[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 161 (Thursday, September 17, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H4494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HEROES ACT AND THE PEOPLE

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, more than 4 months ago, the House passed 
the HEROES Act, legislation that protects our HEROES on the front line 
of this pandemic, our police officers, firefighters, healthcare 
workers, sanitation workers, it provides stimulus payments for up to 
$6,000 per family, extends unemployment benefits of $600 per week 
through January, and gets hazard pay and much-needed resources to 
frontline workers.
  This bill has sat on my Mitch McConnell's desk since then.
  In the meantime, tens of millions of Americans are out of work with 
unemployment levels four times higher than they were before this 
pandemic. More than a million layoffs and State and local budget cuts 
that are crippling services for those who need them the most. A total 
of 6.3 million Americans have been infected and nearly 200,000 have 
died.
  Mr. Speaker, instead of voting on the HEROES Act, the Senate 
Republicans put forward their own bill that didn't come close to 
addressing the problems we face: The economic catastrophe and the 
public health crisis.
  The American people deserve better. They need help. They deserve a 
Senate and Republicans in the Senate that work for them, and a 
President who tells them the truth.
  Rest assured, Democrats are going to continue fighting for all those 
that our Republican colleagues in the Senate and that President Trump 
have left behind.

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