Friends,

This morning, prior to passing the CARES Act, I spoke on the House floor recognizing our doctors, nurses, first responders, and public safety officers. These heroes have worked around the clock, risking their own lives and separating themselves from their families, in order to fight this virus. Click here or on the image below to watch my full remarks. 

Mr. Speaker, 67 years ago yesterday, Dr. Jonas Salk announced that the United States had successfully tested a vaccine to prevent polio, a dreaded virus that afflicted tens of thousands of Americans. We have beaten terrible diseases before, and we will again.

When we were attacked on 9/11, our heroes were the firefighters and police officers who ran towards the burning buildings. The citizens who stormed the cockpit of Flight 93 who put their own lives at risk. We have those same heroes today. Today, they are the thousands of nurses and doctors and countless other health care professionals, and their staff who work in our hospitals and clinics and provide the greatest care anywhere in the world. We owe them our deepest gratitude. But we also owe them every tool, every piece of equipment, and every resource they need to save lives.

We also have a duty to our parents and our grandparents. In this greatest nation on Earth, we protect the sick and the most vulnerable. We owe all we have to our mothers and our fathers, to the generations who came before, and we must do all we can now to protect them.

All of us are called into the service of this blessed nation at this time of challenge, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans. This pathogen does not recognize party lines, and no partisan solution will defeat it. Neither will the government acting alone. It will take all the ingenuity and innovation of the American private sector working with our federal, state, and local governments. This is not a time for cynicism or invective or second-guessing. This is a time to remember that we are citizens of the greatest nation on Earth, that we have overcome every challenge we have faced, and we will overcome this one.

We are one nation. We should all be rooting for our President to succeed, for New York Governor Cuomo to succeed, for California Governor Newsom to succeed, for Wyoming’s Governor Mark Gordon to succeed. Indeed, we must do everything we can to help every state and every governor in our great union. The bill we are voting on today is a crucial step.

On the Sunday after 9/11, my family worshiped at Evergreen Chapel at Camp David with the families of cabinet officials and service members who were assigned there, many of whom would go on to serve overseas in the following years. That morning, as our nation faced another time of testing, the chaplain urged us to work as though everything depends on you, because it does, and pray as though everything depends on God, because it does.We will defeat this virus. We will restore our economy. We will heal our nation. We are Americans. 

What Wyoming Business Owners Need To Know:

Copied below is important information for Wyoming small business owners who have questions about the financial aid included in the CARES Act:

Wyoming small businesses impacted by coronavirus have received final federal approval to seek loans up to $2 million as part of the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

SBA has added all 23 Wyoming counties to it’s list of designated “economic disaster” regions eligible for small business disaster loan assistance.

To apply for a SBA Federal Disaster Loan, click on the following link:  https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/

Recap: Actions Taken To Combat Coronavirus:

Working with President Trump and his Administration, we have acted boldly and decisively to respond to the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, providing important health care resources to defeat the virus and delivering important economic relief to workers and families that need it.

PHASE ONE: Coronavirus Preparedness & Response Supplemental

• Funding to increase testing, support treatments, and invest in vaccine development
• Resources to purchase essential medical equipment/supplies, and for the CDC, NIH, and state and local response efforts

PHASE TWO: Families First Coronavirus Response Act

• Free testing for Americans that need to be tested
• Paid sick and medical leave for workers – Emergency nutritional assistance
• Protections and relief for small businesses
• Increased access to telehealth

PHASE THREE: The CARES Act

• Direct financial assistance to middle-class Americans providing key immediate relief
• Emergency loans and resources available for small business so they can keep doors open & pay employees
• Stabilizes key national industries that will protect jobs and functions important to America’s economy – Historic support for health care workers and hospitals who are fighting this virus
• Expanded unemployment insurance to 4 months & made it available for self-employed & independent contractors
• Keeps families in their homes
• Directs funding to state and local governments so they can continue to combat this crisis

FEMA Coronavirus Rumor Control: Myth Of The Day

Due to the large amount of speculation regarding coronavirus, this is a reminder to rely on OFFICIAL sources for accurate information. Help control the spread of rumors by sharing this page: https://www.fema.gov/coronavirus-rumor-control

MYTH: A recent death reported in China was due to a new Hantavirus that can spread from person to person like COVID-19.

FACT: Hantavirus is not new – according to the CDC, it was first observed in the 1950s in Asia during the Korean War, and in this country in 1993 in the Four Corners area. It is spread primarily to humans through contact with the waste products of infected rodents. Transmission from one human to another may occur, but is extremely rare. Visit https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus for more information.

Latest Updates From The White House Coronavirus Task Force

The White House has made several important announcements this week at briefings with the Coronavirus Task Force:

Enhanced Coordination With State And Local Governments
At yesterday’s briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force, President Trump said that he spoke earlier in the day with the nation’s 50 Governors, and also reportedly sent them a letter indicating that the Administration, “is working to publish new guidelines for state and local policymakers to use in making decisions about maintaining, increasing, or relaxing social distancing and other mitigation measures they have put in place.” 

FEMA Shipping More Medical Resources To Hospitals 
Also during yesterday’s briefing, the President announced that FEMA has shipped over 9 million N95 masks, 20 million face masks, 3.1 million face shields, nearly 6,000 ventilators, 2.6 million gowns, 14.6 million gloves, and that more are being sent daily. He also announced that the USNS Comfort will deploy to New York City on Saturday and arrive on Monday, three weeks ahead of schedule.

552,000 COVID-19 Tests Completed Nationwide
The Vice-President said that testing is available in all 50 states, and that the latest reports showed that in coordination with commercial labs across the country, 552,000 tests have been performed and completed across the United States. He added that Abbott Laboratories submitted a request for approval of a point of care test to the FDA that would allow patients to get a test from their doctor and receive the results in 15 minutes. On the subject of testing, the Health & Human Services department shared information with the priorities for testing patients with suspected COVID-19 infection.

Please follow this newsletter and the coronavirus page on my website for continued updates about COVID-19 and how government is responding to protect both the country’s health and our economic security. 

Congresswoman Liz Cheney