Dr. Schaffner we will have to end it now. We will take it to the floor now. [captioning made possible by the national captioning institute, inc. , in cooperation with the United States house of representatives. Any use of the closedcaptioned coverage of the house proceedings for political or commercial purposes is expressly prohibited by the u. S. House of representatives. ] the speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers room, ashington, d. C. , march 27, 2020. I hereby appoint the honorable anthony g. Brown to act as day. Ker pro tempore on this signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. The speaker pro tempore the will be offered by the guest chaplain, reverend dr. Dan capitol worship, washington, d. C. Me. Chaplain come pray with heavenly father, this morning, humblee to remember your servant, 91yearold holocaust rabbi kahn who lost his this week and just two dais ago at this very 75th anniversary of liberation. Z may his memory be a blessing. We run to hide from an enemy we cannot see . 9 11, we saw its hand. The planes crashing the towers, clouds of dust covering its victims. Needed. Those fortunate could flee but not now, not today. Are we all, as it might 93rd , trapped on the floor . No. We have a place to run. O let our hearts be comforted from the word of davids psalm. Run. Ve a place to to that rock that is higher than us all. From the storm, or jehovah th jehovah shalom. Enemies. H from our rock. E a e is our god and a place to hide. Hese things, i pray, in jesus name, amen. The speaker pro tempore 7a of houseection resolution 891, the journal of the last days proceedings is approved. The pledge of allegiance will be ed by the gentleman from colorado, mr. Neguse. Mr. Neguse i pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands, one nation god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. For peaker pro tempore what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition . Mr. Hoyer mr. Speaker, i send ask desk a resolution and i unanimous consent for its consideration. The clerk House Resolution 911, resolution relating to the house 891 and providing for consideration of the senate 748 ment to the bill h. R. To amend the Internal Revenue ode of 1986 to repeal the xcise tax on health care sponsor coverage. The speaker pro tempore is there objection to consideration to the resolution . Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. Mr. Hoyer mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman seek recognition . Mr. Hoyer mr. Speaker, pursuant o House Resolution 911, i call up h. R. 748 with the Senate Amendment thereto and i have a desk. At the the speaker pro tempore the clerk will report the title of the bill, designate the senate motion. Nt and report the the clerk h. R. 748, an act to amend the Internal Revenue code 1986 to repeal the excise tax on high cost Employer Sponsored Health coverage. Senate amendment. Mr. Hoyer of maryland moves that he house concur in the Senate Amendment to h. R. 748. The speaker pro tempore ursuant to House Resolution 911, the motion is debatable for three hours equally divided and controlled by the majority minority leader or their respective designees. The gentleman from maryland, mr. The gentleman from texas, mr. Brady, each will control 90 minutes. Recognizes the gentleman from maryland, mr. Hoyer. Ask oyer mr. Speaker, i unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend their and insert extraneous material on the matter under consideration. The speaker pro tempore without objection. Mr. Hoyer mr. Speaker. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore for what purpose does the gentleman from maryland seek recognition . Speaker, i yield myself one minute. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Hoyer mr. Speaker, we meet challenging time in our country and in the global community. Session will be different than most where we come reach out our hands, we hug one another in their on and thanks for collegial work with us on the business. People who can see the chamber that we are keeping a distance from one another. Out of of hostility but love for one another that we may one that we may keep another healthy and safe. Be an unusual re session but a critical session. Speaker, this legislation resolve s a bipartisan to meet the coronavirus challenge headon. A focus on s amilies and workers with the objective of marking making hem safer and economically supported. T will protect workers and their families and our economy as we all do our part to flatten curve. Public Health Officials have the only ear that chance we have to prevent our Health Care System from being by this pan dammic pandemic is for many mericans to stay at home as possible. It is however, necessary, for us legislation o pass to respond on behalf of the to this daunting challenge. The closure means that large arts of our economy must be temporarily shut down, causing severe disruption for businesses workers. We saw the impact of this yesterday when new unemployment claims increased by people. N three million three mi three million individuals who ely on them for support and contribution for the support of their family and children. Is taking house action on phase three of our response to this unprecedented challenge. We initially responded, mr. Speaker, to immediate need of with an 8. 3 billion in appropriations to meet the mmediate health needs of our people. A little over two weeks ago, we continuing t the health and Economic Needs of our people. Two. Was phase this bill, mr. Speaker, which is hase three of our effort, will increase Unemployment Insurance benefits to those furloughed or expanding ile eligibility to include the contract yed and workers and send checks to most get cans and to help them period. This difficult mr. Speaker, i am personally disappoint isappointed that Senate Republicans insisted on shortchanging the 700,000 people district of columbia by 700 million, treating the district as a territory and not for the purposes of allocating Stabilization Funds, so often the case. His jeopardizes the entire National Capital region as we work to prevent further spread of coronavirus. With delegate ng Holmes Norton and our colleagues correcting islation this injustice, and i look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the that to accomplish objective. As the number of coronavirus cases in our country rises above 85,000 of our fellow citizens nd continues to increase xponentially, we must take swift action to ensure that thele can stay home to slow spread of this deadly viers and th deadly virus and our economy can be supported so it can rebound when the medical experts and Scientists Say it is safe to so. I want to thank the speaker and who have tee chairs worked tirelessly to bring this fruition, including chairwoman lowey, chairman neal, e, chairman rich chairman bobby scott, chairman waters, asair maxine well as other chairs who participated in forging this egislation with a Bipartisan Coalition in the United States senate. Well the thank as the ordinary staff, extraordinary staff who have worked around the clock in a short period of time knowing full well the crisis us and ntz confronts us and that time is of the essence. Thank you, staff. The staff of each of our committees, our members, and the leadership, staffs of all three of those entities and the working arounden the clock, literally, mr. Around the clock to determine the needs and priorities and meet them. Stand se continues to ready to take additional steps needed to they are win this battle for the safety ourhealth of our people and nation. Ogether, democrats and together, we mericans, we americans will Work Together to do our part in the ing against coronavirus. R. Speaker, all of us stand in awe and deep gratitude to the americans who have hown courage and commitment at this dangerous and challenging time. Nurses, our our medical personnel, our police, and emergency s medical response teams, those grocery ur pharmacies, stores, gas stations and other ritical facilities open and so many in the private and public showing up re daily of their he needs neighbors and fellow citizens. They reflect the best of the home of the brave. Like these that we remind the world and are truly one we god, indivisible, theing together to overcome greatest challenge with the greatest resolve. I reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from maryland reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Brady mr. Speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Speaker, we gather this morning in america coronavirus on two fronts, medically and economically. Odays vote is about saving lives and livelihoods, providing the urgent relief needed to keep workers on the job, helping those who have lost theirs, and preserving main street so they can ride out his crisis and rebound strongly. In 20 short days, our economy has taken a hit like weve americas n in history. Thankfully, due to President Trump and republicans in america has the strongest economy in the world challenge. O this still, Congress Must act aggressively and act together economic damage. Enate democrats, aided by Speaker Pelosi, unfortunately delayed this bill for days, and crisis to advance a frivolous political agenda. It failed. If senate found unanimous, not perfect, common ground. This bill arms families with rebates ofpport, tax per 0 per person, and 500 child to help ride this out. It makes it easier for americans o access their savings penalty free. Let seniors over 72 keep their savings intact. Get unprecedented help. Expanded nt is being by 250 billion to make sure the contractor, the free lacer, the furloughed and ber driver all have a lifeline to ride this crisis out. We are temporarily increasing the siesz of unemployment checks size of unemployment and lengthening them. If more time is needed to get on your feet. Unprecedented action to save americas local businesses workers. Ain street businesses face a crash, they face a sequence of and closures. Through temporary tax relief and ending, this bill injects cash directly into our local businesses, small and large, to crisis. S cash flow we focus on preserving business, to preserve jobs, to get them through these next few weeks. Businesses can quickly turn their mounting losses to tax relief so they have more cash on hand to keep workers and to survive. These two actions alone keep 500 billion in our local economies. For Small Businesses, we offer fully guaranteed loans through your local banker. With the promise that if you keep your workers on the payroll, that portion of the loan will be forgiven. For larger and most distressed businesses, we provide loans to, knowing your survival is crucial to millions of American Workers. These loans arent bailouts. Theyre given with the oversight and repayment to companies who did nothing wrong, but suffered Collateral Damage as a result of this virus. Finally, with the new worker retention credit, championed by ways and means republicans and leader kevin mccarthy, to help our local billses keep workers on their businesses keep workers on the job. For businesses closed or partially closed due to government order, who have seen their income drop by 50 or more, if you pay half of your workers salary, well pay the other half, up to 10,000 through this crisis. The sooner we lock down the coronavirus, the sooner we unlock this economy. To quicken that, we give our hospitals, doctors, nurses, nonprofits and Rural Health Care providers on the front lines over 140 billion in new resources. We give unprecedented flexibility to telehealth. We increase by 20 reimbursements for coronavirus treatments. We accelerate medicare funding and we give patients more flexibility to use their Health Savings accounts. Mr. Speaker, while no one will agree with every part of this rescue bill, we face a challenge rarely seen in americas history. We must act now or the toll on lives and livelihoods will be far greater. I strongly urge its passage. With that, mr. Speaker, i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from Texas Reserves. The gentleman from maryland is recognized. Mr. Hoyer mr. Speaker, at this time i yield to my friend, the gentleman from massachusetts, one of the Senior Members of the congress, the chairman of the ways and Means Committee, mr. Neal. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts, four minutes. Mr. Neal i thank the gentleman. We have been whisked here this morning in one of the great challenges of our lifetimes. Usually in march we talk about brackets. The brackets this morning are clear. Those brackets are about the health of the American People and the Economic Security of the american family. This is not about corruption. This is not about military conflict. And certainly its not about malfeasance. Our country is weathering an unprecedented Public Health crisis that demands an unprecedented response from the United States government. And im really proud of the Critical Solutions our ways and means colleagues and i contributed to this legislation. This legislation could be called the Families Health and Economic Security stabilization act, because thats what were doing this morning, providing stability. The Health Care Workers on the front lines of this crisis are being pushed to their limits, both financially and physically. They need more masks, tests, ventilators and beds to combat this virus. This legislation will help them secure these fundamental resources with 100 billion in funding for hospitals in our health and our Health Care System. As we work to protect the health of all americans, we are also focused on the health of our economy. Just yesterday morning, we learned that this weeks unemployment claims skyrocketed by over 1,000 . As we face this record economic challenge, families need benefits that will allow them to cover essential expenses like food, rent and medication. From the beginning of this crisis, ways and means democrats have understood that expanding Unemployment Benefits must be a top priority. The additional 600 per week in Unemployment Benefits that we fought for is the least we can do to help those who through no fault of their own find themselves without a paycheck. Similarly, the direct infusion of 1,200 in cash for American Adults that we fought for will help families through these challenges times. We fought to include provisions to shore up the Financial Health of Small Business and other struggling employers. We were adamant about the inclusion of the Employee Retention credit, because we know that the American Economy will bounce back from this and employers that take action to keep employees on the payroll should be rewarded. This legislation is the product of two very different sides coming to the other to protect the health and Financial Security of all americans in the face of this crisis. I want to thank the many members on both sides of the aisle and the capitol who have worked to get us to this bill this morning. I also want to thank my ways and Means Committee staff who have been working around the clock since this crisis began and who have provided the committee and the congress with unparalleled Technical Expertise and counsel. They deserve our appreciation. We are facing this grave enemy in covid19. It is the dark and Uncertain Times that we are witnessing today, but thats why were here. Here to fight for things that matter to america. To prioritize their health and economic wellbeing. We have a responsibility to take this bold action this morning so that our economy will keep going for workers and Small Business and give families the peace of mind they can depend upon so that their government can help keep them whole in this crisis. Thats what we did in this bill. There will be a phase four which will be real stimulus as opposed, i think, to the stabilization effort we make today. So we wish our colleagues and the American People the best at this time. Take care of one another. But i fully support this legislation being passed in a timely manner. That means this morning. And i yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. The gentleman from maryland reserves. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Tom brady mr. Speaker, im proud to mr. Brady mr. Speaker, im proud to yield 2 1 2 minutes to the gentleman from oregon, the Top Republican