[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H5870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE NATION CONTINUES TO FACE AN INCREASINGLY DEADLY PANDEMIC

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Georgia (Mrs. McBath) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, as we move into the last weeks of 2020, as 
we move into a dark and uncertain winter, our Nation continues to face 
an increasingly deadly pandemic. Grief, economic hardship, and anxiety 
can be felt in every corner of our country.
  Despite the challenges that face our Nation, the past few weeks have 
seen millions of Americans stand up and make their voices heard.
  And millions of Americans have chosen unity over division, stability 
over chaos, and looked forward to a future filled with faith and hope 
for a brighter world.
  That world requires something from each and every one of us--we all 
must do our part. We all have a role to play in transforming our 
aspirations into real, effective progress.
  Over the last 2 years, I have heard from thousands of families who 
have called on my office in a moment of need; a grandparent whose 
Social Security checks just simply stopped coming; a veteran who 
desperately needed an appointment at the VA hospital; a small business 
that required assistance to keep their employees paid during this 
pandemic.
  For many of these people, their call to my office may have been the 
first time that they have ever interacted with a government official. 
It may be the first time that they have ever asked their government for 
help.
  Each and every day, we are called upon to serve our communities in 
Congress. They are trusting us to do everything that we can to advocate 
on their behalf.
  We must never lose sight of that faith and that trust that they 
placed in us.
  Hardworking families across Georgia, and from around the Nation, 
understand that the days and the months ahead may be the most important 
of our lifetime.
  And Americans have been very clear. They have asked their leaders to 
put aside their partisan bickering and focus on American fellowship.
  And the mandate that they have given us is one of compassion and 
cooperation.
  It is a mandate to heal fractures and mend their wounds.
  It is a mandate to solve problems and protect them.
  And it is a mandate to compromise with common sense.
  It is a mandate to enact policies that provide every person in this 
Nation an opportunity to fight for their very own American Dream.
  For many years, before I had the honor of serving my community in 
Congress, I worked as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines, and I 
shared journeys with people from every corner of our globe and of every 
color and every creed and of every race and every religion.
  Yes, we all come from different backgrounds, and we share different 
beliefs, and we all belong to different political parties. But what we 
must understand is that we share a common purpose that transcends 
partisanship.
  We are all uniquely American. We are all far more alike than we are 
different. We all need to spend time with those that we love, to share 
our stories with those who make us smile, make us laugh. We all want 
what is best for our families.
  On these journeys across America, I watched first-generation 
Americans chart a course toward a lifetime of new and exciting 
experiences.
  And I watched men and women in uniform fly home to surprise their 
young children, their mothers who have been worried sick, their 
brothers who haven't seen their best friend in years.
  I have watched parents beam with pride as they reunited with their 
new college graduate. After decades of hard work, they knew, with faith 
and with certainty, that the days of their children would be better 
than their own.
  This is the America that our constituents sent us here to fight for 
and sent us here to lead; to preserve the ideas that this Nation was 
founded upon; to protect the values that must endure long after every 
single one of us in this Chamber is gone.
  Our strength as a Nation has always been on our ability to come 
together to address America's greatest challenges, which we are in 
right now. And that is the opportunity that we have in this very 
moment.
  And when we look back at this time in years to come, I pray that we 
can all take pride in our response; that we fought against all those 
who seek to sow the seeds of hatred and division--and for all those 
rooted in peace and prosperity; that we fought to strengthen our fellow 
Americans with love and with unity; that we fought for progress 
alongside our brothers and sisters of this great Nation with 
unshakeable resolve; that we fought for a future that we can all 
believe in.

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