Caring for Americans with Supplemental Help Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise to support the CASH Act, which will send $2,000 checks to the American people.

I want to thank Chairman Neal for coming together very quickly to create this act in a thoughtful way.

The American people are hurting this holiday season, and they need our help. Our bill would increase those payments to $2,000, which would also include adult dependents and students.

We realize that $600 is not enough for people facing eviction and hunger. For many, this will just pay a past-due rental bill for July.

It is good and important that we are sending support to small businesses, strong unemployment aid, nutrition and rental assistance, but this relief is coming 7 months later than it should have. It is vital that Congress not penny-pinch the American people now.

This CASH bill is bipartisan, and if Senator Mitch McConnell would put it on the Senate floor, it would be bicameral.

Let me push back, too, that this is too much.

We have 40 million Americans who work full-time and made less than $18,000 last year. With the minimum wage at $7.25, there isn't a single two-bedroom apartment you can rent in a county in America for that money. There are tens of millions without healthcare.

My family sells new cars and used cars. I have watched the debt burden of so many people just rise and rise and rise over the years.

Is there a better way? You know, my Republican friends hate it when so-called Big Government decides what we need. The best way to let people manage their family is to put the money in their hands, give them that American freedom.

Somehow, we can print money to do a $4 trillion tax cut over 20 years, but we can't print enough money to help the American people.

This is a good bill. I salute Chairman Richard Neal, and I hope every Democrat and every Republican will vote for it.

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