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Labor, Health and Human Services, Education Appropriations Democrats Condemn Trump Administration’s Insufficient, Inequitable COVID-19 Relief Proposal

October 15, 2020

WASHINGTON, DCHouse Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Vice Chair Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Members Barbara Lee (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Katherine Clark (D-MA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) released the following statement on the latest coronavirus relief package offered by the Trump Administration:

"Whether President Trump or Republicans choose to acknowledge it, our nation is in pain. Many states are seeing a surge in coronavirus cases, more than 20 million Americans are unemployed, schools are struggling to manage online learning, or worse, dealing with outbreaks. Communities of color are disproportionately carrying all these burdens as essential workers and in their neighborhoods.

"We know the solutions that are needed to end this crisis, and we know that education, labor, and health and human services programs have a critical role to play. That begins with The Heroes Act's National Testing and Contact Tracing Initiative and robust support for nursing homes, Community Health Centers, and Maternal and Child Health services. Sadly, the Trump administration is proposing both an inadequate funding level and refusing to include federal actions to address the disparities facing people of color.

"At the same time that we crush the virus through testing and tracing, we must support the needs of workers and families. That is why House Democrats have championed funding for worker safety and job training, child care and Head Start, utilities assistance, and supports to address substance abuse and mental health crises that have emerged alongside the pandemic. Sadly, Secretary Mnuchin's latest offer proposes to indiscriminately chop the category that includes these programs by a third, leaving families and communities in the lurch.

"We cannot keep families safe and support an equitable economic recovery with inadequate testing and a relief package that does not meet even the most basic needs of all our communities. It is time for Republicans to stop playing games with the lives and livelihood of the American people."