*Ahead of a House vote on coronavirus relief package on Thursday, Rep. Maxine Waters revealed her sister is dying from the contagion.
The House has since passed the rescue package, and Waters, 81, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, dedicated the moment to her sibling.
“I’m going to take a moment to dedicate this legislation to my dear sister who is dying in a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, right now, infected by the coronavirus,” Waters said — in a video posted by The Hill — in front of her fellow congressmen.
“This legislation provides $370 billion in funding for small businesses as well as $100 billion for hospitals and coronavirus testing. I’m pleased that we have been able to set aside $60 billion for our nation’s community development, financial institutions, minority depository institutions, community banks, credit unions, certified development companies and micro lenders to directly lend to their small business customers, who are often minority owned businesses. Small businesses and their workers all across the country are in dire need of assistance and will benefit from this bill.”
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Rep. Maxine Waters: “I am going to take a moment to dedicate this legislation to my dear sister who is dying in a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, right now infected by the Coronavirus.” pic.twitter.com/sX58UK1A3L
— The Hill (@thehill) April 23, 2020
Via The Wrap:
The bill was a part of the already passed Paycheck Protection Program and the pending Health Care Enhancement Act, which is also expected to pass the House vote today.
The bill would provide $370 billion in funding for small businesses loans and $100 billion for hospitals and additional coronavirus testing.
The businesses eligible for loans would include mom-and-pop shops as well as minority-owned businesses.
Waters said, “We need to do much more to help renters, home owners, people experiencing homelessness and mom-and-pop landlords.”
You can listen to Waters’ full speech in the video above.
As of Thursday, there are now 852,253 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S., and at least 43,587 people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus-related illness, per PEOPLE.
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