Urgent Need for Coronavirus Relief
Floor Speech
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Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in calling for immediate action on COVID relief.
It is an outrage that Senate Republicans and the impeached President's administration are more focused on undermining our election integrity and faith in our democracy rather than delivering relief to millions of Americans who are struggling right now.
With over 20 million unemployed and more than 8 million having fallen into poverty, recurring monthly payments are desperately needed to protect the American people from further harm and loss.
Due to the lack of Federal commitment and funding, the maximum amount a worker in my district gets on unemployment is $362 a week, Mr. Speaker; $962 under the first stimulus payment. So now you are asking workers, our families, our neighbors, to live with $362 a week. Not anyone here could survive on that.
Due to the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus, new stay-at-home orders and business restrictions are necessary to protect our public health.
But we must couple this with orders with strong, recurring Federal support, putting money directly into the pockets of Americans, so they can actually afford to stay home, and support our local governments and businesses on the brink of collapse without more stimulus.
This pandemic has also made clear the need of guaranteeing access to clean water to our neighbors.
Washing one's hands is crucial to preventing illness and spread. We need to treat water as a human right, and ban water shutoffs nationwide, and ensure that every American has what they need to protect themselves during this pandemic.
So, Mr. Speaker, sending stimulus checks, supporting State and local governments, small businesses, and preventing water shutoffs are some of the first steps we must take to not only control the spread of this coronavirus but to recover from its devastation.
I urge my Republican colleagues to please join me in taking urgent action.
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