Spanberger Statement on Ongoing Emergency Relief Package Negotiations

HENRICO, V.A. – U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger today released the following statement urging congressional leadership in both parties to find a path forward on a third emergency economic relief package in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The people of Central Virginia need immediate help. Our hospitals and nursing homes need personal protective equipment—gowns, masks, respirators, shields, and more—to protect our frontline healthcare providers and to stop the further spread of this deadly virus and care for the afflicted. Across our economy, our workers are facing layoffs and are fearful about how they will keep food on their tables and roofs over their heads. Our small businesses, nonprofits, and large employers are struggling and trying to adjust to an unknown future. Schoolchildren nationwide are at home or in makeshift, alternative care, and millions are going without the nutrition support they so desperately need.

“These are the devastating problems our first and second relief bills began to address—with broad bipartisan support—and our third relief package must follow suit. In this heightening crisis, we must be deeply responsive to the impact of COVID-19 on the health and financial security of our citizens and country. I oppose any efforts to pursue unrelated policy objectives or funding priorities that may slow down negotiations in our time of crisis, and I hope leaders of both parties will keep this same focus in mind. In the coming months, we will surely have conversations about the next-step investments necessary to rebuild an economy ravaged by this virus, but we must take action now.”

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