E352 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks April 7, 2020 Madam Speaker, we have the capacity to THANK YOU TO WASHINGTON Association of City Transportation Officials address the ongoing threats to our security STATE’S FIRST RESPONDERS (NACTO), Environmental Law and Policy Cen- even as we address this unprecedented public ter (ELPC), Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. health crisis amidst an economic downturn. HON. RICK LARSEN The Improving Access to Services Act will reconnect our communities, enabling people to The bicameral group of legislators who serve OF WASHINGTON take shorter, more convenient trips, reducing on the U.S. Helsinki Commission do so in a IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES congestion and emissions, and improving ac- bipartisan way, and when we participate in the Tuesday, April 7, 2020 cess to services for all. OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, we do so with Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Madam Speak- I urge this body to swiftly pass this legisla- our European friends and allies in this effort. er, I rise to recognize the valuable service of tion. I concluded from my discussions last week grocery workers. f Nearly three million grocery workers punch that more difficult times may lie ahead, but by ADDITIONAL COMMENTS ABOUT the clock in communities across the United working together, we will persevere. THE CARES ACT States. In Northwest Washington, these Madam Speaker, please join me today rec- women and men put themselves at risk to ognizing the importance of these discussions make sure their neighbors are fed. HON. ANDY BIGGS with our European allies and friends. Since the COVID–19 outbreak began, I OF ARIZONA have heard from families of grocery employ- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES f ees who worry every time their loved ones go Tuesday, April 7, 2020 to work. Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, The vote we TRIBUTE TO SERGEANT MAJOR Congress must support grocery workers the RALPH SARGENT took on March 27, 2020, may be the most same way they support their communities. monumental vote during our tenure in Con- This means providing paid family and medical gress. The amount of money we committed HON. SETH MOULTON leave, guaranteeing workers’ rights are pro- our nation to is, in itself, epic. The causes of tected and listening when they tell employers this legislation—the coronavirus and govern- OF MASSACHUSETTS and Congress what they need to stay safe on ment reaction to the threat, which has placed the job. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES our economy into a recession—are equally I would like to thank and recognize grocery momentous. Tuesday, April 7, 2020 workers for their commitment to keeping The President has wisely acted to limit the Washington healthy and fed during this un- spread of the outbreak, and he and Senate Mr. MOULTON. Madam Speaker, I rise to precedented crisis. I encourage my colleagues Majority Leader MCCONNELL tried to negotiate commemorate the service of an American pa- to support these essential workers in any fu- in good faith with House Democrats. Unfortu- triot and decorated Marine, Sergeant Major ture relief package. nately, Speaker PELOSI and Minority Leader Ralph Sargent. Sargent took part in some of f SCHUMER chose instead to derail the process. the most intense fighting of the Vietnam War, INTRODUCTION OF THE IMPROV- As a result, we have a bill before us that is including the Battle of Khe Sanh, when the ING ACCESS TO SERVICES ACT loaded down with more negative provisions hilltop outpost of 6,000 Marines was sur- than positive ones. rounded by 34,000 North Vietnamese troops. HON. JESU´ S G. ‘‘CHUY’’ GARCI´A I have spent the past few days imagining Despite heavy artillery bombardment and the what could have been, had the Democrats de- OF ILLINOIS cided to act as honest brokers. constant threat of being overrun, the Marines, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Could we have provided the liquidity and of course, held their ground. Later while on Tuesday, April 7, 2020 necessary interim relief for the families and patrol, his company got into an extended fire- ´ businesses of Main Street USA for less than fight that would claim the lives of 35 Marines, Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I $2 trillion? but it would have been far worse if not for Ser- rise to introduce the Improving Access to Most certainly. And we should have found geant Major Sargent’s actions that earned him Services Act along with my colleagues Con- ways to help them because these businesses the Bronze Star with a ‘‘Combat V’’ for ex- gresswoman AYANNA PRESSLEY and Con- needed our support, because state and local gressman MARK TAKANO. traordinary heroism, in addition to his Navy governments have shuttered them and placed Our transportation system is failing Ameri- Commendation Medal. many Americans in economic peril. cans who are stuck in congestion, traveling on Could we have acted more swiftly? But one of the greatest stories of his service roads and transit systems in disrepair, and Without a doubt. was when he saved the life of another Marine forced to travel further and further to reach es- Could we have taken the time to repair the decades after Vietnam. That Marine is his sential services. unemployment compensation portion of the bill grandson, whom I was privileged to serve with The Improving Access to Services Act that Senators SCOTT, SASSE, and GRAHAM in Iraq. The salty Marine sergeant major rec- would require that ‘safe and convenient ac- noted will incentivize people not to work, be- ognized what was wrong with his grandson cess to services’ is an added condition for cause the compensation for unemployment when this great Marine returned from the war States’ minimum standards for public roads— will be superior to their wages? for both new construction and roadway im- and, like so many of us, had trouble finding Might we have produced a bill that didn’t provement projects. These services include meaning in life back home. So one day the spend millions of dollars for non-essential, health care facilities, child care, education and non-emergency-related funding to institutions sergeant major asked his grandson to drive workforce training, affordable housing, food such as the Kennedy Center, NPR, Smithso- him to the VA for an appointment, but when sources, banking and financial institutions, and nian, Institute of Museum and Library Serv- they arrived, he told his grandson that the ap- other retail shopping establishments. ices, and the National Endowments for the pointment was actually for him. His grandson, States and metropolitan planning organiza- Arts and Humanities? my friend, followed the sergeant major’s or- tions will assess how the transportation sys- Could we have done this without strength- ders and started going regularly to the VA. I’m tem connects people to services by auto, tran- ening the hands of unions in the private sec- not sure he would be alive today if he hadn’t. sit, bike, and pedestrian investments, and en- tor? And months later, after Sergeant Major Sar- sures new investments do not degrade transit, These are all painful hypotheticals to think gent saw what a difference the VA had made bike, and pedestrian access. about as we look at the enormous sums of un- in his grandson’s life, he decided, for the first The Improving Access to Services Act will necessary spending in this bill. time, to go himself. also adjust the definition of access to incor- To offer merely a few examples, we gave porate a measurement of travel times, travel $88 million to the Peace Corps, which fired Madam Speaker, Sergeant Major Sargent stress for active travel (bike and pedestrian), over seven thousand volunteers in March. We lived a life of service. Many Marines made it and cost for low-income travelers. spent millions more for refugee assistance, through Vietnam thanks to their sergeant I am glad that the Improving Access to election security, and the Department of Edu- major, and one of my great Marine friends is Services Act is endorsed by Transportation for cation. Some of these efforts may be worth alive today because of his grandfather. What America (T4A), Sierra Club, National Re- funding, but they certainly have no place in an an American hero. sources Defense Council (NRDC), National economic relief package.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Apr 08, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A07AP8.004 E07APPT1 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with REMARKS April 7, 2020 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E353 We currently have a structural deficit of ap- lion individuals received $14 billion from this Prosperity Act’’ (H.R. 4947) or even more ag- proximately $1.2 trillion—which, coincidentally, stimulus. gressive measures. The maximum tax rebate in 2008 was Modification of the net operating loss is about equal to the discretionary spending of (NOL) assessment: The TCJA eliminated Congress. This proposal dwarfs in spending, $1,200 for joint filers, $600 for others, and an ‘‘carrybacks’’ and permitted unlimited in one day, what we spend on discretionary additional $300 per dependent. The 2009 ‘‘carryforwards’’ of NOLs instead. New policy projects in one year. stimulus payments were $250 per recipient. could once again allow businesses to Some economists forecast tough times A 2010 National Bureau of Economic Re- carryback to more profitable times, or, al- ahead for GDP growth. If our amazing econ- search survey (Sahm, Shapiro, and Slemrod) ternatively, it could allow firms to draw omy, structurally sound just a few weeks ago, found that only 23 percent of individuals or down NOLs by making them refundable. Elimination of paid-leave mandates: Sen- has slower growth while we are more than households receiving a 2008 stimulus check ator Johnson tried unsuccessfully to amend doubling our structural deficit for the current indicated they would ‘‘mostly spend’’ it. 24 per- the second coronavirus relief bill to strip its fiscal year—not counting the input of the cent of those surveyed indicated they would paid-leave mandates. His argument was that Phase 1 and 2 relief packages, and excluding ‘‘mostly save’’ the money, and 53 percent said most small business owners are primarily the proposed Phase 4 and 5 packages—we they would ‘‘mostly pay off debt’’ with the concerned with preserving liquidity and could move into an upside-down position in funds. guaranteeing their future solvency. Paid- The study also found that about 26 percent leave mandates could inadvertently force the ratio of national debt to GDP. Such a situ- some of these rattled small businesses to lay ation would likely precipitate a sovereign debt of families with incomes above $75,000 off workers permanently. Most senators who crisis. planned to spend the 2008 rebate, as com- opposed the second coronavirus package did The President is highly concerned about pared to about 19 percent of lower-income so on these grounds. whether our economic cure may be worse families. Protection of industries from regulatory than the sickness. I suggest that the tem- Congress did not even discuss the ramifica- takings: Allow businesses forced to close or tions of the direct payment program, ‘‘Eco- pare back operations (i.e. airline companies, porary gains this bill provides are outweighed restaurants) due to government mandates a by the acceleration of our already unimagi- nomic Impact Payments.’’ The advocates for reprieve from regulatory takings via tem- nable national debt, which even before the direct payments exhibited hope and ignored porary, interest-free loans provided by the spending package exceeded $23 trillion. the economic reality revealed in past efforts. Treasury. Lastly, I am disappointed that the bill: A number of my colleagues and I put for- Expansion of tax deductions and/or credits Grants checks to millions of Americans who ward a number of alternatives to the bound- for individuals who work from home: The do not immediately need them and likely will less spending package that would have pro- coronavirus may spur more permanent changes in workforce behavior. In addition not spend them. vided immediate and lasting relief without to expanding existing tax deductions for in- Does not expand Health Savings Accounts. causing potentially long-term harm to our dividuals who work from home, policy- Does not go nearly far enough to deregulate economy. makers could make them more flexible to the healthcare industry or the rest of the econ- Only a few of the following proposals were account for any ‘‘gig’’ work that individuals omy. incorporated into the CARES Act. All of them may be forced to take on in the short-term. Grants far too much discretion to the federal have advantages and disadvantages, but they Expansion of tax deductions and/or credits bureaucrats to pick-and-choose which compa- all warranted far more consideration than they for individuals who start a business: Some entrepreneurial individuals may see the cur- nies outside of the airline industry warrant re- received: rent crisis as an opportunity to leave their lief, allowing for government to pick economic Payroll tax holiday: This is the original current jobs entirely and start their own winners and losers. Trump administration plan. The advantage is businesses. Places so many strings on small business that it helps individuals who are the biggest Pausing of foreclosures/evictions/reposses- assistance that the resulting ‘‘loans’’ are better aggregate contributors to the economy. On the sions for homeowners, business owners, and categorized as mandates. other hand, it does less to (directly) help poor- car owners: State governments are already starting to take the lead on this issue in President Trump asked us all to come to- er workers, workers in tip-dependent indus- many places, and the Trump administration gether during this national emergency to pass tries, and retirees. has started to act at the federal level relief that would truly help our country return Temporary deregulation ‘‘Require every through executive order. to prosperity. It’s a shame that Democrats agency within one month to identify and sus- Expansion and streamlining of the SBA chose to leverage the outbreak to include their pend significant regulations that will reduce disaster loan program: ‘‘The Small Business agenda instead of focusing on the need of the cost in the American economy—both compli- Administration (SBA) disaster loan program for those impacted by the coronavirus should nation. ance costs and economic social costs. Upon be immediately made available nationwide, Congress failed to consider historical exam- approval by the President, such regulations eliminating the complex and time-con- ples of relief proffered to American citizens. (except those needed to protect human health suming local certification processes. The We can learn of the ineffectiveness of direct and safety) shall be suspended until the Presi- SBA also should be given the authority to payments by examining the record of direct dent (or Congress) determines that the sus- streamline its disaster-loan approval process stimulus payments on behavior. pension is no longer needed to provide relief for amounts below $350,000 in order to pro- The federal government has sent direct of the economic crisis. Notice and Comment vide emergency capital more quickly. This should include removing the requirement stimulus payments to individuals or house- and other APA provisions shall not apply to that small businesses demonstrate that they holds on three separate occasions, in 2001, the suspension of the regulations, but shall cannot access credit elsewhere before turn- 2008, and 2009. The 2001 and 2008 direct apply to the re-establishment of the regula- ing to the SBA. These loans may be used to stimulus payments were tax rebates of varying tions. (This will reestablish the President’s pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, sizes offered to the overwhelming majority of goal of eliminating two regulations for every and other bills that can’t be paid because of individuals or households filing an IRS tax re- new regulation.)’’ the virus’s impact. The interest rate is 3.75 turn in 2000 or 2007, respectively (which ac- percent for small businesses and 2.75 percent From Club for Growth’s Policy Options for for non-profits.’’ counts for approximately 86 percent of the the Senate in Replacing the Pelosi/Mnuchin From the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: population, both in 2008). Coronavirus Stimulus with Economic Free- Additionally, because the relief packages, In 2008, the year for which we have the dom that protects the American Economy: Phases 1, 2, and 3, all were ostensibly passed best data, $96 billion was distributed to 83 Prepayment of tax refunds: Give every to provide relief due to the impacts of the percent of filers (individuals or households at household a refund of $5,000—roughly equal COVID–19 outbreak, I and my colleagues rec- to the average refund for the 2019 and 2020 the highest income levels were not eligible for ommended some of the following measures tax years combined. This refund could gradu- dealing with health policy. Be forewarned a rebate). ally be recouped through the withholding of that my Democrat colleagues will attempt The 2009 direct stimulus payments, unlike future refunds or by setting surcharges once to reinstate Obamacare and its plethora of the 2001 and 2008 payments, were not meant the economy improves (perhaps after 2022). regulations. The policies set faith would be to be nearly universal; instead, they were di- Idea from the American Enterprise Insti- helpful in addressing the virus outbreak and rected primarily to the predominantly poor or tute: would make the entire medical system more elderly populations who may not have filed Reduction of the pass-through tax rate: favorable to consumers and providers: The businesses that are going to be hit hard- taxes in 2007 (or 2008). Expansion of Health Savings Accounts: We est during the corona virus crisis are small should make it even easier for consumers to Stimulus checks in 2009 were paid directly firms of fifty or fewer employees, which use pre-tax dollars on a wide range of serv- out of various Social Security, Supplemental make up a majority of businesses in the East ices. Some new guidance has already been re- Security Income, Railroad Retirement, and VA Valley and most other parts of the country. leased by the IRS in the wake of the accounts, instead of from the Treasury. 55 mil- We could advocate for your ‘‘Small Business coronavirus outbreak.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:57 Apr 08, 2020 Jkt 099060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A07AP8.008 E07APPT1 dlhill on DSKBBY8HB2PROD with REMARKS E354 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks April 7, 2020 Reduction or elimination of FDA regula- more than 500,000 people. The provision, al- Finally, the Trump administration uses this tions on non-invasive medical devices: This lows for a significantly broad definition of local must-pass relief bill to advance their anti-re- reform should already be implemented for governments and specifies that ‘‘[t]he term production rights agenda. The bill gives the smart devices (such as Fitbits), glucose kits, and other comparable items. It could be ex- ‘unit of local government’ [includes] . . . other Small Business Administration broad discre- panded to include DIY COVID test kits. unit of general government below the State tion to exclude Planned Parenthood affiliates Clarification and codification of Trump ad- level with a population that exceeds 500,000.’’ and other non-profits serving people with low ministration efforts to ease telehealth re- Section 5001 explicitly allows any government incomes and deny them benefits under the strictions: President Trump has already that represents more than 500,000 and in- new small business loan program. Addition- begun to lift restrictions for Medicare pa- cludes regional councils of government which ally, the bill attaches a harmful Hyde Amend- tients, but not for other populations. are chartered under state law. ment provision to a state stabilization fund for Waiving out-of-state medical licensing re- In Ohio, Chapter 167 of the revised code state, local, and tribal governments providing quirements: This reform is already hap- pening slowly on a state-by-state level, but provides broad authority for a regional council coronavirus relief. Reproductive health care is could be more aggressively championed—or of government to act as a local unit of govern- essential health care, and Planned Parent- mandated—at the federal level. ment, to plan, enter cooperative agreements hood health centers are a critical component f related ‘‘to matters affecting health, safety, of the health care system. Attempting to limit welfare, education, economic conditions, and access to reproductive health care services THANK YOU TO WASHINGTON regional development.’’ See Ohio Revised during a pandemic will only worsen the public STATE’S EDUCATORS Code, Sec. 167.03. health care crisis. In drafting and approving H.R. 748, the f HON. RICK LARSEN House and Senate intended section 5001 to MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS OF WASHINGTON be administered liberally, and for Treasury and TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES the Courts to construe the statute broadly so as to encompass all local government entities SPEECH OF Tuesday, April 7, 2020 with more than 500,000 citizens to act directly, Mr. LARSEN of Washington. Madam Speak- and not through the intermediary of a state HON. NEAL P. DUNN er, I rise today to sincerely thank the teachers, government. In fact, the State of Ohio has OF FLORIDA paraeducators, food service workers, bus driv- specifically devolved local authority to the re- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ers, custodial staff and others keeping the gional council of governments to act in the Friday, March 27, 2020 education of kids on track in Washington state general welfare interests of their citizens as a during the COVID–19 pandemic. unit of general government. Mr. DUNN. Mr. Speaker, oftentimes, when Schools are always adapting to suit the As Treasury promulgates regulations to im- both sides of the aisle acknowledge that a bill needs of their students. When Washington plement this statute, the law intends for these is not perfect, it ultimately means it is actually state closed schools to prevent the spread of regional councils of government to act as a quite good. With that said, I do want to high- COVID–19, education professionals rapidly general unit of local government, and envi- light some specific concerns that I have with adjusted to on line education, ensuring stu- sions them to be eligible to certify and receive provisions in this bill, both in their direct ef- dents would not fall behind. the state stabilization dollars. fects, and also the future precedent that they Distance learning has forced schools to f may set. tackle serious student equity issues, including Historically there is little evidence that direct access to technology and broadband, and MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS to consumers stimulus checks have a signifi- making sure thousands of students who rely TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019 cant impact on the economy or that they lead on school meals do not go hungry. These to the kind of spending necessary to counter- SPEECH OF educators need Congress to step up to help act an economic downturn. The Economic address these issues. HON. BRAD SHERMAN Stimulus Act of 2008 (signed February 13, Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize the sac- OF CALIFORNIA 2008) provided $600 checks to individuals and rifices teachers and school employees of all IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES cost $168 Billion. A study by the Bureau of kinds across Washington state are making to Labor statistics later showed that, ultimately, Friday, March 27, 2020 provide for their students amid this public nearly 70 percent of recipients either used the health crisis. And I call on Congress to provide Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, over 122,000 money to pay off existing debt, or simply put necessary tools for school districts to ensure cases of coronavirus, otherwise referred to as it into savings. Those are not activities that equitable online learning and sufficient re- COVID–19, have been confirmed in the United stimulate the economy, and unsurprisingly that sources for students during this pandemic and States since the inception of the outbreak, in- effort failed to stop a four percent contraction beyond. cluding more than 5,000 confirmed cases in in GDP, the loss of over eight million jobs, and f my home state of California alone. More than the worst overall economic disaster since the two thousand Americans have died as a result great depression. Overall, I believe that this MIDDLE CLASS HEALTH BENEFITS of the virus, and many more stand to do so if bill will help us to avoid the same fate, but that TAX REPEAL ACT OF 2019 we do not act quickly to mitigate its spread will be due to other more robust provisions and address the myriad of medical challenges. that acknowledge the importance of our small SPEECH OF While Congress has passed several meas- businesses and job creators in the private sec- HON. MARCY KAPTUR ures to provide significant amounts of money tor. OF OHIO for research activities at federal agencies, this The incentive and ability for anyone, regard- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES is not enough. I am disappointed that H.R. less of their circumstances, to work hard and 748 does not adequately fund nor provide in- improve their life is a fundamental tenet of the Friday, March 27, 2020 centives for, research and development into American dream. It is essential that we do not Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 748 con- treatments and vaccines that leverage the ex- allow this stimulus payment to serve as a pilot tains a critical provision that will be used to pertise of the public and private sectors. Chief- program for a Universal Basic Income, as assist state and local governments in their re- ly, the CARES Act fails to adequately support some have suggested. Furthermore, it is true sponse to the crisis engulfing our nation. In- research on the National Institutes of Health that this bill will at times create a situation deed, local governments are bearing the (NIH) campus and at clinical research institu- where some people could actually earn more heavy burden of response with dwindling re- tions across the country to pursue all reason- money by filing for unemployment if fur- sources while helping terrified Americans man- able avenues to develop treatments for the loughed than they would by staying in the age as best they can. As the entities closest coronavirus, including diagnostic tests, thera- workforce. We must acknowledge the potential to the ground, these local governments are on pies and vaccines. The NIH should have sig- for this to set a damaging precedent. the front line of the fight, and we must ensure nificantly more than $945 million to carry out This bill provides robust funding for our na- they have adequate funding. COVID–19 related research and should also tion’s hospitals and some needed flexibility in This provision, Section 5001 of the CARES be directed to focus primarily on those pos- the telehealth space to ensure Americans, Act, provides that Treasury will provide assist- sible treatments that are not subject to a pat- particularly seniors, are able to visit with their ance directly, and not through the State inter- ent and thus are not the focus of U.S. phar- doctors in the lowest risk setting possible. I mediary to units of local government with maceutical companies. was disappointed however in the lack of a

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