The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E344-E345 on March 31, 2020.
The Department provides billions in unemployment insurance, which peaked around 2011 though spending had declined before the pandemic. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, claimed the Department funds "ineffective and duplicative services" and overregulates the workplace.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019
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speech of
HON. PETER A. DeFAZIO
of oregon
in the house of representatives
Friday, March 27, 2020
Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, I will vote in support of the Senate Amendment to H.R. 748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This economic stimulus represents a wartime level investment in our nation as we continue our fight against an invisible enemy: COVID-19.
Public health experts agree the consequences of the virus will only get more devastating in the coming days. People we know and love will get sick. People we know and love may die despite the heroic efforts of our health care workers who are on the front lines, sacrificing the health of themselves and their families to give their neighbors and communities a fighting chance.
We also know that the financial fall-out from this crisis is unprecedented. On Thursday, the Department of Labor announced that nearly 3.3 million people lost their job the prior week, an unfortunate record number of claims. Through no fault of their own, millions of Americans were sidelined by a vicious virus that has brought our economy to a stunning but necessary halt as we work to ``flatten the curve'' to protect our health and safety.
Our next steps in this battle--to both contain the virus and prevent further layoffs--are critical.
And while Members of Congress can't be the experts in the lab developing a vaccine, or flying the cargo planes with medical supplies, there is something we can do today: get desperately needed funding and medical supplies to hospitals and frontline healthcare workers, and provide critical relief to the millions of laid-off workers and small business owners who are hurting right now.
Now, without question, the bill the Senate sent us isn't perfect.
Remember, the Republican starting point was a massive corporate slush fund with no transparency, accountability, or worker protections.
But we could not allow a repeat of the failed bailout of 2008. I'm proud to be part of the Democratic negotiating team that protected jobs because we know that putting working people and families first is how we as a country can get back on our feet. Prioritizing their needs over the profits of giant corporations is how we build an economy that works for everyone--not just a wealthy few.
This bill will put checks in the mail to 80 percent of Americans who make under six figures, and it will boost critical benefits for anyone who lost their job amid this crisis.
We fought hard so this bill will ensure millions of bus drivers, train operators, railroad workers, flight crews, airline ground workers, airport workers, and more not only remain on the job but keep as many of their hard-earned health and retirement benefits as possible during this crisis. The relief in this package flows to workers first, not last--and it makes clear to any industry getting relief: no stock buybacks, no executive giveaways, no layoffs. Workers first--period.
For the millions who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, this legislation vastly strengthens and makes critical reforms to Unemployment Insurance programs--ensuring 100 percent wage replacement for the average American worker struggling without a paycheck during this crisis. It also provides federal incentives for states to eliminate waiting week requirements, expands access to part-time, self-
employed, and gig economy workers, and adds an additional 13 weeks of federally-funded UI benefits.
To support the many small businesses across the country that have been forced to shutter, the bill designates $350 billion worth of 100 percent guaranteed SBA loans, a portion of which SBA will be able to forgive. These loans will be up to $10 million and provide incentives to keep employees on the payroll and pay them at their regular salary levels.
For our state, local, and tribal governments, this legislation establishes a $150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund so that they have desperately needed additional funding to build field hospitals, buy ventilators and other personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as offset the cost of other essential government services not budgeted in the wake of the economic downturn. While this fund is a good start, we must do more to ensure our localities, especially those in rural areas, have what they need in this fight.
It allows for the temporary suspension of excise taxes on spirits for those used in the production of hand sanitizer in compliance with guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), like Swallowtail and Thinking Tree Spirits in my district in Oregon.
The CARES Act provides $1 billion for the Defense Production Act, allowing the Department of Defense to invest in the manufacturing of PPE and other critical medical equipment in short supply. While this isn't the $3.5 billion allocated for the DPA in the House bill, it is still a notable sum to ramp up production for PPE and other supplies.
The President should have unleased the full power of the Defense Production Act (DPA) weeks ago. He still hasn't, and his lack of leadership means health care workers and their patients are suffering because there are not enough ventilators, PPE, or other medical supplies. I am continuing to call on the President to immediately ramp up domestic production of these crucial supplies.
This legislation also provides much-needed help to hospitals and healthcare providers by allocating $100 billion to cover unreimbursed health care-related expenses and lost revenues attributable to COVID-
19. It also increases Medicare reimbursement for treatment of inpatient COVID-19 patients by 20 percent, and it allocates more than $27 billion for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, investing billions into vaccines and therapeutics and $16 billion into the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
It mandates all private insurance plans to cover testing for COVID-19 without cost-sharing and provides free coverage for a COVID-19 vaccine or other preventive service within 15 days. It also protects the uninsured by allowing them to receive a coronavirus test and related services with no cost-sharing in any state Medicaid program that elects to offer such an enrollment option.
To protect and bolster our frontline health care workers, rural providers, and the health care of those with most need, the bill invests $1.32 billion in supplemental funding for Community Health Centers; reauthorizes Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant programs; reauthorizes HRSA grants to strengthen rural community health; expands telehealth capabilities; grants liability protections to doctors who provide volunteer medical services; and establishes a Ready Reserve Corps to ensure there are enough trained doctors and nurses to respond to COVID-19 throughout our country.
To protect our students and schools, this package provides $30.75 billion for an Education Stabilization Fund for states, school districts, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) for COVID-19 costs. $13.5 billion will ultimately be distributed to local education agencies to use for coronavirus response activities. $14.25 billion will be used for higher education emergency relief to help defray costs, such as lost revenue, to support social distancing and distance education, and to issue emergency grants to impacted students for food, housing, course materials, tech, and healthcare and childcare.
The package also bolsters programs that America's families depend on by: providing billions for childcare programs such as Head Start and the Child Care Development Block Grant, strengthening the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program through billions in additional funding, providing millions for utility assistance through the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and extending the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program.
In a bid to keep Americans housed during this crisis, the CARES Act institutes a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for renters and homeowners in federally subsidized housing. The bill also provides $4 billion in Emergency Solution Grants and $3 billion in rental assistance to help those most at-risk of homelessness or who have already become homeless. It also provides $5 billion for the Community Development Block Grant to enable nearly 1,240 states, counties, and cities to rapidly respond to COVID-19 and the economic and housing impacts caused by it.
The investments this bill makes are critical, they are bipartisan, and they are desperately needed.
However, there are areas where the legislation falls short.
The bill fails to help the U.S. Postal Service and its millions of employees--employees who are ensuring medicine and supplies are delivered for those staying at home. In protecting our public Postal Service, the bill fails utterly--providing a $10 billion line of credit with onerous terms and conditions of accessing said credit set by the Treasury Secretary. There are reports noting the Postal Service may cease operations by June because of lack of funds. The House bill included $20 billion for the Postal Service in lost revenues due to COVID-19 impacts, forgave their current debt to the Treasury, and opened up a $15 billion line of credit should they need to access it. I will work with my colleagues to make sure the needs of the Postal Service are addressed in future COVID-19 response packages. We all depend on it now more than ever. We can and must do more to help our Postal Service.
Issuing a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures in federally assisted housing was a great first step, but more must be done to ensure that Americans are able to keep their homes while our current crisis rages on. We must provide relief to renters and homeowners in the commercial market. I am calling for a national moratorium on mortgage payments, rental payments, eviction filings, and foreclosures. We can and must do more to help Americans stay housed.
The House proposal was far superior in providing relief to the millions of students and student loan borrowers who are being profoundly hurt by the crisis. Democrats proposed paying $10,000 of every student loan borrower's current balance and would have directed the Treasury to cover monthly payments for private borrowers for the span of the crisis. We can and must do more to help student loan borrowers.
As public health experts recommend drastic social distancing measures, House Democrats took steps to protect the integrity of our elections and the health of the people by fighting for a national, no-
excuse, prepaid, vote-by-mail guarantee. This provision was not included in the Senate package. We can and must do more to protect the integrity of our 2020 elections.
To help Americans keep food on the table, House Democrats proposed raising the minimum SNAP benefit from $18 to $30 and blocked the Trump administration from implementing harmful guidelines that could kick 3 million people off of SNAP--even while our nation reels from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 outbreak. SNAP works--we already know every $1 spent generates $1.70 in economic activity. Sadly, these provisions were not included in the CARES Act. We can and must do more to keep Americans fed.
While I also applaud the extension of numerous crucial healthcare programs in this bill, which were set to expire on May 22, we can't forget that these extensions will delay needed debate and reforms on enormously important issues like prescription drug costs and surprise billing. These issues long plagued our broken healthcare system before COVID-19, and they will continue to do so once we beat this virus. I look forward to finally addressing these long-overdue issues once this crisis is over.
But such is the nature of compromise. In divided government, you don't always get what you fight for. But that does not mean you stop fighting.
This CARES Act, with all its flaws, is triage: keep workers on the job and avoid economic collapse.
Beyond addressing some of these shortcomings I've mentioned, our next step is recovery and rehabilitation--a true stimulus that creates jobs and rebuilds our decaying infrastructure. In the coming days and weeks, I will double down on an infrastructure package that repairs the breach left by years of neglect--that rebuilds failing bridges, restores crumbling highways, and puts people to work on projects with jobs that cannot be exported.
But let me be absolutely clear--we have a long way to go to address what truly ails the United States economy: corporate greed.
COVID-19 is the virus we are battling right now, but our economy has been sick for a very long time.
Corporate greed, Wall Street demands that consistently puts profits over people, nearly 2 trillion dollars in Trump tax cuts that went straight to the top--all of that is symptomatic of a system that for far too long has kept working people down even as the stock market soared.
We need a system that always puts workers and families first--not just during a national emergency and not just when it's politically convenient.
I'll always be ready to roll up my sleeves for that fight.
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