Coronavirus Relief Aid

Floor Speech

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Mr. SUOZZI. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of our bipartisan legislation to both fund the government and for the COVID relief package. As Speaker Pelosi just noted, this bill is far from perfect, but we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Madam Speaker, today, is the darkest day of the year. It is a fitting symbol of the misery and suffering that so many people are facing in our country right now. The effects of this pandemic have been cruelly uneven.

Some people have remained relatively unscathed. Some people can work remotely, still have their jobs, no one around them has gotten sick or died within their immediate circle, while others are awash in misery: unable to return to work, unable to pay their rent, to pay their utilities; people around them have gotten sick.

People have lost their lifesavings in their small business, and many hundreds of thousands have died, including my 92-year-old father-in- law, who, in April, was diagnosed with the coronavirus and died within 48 hours.

Today's relief package--and that is what it is is relief--will provide much-needed help for millions of Americans.

So while today is the darkest day of the year, every day will get a little brighter, and spring will surely follow our dark winter. But we must remember that, while spring is on its way, there is so much more that needs to be done.

Our State and local governments must have relief from their massive loss of revenues. Without our help, police officers, teachers, and other heroes on the front line will face layoffs.

Madam Speaker, we need to continue today's spirit of bipartisanship.

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