[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 63 (Tuesday, March 31, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E344-E345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 27, 2020

  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I will vote in support of the Senate 
Amendment to H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 
Security (CARES) Act. This economic stimulus represents a wartime level 
investment in our nation as we continue our fight against an invisible 
enemy: COVID-19.
  Public health experts agree the consequences of the virus will only 
get more devastating in the coming days. People we know and love will 
get sick. People we know and love may die despite the heroic efforts of 
our health care workers who are on the front lines, sacrificing the 
health of themselves and their families to give their neighbors and 
communities a fighting chance.
  We also know that the financial fall-out from this crisis is 
unprecedented. On Thursday, the Department of Labor announced that 
nearly 3.3 million people lost their job the prior week, an unfortunate 
record number of claims. Through no fault of their own, millions of 
Americans were sidelined by a vicious virus that has brought our 
economy to a stunning but necessary halt as we work to ``flatten the 
curve'' to protect our health and safety.
  Our next steps in this battle--to both contain the virus and prevent 
further layoffs--are critical.
  And while Members of Congress can't be the experts in the lab 
developing a vaccine, or flying the cargo planes with medical supplies, 
there is something we can do today: get desperately needed funding and 
medical supplies to hospitals and frontline healthcare workers, and 
provide critical relief to the millions of laid-off workers and small 
business owners who are hurting right now.
  Now, without question, the bill the Senate sent us isn't perfect.
  Remember, the Republican starting point was a massive corporate slush 
fund with no transparency, accountability, or worker protections.
  But we could not allow a repeat of the failed bailout of 2008. I'm 
proud to be part of the Democratic negotiating team that protected jobs 
because we know that putting working people and families first is how 
we as a country can get back on our feet. Prioritizing their needs over 
the profits of giant corporations is how we build an economy that works 
for everyone--not just a wealthy few.
  This bill will put checks in the mail to 80 percent of Americans who 
make under six figures, and it will boost critical benefits for anyone 
who lost their job amid this crisis.
  We fought hard so this bill will ensure millions of bus drivers, 
train operators, railroad workers, flight crews, airline ground 
workers, airport workers, and more not only remain on the job but keep 
as many of their hard-earned health and retirement benefits as possible 
during this crisis. The relief in this package flows to workers first, 
not last--and it makes clear to any industry getting relief: no stock 
buybacks, no executive giveaways, no layoffs. Workers first--period.
  For the millions who have lost their jobs through no fault of their 
own, this legislation vastly strengthens and makes critical reforms to 
Unemployment Insurance programs--ensuring 100 percent wage replacement 
for the average American worker struggling without a paycheck during 
this crisis. It also provides federal incentives for states to 
eliminate waiting week requirements, expands access to part-time, self-
employed, and gig economy workers, and adds an additional 13 weeks of 
federally-funded UI benefits.
  To support the many small businesses across the country that have 
been forced to shutter, the bill designates $350 billion worth of 100 
percent guaranteed SBA loans, a portion of which SBA will be able to 
forgive. These loans will be up to $10 million and provide incentives 
to keep employees on the payroll and pay them at their regular salary 
levels.
  For our state, local, and tribal governments, this legislation 
establishes a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund so that they have 
desperately needed additional funding to build field hospitals, buy 
ventilators and other personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as 
offset the cost of other essential government services not budgeted in 
the wake of the economic downturn. While this fund is a good start, we 
must do more to ensure our localities, especially those in rural areas, 
have what they need in this fight.
  It allows for the temporary suspension of excise taxes on spirits for 
those used in the production of hand sanitizer in compliance with 
guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), like Swallowtail 
and Thinking Tree Spirits in my district in Oregon.
  The CARES Act provides $1 billion for the Defense Production Act, 
allowing the Department of Defense to invest in the manufacturing of 
PPE and other critical medical equipment in short supply. While this 
isn't the $3.5 billion allocated for the DPA in the House bill, it is 
still a notable sum to ramp up production for PPE and other supplies.
  The President should have unleased the full power of the Defense 
Production Act (DPA) weeks ago. He still hasn't, and his lack of 
leadership means health care workers and their patients are suffering 
because there are not enough ventilators, PPE, or other medical 
supplies. I am continuing to call on the President to immediately ramp 
up domestic production of these crucial supplies.
  This legislation also provides much-needed help to hospitals and 
healthcare providers by allocating $100 billion to cover unreimbursed 
health care-related expenses and lost revenues attributable to COVID-
19. It also increases Medicare reimbursement for treatment of inpatient 
COVID-19 patients by 20 percent, and it allocates more than $27 billion 
for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, 
investing billions into vaccines and therapeutics and $16 billion into 
the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
  It mandates all private insurance plans to cover testing for COVID-19 
without cost-sharing and provides free coverage for a COVID-19 vaccine 
or other preventive service within 15 days. It also protects the 
uninsured by allowing them to receive a coronavirus test and related 
services with no cost-sharing in any state Medicaid program that elects 
to offer such an enrollment option.
  To protect and bolster our frontline health care workers, rural 
providers, and the health care of those with most need, the bill 
invests $1.32 billion in supplemental funding for Community Health 
Centers; reauthorizes Human

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Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant programs; 
reauthorizes HRSA grants to strengthen rural community health; expands 
telehealth capabilities; grants liability protections to doctors who 
provide volunteer medical services; and establishes a Ready Reserve 
Corps to ensure there are enough trained doctors and nurses to respond 
to COVID-19 throughout our country.
  To protect our students and schools, this package provides $30.75 
billion for an Education Stabilization Fund for states, school 
districts, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) for COVID-19 
costs. $13.5 billion will ultimately be distributed to local education 
agencies to use for coronavirus response activities. $14.25 billion 
will be used for higher education emergency relief to help defray 
costs, such as lost revenue, to support social distancing and distance 
education, and to issue emergency grants to impacted students for food, 
housing, course materials, tech, and healthcare and childcare.
  The package also bolsters programs that America's families depend on 
by: providing billions for childcare programs such as Head Start and 
the Child Care Development Block Grant, strengthening the Supplemental 
Nutrition Assistance Program through billions in additional funding, 
providing millions for utility assistance through the Low-Income Home 
Energy Assistance Program, and extending the Temporary Assistance for 
Needy Families (TANF) program.
  In a bid to keep Americans housed during this crisis, the CARES Act 
institutes a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for renters and 
homeowners in federally subsidized housing. The bill also provides $4 
billion in Emergency Solution Grants and $3 billion in rental 
assistance to help those most at-risk of homelessness or who have 
already become homeless. It also provides $5 billion for the Community 
Development Block Grant to enable nearly 1,240 states, counties, and 
cities to rapidly respond to COVID-19 and the economic and housing 
impacts caused by it.
  The investments this bill makes are critical, they are bipartisan, 
and they are desperately needed.
  However, there are areas where the legislation falls short.
  The bill fails to help the U.S. Postal Service and its millions of 
employees--employees who are ensuring medicine and supplies are 
delivered for those staying at home. In protecting our public Postal 
Service, the bill fails utterly--providing a $10 billion line of credit 
with onerous terms and conditions of accessing said credit set by the 
Treasury Secretary. There are reports noting the Postal Service may 
cease operations by June because of lack of funds. The House bill 
included $20 billion for the Postal Service in lost revenues due to 
COVID-19 impacts, forgave their current debt to the Treasury, and 
opened up a $15 billion line of credit should they need to access it. I 
will work with my colleagues to make sure the needs of the Postal 
Service are addressed in future COVID-19 response packages. We all 
depend on it now more than ever. We can and must do more to help our 
Postal Service.
  Issuing a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures in federally 
assisted housing was a great first step, but more must be done to 
ensure that Americans are able to keep their homes while our current 
crisis rages on. We must provide relief to renters and homeowners in 
the commercial market. I am calling for a national moratorium on 
mortgage payments, rental payments, eviction filings, and foreclosures. 
We can and must do more to help Americans stay housed.
  The House proposal was far superior in providing relief to the 
millions of students and student loan borrowers who are being 
profoundly hurt by the crisis. Democrats proposed paying $10,000 of 
every student loan borrower's current balance and would have directed 
the Treasury to cover monthly payments for private borrowers for the 
span of the crisis. We can and must do more to help student loan 
borrowers.
  As public health experts recommend drastic social distancing 
measures, House Democrats took steps to protect the integrity of our 
elections and the health of the people by fighting for a national, no-
excuse, prepaid, vote-by-mail guarantee. This provision was not 
included in the Senate package. We can and must do more to protect the 
integrity of our 2020 elections.
  To help Americans keep food on the table, House Democrats proposed 
raising the minimum SNAP benefit from $18 to $30 and blocked the Trump 
administration from implementing harmful guidelines that could kick 3 
million people off of SNAP--even while our nation reels from the 
economic fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak. SNAP works--we already know 
every $1 spent generates $1.70 in economic activity. Sadly, these 
provisions were not included in the CARES Act. We can and must do more 
to keep Americans fed.
  While I also applaud the extension of numerous crucial healthcare 
programs in this bill, which were set to expire on May 22, we can't 
forget that these extensions will delay needed debate and reforms on 
enormously important issues like prescription drug costs and surprise 
billing. These issues long plagued our broken healthcare system before 
COVID-19, and they will continue to do so once we beat this virus. I 
look forward to finally addressing these long-overdue issues once this 
crisis is over.
  But such is the nature of compromise. In divided government, you 
don't always get what you fight for. But that does not mean you stop 
fighting.
  This CARES Act, with all its flaws, is triage: keep workers on the 
job and avoid economic collapse.
  Beyond addressing some of these shortcomings I've mentioned, our next 
step is recovery and rehabilitation--a true stimulus that creates jobs 
and rebuilds our decaying infrastructure. In the coming days and weeks, 
I will double down on an infrastructure package that repairs the breach 
left by years of neglect--that rebuilds failing bridges, restores 
crumbling highways, and puts people to work on projects with jobs that 
cannot be exported.
  But let me be absolutely clear--we have a long way to go to address 
what truly ails the United States economy: corporate greed.
  COVID-19 is the virus we are battling right now, but our economy has 
been sick for a very long time.
  Corporate greed, Wall Street demands that consistently puts profits 
over people, nearly 2 trillion dollars in Trump tax cuts that went 
straight to the top--all of that is symptomatic of a system that for 
far too long has kept working people down even as the stock market 
soared.
  We need a system that always puts workers and families first--not 
just during a national emergency and not just when it's politically 
convenient.
  I'll always be ready to roll up my sleeves for that fight.

                          ____________________