make the necessary fixes to see that all Small Businesses are helped. Now my friend, senator shaheen has worked on a bill to do just that. I want to thank them and they will talk more about this bill in a moment. But i want to make one point here. This is a very simple piece of legislation. Requires the kind of transparency expected from any federal program of the size and importance. Public reporting of how and where taxpayer dollars are spent. This is something my republican colleagues have always believed in. So i hope that my republican colleagues vote object to this legislation when it asked unanimous consent in a few minutes after the senators have spoken. I hope they wont not object just because it comes from the side of the aisle. Its a good idea. Theres no reason to object to this very unobjectionable idea, and get this body focused on covid, not on extraneous matters which he seemed to be doing now. When covid is is the most impot issue we face. We are doing quite literally nothing else on the n floor of e senate today. Theres no other business before us. No votes whatsoever. So were here to for some action, or progress and force some focus on covid related legislation. I prefer to do this in a completely bipartisan way. What from the getgo democrats have been, had to force the issue on many Covid Response programs, the leader lay downa bill and has no democratic input and then of course we have to work towards that goal, and we have. And the fact that the first bill passed 960 as a tribute to this body that we can come together when theres real need to we should be doingy it the same way today. We should be doing it the same way today. We should be working together for support of her health care system, protecting so desperately need to come on the phone insurance and crucial improvements to Small Business lending. All of which democrats said we needed, i republican friends first resisted and then came along led by the republican leader. And all of which passed with unanimous support. The same thing should happen today. We should pass this. We should you see it and get the oversight that this program so desperately needs and they killed the 40 senator cardin. Madam president ,. Center fromfr maryland. Thank you, madam president. Let me thank leader schumer for new shooting this discussion. Im very pleased senator shaheen is also on the floor, the two of us worked on the democratic side and senator collins on the republican side and we are very proud of the tolls were made available to Small Business. These are important tool to keep Small Business applied during covid19. The Paycheck Protection Program got money out quickly and help Small Businesses stay afloat. 660 billion we have provided under the Paycheck Protection Program. The emergency Economic Injury disaster loan program, the loan and grant program, with no provided 70 billion for the program. Og but here is the issue. We had to adjust both of those programs without even knowing all the specifics on how the first amount of money was to tribute it. And were hearing that we we running out of money soon again, and the congress is going to be asked to make additional changes to these programs and we still dont know the specifics on how this money was to stream it. We are all frustrated here. And it really appreciate the leadership or i know my chairman is on the floor. Hes beenan demanding this information and has been unable to get it. Will besk asked to act again without having the specific information or senator schumer is absolutely right. We know in the first round that those who went preferred relationships with Banking Institutions got priority. That we know but we dont know how much we dont know how many loans the big banks have issued an which size if issued, what the conversation is meant and how those decisions were made. We need to know that because we are relying on the private Banking Institutions to make the 7 a loans in all communities. We expanded this program to nonprofits. That was a good thing. What we dont know how many of the nonprofits have received help under this program, the specific dollar amount, the specific logo the specific locations. And heres the challenge. I got a call yesterday what whr want to expand eligibility under this program. We know theres some difficulties in the programs themselves that need attention. There is now at sac expand. Theres also being asked what comes next. Restaurants a are still urge toe closed in my state. They will need additional help. How do we go about crafting what we need to do if we dont know whats been done already . We have been asking for this information over and over again. We have been able to get it. Its our responsibility to oversight these programs. Now quoting from my chairman, and he said and i agree with him, its our responsibility to oversight but if we dont have information, how can we oversight . I am concerned about under bank and underserved committees getting their fair share of this help, and yet we dont have the specifics on the number of minority Small Businesses, the number of women owned Small Business, the number of veteran owned Small Businesses. We dont know about rural Small Businesses and how well they have done. We need to have that information in order to make the next judgments in this congress, and yes, we do need transparency. Weve even heard from this administration that there may very well have been Small Businesses who didnt qualify for this alone that of gotten help, or had their own ability to handle this crisis but yet still ask the government for these funds or may have violated the size standards that are in this legislation. We need to have that transparency for oversight. Its our responsibility. Thats why we do need to act as a senate. The legislation that we are bringing forward is very common sense. It tells a the Small Business administration, make available the information on the ppp loans, on the loans and grants so that we can analyze it, know how these funds have been made and make the proper oversight and adjustment that we may need to make in these programs in order to make sure Small Businesses get through covid19. I just urge my colleagues, lets getnd this done and continue to work in a bipartisan way to make sure Small Businesses in this country are protected. That, madam president , i see senator shaheen on the floor. I will yield the floor so senator shaheen can be recognized. Madam president . To senator from New Hampshire. Im pleased to be able to join my colleague senator carton whose ranking on the Small BusinessEntrepreneurship Committee as well as minority leader schumer. And im pleased that the chairman of the Small Business committee senator rubio isne alo here, because senator cardin, senator rubio, senator collins and myselfd all worked on the Paycheck Protection Program and the Small Business provisions that are in the care package that we passed over five weeks ago. And im proud of our efforts to negotiate in a bipartisan way to help Small Businesses get through this crisis. Not only did we pass in that first cures package 360 billion to help Small Business, but just a couple of weeks ago Congress Also came together to pass an additional 370 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury disaster loan programs. And our intent in passing that legislation was to deliver relief to Small Businesses that are truly hurting. Small business are the lifeblood of this economy nationally, really, and certainly in New Hampshire when 99 of our businesses are considered Small Business. They employ over 50 of the New Hampshire workforce. And in New Hampshire, 20,000 Small Businesses and nonprofits have received over 2. 5 billion in low interest forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. But there have been challenges. Weve heard some of thosese stories from Small Businesses that were not able to access this assistance because some larger businesses got into the queue ahead of them. Some of those large publicly traded companies who had a relationship with their lender and so they were able to get in early. And we need information if were going to correct the things that havent been working about this program. Thats why the legislation that senator cardin and i and senator schumer are introducing i think would be so helpful. The Trump Administration and Congress Need to be held accountable for application of these programs. And in order to do that weve got to have oversight as senator said. Transparency is fundamental. We need to ensure that assistance is going to the Small Businesses and nonprofits that need it most, and senator cardin listed off a number of those companies, the women owned companies, minoritypa owned companies. Well, we also need to think about those businesses that have fewer than ten employees, the mom and pop shops that really need help, who may not have as long a relationship with their lender. Or may not have any relationship with a lender. All were asking for today is a measure that would provide the bare minimum that this administration should provide to ensure that these programs are functioning as congress intended. Weve heard the Horror Stories and the problemst with the program. Weve heard both sides of that. The public isnt going to know unless theres transparency so people know whats working and whats not working. The bill would also ensure that ppp and funds are reaching an Early Warning system for congress and things that arent working and when theyre expecting an an additional funding shortfall. These proposals shouldnt be controversial. These are things ive heard both sides of the aisle talking about supporting. What they will do is allow congress to perform our basic oversight responsibilities and foster Public Confidence in the integrity of these programs and perhaps, most important, these improvements will help make sure that the limited resources that are available are getting to the Small Businesses that need them the most. So, thank you very much, madam president. I yield the floor. Thank you, i want to thank not only for their eloquent remarks and hard work. And senator rubio has an appointment so senator blumenthal agreed to speak after the unanimous consent request. So in legislative session i also unanimous consent to proceed to the immediate consideration of the bill that would require the administrator of the Small Business administration to report on covid19 recovery programs. And i also ask that the bill be read three times and passed and motion to be reconsidered, to be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. Is there objection . Madam president. Senator from florida. Reserving the right to object. Let me first begin by saying, the first had a chance to speak on the floor about the Paycheck Protection Program since it passed. I want to say that unequivocally that despite everything you read out there, in my mind, i dont think theres any question by far this has been the most successful part of the cares act. To put it in perspective, this is something we worked on in a bipartisan way, in less than a week, it was crafted and then the agencies had less than six days to put together the rules. Until friday, april 4th, no bank in america had ever made a ppp loan. No one had ever applied for one and the sba never approved one. And it was a massive program. And if we look at the results, theyre theyre results that we have seen. Now, does the program have problems . Sure. I think anytime that you create something that spends half a 500, 600 billion that reaches over 50 of the economy, there are going to be problems and ill come back to this in a moment. The biggest problem that the program had since the beginning, it was underfunded from the beginning. The demand is greater for the supply even potentially right now after second round. Weve heard the reports about publicly traded companies and we all know how we feel about that and im glad thats being addressed now and i also want to put it in perspective. They have taken. 35 of the funds approved, not 5 , not 3. 5 . 35 of the money thats been lent. So its not like they took half of the money, which is what the perception thats been created out there in some of the coverage. Meanwhile, that means the rest of it went to somebody who is not publicly traded so thats an extraordinary achievement, nonetheless, and im glad thats looked at. Now on transparency and the other points, myself, friday, saturday, i was really upset that we werent getting those numbers and the reason why i want the numbers is, a, we want to make sure that this program we put our name on and worked hard on it all of us have, have reached the intended audience, b, the points made as well, to the extent that changes have to be made for future funding, we want to make sure that the future funding is targeted in the right way. But the problem is that if we and so i was upset as anybody and we may very and i hope that the agencies are watching these proceedings now and understanding why its so important that our members have accurate details and regular information about how this program is rolling out. What we do know, when they finally release numbers on saturday. In sound two, the average loan went from 206,000 in round one to 76,000 or so in round number two. Thats a stunning drop which tells you its reaching smaller businesses. We do know that 72 of the loans made in round two were under 50,000. And that 85 were under 100,000. We do know that 4400 of the 5200 lenders in the program or 5400 lenders in the program have less than a billion in assets. So we know that its reaching the regional banks, the smaller banks, the credit unions. Now, in terms of some of the information, the reason why doing what is being proposed here now would be problematic two fold. Some of the demographic information is not on the application. Its not clear they would be able to produce that for us unless they stopped the process, created a new application and then began to process it as well. Now, we will know the answer to that request he in the forgiveness phase. I believe in the forgiveness phase that that information on demographics being included in the forgiveness phase that people have to file. I think the best path forward is, in my view, not to pass Something Like this today although Something Like this may be necessary if we cant get these numbers, but lets find out first and foremost, what data points do they have. What data points does the sba have at their disposal and see if we can get them to do what they should be doing already, producing it on a regular maybe not a daily basis. What i dont want to see is that already overburdened agency thats small to begin with and struggling to get the programs running, i dont want to see them pull people off getting people money to fill out this information and we have to understand in the end it isnt the administrator or the treasury secretary that has to write these up and collect it, its people in many cases working from home living in the region under all the restrictions there. I think the agency is already struggling to manage the massive program and to add additional requirement without thinking it through would have unintentional consequences of slowing the program down. My view, we are going to find out this information and in a timely fashion so we can do something about it. I do not believe that passing this today is the right approach given the fact that we first need to know what data they have at their disposal before we can ask them to produce it, otherwise i fear theyre going to stop or theyre going to slow down and real businesses, Small Businesses, not for profits are going to be delayed. And so, i will object to this request. Madam president. Democrat leader. I just want to thank my colleague from florida, i do believe hes sincere and has the best of intentions to want to make this program work. I just make two quick points. First point, the more data we have, the sooner we have it, the better we can make the program. It wont slow it down, it will improve it and make it better. The sooner the better. And second about demographic information, i understand the problem, but there are a lot of ways to skin that cat. If we looked at zip codes we might be very well easily able to tell demographic information so i thank my colleague, i regret that we cannot move this legislation. The only covid legislation that will be talked about on the floor thus far, even though we were asked by the majority leader to come back during a crisis and i hope we can move forward quickly in the future to get the kind of information we need. With that i yield the floorment i yield to the senator from connecticut. Madam president. Senator from connecticut. Madam president , i want to thank my colleagues, senator card carden, senator shaheen and senator schumer seeking oversight with regard to a program that involves now almost a trillion taxpayer dollars and i join senator schumer in the senator that our colleague from florida has been both sincere and bipartisan on his efforts in the program. But the fact of the matter is that this program, Paycheck Protection Program cries out for stronger oversight, as does the entire cares package. We will be spending now an authorized 3 trillion, a federal budget and then half again, with little or no oversight and we know that this program meets the need among Small Businesses that is absolutely critical. I have traveled my state by Video Conference and telephone calls and communications of all kinds, with Small Businesses around connecticut, and i have seen and heard firsthand how they are hanging by a thread, struggling it keep their doors open and stay alive. This Program Gives them a lifetime and it has, in fact, provided many powerful success stories, as my colleague, senator shaheen said, but it also has produced some Horror Stories about big customers, a big bank receiving favored treatment to the detriment of smaller businesses that were supposed to be the beneficiaries of this program. We need to make sure that these funds go to the businesses and they should be Small Businesses that really need it and we should make sure that this program is adequately and effectively administered. We need to make sure there is transparency and disclosure about who is receiving these loans that can be converted and forgiven so that they become grants and so that real needs of those businesses and employees are continued to be employed. Those kinds of imperatives we must assure. We know that the Ripple Effect of these closures of businesses is tragic and traumatic and thats why we need to continue this program, but do so with oversight that is sure its purposes are met. And the businesses that have told me, for example, they need more flexibility, those needs need to be met. A number have indicated that they would like to extend the time, provided for them to hire back their employees, pass the time in which the state is likely to allow them to open, they need more funding for fixed costs, basically they need some flexibility. Because every business is different. And oversight in this bill will help alert the sba, and the congress to those needs. Finally, the oversight needed here is simply one example of the accountability that should be imposed on the entire cares act. Real accountability demands a watch dog, not a lap dog to top the waste and fraud that seems common in this administration. Thats why ive been working with my colleagues, most prominently senator warren, in strengthening oversight of programs created by the cares act created during this pandemic. We need to make sure there is effective enforcement and a hammer that is essential to detour wrongdoing, preserve resources and conserve credibility, strong scrutiny is required to make sure that aid reaches the right hands and i know that all of us believe, for example, conflicts of interest should be barred, retaliation against whistleblowers should be prevented. Firing of the Inspector General without just cause should be stopped and that means keeping an eye on these programs, not just a wandering eye, but a focused, strict, scrutiny that will assure transparency and make sure that this program serves the needs that it was intended to meet. The only people who feel threatened by that kind of oversight are the ones who are trying to game the system or hide something. The rest of us, which means the workers, the families, Small Businesses, want us to demand oversight and this bill is a good way to begin. It is a start. Not a finish to the task of oversight ahead of us. Thank you, madam president and i yield the floor. Madam president. Gentleman from iowa. When it comes to the virus pandemic that faces the world, the World Health Organization is not serving its member nations the way it should. The World Health Organizations mission is to promote worldwide health, reduce the burdens of disease and poverty and provide access to health care, especially for the worlds most vulnerable populations. The World Health Organization states, as its guiding principal, that all people should enjoy the highest standard of health regardless of race, religion, economics, or social condition or political belief. It serves primarily as a coordinating body to share information and best practices by connecting experts in different countries. The virus that emerged in wuhan, china, which causes the disease now known as covid19, has had a devastating impact on the health of people wide, worldwide, as well as to the global economy. Nations, including the United States have been scrambling to deal with the impact. Without a doubt worldwide efforts to combat covid19 would have been greatly benefitted from independent unbiased and informative data from the worlds leader in health, the World Health Organization. Unfortunately information coming from this Organization Since the beginning of the year has left much to be desired. Often providing information that we know now to be inaccurate or at least incomple incomplete. The American People and citizens of every country, all of whom rely on direct and truthful information, deserve better from dthe doctor and his team to lead the World Health Organization. China, where the Current Crisis began, has not done its part either in seeking or providing that very crucial information that if it come out sooner, would have saved many lives. For example, of china not cooperating, a doctor in wuhan, china by the name of dr. Lee young raised concerns about a growing pandemic in early january. Dr. Lee tried to blow the whistle on the spread of one of the worlds deadliest diseases. You know what he got for doing that . He was punished by the communist Chinese Government for, quote, unquote, spreading rumors. Tragically, dr. Lee passed away in early february due to this virus, covid19. After the death of dr. Lee, he actually became a rallying point for chinese citizens that were very upset about their governments coverup of this virus. Only then, after he died, and after the public outroar, did the Chinese Government apologize to his family and posthumously dropped dr. Lees reprimand. Throughout this time the World Health Organization demonstrated no interest in the accurate and verifiable information on the two dangers of this virus. We now know that in late december, 2019 taiwanese officials had summoned the alarm about human to human transmission of virus directly to the World Health Organization. Prior to that it was only thought animal to human transmissi transmission, but taiwanese officials blew the whistle. Taiwan center for Disease Control sent an email to the World Health Organization, which has now been forwarded to my office and has been widely reported, warning of, quote, at least seven atypical pneumonia cases in wuhan, china, end of quote. Additionally, this email communication noted that those individuals had been isolated for treatment, which we now know is said to be a Standard Operating Procedure for preventing human to human transmissi transmission, but still, at that time, it was considered animal to human. Taken together, this information should have been very much a red flag for the World Health Organizations leadership that the virus was capable of human to human transmissi transmission. Unfortunately, the World Health Organization chose to ignore these warnings and thus, failed to pass on this critical information to other countries. Instead, what did this World Health Organization do . It was complicit in the Chinese Governments coverup stating the opposite, that it was not human to human transmission. In fact, the World Health Organization even retweeted chinese propaganda on january 14th that there was, quote, no clear evidence of human to human transmission contrary to the information that the World Health Organization got from the taiwanese. It ought to be very clear that misleading the public like this is simply egregious by sidelining taiwans participation, which has one of the lowest known covid19 per capita, the World Health Organization stymied information about a more Effective Response to the pandemic. And it was these critical days back in january when the spread of the virus could have been greatly slowed and even contained and saved a lot of lives. The World Health Organization mandate is to coordinate responses and facilitate information sharing on a health emergency, to all of its members, which probably is almost every country on this globe. So this gross mishandling of the organizations most important mandate has cost countless lives around the world. While china covered up the extent of the virus spread, the World Health Organization continued to praise china for a socalled proactive response and transparency. General secretary xi waited a crucial six days until january 20th before announcing findings by Chinas National Health Commission about the danger of widespread human to human coronavirus con tatagious. Now, think for a while of the time lost between taiwans warning to the World Health Organization in late december, 2019 and general secretarys admitting human to human transmission on january the 20th. That time lost could have saved the whole world thousands of lives because they could have been on top of the situation, how bad it was, much more than anybody knew at that particular time. General secretarys government also delayed an access request for the World Health Organization experts to visit expected affected regions at the end of january by almost two weeks. Another two weeks lost. And he has continually fed disinformation to foreign citizens via several misleading tweets by his foreign ministry, and multiple unfounded claims posted on staterun media websites. Despite this, and also, other evidence that china actively silenced whistleblowers, and that the communist Party Officials were aware of the spread well before reporting it, the World Health Organization officials yet continued to praise chinas response and transparency. They lauded the World Health Organization lauded china for releasing the virus genome in mid january, while denying to mention that it took china 14 days to do this, even as the virus continued spreading across europe and reaching america. The doctor said in early february that there was no need for measures that, quote, unnecessarily interfered with International Travel and trade in trying to halt the spread of that coronavirus. Now, early february was a few days after President Trump stopped travel from china, except for american citizens coming home. But during that period of time the doctor thought it was unnecessary to interfooer with International Travel. Time and time again the World Health Organization endorsed and also repeated Chinese Government talking points and they did it all to the rest of the worlds detriment. We now know that there was a continued flow of misinformation coming from the Chinese Government since the onset of the pandemic, with little to no pushback by the World Health Organization on whether that information was accurate. In mid february officials from the World Health Organization yet again uncritically parrotted Chinese Government propaganda by stating that there were signs that confirmed and suspected cases of covid19 had declined in china. The United StatesIntelligence Committee has, in fact, asserted that china misrepresented both the number of cases and its death toll from the virus. Concealing the real extent of the outbreak in its country and that china intentionally hid or even destroyed evidence of the virus outbreak. In a dossier that was leaked to the australian daily telegraph, its alleged that china began sensoring information as early as december 31st, 2019 precisely when taiwan, caring about the whole world knowing what might be going on, was sounding that alarm to the World Health Organization. Previously, chinese leaders came under incredible scrutiny by the World Health Organization back in 2003 for the sars outbreak. China was not transparent with sars like they werent transparent until too late in regards to this virus, pandemic that were fighting today. Back then, the Chinese Government made sure information regarding the outbreak of sars was not made public. At that point the World Health Organization did what theyre responsible for doing, they publicly reprimanded china back in 2003 on the sars outbreak. Chinese leaders then quickly fell in line with the rest of the world in sharing its data with the World Health Organization member countries. Now, the World Health Organization been doing its job on this pandemic, then maybe china would have been quicker admitting that it was human to human and how bad it was even in their own country. However, were seeing a very different approach then now to the organizations handling of chinas information suppression campaign with the World Health Organization often praising china for its information sharing. But make no mistake, china has been nothing, but deceptive in its handling of covid19. We must remember that china has a long history of not being transparent with respect to the outbreaks of viruses and there is little to no evidence suggesting we should start believing china now. Meaning, of course, the Chinese Communist leaders. Nobody in this worlds going to hold the Chinese People responsible for this. Global leaders are now coming to realize that china is responsible for this pandemic, with Global Sentiment against the Chinese Communist party at its highest sense the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Its important that world leaders, including President Trump, keep pressure on china to finally be transparent with its data so that we can join together in combatting this deadly disease. Now we have a report from the department of homeland securi security. That report says that china, quote, intentionally concealed the severity, unquote, of the pandemic from the world. To make matters worse, the report further states, that while china continued to downplay the pandemic, it began to increase imports and decrease exports of medical supplies. So this report from department of Homeland Security suggests that china was beginning to hoard these medical supplies from the rest of the world. So they knew how bad this was in their own country. Secretary pompeo recently stated that there is a significant amount of evidence that this virus came from the laboratory in wuhan, china contrary to what Chinese CommunistParty Propaganda have been pushing throughout the wor world. On april 9th i wrote to the World Health Organization seeking answers to several questions regarding the organizations handling of covid19. I want to know what the World Health Organization knew and when they knew it. I asked that my questions be answered no later than may 1. Much to my dismay, the World Health Organization has refused to answer my questions about its handling of the virus. It would seem that the organization is much more focused on covering for china than it is in answering questions that every single american has a right to know. And not only does it the United States have the right to know this information for the benefit of the whole world because transparency brings accountability, but because we give i think about 400 billion 400 Million Dollars a year to support the World Health Organization. And i believe were the largest contributor to it. And i believe china gives about 10 of what the United States taxpayers put in. So i want you to know ill continue to push the World Health Organization for answers to my letter, probably a lot of other questions that ought to be asked, other than the one my letter had. Ultimately then primary responsible for this pandemic lies with the Chinese Communist government authorities who actively concealed the outbreak, since the fall of 2019, and suppressed the spread of Accurate Information about the virus. But the World Health Organization also bears responsibility for aiding and abetting the Chinese Communist partys coverup. That is why i support a full congressional investigation into how the World Health Organization has bowed to chinese pressure with the covid19 outbreak. The leaders of the World Health Organization need to be held accountable for their role in promoting misinformation and helping china cover up this Global Pandemic. Americans deserve to know what the World Health Organization leaders knew and when they knew it. I yield the floor. Madam president. Senator from wyoming. Thank you, madam president. Madam president , i come to the floor as the Senate Returns to help the country recover from coronavirus. This Global Pandemic is hopefully a once in a lifetime, once in a century shock, but it has been an earthquake that continues to shake the world to its core. Tragically we have lost tens of thousands of americans to the disease and our hearts go out as well as our prayers to each of those impacted. And all of their loved ones. Madam president , more than 30 million americans have lost their jobs in the last six weeks due to the virus and due to the state lockdowns that have been put in place as a result of the virus. People want and they need to get back to work as soon as possible. Its vital that we reopen america smartly and safely and we do it as soon as we can. Many states are starting to open are starting to open. Wyoming did this past friday. I will tell you we must all be prepared and alert for any likely aftershocks that will occur from the virus. The economy could not reopen had it not been for the Major Medical progress that we have been experiencing. Our heroic nurses, heroic doctors and others on the front lines have saved many lives. Testing in the United States has been dramatically expanded. And were producing promising treatments. The American People deserve a lot of credit for their tremendous sacrifices to contain the spread of the virus. Everyone in my home state of wyoming is suffering from the economic fallout as are americans all across the country. The best way to help these people is to push the start button on the economy. The senate is in session and will terry will consider taking temporary bipartisan relief efforts. We were sensing the impact of the money already. And we do know what has worked. The Paycheck Protection Program, that goes to the mom and pop Small Businesses, we know that program has saved 30 million jobs. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, the engine of job creation and in wyoming, the program has been very successful and very popular. You know, before the pandemic, madam president , the United States had record job growth and record low unemployment. Our economy will bounce back. There is no question in my mind. As we look to the future in terms of recovery legislation, what we need to do is to prevent a second epidemic and i have great concern that that second epidemic will be of frivolous coronavirus lawsuits. Any future legislation must focus on the virus and must include reasonable Liability Protections for the hardhit Health Care Workers and for american employers. Opportunistic trial lawyers are already advertising and they are targeting the same Health Care Workers and the same Small Businesses that we have assisted during the crisis. Ironically, the relief money could end up lining the pockets of greedy trial lawyers. As businesses bravely begin to reopen, class action lawsuits are being planned nationwide. Ambulance chasers are running recruitment ads right now that read, quote, receive a free coronavirus lawsuit review. Goes on to say, call if your loved one has been diagnosed with covid19 and you believe another partys negligence caused exposure. Nursing homes appear to be the prime target and add, from one florida lawyer who describes himself as a coronavirus exposure lawyer, encourages action for nursing home negligence. Thats why nurses, doctors and hospitals are counting on congress to pass common sense liability reform. Yet, Speaker Pelosi and senator schumer say they oppose this critical liability protection. Instead, democrats are demanding more aid for states and local governments. They want american taxpayers to bail out states with long histories of financial mismanagement. Now, thats already, madam president , on top of the 150 billion that the states just received within the last two weeks. Nancy pelosi now wants a lot, lot more. Madam president , weve put the full force of the American Government in the fight against this coronavirus. We cannot afford to allow an avalanche of abusive lawsuits to crush our awakening economy. Republicans will insist on a legal shield for essential workers and for businesses before spending another dime. It is our job to do everything that we can to get people back to work and back to work safely. Madam president , the physical and Economic Health of our country is at stake today. Were continuing to deliver financial support, must medical help to people all across the country. One thing is clear, trial lawyers should not profit from our nations pain. Together america will come back and americans will come back and it will be stronger and better than ever. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor, suggest the absence of a quorum. Madam president , we are here in the United States senate on this tuy