CONGRESS MUST CONTINUE PROTECTING US FROM PANDEMIC’S ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES
ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS
SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
Thank you for pressing the Trump administration for additional medical equipment and protective gear to help Oregon fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Please fight hard to immediately pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act as written. Because of the looming massive economic downturn, we also need you to press the Senate to preemptively blunt the economic consequences flowing from the pandemic by:
– Protecting the most vulnerable through guaranteed food security, cancellation of student debt and moratorium on deportations, evictions, foreclosures, utility shutoffs, and pretrial detention
– Preventing catastrophic recession by putting money in hands of working families, small businesses and state and local services
CALL SENATOR MERKLEY
CALL SENATOR WYDEN
ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS
Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here.
SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
For Blumenauer:
Thank you for working hard to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and pressing the Trump administration for additional medical equipment and protective gear to help Oregon fight the COVID-19 pandemic. We also greatly appreciate that you are already focusing on getting Congress to act preemptively to blunt the economic consequences flowing from the pandemic. Keep fighting for Oregonians and all Americans.
For Bonmici and DeFazio:
Thank you for working hard to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and pressing the Trump administration for additional medical equipment and protective gear to help Oregon fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the looming massive economic downturn, we also need you to press House leadership to act preemptively to blunt the economic consequences flowing from the pandemic by:
– Protecting the most vulnerable through guaranteed food security, cancellation of student debt and moratorium on deportations, evictions, foreclosures, utility shutoffs, and pretrial detention
– Preventing catastrophic recession by putting money in hands of working families, small businesses and state and local services
For Schrader and Walden:
Thank you for working hard to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Acts, but Congress must also act preemptively to blunt the economic consequences flowing from the pandemic by:
– Protecting the most vulnerable through guaranteed food security, cancellation of student debt and moratorium on deportations, evictions, foreclosures, utility shutoffs, and pretrial detention
– Preventing catastrophic recession by putting money in hands of working families, small businesses and state and local services
CALL SUZANNE BONAMICI (OR-01)
CALL GREG WALDEN (OR-02)
CALL BLUMENAUER (OR-03)
CALL PETER DEFAZIO (OR-04)
CALL KURT SCHRADER (OR-05)
BACKGROUND:
When a crisis hits, Americans support each other. The House has given us some tools through Families First Coronavirus Response Act—free COVID-19 testing, 2-week paid sick leave and up to 3 months paid family and medical leave, expanded unemployment insurance, strengthened food assistance, increased Medicaid support—and the Senate must pass this legislation immediately.
Thanks to Trump’s botched response, however, a massive economic downturn’s likely. Congress must act proactively to blunt its expected effects. At a minimum new legislation must include:
Large-scale federal aid for states and municipalities to deal with pandemic’s impacts
Stimulus package to support families (not corporations) who’ll miss work or lose jobs for virus-related reasons
Cash payments to Americans to fuel continued consumption
Extended unemployment benefits through 2020
Reimbursement of paid sick leave costs of small businesses
Cancellation of student debt, moratorium on deportations/evictions/foreclosures/utility shutoffs, release of non-violent pre-trial detainees
Expansion of food security initiatives without limitations
comprehensive day care
Low- or no-interest loans to companies negatively affected by coronavirus-related supply chain disruptions that agree to use it to avoid layoffs and hours reductions
We can get through this crisis through generosity, solidarity, and fighting for solutions that work—if Congress acts quickly.
