Rep. Tlaib Calls for Immediate Consideration of COVID-19 Legislation that Puts People First in Statement on Interim Relief Package

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13) released the following statement on the U.S. House’s vote on an interim COVID-19 relief package:

“Today, members of the U.S. House of Representatives traveled back to Washington, D.C. to vote on a bill with provisions that should’ve been included in the last COVID-19 response bill, the CARES Act. Let’s be clear – this bill is only necessary because Republicans prioritized a half-trillion-dollar handout in the CARES Act to corporations that turned around and laid off our workers. We must be focused on the well-being of residents throughout this pandemic. Residents need relief—they need recurring payments, access to clean, safe water, and they need assistance with bills coming due that they are unable to pay. Instead, today we fixed what Republicans refused to do in the CARES Act. 

“We must put people first by preventing layoffs, providing financial relief, protecting public health, and reforming our elections so people can safely participate–and we must do all of this in a way that includes everyone suffering in our country right now. States and municipalities need relief and should not be left to go bankrupt just because of the party their Governor belongs to – which Mitch McConnell has suggested. It’s time to bailout the people and put all of us first. We must do this immediately. Any delay would be a moral failure.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congresswoman Tlaib has introduced the Automatic BOOST to Communities (ABC) Act, which would provide universal recurring monthly payments of $2,000 to residents, and the Emergency Water is a Human Right Act, which would implement a federal prohibition on water and utilities shutoffs while providing assistance for local governments and residents. She has also introduced the Emergency Relief for State, Territorial and Local Governments Act, which would provide resources to public servants on the front lines by requiring the Federal Reserve to commit to purchasing short-term municipal debt as necessary for stabilizing funding needs during and in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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