Political Quotes

“Madam President, the motorcoach industry has been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic turndown as a result of it. Iowa has many motorcoach operators, several of which are really family owned and some of them for two or three generations. I have been in frequent communication with these Iowans, and I am learning they are quickly coming to the point of making a decision of whether they can even stay in business. Motorcoaches provide passenger transportation services to all Americans, providing over 600 million passenger trips annually across the country. By comparison, airlines provided service for 925 million passenger trips in 2019. While most other modes of transportation received specific funding to help them through the pandemic, the motorcoach industry has not. What they are really referring to when they talk to me, they seem to feel that they have been left out when we have given several tens of millions of dollars to help the airline industry. I spoke with Secretary Mnuchin about this matter and have relayed the concerns from these Iowa companies to relevant committees here in the Senate. The government relies on motorcoach industries to help move troops and also evacuate people to safety during our natural disasters. However, with passenger bookings being nonexistent and few charters being scheduled, this leaves little hope of rebound yet this year.…”