On the recordMay 15, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding and for her kind comments. I am delighted to stand in support of H.R. 6800, the HEROES Act. It also could be called the confidence in the American people act. This legislation responds to the reality that 85,000 Americans have lost their lives, 36 million Americans are now without a job, and our thoughts are with those families today. I am delighted with the role that Ways and Means once again played in stepping up to deliver solutions in this latest legislation. The HEROES Act includes a second round of economic impact payments to keep Americans afloat and infuse money back into the economy; liquidity, every economist has suggested that. This round is more substantial for families and fixes shortcomings in the first round of payments, like those of college students and others who are dependent on parents. We enhanced the employee retention tax credit. This expanded version will come to the aid of 60 million Americans. The majority of those are employees of small and midsized businesses. April brought about the worst plunge in unemployment since the Great Depression. We have extended the weekly Federal unemployment compensation payments through January of next year. Frontline workers who haven't stopped since this crisis began we now know are under great pressure. We provide flexible funding to support childcare and adult daycare for essential workers to ease this burden.…





