Americans Everywhere Are Hurting—We Must Do All We Can to Help Those Most in Need

Dear Friends,

In our district and across the nation, we have heard painful stories from small business owners struggling to keep their employees on payroll; from hospitals and nursing homes overwhelmed and without the protective equipment they need; from sick Americans unable to receive testing.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives advanced a $484 billion interim COVID-19 emergency spending package in an overwhelmingly unified vote of 388 – 5. Just yesterday, the President signed the bill into law.

After days of dialogue and collaboration, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act established a much improved and far more expansive response for our business community as well as funding for disaster relief that ensures small businesses are able to access financial resources. Additionally, House leadership fought to secure funding for our hospitals, nursing homes, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and for testing kits.

The legislation provides support:

• For small businesses by strengthening the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) with $310 billion in additional funding, with $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions and $30 billion for medium-sized banks and credit unions. Small business will also receive expanded aid beyond PPP with $50 billion for SBA disaster lending, translating into more than $350 billion in loans, and $10 billion in SBA disaster grants.   
  • One essential provision that I fought to secure in the legislation was strong protections to ensure that our American farmers, who were previously denied these SBA grants, are now able to apply for this vital assistance.
    
    
• For hospitals and health care workers with $75 billion to provide resources to the frontlines, including Personal Protective Equipment. The Administration has also agreed to key improvements to be made in CARES 2.0, including significantly lowering the interest rate on advance payments, lengthening the repayment schedule and distributing payments from general revenues, not the Hospital Insurance Fund.
  
  
• For all Americans with $25 billion to increase testing, which is the key to reopening the economy and resuming livelihoods and economic activity. The Administration has agreed to a national strategic testing policy that will focus on increasing domestic testing capacity, including testing supplies.

This legislation contains great victories; but there were also disappointments. Republican leadership refused to include assistance for our state and local governments. I have heard from state and local employees, mayors, county executives, town supervisors and a number of our leaders across the district, both Republican and Democrat, who are in desperate need of funding to help protect their communities and overcome this crisis. For those that we serve, we cannot fail, and we are going to continue pushing for our next relief package to support our state and local municipalities.

My colleagues and I also voted to establish a select committee to oversee the federal response to the Coronavirus pandemic. We are allocating trillions of hard-earned federal tax-payer dollars that must be distributed with transparency and accountability. This panel will ensure that these funds are distributed as intended.

As we continue to address this crisis, science must lead our response. The lives and livelihoods of countless Americans depend on it.