let me say a few words on the coronavirus relief package that is now being negotiated. In my view, this bill of roughly $900 billion has a number of enormously important provisions in it which will do a great deal of service and help for…

I withdraw my objection. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to proceeding to the measure? Without objection, it is so ordered. The majority leader. Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered…

it is no great secret that the American people understand how far removed the U.S. Congress and both political parties are from their needs. They do polls out there, depending on the month, and Congress gets a 10-percent approval rating…

reserving the right to object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.

Well, thank you very much, Senator. And let me just say this: In March, as Senator Hawley indicated, we came together, and I had the same experience in Vermont. People in desperation called the office: When can we get the check? We…

this country faces an unprecedented crisis in terms of the pandemic and the economic meltdown. 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…

we are currently in the midst of the worst moment of the pandemic up until now. We have recordbreaking numbers of deaths, of diagnoses of people with COVID-19, of hospitals unable to accommodate even more people. And in the midst of this…

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 American people are hurting.

The ultimate responsibility lies on a do-nothing U.S. Senate led by McConnell, who's much more interested in protecting corporate interests in terms of liability for their irresponsible activities than representing the needs of the working…

Well, clearly, the Republican leadership has rejected what the House did. As you know, the House has passed several important pieces of legislation, which were pretty comprehensive. And Mitch McConnell has been very clear that he did not…

We cannot turn our backs on working people. We have got to act that act aggressively.

There is massive pain. We're talking about record levels of hunger in America. Tens of millions of families facing eviction, 90 million people have no health insurance. People are desperate.

the day after Biden gets inaugurated, we're going to roll up our sleeves and figure out how we strengthen American democracy because it is very much under attack right now.

So, what we are about right now are people who are trying to undermine American democracy, the will of the people and the election.

Let us be very, very clear that Trump happens, among his many, many deficiencies, being a pathological liar and a racist, et cetera. He also happens not to believe in democracy.

What the Republican leadership is saying is, you know, we're just going to put a very little amount of money into the needs of the American people right now, that is unacceptable.

Nobody wants to shut down the government, but I think the answer American people want their government to respond to the terrible crises that they are facing today, and you just can't walk away from that.

It would be outrageous and simply unacceptable for members of Congress to go home to their families, when tens of millions of working-class families in this country are facing economic desperation.

That is unacceptable. And if it means that my colleagues and I don't leave Washington during the Christmas break, and nobody wants to get out of here more than I, but I think that's what we have to look at. We got to act.

This is a manifestation of the contempt that the United States government and the Republican leadership of the Senate have for the working people of this country.

I'm going to demand that workers and women get equal pay for equal work, that we cover all people during this pandemic with healthcare, and that we lower the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs.

I do believe that the progressive movement deserves strong representation, and as earned, a strong representation in the Biden Cabinet so that we can go forward and fight for the needs of our working class and the middle class today that…

I think the progressive movement in America probably constitutes, you know, 35 to 40 percent of the Democratic Party. And I absolutely believe that those progressive, that movement deserves representation in the Biden Cabinet.

I think in all due respect to Leader McConnell, what he brought -- his proposal is literally laughable.