Congresswoman Barbara Lee Supports Interim Relief Bill, Urges Further Action
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Lee released the following statement after the passage of H.R. 266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.
“Families, workers, and small businesses across the country are struggling. Last week, 4.4 million new unemployment claims were filed – bringing the total to 26 million unemployment claims in the last 5 weeks.
“As public officials, we have to do everything in our power to get our communities the help they need to protect their lives and their livelihoods. And while this bill is not nearly enough, it provides some important relief for our hospitals, minority and women-owned small businesses, including $60 billion for small and community banks, and importantly, money for our hospitals and $25 billion for testing.
“It is evident that black, brown, and low-income communities are bearing some of the worst burdens of COVID-19. In California, Latinos, African Americans, and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are dying at disproportionately higher rates, with African Americans experiencing the highest death rate, about double their population representation across all adult age categories. Because of this pandemic upon a pandemic, I worked with my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and Speaker Pelosi to ensure this bill requires HHS and the CDC to get us the data on what communities are bearing the worst impacts, so we can make sure that testing is focused on those communities and that they get the resources they need going forward.
“But we still have so much work to do. Too many people were trapped in poverty before this crisis, and more people have been pushed into the ranks of the poor because of COVID. People are lining up in front of food banks.
“We need to increase SNAP funding to help families struggling to put food on the table, support the state and local government workers who are on the frontlines of this crisis, protect our elections, and help people who are falling through the cracks and living on the edge. We have a moral and we have a patriotic duty to do this.
“The next bill needs to ensure safe and secure elections, funding for state and local governments bearing the brunt of this crisis, provide continued financial relief with direct cash assistance, get frontline workers full health coverage and care, expand SNAP, and help the many non-profits and smaller institutions that people and communities rely on—not just bail out the biggest businesses. And we need to make sure assistance is provided fairly and equitably—not funneled to those with the best DC connections.”
A summary of the bill can be found here.
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