[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 21 (Thursday, February 4, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E106-E109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2021

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 3, 2021

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the Committees on 
the Judiciary, on Homeland Security, on the Budget, and as the Member 
of Congress for a congressional district that has experienced the worst 
of COVID-19 as a public health emergency and economic catastrophe, I 
rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 11, 447, which reorders 
budgetary priorities to provide $1.9 trillion to allow Congress to take 
immediate and decisive action to crush the virus and vaccinate our 
people, build the economy back better, reopen schools, and provide 
needed support and assistance to state and local governments that have 
been asked to do too much with too little for far too long.
  Mr. Speaker, by an overwhelming margin (79 percent), the public wants 
and is demanding that we act to provide more economic relief to address 
the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
  Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of Republicans and Republican-leaning 
independents believe an additional relief package is necessary, while 
more than nine in ten (92 percent) Democrats and Democratic leaners say 
more coronavirus aid will be needed.
  Even the most conservative Republicans favor more relief by a 56 
percent-44 percent margin.
  Nearly nine in ten of all adults (88 percent) in lower-income 
households say an additional package is necessary, while 81 percent of 
Republicans in lower-income households (81 percent) say additional aid 
is needed now.
  Let me make clear at the outset Mr. Speaker, that nothing in this 
resolution precludes the reaching of a bipartisan and bicameral 
agreement to pass and fund the President's America Rescue Plan, which 
in nearly all material respects mirrors the Heroes Act passed by the 
House Democratic majority on May 15, 2020, nearly nine months ago, only 
to languish on the Republican Senate Majority Leader's desk while 
hundreds of thousands of our fellow Americans succumbed to the virus 
and millions of others lost their livelihoods and businesses, and 
everyone faced an uncertain future.
  It would send a powerful signal to the American people if our 
colleagues across the aisle would join us in this effort because 
nothing would better show them that their elected representatives can 
set partisanship aside and put America first.
  And that bipartisan achievement would portend success for similar 
initiatives in the area of infrastructure, energy, national and 
homeland security, and criminal justice and immigration reform, all of 
which I am ready and willing to reach across the aisle to find common 
ground.
  So, if our Republican colleagues are amenable to reaching an 
agreement on a legislative response that is commensurate to the 
challenge facing Americans, nothing in the legislation before us will 
preclude that from happening.
  But have no doubt, if they refuse to be part of the solution, the 
unified and bicameral Democratic congressional majority, in 
coordination with the new Democratic Administration, will take the lead 
and act boldly to address and overcome the present crisis.
  I would urge my Republican colleagues to heed the words of Republican 
Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia who said colorfully just a few 
days ago, ``At this point in time in this nation, we need to go big. We 
need to quit counting the egg-sucking legs on the cows and count the 
cows and just move. And move forward and move right now.''
  The same sentiment was expressed more eloquently by Abraham Lincoln 
in 1862 when he memorably wrote:

       The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy 
     present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we 
     must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must 
     think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and 
     then we shall save our country.

  Mr. Speaker, the bipartisan action we took last December was a step 
in the right direction but only a long-delayed down payment; we cannot 
afford any more delays, especially since Republican stalling already 
caused a painful lapse in critical unemployment assistance last year, 
and additional unemployment assistance is set to expire on March 14, 
2021.
  That is why this resolution, which creates a failsafe alternative so 
that the American Rescue Plan can be debated, voted on, and passed, is 
absolutely crucial and the right thing to do and to do right now.
  The American Rescue Plan proposed by President Biden takes a 
multiprong approach to tackling the public health and economic crises 
stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
  No one is better prepared or more experienced to lead the American 
rescue that President Biden, who as Vice-President oversaw the 
implementation of the Recovery Act, which saved millions of jobs and 
rescued our economy from the Great Recession the Obama Administration 
and the nation inherited from a previous Republican administration.
  And let us not forget that President Obama also placed his confidence 
in his vice-president to oversee the rescue of the automotive industry, 
which he did so well that the American car industry fully recovered its 
status as the world leader.

[[Page E107]]

  Mr. Speaker, to crush the virus and safely reopen schools, the 
American Rescue Plan will mount a national vaccination program that 
includes setting up community vaccination sites nationwide and makes 
the investments necessary to safely reopen schools.
  It will also take complementary measures to combat the virus, 
including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of 
personal protective equipment and other critical supplies, investing in 
high-quality treatments, and addressing health care disparities.
  The American Rescue Plan delivers immediate relief to working 
families bearing the brunt of the crisis by providing $1,400 per person 
in direct cash assistance to households across America, bringing the 
total (including the $600 down payment enacted in December) to $2,000.
  Additionally, the plan will also provide direct housing and nutrition 
assistance to families struggling to get by, expand access to safe and 
reliable child care and affordable health care, extend and expand 
unemployment insurance so American workers can pay their bills, and 
give families with children as well as childless workers a boost 
through enhanced tax credits.
  Mr. Speaker, the American Rescue Plan provides much needed support 
for communities struggling with the economic fallout, including hard-
hit small businesses, especially those owned by entrepreneurs from 
racial and ethnic backgrounds that have experienced systemic 
discrimination.
  Finally, the plan also provides crucial resources to protect the jobs 
of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit 
workers, and other essential workers that all Americans depend on.
  Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic, as did the videos of the 
unjustified killings of George Floyd, Breanna Taylor, Ahmed Arbrey, and 
so many others, laid bare for the nation to see the stark racial and 
ethnic inequalities exacerbated by the virus.
  In my home state of Texas, as of the end of September 2020, there 
have been more than 760,000 cases of COVID-19 and 16,000 deaths.
  According to the Texas Department of State Health Care Services, 70 
percent of the confirmed fatalities were people of color.
  In Texas, COVID-19 mortality rates are 30 percent higher for African 
Americans and 80 percent higher for Hispanics overall.
  The differences become much larger when accounting for age; for 
example, in the 25 to 44-year-old age group, African American mortality 
rates are more than four times higher than White rates, and the 
Hispanic rates are more than seven times higher.
  One factor in Hispanic and African American populations being more 
likely to contract COVID-19 is employment in occupations associated 
with public contact and that cannot be done remotely.
  The sad fact is that most workers in these occupations are less able 
to be absent from their job or to have paid time off.
  In Texas, people of color are more than 40 percent of cashiers, 
retail salespersons, child care workers, licensed practical nurses, 
more than 50 percent of bus drivers and transit workers, medical and 
nursing assistants, personal care aides, and home health aides, and 
more than 60 percent of building cleaners and housekeepers.
  In addition, Hispanic and African American populations in Texas are 
less likely to have health insurance and to have a regular health care 
provider, so less likely to seek or receive early care for symptoms, 
especially in the first months of the epidemic.
  And African American and Hispanic populations are also more likely to 
have an underlying health condition that makes them more vulnerable to 
the effects of COVID-19.
  To respond and mitigate the devastation wrought by COVID-19 on 
Americans, and especially marginal and vulnerable communities of color, 
I have introduced H.R. 330, the ``Delivering COVID-19 Vaccinations to 
All Regions and Vulnerable Communities Act'' or ``COVID-19 Delivery 
Act,'' which I invite all Members to join as sponsors.
  Under the COVID-19 Delivery Act, FEMA will be authorized and directed 
to lead the effort for vaccine delivery from the receipt from 
manufacturing facilities to delivery to designated inoculation sites 
(hospital, clinic, doctors' offices, school, places of worship, 
community centers, parks, or neighborhood gathering locations.
  The legislation directs FEMA to develop and deploy a fully staffed 
and resourced 24-7 advanced real-time tracking system that allows FEMA 
to monitor shipments of vaccine units that can provide end-to-end 
transparency on the temperature, real-time location, origin, and 
destination data, anticipated time of arrival, and report on changes 
and update recipients on the progress of their delivery and report on 
changes that may impact expected delivery or the viability of the 
vaccine while in transit.
  FEMA will provide an advanced communication system that allows public 
health departments to communicate their vaccine readiness, capability 
of receiving vaccines, delivery locations, details of facility 
capability of storing, securing, personnel authorized to receive 
deliveries, logistics for delivering vaccines to patients, report on 
vaccine receipts, condition of vaccines, patient reactions, feedback on 
how to improve the process.
  H.R. 330 authorizes FEMA to secure transportation for delivery or use 
of vaccines, and, when requested, security for the vaccine delivery 
sites or inoculation locations to ensure the life and safety of 
personnel and patients who seek to provide or receive vaccinations are 
free of interference or threat.
  Finally, the COVID-19 Delivery Act directs FEMA to conduct public 
education and patient engagement through the provision of inoculations 
of persons in areas and locations where vulnerable populations are 
under performing in getting vaccinations.
  Mr. Speaker, the 2021 budget resolution before us now is not a 
comprehensive fiscal blueprint for the next 10 years; it is designed 
solely to provide the option of using reconciliation to deliver 
critical relief and achieve the goals of the American Rescue Plan.
  As such, the total spending and revenue levels in the resolution 
simply reflect current-law projections adjusted for the estimated costs 
of the American Rescue Plan.
  Once the American Rescue Plan becomes law, Congress will begin its 
work on a forward-looking, comprehensive budget resolution for 2022 
that will provide urgently needed economic support and address 
longstanding deficits in our communities and underlying inequities in 
our society, which have been so starkly revealed and exacerbated by 
COVID-19.
  I strongly support this legislation and urge all Members to join me 
in voting for its passage.

                            [Oct. 14, 2020]

Half of Texas Face Financial Hardship Because of Coronavirus Pandemic, 
                              Survey Finds

                       (By Nataly Keomoungkhoun)

       According to the Episcopal Health Foundation survey, Black 
     and Hispanic people are much more likely to be concerned 
     about another wave of COVID-19.
       Half of Texans are experiencing some kind of financial 
     hardship because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a new 
     survey finds.
       The survey, conducted by the Episcopal Health Foundation, 
     highlights how the pandemic affects people across the state 
     with different household incomes and races, with and without 
     health insurance, and other factors. Nearly 1,900 Texans were 
     surveyed.
       ``From being uninsured to not having internet access for 
     online school, Texans say these nonmedical factors are not 
     only shaping how they're dealing with the pandemic; they also 
     could be seriously affecting their future health in many 
     different ways,'' said Elena Marks, CEO of the foundation.
       Roughly 22% of Texas residents are facing ``severe 
     hardship,'' the survey found, and an additional 28% are 
     facing ``moderate hardship.''
       Those with less than $50,000 in household income were more 
     likely to experience financial distress than those making 
     more than $50,000, according to the survey. A third of the 
     people surveyed said someone in their home had lost a job or 
     business or had work hours reduced.
       Those deemed essential workers make up about 34% of Texans, 
     the survey found. About 43% of essential workers are 
     Hispanic, 38% are white and 10% are Black. According to the 
     survey, those who hold essential jobs are more likely to 
     receive government assistance such as food aid and Medicaid, 
     and they are less likely to have health insurance.
       Medical care has been postponed or skipped altogether by 
     36% of people since the start of the pandemic, the survey 
     found. Most said their mental health was good, but 46% were 
     worried about the effects of pandemic-related stress on their 
     health.
       Texas continues to have the highest rate of people in the 
     nation without health insurance, with 29% saying they lack 
     coverage.
       The survey asked whether Texans were bracing for a 
     worsening of the COVID-19 outbreak. Overall, less than half 
     said they were very concerned about another wave. But roughly 
     73% of Black Texans and 55% of Hispanic Texans said they were 
     very concerned about another wave, compared with about 33% of 
     white Texans.
       A majority did not think the federal government was very 
     prepared for another wave of COVID-19.
       ``These stark differences in concerns about the future show 
     that COVID-19 is hitting Black and Hispanic Texans harder 
     than anyone else,'' Marks said. ``These groups are seeing 
     more deaths and serious complications from the virus because 
     they're more likely to already suffer chronic conditions 
     related to where they live that make them more susceptible.''
       Nearly 75% of surveyed Texans said they received financial 
     assistance from the federal government in the form of 
     unemployment benefits, small-business loans and direct 
     stimulus payments. One-fourth said they also received 
     assistance from programs such as STAR Medicaid and the 
     Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Most 
     Texans who receive these benefits are Black or Hispanic, the 
     survey found.

[[Page E108]]

       About 18% of people said they had received help from a 
     nonprofit organization, and 13% said they had received food 
     from a local food bank during the pandemic.
       ``This kind of information is crucial to letting government 
     and other recovery efforts know what Texans need to recover 
     from the pandemic,'' Marks said. ``We hope it helps make good 
     decisions about how to reach those most in need with the help 
     they need the most.''

                 [From the Texas Tribune, Oct. 8, 2020]

``We Can't Do It Alone'': Texans Say Federal Leaders' Inaction on a New 
       Corona Virus Aid Package Is Endangering Their Livelihoods

              (By Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff and Trinady Joslin)

       Texas business owners and unemployed residents feel like 
     federal leaders of both parties are playing political games 
     with their financial lives in the middle of a damaging 
     recession.
       Jacque Miles is three weeks away from losing everything--
     her home, her utilities and even the cellphone service she 
     relies on to apply for five to six jobs a day.
       The 54-year-old Myra resident was let go from her job at a 
     merchandising agency in April and, like millions of Texans, 
     has been watching Congress to see if it'll pass another 
     federal relief package to help her make ends meet during the 
     pandemic and its parallel economic recession.
       But federal lawmakers and President Donald Trump have 
     failed for months during a heated election year to reach a 
     deal on a bill that could provide millions of Texans with a 
     second $1,200 stimulus check, additional unemployment 
     benefits and more loans for small business owners hanging on 
     by a thread.
       ``They all get to go home to their nice big house and eat 
     their nice big meal,'' Miles said of the federal officials 
     and lawmakers who have been working on a deal. ``And I'm 
     eating macaroni and cheese for the 10th time this week. How 
     can that be happening?''
       It's been a dizzying few days for Texans waiting to see if 
     more assistance will come. Trump deflated hopes that an 
     agreement would be reached soon when he tweeted Tuesday that 
     he'd told his negotiators to halt discussions until after the 
     Nov. 3 election. Later that evening, he seemingly walked back 
     that request, calling for stand-alone bills funding specific 
     programs, which U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled she 
     would not support.
       Then on Thursday, according to media reports, Trump said 
     talks had resumed. Pelosi's deputy chief of staff said she 
     and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin discussed the prospects 
     of reaching an agreement on a comprehensive bill. And on 
     Friday, it appeared that the talks for a large relief package 
     were back on.
       But it is still not known if or when anything will pass, 
     leaving struggling Texans to continue scraping by with no 
     clear end in sight.
       Miles likened the ever-changing developments to an 
     ``exhausting'' tennis match.
       ``I'm just so disappointed with the government in 
     general,'' she said. ``Not any particular party, just the 
     government in general. It's just so sad.''
       As families struggle to keep their water running and 
     business owners pull in heavy losses, Texans are 
     ``heartbroken'' and angry with the federal government's lack 
     of support.
       Workers and business owners said they feel like those in 
     charge are playing games with their livelihoods and are out 
     of touch with the people they represent at the same time that 
     many of them are seeking their votes.
       The prospects of a deal after the expiration of the CARES 
     Act at the end of July has been a political football for 
     months. Democrats have proposed a $2.2 trillion dollar 
     package, which would bring back an additional $600 in weekly 
     unemployment payments, according to media reports. The White 
     House has countered with a $1.6 trillion dollar plan with 
     $400 in extra weekly unemployment, though it's unclear 
     congressional Republicans would pass such a bill.
       Both sides appear to agree on sending out another round of 
     $1,200 stimulus checks, which were first sent to people 
     making $75,000 or less this spring.
       Further delay of any federal deal could also shutter more 
     businesses, lead to evictions and cause permanent job losses 
     for millions, according to various industry leaders. With 
     reduced indoor capacity, economic hardships hitting their 
     customers and colder weather soon threatening outdoor dining, 
     no additional stimulus deal could be catastrophic for 
     restaurants.
       According to Texas Restaurant Association President and CEO 
     Emily Williams Knight, 15% of Texas' 50,000 restaurants have 
     already closed their doors permanently. With no stimulus 
     plan, another 10% could close before the year ends, she said.
       She's received countless calls from restaurant owners in 
     tears because, after pouring years into their dream business, 
     they had to shut down everything.
       ``It felt like a gut punch that the potential relief is 
     officially done,'' said Knight. ``Eight weeks of help for a 
     seven month problem seems incredibly unreasonable.''


               ``No time to be playing political games''

       J.R. Gonzales, a top executive at the Texas Association of 
     Mexican American Chambers of Commerce, said the lack of 
     federal support has hit Hispanic Texans--who have 
     disproportionately contracted and died from the virus--
     particularly hard.
       ``The back and forth to me is just political jockeying and 
     a waste of time,'' he said, adding that he holds elected 
     officials of both parties responsible for this failure, a 
     sentiment held by most Texans who spoke to The Texas Tribune 
     about a potential new relief package.
       Gonzales said the Hispanic community he represents has a 
     large number of small business owners, some of whom are 
     struggling to stay open. Many of their customers are out of 
     work or risk their lives to fill essential jobs.
       ``This is no time to be playing political games,'' Gonzales 
     said. ``Hispanic business owners and workers need these 
     grants to put food on the table.''
       One such business is Beijing Bistro, which Janette 
     Martinez, 25, took over from her father, Eddie, when he had a 
     stroke in April. With $250,000 in medical bills--Eddie does 
     not have insurance--on top of the challenges of running the 
     restaurant in Buda, Martinez feels like she's drinking water 
     from a fire hose.
       She's never run a business before and paused her plans to 
     return to college and study business management to schedule 
     shifts for cooks, manage the books and keep the family 
     business afloat. The $80,000 she received from the Paycheck 
     Protection Program loans, which are now dwindling, allowed 
     her to pay all her staff.
       Still, Martinez has no idea if she's breaking even or 
     losing money and works every hour the restaurant is open six 
     days a week. On her birthday next week, her biggest wish for 
     a celebration is just to get a day off. And see her dad.
       ``We're all just trying to survive as best we can out 
     here,'' she said. ``The longer they take choosing whether or 
     not to pass the stimulus, the more dire the situation will 
     become.''
       She, too, holds both parties responsible for failing to 
     pass a plan.
       Washington's inaction has made restaurant owners feel like 
     they don't matter, Knight said.
       ``It was a lot of theatrics so they could go back to their 
     constituents and demonstrate that they acted and it was 
     someone else's fault,'' she said.


                    Economic issues span industries

       Many of the issues restaurants face extend to industries 
     across the state.
       Ebele Iloanye, the owner of the retail store MODChic 
     Couture in Sugar Land, has lost 70% in revenue over the last 
     few months of the pandemic. Though she's kept up with her 
     rent for now, largely with the help of her $11,000 PPP loan, 
     she's cut many of her employees.
       A second stimulus package would ensure she could continue 
     to pay her rent--and bring back the workers she's been unable 
     to pay for months. That would mean they could then pay their 
     bills as well.
       ``Things are bad all around, everybody can see it and we're 
     just trying to survive,'' Iloanye said. ``We're doing our 
     part, and I really hope that they would now do theirs.''
       Iloanye did not cast blame on Trump specifically--though 
     his tweets were the most recent example of what many consider 
     political posturing--but said that all Washington politicians 
     are to blame for this failure to do the job they were elected 
     to do. Eddie Aldrete, the national affairs committee chair of 
     the Texas Association of Business, agreed.
       ``Texas businesses are doing their best to weather this 
     pandemic and help our state and nation recover,'' he said. 
     ``We can't do it alone, and we are hopeful that leaders in 
     Washington can finally, for once, find common ground to 
     provide a stimulus and relief package.''
       Miles said she just wants a reprieve. While she voted for 
     Trump in 2016, she feels like neither party is willing to 
     bend and offer people help. After more than seven months of 
     seeing disaster everywhere she looks, she's struggling to 
     stay optimistic.
       Earlier this week, she said if the presidential vote was 
     tomorrow, she would choose Biden. But on Thursday, after even 
     more dizzying developments, she said if the election was 
     tomorrow, she'd just stay home.
       ``It's hard to find a happy spot,'' she said. ``It gets 
     harder every day.''

                 [From the Texas Tribune, Feb. 1, 2021]

  10 Months Into Pandemic, Texas' Unemployment Rate Stays Near Great 
                         Recession-Level Highs

                  (By Anna Novak and Mitchell Ferman)


                            UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

       Texas' unemployment rate was 7.2% in December, up from 3.5% 
     in December 2019.


                           SALES TAX REVENUES

       In January, Texas collected $3.1 billion in sales tax 
     revenues, down 0.3% from January 2020.
       Business shutdowns and limits on their operations through 
     the coronavirus pandemic have battered Texas companies, which 
     are now grappling with another devastating surge in 
     infections as intensive care units at dozens of hospitals 
     across the state are full.
       Entire industries--bars and restaurants, tourism and 
     travel, oil and gas--continue to struggle.
       The unemployment rate in Texas decreased to 7.2% in 
     December, more than double the rate of 3.5% a year earlier. 
     Hungry and homeless Texans have been confused about the 
     prospect of more federal coronavirus relief while the state's 
     outdated and understaffed unemployment insurance office has

[[Page E109]]

     left countless Texans struggling to receive unemployment 
     benefits as they navigate the Texas Workforce Commission's 
     confusing processes.
       A decline in Texas' sales tax revenues--the largest source 
     of funding for the state budget--has created a shortfall that 
     lawmakers will have to fill in the 2021 legislative session. 
     Economists say weakened global demand for oil, high 
     unemployment and the ongoing public health crisis will 
     continue to weigh down Texas' economic recovery.


              The unemployment rate decreased in December

       Texas' unemployment rate in December was 7.2%--a decrease 
     from the 8.1% November jobless rate, according to a Texas 
     Workforce Commission report released Jan. 22. The state's 
     unemployment rate for December is the latest indicator that 
     the economic recovery in Texas will be slow and staggered.

                          ____________________