Friends,

This week, I have continued to coordinate with government and business leaders to ensure that Wyoming communities have the necessary resources and economic support to overcome the impact of coronavirus.

Yesterday, I took part in a call with SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza to ensure that more of our small businesses and rural hospitals have access to critical federal aid including the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We are working to provide additional funding for this program so our small businesses across Wyoming can receive needed support.

Finally, Governor Gordon announced that today will be a Day of Prayer in Wyoming in response to COVID-19. People of all faiths are welcome to participate. I hope you will join me in praying for all who have been impacted by this virus, whether physically, mentally, or economically. 

Paycheck Protection Program Update:

The Paycheck Protection Program continues to serve as a life raft for small businesses in the wake of this global economic crisis. At yesterday’s briefing with the White House Coronavirus Task Force, Vice President Pence shared that the program had already processed over 30,000 loans for small businesses to keep workers on their payrolls, with 3,900 lenders participating. 

Estimates have shown that because of this program, more than 10 million jobs have been saved. After receiving news yesterday that another 6.6 million Americans filed unemployment claims last week, bringing the total number of unemployment claims to nearly 17 million over the last three weeks, it’s critical that the federal government support the PPP to save jobs and protect Americans’ economic livelihoods.   

President Trump said yesterday that his Administration is working with Congress to replenish funding for this program to ensure that it doesn’t run dry, and said that Republicans and Democrats need to come together to get this legislation completed. 

This comes after Democrats blocked an attempt yesterday by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to add additional funding to this program that was developed in a bipartisan and bicameral manner. Instead of allowing this legislation to pass that would help America’s small businesses and provide for new money that’s needed immediately, Democrats stood in the way as part of an effort on their part to secure additional funding for things that are not as urgently needed.

Speaker Pelosi claimed in an interview yesterday that, “there is no data,” to prove that the PPP needs more funding. That’s not true.

Since the launch of the Paycheck Protection Program one week ago, we have seen positive examples across the country of this program working and protecting Americans’ livelihoods:

Wyoming small business owners, ranchers, farmers, non-profits, and religious organizations can find additional background about PPP loans and how this program is protecting workers and small businesses during this time: 

Rep. Cheney To Hugh Hewitt: It’s Sad For The Country That Speaker Pelosi Is Running The House Of Representatives

On Thursday morning, I joined “The Hugh Hewitt Show” and talked about Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s continued partisan obstruction as she signals that she will block additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program. Listen to the full interview here, and see an excerpt of the transcript below:

HUGH HEWITT: I am very disappointed in Speaker Pelosi, I can’t even begin to tell you how disappointed I am in Speaker Pelosi. What is your assessment? It’s so partisan when we should not be partisan. I mean, she comes out of the Baltimore machine. San Francisco’s a machine. She just can’t shed her partisan approach.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Just think about how sad it is for the country that she is running the House of Representatives right now. We’ve got small businesses all over this country, in the middle of this economic and public health crisis that are depending on the loans that we’ve been able to get out the door for their very survival. They need these loans, they’re a life raft. We are in a position where the money has been oversubscribed. We’ve got to appropriate more. The White House would like more, the Republicans in the House would like more, the Senate needs more. We could do it quickly. We could do it this week, and she’s standing in the way and she’s delaying once again. I think it is really shameful given the fact that we are in the middle of a crisis. She has been really public over the course of this crisis in terms of saying that she plans to use it to get agenda items that they believe in passed because the legislation is ‘must pass.’ We’ve got to come together as a nation and put aside party differences. There are many members of the House and Senate on both sides who are doing that, but the Speaker of the House is not one of them.

Cheney To Hugh Hewitt: It’s Sad For The Country That Speaker Pelosi Is Running The House Of Representatives

During this difficult time, millions of Americans have stepped up and put extraordinary examples of patriotism on display. We salute the heroes who show that in challenging moments, America Works Together. 

I’m especially proud of the individuals, small businesses, and organizations in Wyoming who are going above and beyond to help our local communities as we fight the spread of coronavirus. Click here or on the links below to read more about these stories.

Federal Reserve Provides More Economic Certainty

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced that it will take actions to provide new loans to support the economy, including bolstering the effectiveness of the PPP by providing aid to banks, purchasing loans through the Main Street Lending Program, offering additional lending to states and municipalities, and more.

Education Department Supporting Students

The Department of Education announced that funding included in the CARES Act will be distributed immediately to colleges and universities to provide direct emergency grants to college students. This is on top of action taken by Secretary DeVos to waive student loan payments for six months.

Medical Supplies:

President Trump announced yesterday that 24 flights have been completed as part of FEMA’s “Project Airbridge,” and an additional 49 are scheduled. He also noted that the Army Corps of Engineers has now built 21 temporary hospitals and care facilities, which have added a total of 17,000 hospital beds. 

Coronavirus Testing Update:

As of yesterday, the President said that more than 2 million Americans have been tested for COVID-19, and between 118,000 and 120,000 individuals are being tested per day. The Vice President also said that FEMA and HHS are now giving states the option to transition federal testing sites to state management.  

Therapeutics And Vaccines:

As part of the President’s update, he said that through the FDA coronavirus treatment acceleration program, 19 therapies and treatments are now being tested and 26 more are in the active planning or clinical trial. 

This includes a new trial started by the NIH yesterday to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine, with the first participants taking part in Tennessee.

The President also highlighted a promising development from Pfizer, which announced that it has identified a potential antiviral that blocks a key enzyme viruses need to replicate.

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. 

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Liz-Sig.png

Congresswoman Liz Cheney