Rep. Sherrill Statement on Passage of COVID-19 Relief Measure for Small Businesses; Hospitals

Washington, DC -- Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement tonight after passage of the fourth COVID-19 relief package, which provides additional funding for small businesses, hospitals, and COVID-19 testing.

"Every day, I talk with small businesses who need immediate help confronting the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic," said Representative Sherrill. "It's long past time to provide more assistance to the businesses who line the main streets across my district — small businesses who are just trying to survive this crisis and take care of their employees. Our economy needs them to not only survive, but to be poised and ready when we have weathered this pandemic.

"Although this bill provides much needed assistance to small businesses and hospitals, it is not enough. Congress must continue to work across the aisle to make sure our state and local governments have the help they need to get their residents back on their feet."

The legislation will provide an additional $321 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, an additional $60 billion in Economic Injury Disaster Loans, $75 billion in additional funding for healthcare providers, as well as a much-needed additional $25 billion for testing.

Representative Sherrill spoke on the floor during debate on the legislation, urging Congress to support state and local governments grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the 11th District, counties and municipalities are standing up testing sites, seeing drops in revenue, and facing the possibility of devastating budget cuts.

Representative Sherrill's full remarks are below, or can be found here.

Thank you Madam Speaker.

I'm going to vote for this because it provides desperately needed money for small businesses and hospitals.

But we have got to do better by our state and local governments. We must support the work of our cops, firefighters, EMTs, and teachers.

New Jersey is critical in the fight against this virus. We have more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere in the world. The best education system in the country, so supporting our state and local governments in New Jersey is key to beating this virus and taking care of Americans. Thank you and I yield back.