On the recordMay 18, 2020
I have just returned from being in Tennessee this weekend and lots of phone calls, seeing a lot of people out and about. I will tell you, this COVID-19 has changed a lot about how we go about our daily lives, but it has not changed the way Congress works out its differences. We are still arguing about spending and debt. We are still debating the importance of federalism and how the Constitution can help us determine what we can and should do on a Federal level to help our communities back at home. Now, in Tennessee, our cities all across the State, from one corner to another, are getting back to that daily routine. Many of those businesses were able to improvise their way through the early weeks of lockdown, and now they are finding what they are calling their new normal, their new processes. Some of them received emergency loans from the SBA. Others became one of the more than 80,000 small businesses and self-employed workers who were able to take advantage of the Paycheck Protection Program. But no matter how hard they work or how smart their plans are, we know that, in the end, we are going to lose a lot of our favorite neighborhood stops. It is tough. It is really tough out there. Some of those businesses are already gone.…
