Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader
Chuck Schumer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on the
Senate GOP’s COVID-19 proposal:
“Two and a half months
after Democrats delivered the solutions to defeating the virus and safely
reopening the country in the Heroes Act, the Senate GOP has now come back with
a weak, piecemeal proposal that will only prolong the suffering for millions of
workers and families across America.
“The Senate GOP
proposal is a sad statement of their values, selling out struggling families at
the kitchen table in order to enrich the corporate interests at the boardroom
table:
Forces
a $400 a week cut to the lifeline of Unemployment Insurance that millions
of families are depending on to make ends meet, hurtling toward completely
unworkable bureaucracy that will overwhelm already chaotic unemployment
offices and risk benefits never going out at all;Gives
wealthy corporations a business meal tax deduction, while refusing to
expand SNAP for families struggling to keep food on the table;Fails
to extend the eviction moratorium, while refusing to provide rental or
mortgage assistance to families on the brink of eviction;Provides
no state and local funding to pay our heroes: our health workers, first
responders, teachers, food, transit and sanitation workers and other
frontline heroes risking their lives to save lives and keep the economy
running, who risk losing their jobs – and will be forced onto unemployment
insurance.Hands
liability immunity to employers who do not protect workers’ health and
safety, while offering no OSHA protections to ensure workers can trust in
safe workplaces;Tries
to bully schools to reopen without the resources to reopen safely, tying
urgently-needed funding to reopening instead of safety and failing to
provide adequate resources — while refusing to expand broadband to
help kids who need it for school or Americans who telework or have
telehealth appointments;Offers
no help for victims of domestic violence, despite cases skyrocketing
during the lockdown;Provides
zero election funding or Post Office assistance, while spending $2 billion
on President Trump’s priority to renovate the FBI headquarters and prevent
competition for Trump Hotel and handing a $30 billion slush fund to
defense contractors;Refuses
to have a strategic and well-funded, science-based testing plan and also
abandons communities of color, with no assistance for the Black and other
minority communities who are being disproportionately devastated by
COVID-19.
“Catastrophe is
looming, and until Senate Republicans get serious, they must answer to every
hungry child, every family that cannot make rent, every worker being denied
their UI for their delays. Democrats remain ready to work with
Republicans on real solutions to bring immediate relief and save lives and
livelihoods.”
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