Alexander: Senate Republican Proposal Will Help Americans Go Safely Back to School, College and Child Care and Prepare for Future Pandemics
Jenny
September 10, 2020
WASHINGTON, September 9, 2020 — Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) today said a new Republican proposal to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic will “help Americans go safely back to school, college and child care and prepare for future pandemics.”
The Delivering Immediate Relief to America’s Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act “provides $105 billion to help schools re-open and gives parents more choices of schools for their children, $15 billion to provide more child care for working parents, $16 billion for states to conduct more testing and contact tracing, $31 billion for tests, treatments, and vaccines development. It also provides for sustained funding to prepare for future pandemics.
“While we are in the midst of dealing with this pandemic it would be wise to remember any legislation Congress passes this year should make sure that support for onshore manufacturing is sustained, stockpiles are full, and states have the right tools and resources to respond. The reason to do that now, while our eye is on the ball, is because the next pandemic could be next year.”
“Since March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress has passed four major bills providing nearly $3 trillion to provide relief to families, workers and businesses, and to contain the disease, but there is more work to be done,” Alexander concluded. “Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to work together to achieve a result for the American people.”
