[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 102 (Friday, June 11, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE RESTAURANT REVITALIZATION FUND REPLENISHMENT ACT

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                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 11, 2021

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, today I introduced the Restaurant 
Revitalization Fund Replenishment Act. This bipartisan, bicameral 
legislation will replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund with $60 
billion in additional funding.
  The restaurant industry has been uniquely devastated by the COVID-19 
pandemic, accounting or a quarter of all job losses. The pandemic has 
cost restaurants and bars more than $280 billion in sales and left 
devastating impacts on the entire food supply chain. Ninety-thousand 
restaurants have permanently closed and hundreds of thousands more have 
significantly scaled down their operations.
  The Restaurant Revitalization Fund, created in Section 5003 of the 
American Rescue Plan Act (Pub. L. 117-2), provided $28.6 billion for 
restaurants, bars, food trucks, caterers, tasting rooms, and taprooms 
to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Within days of opening the Fund, 
the SBA received requests for more funding than was available. Just 
three weeks after opening, the SBA received more than 362,000 
applications requesting more than $75 billion in funding--nearly triple 
available funding. Due to unprecedented need and a lack of funds, the 
SBA closed the application portal on May 24, 2021, meaning there is 
nearly $50 billion in outstanding need that will go unmet unless 
Congress acts.
  Even with months of positive steady job growth, restaurant and bars 
are still nearly one million jobs below their pre-pandemic averages. 
Dining restrictions still exist in 27 states, and consumer hesitancy 
threatens to prolong the hardship with 36 percent of diners saying they 
won't resume their regular dining behavior until at least after 
September 2021. Without congressional action, tens of thousands of 
beloved restaurants and bars simply won't survive.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House and Senate 
to replenish the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and work to get this 
battered industry back on its feet.

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