Families First Coronavirus Response Act Passed The House On Friday
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Official portrait of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (Attribution: U.S. House of Representatives, photographed January 11, 2019 in the Office of the Speaker in the United States Capitol, Presented at: WindermereSun.com)
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For updated global info & data on COVID-19, please click HERE.
For COVID-19 cases and death counts in USA by state, please click HERE.
For COVID-19 cases in Florida, please click HERE.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks on Washington, D.C. on Friday afternoon regarding the Congressional response to the COVID-19 outbreak, in the video “Coronavirus outbreak: Pelosi says Congress must ‘put families first in response to COVID-19, FULL“, below:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seized the initiative to strike a deal with the White House on a broad measure aimed at easing the spiraling impact of the coronavirus outbreak. `We thought it was important to show the American people, that for the American people, that we are willing and able to work together to get a job done for them,” Pelosi said at a news conference on Capitol Hill on Friday, March 13, 2020, in the video “Pelosi Passes Virus Response Bill, Filling Vacuum Left by Trump“, below:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a press conference that the House will pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, in the video “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will pass coronavirus legislation“, below:
For more on Families First Coronavirus Response Act, please refer to the excerpt from wikipedia, in italics, below:
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act is a bill introduced by the United States Congress meant to respond to the economic impacts of the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. The bill would provide additional funding for free coronavirus testing, 14-day paid leave for American workers affected by the pandemic, and increased funding for food stamps.[2]
The bill passed the United States House of Representatives early on Saturday, March 14, 2020 before moving on to the United States Senate. President Donald Trump has voiced support for the legislative agreement.[3]
Substantial negotiations for the bill happened between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin on Thursday March 12 and Friday March 13: “Pelosi and Mnuchin exchanged at least 20 phone calls on Thursday and Friday as they tried to hammer out a proposal that Trump could support.”[4] Points of negotiations included the effectiveness of tax-credits being used “to offset the cost of Democratic-proposed sick leave provisions” and “how businesses can receive a tax credit for providing paid sick days and emergency leave for workers who are suffering from the coronavirus or helping take care of family members who contract the disease.”[4]
“The legislation provides paid leave, establishes free coronavirus testing, supports strong unemployment benefits, expands food assistance for vulnerable children and families, protects frontline health workers, and provides additional funding to states for the ongoing economic consequences of the pandemic, among other provisions.”[5]
At Republican insistence, the initial House version of the bill allows the emergency leave provision to expire in a year and also exempts smaller businesses from those requirements.[4]
Soon after the draft of the bill was first released, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted that the draft was “off-base” because “It does not focus immediate relief on affected Americans. It proposes new bureaucracy that would only delay assistance. It wanders into policy areas that are not related to the pressing issues at hand.”[6]
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy stated the bill “comes up short,” criticizing the bill for the way it ensures “paid sick leave would take months to administer, long after the relief is needed.”[6]
In a March 13, 2020 letter to her Democratic colleagues, Nancy Pelosi writes “Today, the House is taking the next step to put Families First. We are proud to have reached an agreement with the Administration to resolve outstanding challenges, and now will soon pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. We take great pride in the leadership of Chairs Lowey, Neal, Pallone, Scott, Peterson and McGovern, all the Committee and Subcommittee Chairs of Jurisdiction and the Rules Committee to craft this landmark legislation to protect families, which contains the priorities and provisions that Leader Schumer and I called for last weekend. We are especially grateful to the staffs of the Committees.”[7]
The House passed the bill in a vote that concluded at 12:30 AM on Saturday March 14, 2020 in a 363-40-1 vote.[8] Independent Representative Justin Amash voted “Present.”
On the evening of Friday, March 13, President Trump tweeted his support for the bill.[9] The President wrote, in a series of tweets, that “This Bill will follow my direction for free CoronaVirus tests, and paid sick leave for our impacted American workers. I have directed….”[10] “….the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations that will provide flexibility so that in no way will Small Businesses be hurt. I encourage all Republicans and Democrats to come together and VOTE YES! I will always put….”[11] “….the health and well-being of American families FIRST. Look forward to signing the final Bill, ASAP!”[12]
As for individual citizens, please wash your hands often, stop shaking hands, be sure to get sufficient rest, be well nourished, exercised, drink plenty of hot water and ginger tea, and decrease unnecessary social contacts.
*Drive-by testing is speedy, effective, and necessary in order to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Paid leaves are also helpful in reducing the spread. Please contact your state legislators (Senators) to speak in support of these two measures.
Some of the basics needed in prepping for potential self-quarantine:
- Hand cleanser (soap & water & hand sanitizer)
- Cleaning products: for cleaning household surfaces such as countertops, faucets, door knobs, drawer pulls, light switches, telephone, handles of brooms, mops, etc., for reference list suggested by CDC, click HERE.)
- Laundry detergent
- Food (at least 3 weeks worth of staples:beans, pasta, rice, canned vegetables, frozen food, canned soup, shelf-stable milk, or dehydrated food, etc.)
- Water (be it in bottled water form or activated carbon filter pitcher and/or distiller)
- Face masks
- Prescription meds (talk to your doctor as to how much of your prescription meds need to be stocked)
- Over-the-counter medicine (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, cough medicine, etc.)
- Thermometer
- Robust WiFi
- Video conferencing services
- Entertainment (check out: Netflix’s Pandemic & Amazon’s Contagion)
- Exercise guides or equipment
You may be interested in these podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worldaffairs/id101215657
You may also be interested in these articles/posts below:
- Florida Declares Public Health Emergency & All Florida Orange County State Schools Will Be Closed Until March 30
- President Trump Declares National Emergency Due To Global COVID-19 Outbreak
- Bernie Sanders Doubles Down On Medicare For All, In Light Of COVID-19 Or Coronavirus
- Former Vice-President Joe Biden Offers His Roadmap For Coronavirus
- CDC Director Redfield Testifies In Coronavirus Hearing On 3/11/2020
- President Trump Addresses The Nation About COVID-19 & W/Additional Travel Restriction, WHO Declares COVID-19 A Pandemic
- Listen To The Experts, About COVID-19 or Coronavirus
- What’s Been Done & Need To Be Done To Stop The Spread Of COVID-19
- Update On Coronavirus, COVID-19, 3/10/2020
- Italy Extends Nationwide Quarantine & U.S. Dramatic Market Drop
- Stay Informed Of Updated COVID-19 Info, 3/9/2020
- How & What To Prepare For Emergency Food & Supplies
- Alternatives To Handshake
- Global Town Hall: Coronavirus – Facts & Fear & What To Prep For
- U.S. Senate Homeland Security Committee Meeting On Containing The COVID-19
- Congress Agrees On $8.3 Billion Funding To Combat COVID-19 Or Coronavirus
- How To Prevent The Spread Of COVID-19, Novel Coronavirus
- COVID-19 Is Here In Florida, 2 Confirmed Cases, Gov. DeSantis Lays Out Plan
- First Death In USA Due To COVID-19, In King County, Washington State
- Global Economic Impact Of COVID-19
- Masked Mass Wedding in Philippines
- Thank You, Medecins Sans Frontieres (aka: Doctors Without Borders)
- Difference In Opinion Between Trump Administration & Scientists On COVID-19
- Americans Should Get Ready: It Is Not A Question Of “If” But “When” COVID-19 Will Spread In USA
- Understanding Pandemic Of COVID-19
- Need To Prepare & Prevent Potential Pandemic By Looking Into History
- Update Of COVID-19 Or nCoV-2019, As Of Feb. 19, 2020
- American Evacuees From Wuhan Need Your Help
- China Tries 3,000-Year-Old Traditional Remedy on Virus Patients
- For COVID-19 Coronavirus, How Well Do Thermometer Guns Even Work?
- World Health Organization Declares Coronavirus Outbreak An International Emergency
- Wuhan Coronavirus News Update-January 29, 2020
- First American Infected With Wuhan Coronavirus, In Seattle, Washington, Is In Good Condition
- What To Do To Prevent 2019 n-Cov (aka: Wuhan Coronavirus) & Help People in Wuhan
- Update on 2019 nCoV (2019 Coronavirus) Global Impact & How You Can Help Wuhan Hospitals Directly
- Update Of nCoV With Hope In Anti-Viral Drugs
- Latest Update Of nCoV On 2/10/2020
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker More about the community at www.WindermereSun.com
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