General Leave
Floor Speech
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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, I thank him for his leadership as chair of the Budget Committee, to him and all of the members of his committee and the staff who worked so hard to bring this to the floor.
Thank you to Mr. Neal and the members of the Ways and Means Committee and their staff. Thank you also for bringing your piece of this legislation to the floor. And Mr. McGovern and the Rules Committee and his members, and the staff members of all the committees.
All of the chairs of the committees have worked so hard. All of their members, all of the staff to bring this to this very important moment for our country.
As the distinguished gentleman from Kentucky acknowledged in his opening sentence, this week, on Monday, our Nation marked the loss of over 500,000 Americans to the coronavirus, a horrific human toll of staggering proportions, an incomprehensible sadness. Every life lost is a profound tragedy that we mourn, and that breaks America's heart, and we pray for their families.
Each day this pandemic reaches into our communities, devastating families' health, financial security, and well-being. The numbers speak volumes: 18 million Americans are on unemployment; 24 million people are going hungry; 12 million, Mr. Speaker; 12 million children living in households with food insecurity--and that is a conservative number-- up to 40 million people cannot pay their rent and fear eviction.
The writer, George Bernard Shaw, said, ``It is the mark of a truly intelligent person to be moved by statistics.'' And indeed, we are moved emotionally and intellectually because these statistics are not just numbers, they are the lives and livelihoods of our neighbors, family members, friends, and loved ones.
We moved to act swiftly to put an end to this pandemic and to stem the suffering felt by so many. The time for decisive action is long overdue. President Biden's American Rescue Plan is that decisive action.
Tonight, Congress is taking action to crush the virus with a national vaccination program, robust testing, tracing and treatment, more PPE, and combating health disparities affecting communities of color disproportionately.
We are putting money in workers' pockets: 18 million Americans will receive unemployment insurance; 40 million Americans will receive nutrition assistance; 27 million children will receive help through an expanded child tax credit; 15 million low-wage workers will receive an earned income tax credit; and millions and millions of other people, in addition, will receive the direct payments.
We are putting children safely back in schools with $130 billion investment in reopening schools and making up for lost learning, and to do so safely.
And we are putting people back into jobs by supporting our most vulnerable small businesses, particularly those owned by minorities and women, and protecting the jobs of our heroes, healthcare workers, transit, sanitation, food workers, police and fire, our first responders, our teachers, our teachers, our teachers, and more.
Economists overwhelmingly support this targeted action.
Earlier this month, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reported that the real unemployment rate is 10 percent, matching the depths of the worst point of the Great Recession. As he said: We are still very far from a strong labor market whose benefits are broadly shared.
Therefore, if we do not enact this package, the results could be catastrophic: depriving workers and the economy of 4 million fewer jobs to come back; taking a year longer to return to full employment, and 4 years longer until real GDP recovers to a pre-pandemic status; confronting the entire cohort of young people with lower lifetime earnings; reducing the wages and job prospects of parents forced to stay at home.
This legislation is transformative: lifting 12 million Americans out of poverty and generating $1.25 for every dollar spent. And--a great source of pride for us all--this legislation will cut child poverty in half.
As we advance this legislation, we will continue our fight for 15, which will give 27 million Americans a raise. When I was Speaker in 2007, congressional Democrats raised the minimum wage in the first 100 hours of our new majority. It took a little longer for the Senate to get it done in the spring. That was 14 years ago.
An increase in the minimum wage is a financial necessity for our families, a great stimulus for our economy, and a moral imperative for our country. With that view, it is therefore inevitable to all of us that the $15 minimum wage will be achieved. Even if it is inconceivable to some, it is inevitable to us, and we will work diligently to shorten the distance between the inevitable and the inconceivable.
The $7.25 minimum wage that exists now is, in many instances, an exploitation of American workers. It is a cost to taxpayers because minimum wage workers need food and housing assistance, and many are on Medicaid. This is corporate welfare. This is a subsidy for business to pay a low wage. We want work to be respected, and we respect the dignity of work. We will seek a solution consistent with the Senate rules, and we will do so soon.
The American people are demanding the bold action contained in the American Rescue Plan. Over 75 percent of Americans support this package and want it passed and enacted, including 60 percent of Republicans in the country. Families, workers, business leaders, mayors and local leaders, and health and faith-based organizations are all calling for immediate action.
More than 1 year ago into this pandemic and economic crisis, the American people need to know that their government is there for them and that, as President Biden has said, help is on the way.
With that, I thank again the chairs and members of the committee, the staff, and all of our Members for their attention to the issue of morality to our country.
Mr. Speaker, I urge a strong and bipartisan vote for the American Rescue Plan so we can continue our work to save lives and the livelihoods of the American people. I urge an ``aye'' vote.
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