March 31, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 63 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E347]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. ALMA S. ADAMS

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 27, 2020

  Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, America is in the middle of a crisis, and our 
constituents are looking to us for help.
  COVID-19 has shuttered businesses, closed schools, left millions of 
Americans without the means to pay rent or put food on their tables, 
and worst of all, killed over a thousand of our neighbors.
  Congress has passed two bills to address the stubborn lack of testing 
that still plagues our health system, and to provide Americans with 
federally guaranteed paid sick leave for the first time ever.
  However, it's clear that the scope and impact of this pandemic is far 
greater than we could have imagined.
  So today, we take another step towards giving Americans a helping 
hand and some needed relief from an emergency that has changed life as 
we know it.
  I support H.R. 748, the CARES Act, because it reflects a bipartisan 
compromise that will allow our elementary, secondary, and postsecondary 
schools to pay their faculty and staff, and continue providing 
nourishment to their students.
  I support the CARES Act because it will put money directly into the 
pockets of working Americans who aren't looking for a handout, but who 
need assistance to make it through the next few weeks.
  I support the CARES Act because it provides billions in assistance to 
our number one job creators, our small businesses, as they look to make 
payroll and keep their workers employed.
  It was the author William Feather who said: ``The prizes go to those 
who meet emergencies successfully. And the way to meet emergencies is 
to do each daily task the best we can.''
  The American people have done their best to meet each day of this 
crisis with resolve.
  Now it is up to Congress to meet this crisis with the same kind of 
moral fiber.