Friends,

This afternoon, President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act into law. This comes after it passed the House yesterday by a vote of 388-5. This legislation provides more money for the successful program that’s saving jobs and helping small businesses and adds resources for hospitals and for testing.

I was honored to join President Trump at today’s bill signing ceremony for this legislation that will provide emergency resources for small businesses and workers who are facing economic devastation because of the coronavirus pandemic. You can watch the bill signing ceremony here.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has faced huge demand and should have been renewed weeks ago. Unfortunately, rather than move expeditiously to provide additional resources, Democrats blocked this crucial aid while American families suffered. At this time of unprecedented crisis for our nation, we must put politics aside and come together to defeat the virus and restore our economy.

Instead of adding more funds for this program before it ran dry, Democrats obstructed and sought to use this critical aid for workers as “leverage” for other priorities. Their reckless behavior prevented small businesses from accessing loans needed to stay afloat, and caused Americans to lose jobs. This did not need to happen: 

  • April 7: The White House formally requests more funding for the PPP.
  • April 9: Senate Democrats block efforts to add more money to the PPP.
  • April 16: The PPP runs out of money, preventing it from saving jobs and offering key loans to small businesses across the country desperate for relief.
  • April 23: A full two weeks after Democrats first blocked more aid to small businesses, Speaker Pelosi allows a bill to the House floor to add more resources to this program. 

Speaker Pelosi’s obstruction cost jobs and hurt American small businesses.

Over the past three weeks, we have seen countless examples of how PPP loans are saving jobs and helping small businesses across the country. In Wyoming, 7,618 small businesses received support from PPP loans to help keep workers on their payrolls during the economic shutdown. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin estimated that 30 million American jobs have been saved because of the PPP. 

In addition to replenishing money for the Paycheck Protection Program, this legislation increases funds the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and expands eligibility for this program to include ranchers and farmers with less than 500 employees. 

Wyoming small business owners, ranchers, farmers, non-profits, and religious organizations can find additional background about PPP loans here: 

Earlier this week, I led a call with the Chairman of The White House National Economic Council Larry Kudlow. He spoke about the economic response being coordinated by President Trump and said that adding more money to the Paycheck Protection Program is important action we can take to help small businesses across the country. I also spoke on Tuesday night with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about action President Trump and his Administration are taking to help Americans impacted by the economic shutdown caused by coronavirus. 

America Must Lead The World In Holding The Chinese Communist Party Accountable:

On Thursday, I joined “Your World With Neil Cavuto” to discuss the latest coronavirus relief legislation as well as the importance of America leading the world in holding China accountable for the spread of COVID-19. For video of the full interview and transcript excerpts, please see below:

NEIL CAVUTO: A lot of people are getting nervous with now five straight weeks of record unemployment claims. More than 26 million Americans filing for jobless benefits. It could go significantly higher. Are you worried right now that even when we are slowly getting back to work that it’s going to be a slow hall, that it won’t be a v-shaped recovery, that fewer people are going back into restaurants and theaters almost by edict for distance reasons, that it inevitably will be a slower recovery?

REP. LIZ CHENEY: I do think that that’s the case, Neil. I think that we have to be realistic about it. I think also though, we have to remember who is at fault and the people who are at fault here are the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government. When you look at what they’ve done, what they have unleashed on the world, hundreds of thousands of deaths, the economy globally, here in the United States completely shut down. They lied about this, they caused this virus to be exported. By that I mean, at a time they knew they had human to human contact and human to human transmission in Wuhan, they stopped letting people from Wuhan travel to the rest of China, but they let them travel around the world.

So they exported this virus to the world, they lied about it, they disappeared the physicians who tried to warn the world about it, and they have also threatened to blackmail us. You’ve had Chinese state owned media saying that they will stop the export of medicines that we need right now in the middle of the fight against COVID. That cannot happen. That needs to be a wake-up call for people all across this country.

We cannot be vulnerable to the Chinese government like this. We cannot allow ourselves to be blackmailed. We need to take very specific and clear action to move our supply chains out of China. We need to make sure we are defended and protected. The United States needs to lead the world and lead the free nations of the world in making clear that we will not let the Chinese Communist Party determine the kind of future we are all going to live in. They will be held accountable, they must be held accountable and the United States needs to lead that effort.

Congress Needs To Operate To Do It’s Job:

I have been vocal in encouraging Congress to find a way to operate at this time, and spoke about the importance of this at an event earlier this week:

Earlier this week, I joined “The Daily Briefing With Dana Perino” on Fox News to discuss the latest coronavirus relief legislation for Wyoming’s small businesses, ranchers and farmers, as well as the need for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to allow Congress to carry out its Constitutional responsibility on behalf of the American people. Watch the full interview here, and read an excerpt of the transcript below:

DANA PERINO:You know Speaker Pelosi, they’re touting this as quite a win for making the Republicans basically cave on a couple of the things that they wanted. But, I’m wondering what harm do you think could be demonstrable in this delay of 12-14 days that they held it up?

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Well, the fact that they’re talking about making people cave, this should not be partisan. We know that there are small businesses all across this country, American families, American workers, employees, people who have not been able to — the small businesses that have not been able to pay salaries, people that are living on the edge, people who need this help. You saw the massive amounts of applications that came in, in record time, for the first tranche of money. And the fact that we could simply — there’s no disagreement about the need to increase the funding on it. It was just a matter of political gains on the part of the Democrats. So, I don’t really understand, frankly, how Speaker Pelosi decided that she was going to be doing TV from her kitchen in San Francisco while the country was in dire need, while these American families were in dire need. It’s inexplicable and it’s something that should happen again. 
. . .
REP. CHENEY: We are facing an unprecedented health crisis, an unprecedented economic crisis, and we have had to do what we’ve done so far, but I think it’s really important for us now to stop. I think we need to make sure we get this money out into the economy, but we also need to look at things like our national security, like our national debt. We need to look at things like our supply chain. We cannot be in a situation where the Communist Party in China is able to threaten, to blackmail us because they control the supply chain for so many of our important pharmaceuticals. We have a huge amount of work to do, frankly, we should be doing the work, but while the Speaker has been refusing to provide assistance to these small businesses who need it, she also has done nothing to call us back into session, nothing to get the Congress operating, and that also can’t happen. We’re the Representatives of the people, we need to be operating and doing our job.

Taking Action Against China To Ensure U.S. Is Not Held Hostage:

On Wednesday, I participated in a House Republican leadership press conference where I reiterated the need for Speaker Pelosi to work in a bipartisan fashion to allow Congress to function, and also demanded action be taken against China for their behavior. Watch the video here, and see the transcript below:

REP. LIZ CHENEY: After 9/11, we had to make major policy changes in this country. We now face a similar challenge. We must make the kinds of changes that we know are necessary because of the vulnerabilities that this pandemic has exposed. We cannot be reliant on the Chinese Communist Party for our pharmaceuticals. We cannot be in a position where they can blackmail us. This is an issue that we’ve discussed for a long time, but the moment that the Chinese Communist Party state news agency suggested that they would withhold medications that the United States might need in order to counter and fight COVID-19, the world changed. We must take action and we must take action now to ensure that we are not held hostage and to ensure that we are not blackmailed.

Taking action as a government requires that the People’s House function. For us as the Representatives of the people in our government, the most direct Representatives of the people, not to have been here, not to have been functioning, not to have been called into session for weeks and weeks now is simply unacceptable. So we call on the Speaker of the House to work in a bipartisan fashion – and a bipartisan fashion, I would just point out, doesn’t mean just consulting with our Leader, Kevin McCarthy. It means getting the concurrence of the Minority Leader, getting the concurrence of the Republicans for any changes they want to make. But we must make changes.

We must recognize that we have to be able to function, we have to be able to deliberate, we have to recognize the new environment in which we are operating. I am confident that we will be able to do that. I am confident that we will finally be able to pass this [Paycheck Protection Program] — the program that’s been delayed now unnecessarily for so long, a program on which there’s no disagreement about the importance of this program, but we’ve watched the blocks by the Democrats and we’ve watched the delays and it’s now time to stop. It’s time to pass this program that’s going to provide the kinds of support and assistance the people of this country need.

Wyoming’s Community Hospitals To Receive CARES Act Resources

Today, the Small Business Administration issued a new interim rule that will allow community hospitals to be eligible for resources provided in the CARES Act, including loans from the Paycheck Protection Program. After working closely with the Trump Administration on this issue, I applaud them for issuing this guidance that will allow our community hospitals in rural areas to have access life-saving resources. This is a great decision and one that’s very important for Wyoming.

Our state is supported by so many community hospitals, and these facilities have taken an economic hit because of the spread of this virus. Like private hospitals, they deserve to have access to the loans offered in the Paycheck Protection Program, and I’m pleased that the rule clarification issued today will give them that opportunity. I will continue to work with our rural hospitals so they have the tools they need to continue to provide care to the people of Wyoming.

How To Access Economic Impact Payments:

The IRS formally launched the “Get My Payment” web portal last week with features to let taxpayers check on their Economic Impact Payment date and update direct deposit information.

The portal can be accessed here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment, and there are FAQ’s that are answered on the site as well. 

Support For Hospitals And Health Care Providers:

The CARES Act authorized funding for hospitals and health care providers on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, and the first tranche of that funding has already been disbursed. The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a portal for providers where they can confirm the receipt of these initial funds, and agree to the terms and conditions within 30 days of payment.

On top of the financial support that was already included in the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund that will be going out to hospitals and health care providers, additional funding is included for these entities in the latest relief legislation that was signed into law today.

Medical Supplies:

As of April 21, Project Airbridge has completed 70 flights with an additional 46 scheduled for a total of approximately 116 flights. In addition to this, FEMA, HHS, and the private sector combined have coordinated the delivery of nearly 57 million N95 respirators, 82.5 million surgical masks, almost 6 million face shields, 12.3 million surgical gowns, 643 million gloves, nearly 11,000 ventilators, and 8,450 federal medical station beds.

Earlier this week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the state would no longer need the USNS Comfort because of declining cases in New York City. The USNS Comfort arrived in Manhattan on March 30 and treated 182 patients. ent respirators for single-user reuse by health care providers.

Coronavirus Testing Update: 

4.93 million tests have been performed across America according to Vice President Pence. The Vice President also said that the commercial lab system conducted more than 100,000 tests in a single day as states continue to engage those labs on a higher level. 

Later today, the Vice President and White House Coronavirus Task Force will convene a conference call with the nation’s governors to talk about the progress being made on testing. 

Therapeutics And Vaccines:

The President spoke last night about the FDA’s national effort to expand access to convalescent plasma donated from the blood of those who have recovered from the virus, and that nearly 3,000 patients are enrolled in the expanded access program receiving transfusions nationwide. The President also said that convalescent plasma will be used to manufacture a concentrated antibody treatment that does not have to be matched with a particular blood type.

The NIAID released a strategic plan detailing COVID-19 research priorities. The plan has four key priorities: improving fundamental knowledge of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, the development of rapid, accurate diagnostics and assays, characterizing and testing potential treatments for COVID-19, and developing safe and effective vaccines.

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