On the recordFebruary 4, 2021
Madam President, I have great respect for my colleague from South Carolina. We are going to serve together on the Aging Committee, leading the committee. I oppose this amendment for some basic reasons. No. 1 is he cited the number of deaths in long-term care facilities across the country. More than 150,000 people are dead in long-term care. The last administration didn't even count those deaths until May of 2020, despite efforts by Members of this body to urge the administration to do that. They never had a plan. They didn't help the States. This is an effort, an ongoing effort, to blame States when the Federal Government dropped the ball when it came to long-term care. I think we can do better than that. We should be helping nursing homes with the resources they need, like resources for cohorting where you can separate a resident with COVID-19 from those who don't have it. We should be providing money for strike teams in ways to help nursing homes. Let's reduce the deaths instead of pointing fingers.
