Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCAUL. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Texas (Mr. Brady) for yielding and for his great leadership on this bill.

Today, America is in a crisis. Not since the Spanish flu of 1918 has the world faced a global pandemic of such epic proportions. This virus, which came out of Wuhan, China, has created fear and devastation across the globe.

COVID-19 has infected more than 2.6 million people around the world and killed nearly 200,000. It has paralyzed our economy, forcing more than 26 million Americans into unemployment in just a few short weeks. And that is why we took the risk, Madam Speaker, to fly back here today so we can do our job and vote for this important legislation.

This rescue package throws a lifeline to small businesses and the American worker to keep them whole during this hard time. It provides much-needed funding for testing and for our hospitals that need it desperately.

In closing, I want to take this opportunity to thank the brave American heroes who are on the front line today: our doctors, nurses, and first responders who are risking their lives every day. We honor their sacrifice to our Nation.

At the end of the day, as Americans, we are all in this together, and together we will get through this hard time and be stronger than ever before.

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