Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I say to the majority leader that the hard work that we have done is, to a large extent, due to the hardworking staff who have been up late at night doing this work that usually takes months. It has just been in days that they have been able to put this bill together.

Mr. Speaker, I rise with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the CARES Act. As a result of the significant changes made over the past few days, this legislation now takes important steps to give students, workers, and families the support they need during this public health emergency.

Many of the provisions of the bill fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Education and Labor. For example, one of our most important challenges is to help workers maintain their income because losing a paycheck exposes workers and families to so many other problems.

Yesterday, the new unemployment claims soared to over 3 million, and that is four times more than the previous record. The CARES Act responds to our challenge by dramatically increasing unemployment insurance by an additional $600 a week for up to 4 months.

The emergency unemployment insurance program also extends to self- employed workers, so-called gig employees, many of whom are not currently eligible for unemployment compensation because they are often misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees.

And to my colleagues who have expressed concern that these benefits are more generous than paychecks earned by many low-income workers, I would say that the problem is not with the bill; the problem is with the Federal minimum wage, which has not been increased for more than a decade.

The CARES Act also maintains access to healthcare. The bill specifically makes a $200 billion investment in hospitals, health systems, and health research. It also includes a requirement that all insurance policies cover the full costs of future vaccines within 15 days of the vaccines being officially approved. It also helps people maintain their insurance, if they are laid off.

Finally, the bill maintains students' access to education. The CARES Act now has more than $30 billion in relief for students, educators, schools, and institutions of higher learning.

For institutions of higher learning, it will provide financial relief to colleges and universities and also support grants to displaced students. For K-12, it will provide help to educators to adapt to long- term closures, fund purchases of education technology for online learning, and provide equitable access to education for students with disabilities.

The CARES Act moves us in the right direction, but it is important to recognize that the legislation is only a down payment on the relief that our communities will need in the weeks and months ahead. We must immediately start work on a fourth package that reflects the unprecedented scale of this crisis.

The next package must include safety protections for frontline healthcare workers and emergency responders who are risking their lives every day.

The next package must expand emergency paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave without exceptions so workers can take care of themselves and their loved ones without having to sacrifice their paychecks.

The next package has to ensure that Americans who are fighting the disease are not hit with costly medical bills afterwards.

In the second response package, we established universal, no-cost COVID-19 testing. The next package that we have should expand the coverage to COVID-19 treatment as well.

Mr. Speaker, it is critical for all of us to understand that the CARES Act is not a stimulus package; it is a disaster relief effort which must continue for as long as it takes to ensure that students, workers, and families can survive this crisis.

Mr. Speaker, I call on all of my colleagues to support the legislation.

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