Kay Granger: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in support of the Paycheck Protection Program and the Health Care…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise today in support of the Paycheck Protection Program and the Health Care Enhancement Act, which provides nearly $500 billion for economic recovery and public health efforts in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The cornerstone of this legislation is the support for small businesses through the PPP, the Paycheck Protection Program. These PPP loans, which can be completely forgiven, are essential for small businesses to continue paying their employees and cover operating costs. To illustrate how crucial this loan has been to the 30 million small businesses in this country, the SBA supported more loans in the first 14 days of the PPP than it did in the last 14 years. In total, more than $340 billion has been provided to more than 1.6 million American small businesses. An additional $60 billion is provided in this bill for another key source of assistance for small business: economic injury disaster loans and grants. Borrowers can get loans at low interest rates and then repay them over a long period of time, up to 30 years. This legislation also provides $100 billion for critical healthcare initiatives. These funds will support our heroes on the front lines and allow us to deploy more tests so we know where the virus is having the most impact. With this information, we can begin safely reopening our communities and restarting our economy.…”