Barbara Lee: “Let me take a moment to thank all of our colleagues who joined us this evening laying out the pandemic upon pandemic…”

“Let me take a moment to thank all of our colleagues who joined us this evening laying out the pandemic upon pandemic upon pandemic in communities of color. In all past public health crises one recurring lesson stands out: That is, success depends on the willingness of people to trust the health information that they are getting. We learned this from the HIV and AIDS pandemic, Ebola, H1N1, and now we are learning it again during COVID. So this is especially true for communities of color. This year millions of Americans have taken to the streets to demand racial justice. This is because the system that exists today has failed them. We must acknowledge the centuries old racial and ethnic disparities, and intentionally build culturally and community-minded policies to move forward for a stronger and unified country. We must act swiftly. The longer communities suffer from COVID-19, the greater the long-term impact and disparities. States project that their shortfall for 2021-fiscal year will be much deeper than the shortfalls faced in any year of the Great Recession. Federal Reserve economists project that unemployment will be at 6.5 percent at the end of 2021. Of course, it is higher in communities of color. The Congressional Budget Office projects an even higher rate at 6.7 percent; again, for communities of color more than likely it is double that.…”