10 Dec 2020, Mr. Sanders on the Senate floor ──(C-SPAN transcript below video) : “ If we could do it in March, it was the right thing then. Now at a time when the situation in many ways is even worse, we can and must do it today. ” Tweet your support for his position to @JoeBiden @Transition46
(C-SPAN transcript ─not amenable to editing─ is worth reading along with video) MADAM PRESIDENT,
THIS COUNTRY FACES AN UNPRECEDENTED CRISIS IN TERMS OF THE PANDEMIC AND THE ECONOMIC MELTDOWN. WHILE I UNDERSTAND THAT NEGOTIATIONS ARE CURRENTLY GOING ON IN TERMS OF COMING UP WITH AN ECONOMIC PACKAGE DEALING WITH COVID-19 RELIEF AND I APPLAUD THE VERY HARD WORK THAT EACH OF THE NEGOTIATORS ARE DOING, DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS, BUT THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS THAT THE RESULTS UP TO THIS POINT OF THOSE NEGOTIATIONS ARE TOTALLY UNSATISFACTORY, GIVEN THE ECONOMIC DESPERATION FACING TENS OF MILLIONS OF WORKING FAMILIES ALL ACROSS THIS COUNTRY. AS I THINK EVERYONE WILL REMEMBER, BACK IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PANDEMIC, THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS ACTED UNANIMOUSLY -- UNANIMOUSLY, DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS WORKED WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP TO COME UP WITH AN ECONOMIC PACKAGE THAT WENT A LONG WAY TOWARD PREVENTING ABSOLUTE MISERY AND DESTITUTION FOR MANY OF OUR PEOPLE. THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN, COVID-19 RESULTED IN MILLIONS OF OUR PEOPLE LOSING THEIR JOBS AND THEIR INCOME. THAT'S WHAT THE PANDEMIC DID. NOBODY IS TO BLAME. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED. AND IN RESPONSE IN MARCH, DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS IN THIS CONGRESS CAME TOGETHER, WORKED WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND IN A VERY SIGNIFICANT WAY RESPONDED TO THAT CRISIS. THAT IS WHAT WE DID IN MARCH. MADAM PRESIDENT, WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS THAT AT A TIME WHEN IN MANY WAYS THE ECONOMIC AND PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS IS WORSE TODAY THAN IT WAS IN MARCH , I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE NOT RESPONDING ACCORDINGLY. IN MARCH, AS US KNOW, WE PASSED THE $2.2 TRILLION CARES ACT, WHICH INCLUDED A $600 SUPPLEMENT TO UNEMPLOYED WORKERS. AND, MY GOD, WHAT RELIEF THAT WAS TO MILLIONS OF WORKERS WHO HAD LOST THEIR JOBS. AND, IN ADDITION, WE PROVIDED A $1,200 DIRECT PAYMENT TO EVERY WORKING-CLASS ADULT IN THIS COUNTRY, PLUS $500 FOR THEIR KIDS. ONCE AGAIN -- LET ME REPEAT THIS. ONCE AGAIN, WE DID THIS UNANIMOUSLY, AND WE DID IT WORKING WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP, DESPITE MANY OF THE ENORMOUS DISAGREEMENTS THAT A LOT OF US HAVE WITH PRESIDENT TRUMP. -- ON SO MANY ISSUES. NOW, WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS IF WE COULD WORK TOGETHER IN MARCH, IF WE COULD SUCCEED, HAVE SUCCEEDED NINE MONTHS AGO, WHY CAN WE NOT DO EXACTLY THE SAME THING RIGHT NOW? AND THAT IS WHY I WILL INSIST THAT ANY AGREEMENT, IN TERMS OF A COVID-19 RELIEF PACKAGE, MUST INCLUDE NOT ONLY STRONG UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS BUT A $1,200 DIRECT PAYMENT FOR THE WORKING FAMILIES OF THIS COUNTRY , SIMILARLY STRUCTURED TO WHAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE CARES PACKAGE OF MARCH. AND I WILL BE INTRODUCING AN AMENDMENT TO THE ONE-WEEK CONTINUING RESOLUTION TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT OCCURS. THAT EVERY WORKING-CLASS ADULT IN THIS COUNTRY RECEIVES ANOTHER $1,200 DIRECT PAYMENT, PLUS $500 FOR THEIR KIDS. IF WE COULD DO IT IN MARCH -- AND IT WAS THE RIGHT THING THEN -- NOW, AT A TIME WHEN THE SITUATION IN MANY WAYS IS EVEN WORSE, WE CAN AND MUST DO IT TODAY. SO, MADAM PRESIDENT, WE HAVE GOT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERY WORKING FAMILY IN AMERICA, EVERY WORKING INDIVIDUAL IN AMERICA RECEIVES AT LEAST $1,200 IN DIRECT PAYMENT. THAT IS WHAT WE HAVE GOT TO DO. WE CANNOT CONTINUE THE STATUS QUO OF SIMPLY COMING IN HERE TO WORK AND THEN GOING HOME AND GOING BACK ON THE, FOR OUR HOLIDAY. SO, MADAM PRESIDENT, I AM GOING TO DO EVERYTHING THAT I CAN TO INSIST THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT EVERY WORKING PERSON IN THIS COUNTRY GETS A $1,200 DIRECT PAYMENT, AND WE'RE NOT GOING TO GO HOME UNTIL THAT HAPPENS. MADAM PRESIDENT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
...[continues, but it’s a transcript too long for getting published here so jump below Joe↓]...
Sanders floor speech continued:
MADAM PRESIDENT, EVERY MEMBER OF THIS BODY, I KNOW, WANTS TO GET OUT OF WASHINGTON TO GET HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON -- AND PUT ME AT THE VERY TOP OF THAT LIST. BUT AT A TIME WHEN SO MANY AMERICAN FAMILIES ARE SUFFERING, WHEN SO MANY PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW THEY'RE GOING TO FEED THEIR KIDS OR PREVENT BEING EVICTED FROM THEIR HOMES OR HOW THEY'RE GOING TO PAY FOR A DOCTOR'S VISIT, WE CANNOT LEAVE WASHINGTON AND RETURN TO OUR FAMILIES UNLESS WE ADDRESS THE ECONOMIC SUFFERING THAT SO MANY OTHER FAMILIES ARE FACING. WHEN A NATIONAL EMERGENCY OCCURS, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MUST RESPOND. AND WE ARE IN A NATIONAL EMERGENCY TODAY. TO GET OUT OF WASHINGTON, TO TURN OUR BACKS ON THE SUFFERING OF SO MANY MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN IN VERMONT AND IN EVERY OTHER STATE IN THIS COUNTRY WOULD BE IMMORAL. IT WOULD BE UNCONSCIONABLE. AND WE CANNOT ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN. AGAIN, WE MUST MAKE CERTAIN THAT EVERY WORKING FAMILY IN THIS COUNTRY RECEIVES A $1,200 DIRECT PAYMENT PLUS $500 FOR THEIR KIDS. THAT IS THE LEAST THAT WE CAN DO. MADAM PRESIDENT, YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT THERE WERE REPORTS OUT THERE THAT HUNGER -- THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE WEALTHIEST COUNTRY IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, WE'RE LOOKING AT NUMBERS WHICH SUGGEST THAT HUNGER IS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN DECADES. CHILDREN IN AMERICA ARE GOING HUNGRY. ALL ACROSS THIS COUNTRY TENANTS ARE WORRIED THAT THEY'RE GOING TO TO GET A KNOCK ON THE DOOR FROM THE SHERIFF EVICTING THEM FROM THEIR HOMES OR THEIR APARTMENTS AND THROWING THEIR BELONGINGS OUT ON THE STREET TO JOIN THE OTHER 500,000 AMERICANS WHO ARE NOW HOMELESS. IN AMERICA TODAY, OVER HALF OF OUR WORKERS ARE LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK WHILE ONE OUT OF EVERY FOUR WORKERS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE EITHER UNEMPLOYED OR EARNING AN UNANIMOUSLY INCOME OF LESS THAN $20,000, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW ANYBODY MAKES IT ON LESS THAN $20,000 A YEAR. SO THE GENERAL POPULATION SUFFERING, EVEN WORSE FOR THE AFRICAN AMERICAN AND LATINO COMMUNITIES. MADAM PRESIDENT, I SHOULD ALSO ADD THAT IN THE MIDST OF THIS PANDEMIC NOT EVERYBODY IS SUFFERING. THE PEOPLE ON TOP, AT LEAST SOME OF THE BILLIONAIRES ON TOP ARE DOING PHENOMENALLY WELL. OVER THE PAST NINE MONTHS OF THIS PANDEMIC, 650 BILLIONAIRES -- 650, NOT A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE -- HAVE SEEN THEIR WEALTH GO UP BY OVER $1 TRILLION DURING THIS PANDEMIC, AND NOW OWN OVER TWICE AS MUCH WEALTH AS THE BOTTOM 50% OF AMERICAN PEOPLE.
Plus, This revelation just today:
“We want them infected.” A White House advisor reportedly said those words this summer, urging his colleagues to adopt a herd immunity approach to fighting — more accurately, toward accommodating — the coronavirus.
As we approach the year-end holidays, the death toll of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. has spiraled above 300,000. Jobless reports have ticked upward again as infection rates climb all over the country. Millions of the long-term jobless are nearing the limit of their unemployment benefits — although as I type, negotiators in the Capitol appear to be nearing a miserly, but desperately needed agreement on relief.