[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H5869]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   URGENT NEED FOR CORONAVIRUS RELIEF

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Michigan (Ms. Tlaib) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in calling 
for immediate action on COVID relief.
  It is an outrage that Senate Republicans and the impeached 
President's administration are more focused on undermining our election 
integrity and faith in our democracy rather than delivering relief to 
millions of Americans who are struggling right now.
  With over 20 million unemployed and more than 8 million having fallen 
into poverty, recurring monthly payments are desperately needed to 
protect the American people from further harm and loss.
  Due to the lack of Federal commitment and funding, the maximum amount 
a worker in my district gets on unemployment is $362 a week, Mr. 
Speaker; $962 under the first stimulus payment. So now you are asking 
workers, our families, our neighbors, to live with $362 a week. Not 
anyone here could survive on that.
  Due to the uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus, new stay-at-home 
orders and business restrictions are necessary to protect our public 
health.
  But we must couple this with orders with strong, recurring Federal 
support, putting money directly into the pockets of Americans, so they 
can actually afford to stay home, and support our local governments and 
businesses on the brink of collapse without more stimulus.
  This pandemic has also made clear the need of guaranteeing access to 
clean water to our neighbors.
  Washing one's hands is crucial to preventing illness and spread. We 
need to treat water as a human right, and ban water shutoffs 
nationwide, and ensure that every American has what they need to 
protect themselves during this pandemic.
  So, Mr. Speaker, sending stimulus checks, supporting State and local 
governments, small businesses, and preventing water shutoffs are some 
of the first steps we must take to not only control the spread of this 
coronavirus but to recover from its devastation.
  I urge my Republican colleagues to please join me in taking urgent 
action.

                          ____________________