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[Pages S2902-S2903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CORONAVIRUS
Mr. SCHUMER. Of course, there is another crisis in the country crying
out for action and leadership.
[[Page S2903]]
The COVID-19 pandemic didn't go away while the Nation rightfully
turned its eyes to issues of racial justice.
Yesterday, the United States eclipsed 2 million cases of coronavirus.
Another 1.5 million Americans filed for unemployment this week. Federal
Reserve officials--sober, nonpolitical--are predicting that, best case,
we will end the year around 10 percent unemployment--a staggering
figure. One out of every 10.
The disease is spiking in a number of States around the country.
Arizona officials have warned that its hospitals could be filled by
next month. Texas has gone 3 straight days with record numbers of
hospitalizations. North Carolina, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and
several other States are experiencing a resurgence or peak levels of
COVID-19.
As the President continues to fixate on the stock market and Senate
Republicans are prematurely ready to declare victory, we need to wrest
the focus back to these crucial issues. So today I am requesting that
Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx and other members of the administration's
Coronavirus Task Force conduct a briefing for Democratic Senators on
the recent spikes and do it next week. We need to understand why these
spikes are happening and how to adapt our national response.
The President--always interested in himself, not in the good of the
country--was too quick to sideline the Coronavirus Task Force, too
eager to pretend that everything was back to normal and better than
ever. The country needs Dr. Fauci on billboards, but the President
wants to put him on a milk carton.
The Vice President yesterday was photographed with campaign staffers
in a tight space, no social distancing, without anyone wearing a mask.
The very least the administration could do is lead by example and often
cannot even manage that much.
At the same time, we cannot forget that the issues of racial justice
and COVID-19 are intricately related. The COVID-19 pandemic
disproportionately kills Black Americans. Communities of color have
less access to quality healthcare, greater food insecurity, greater
percentages of poverty, and a disproportionate number of our frontline
essential workers--41.2 percent--are African American and Latino. The
majority of African Americans are renters and dedicate more than 50
percent of their income to rent.
The truth is, an emergency bill on COVID-19 is a racial justice issue
too. Hazard pay for essential workers is a racial justice issue too.
Healthcare is a racial justice issue too. Rent assistance and
forbearance from eviction is a racial justice issue too. These are all
items that must be discussed in another COVID relief bill, and it is
past time to get to work.
African Americans, Latinos, and other minorities are taking the
economic hit from the coronavirus on the chin, but Senate Republicans,
led by Leader McConnell, are reportedly unwilling to consider another
emergency relief bill until late July. How many more workers will lose
their jobs between now and late July? How many renters will be kicked
out of their homes between now and late July? How many State and local
government workers will lose their jobs, as State and local governments
meet their budget deadlines on July 1 and don't have the dollars to
deal with them? How many of them will lose their jobs? Waiting until
late July is callous, it is cold, and it is wrong for our economy.
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