{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=FBB8E7A5-31FF-437A-9B81-47BCD5FBBC5F", "Americans Cannot Afford To Wait for Targeted COVID-19 Relief", "2020-12-10", "2020", "2020-12", "Republican", "Senate", "KY", "Mitch McConnell", "M000355", "www.mcconnell.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C.  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding COVID-19 relief:\r\nWe learned a few minutes ago that new unemployment claims just hit their highest weekly total since mid-September.\r\nIt's the largest one-week jump since back in March. And the number of continuing claims  people struggling with joblessness on an ongoing basis which had plateaued for months but at least not increased, just ticked back up as well.\r\nOur economic recovery thus far has been faster than expected. Americans are tough and resilient.\r\nBut our people need another dose of support as we hope to close out our battle with this virus.\r\nWe should be doing everything we can to prevent layoff, create jobs where possible, and race toward the vaccines that will end this nightmare.\r\nWhile Democrats hold the Paycheck Protection Program hostage over controversial state government bailouts, family businesses are closing their doors.\r\nWhile Democrats resist the kinds of common-sense legal protections that we've put in place during past emergencies, our re-opening and recovery is threatened by  according to one estimate  more than 6,500 lawsuits and counting.\r\nHere's what one litigator told one reporter a couple days ago: These lawsuits are, quote, pretty common these days. I have seen 10 like this over the past 30 days.'\r\nThe American Council on Education told Congress in May that colleges and universities need temporary but strong legal protections. Our Democratic colleagues want to pretend they are bravely fighting big corporations, but they're really bullying small-business owners and college presidents, who've been pleading for these protections for months.\r\nOur Democratic colleagues have not even let us pass non-controversial money to invest in vaccine distribution. Not unless the two parties settle a whole list of issues that are controversial the way they want.\r\nI hope our colleagues let Congress deliver more help soon. A lot of Americans cannot afford to wait.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov//public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=FBB8E7A5-31FF-437A-9B81-47BCD5FBBC5F"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4792738948017359, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}