Rob Portman: “I thank my colleague from Wyoming, and I think he has made it very clear what is at stake here. We are in a crisis. Our…”

“I thank my colleague from Wyoming, and I think he has made it very clear what is at stake here. We are in a crisis. Our economy is in a free fall. The people we represent and families are suffering. The healthcare system is under tremendous stress. I spent the morning on the phone, talking to Ohioans and small business owners, people who are out of a job and worried and nervous. We all know somebody who has lost a job. We all know somebody who has tested positive for this virus. Some of us, including me, know somebody who has died from the coronavirus. We need to pull together as Republicans and Democrats, as Americans, and address this crisis. I got to listen this afternoon to colleagues of mine on the other side of the aisle talk about the legislation that is before us, and I have to tell you, it was like they were talking about another bill, not the one that we actually are asking Democrats to allow us to vote on. The one we are asking them to allow us to vote on is the product of a bipartisan process. The majority leader set up five different task forces. Each task force is represented by Republicans and Democrats. I was in one of them--two Republicans and two Democrats. We sat down, and we hammered out details. We took Democratic ideas, and they are represented in the legislation. This process we have gone through--very different, by the way, from what happened in the House with regard to the first bill. We got an $8.3 billion healthcare bill.…”