On the recordFebruary 3, 2021
I thank Chairman Yarmuth for his leadership in putting forth this budget resolution. COVID continues to ravage our communities. Black and Brown people have been disproportionately impacted the hardest. Now that vaccines are being distributed, the disparities in who has been vaccinated are quite shocking. On top of this health crisis is an economic crisis. Eight million more families have fallen into poverty since May. Food banks have lines around the block, and 12 million children are going hungry. Enhanced unemployment insurance expires next month; small businesses are going under; and our State and local governments are struggling to make payroll for millions of essential workers. Our constituents and communities can't wait. We have to go big, and we have to move fast. The relief package enabled by this budget resolution is the rescue needed to keep people from falling off the cliff. It will also allow us to address the glaring racial and ethnic disparities in our pandemic response. Let me tell you, I am one who believes we should provide ongoing payments until the end of the pandemic. Through no fault of their own, people's lives and livelihoods have been shattered, but we do provide in this package and in this budget enhanced unemployment insurance and direct payments. We don't have the luxury of time, nor of nickeling-and-diming our constituents.…
