Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Progress Being Made On COVID Response Legislation

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to provide an update on Senate action to provide much-needed COVID response legislation. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:

I have an update on today’s floor schedule. At 1:45, the Senate was scheduled to hold a procedural vote related to a shell legislative vehicle we could use to pass COVID response funding. Our Republican colleagues have requested that we do not hold the cloture vote on the motion to proceed at the present, as we are getting close to a final agreement that would garner bipartisan support. We are working diligently to finalize language, scoring and a final agreement on what should be funded in the final COVID package, both domestic and international.

As a sign of good faith and to encourage us to come to a final agreement, I will reschedule today’s procedural vote to a later time.

When it comes to replenishing COVID response funding, we simply cannot afford to kick the can down the road. We need more money right away so we have enough vaccines, and testing, and life-saving therapeutics.

We want our communities to go back to normal and stay normal. If a new virus comes, if a new variant comes and we're not prepared, we could lose that ability to go back to normality, for our schools to stay open, for events to occur, for people to gather. 

We don't want to do that. 

Well, the best way to avoid that from happening, if, God forbid, a new variant comes— and it's likely it will—is to have us prepared. And this COVID legislation has us prepared by having an adequate supply of these new, almost miraculous therapeutics that can greatly reduce the severity of any illness, and that can be given right after testing. 

We need tests, and we need to make sure that the vaccines we have are ready and updated. 

We can't wait. We can't wait till COVID is upon us to do this. The prospect of not being prepared is scary, and Democrats, Republicans be able to unite in making sure we are prepared.

We need to get COVID funding done for the country before the end of the work period, it is very much needed, and so we are going to keep talking with our Republicans so we can hopefully agree to a robust package that keeps our country prepared.

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