Noise. Members are responsible for on muting themselves when they wish to seek recognition. Somebody is not muted right now. Can you check to see if you are muted . Required tobers are leave their cameras on the entire time they are in official proceedings, even if they step away from the camera. Hearing, theremote Committee Chair is officially closed. Members who sit with their devices in the room must wear headphones to avoid feedback, echoes, and distortion resulting from more than one person on the platform sitting in the same room. Use are also expected to social distancing guidelines including the use of masks, gloves, and wiping down the area in the hearing room. Questions, if the witness is also in the hearing room, it would help if you mute while the answer is taking place , because the answer is picked up by your mike and that echoes back and there is usually distortion. The rollcall is not necessary to establish a quorum in official proceedings conducted remotely. When there is, the clerk will call role to make clear who is present at the start of proceeding. I will ask the clerk to call the roll. Chairman scott. Present. Misses david. Present. Present. Mr. Courtney. Present. Ms. Fudge. Present. Ms. Wilson. Present. Ms. Bonamici. Present. Mr. Turkana. Ms. Adams. Present. Mr. Design yay. Mr. Nora croft. Present. Ms. Jayapal. Present. Mr. Marelli. Present. Ms. Wild. Mr. Harder. Misses mcmaster. Present. Ms. Schreiter. Present. Ms. Underwood. Present. Misses hayes. Layla. Mr. Levin. Present. Ms. Omar. Mr. Trump. Ms. Stevens. Present. Misses lee. Mr. Castro. Misses fox. Present. Mr. Ro. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Wahlberg. Present. Mr. Guthrie. Mr. Burns. Mr. Grossman. Ms. Stephan. Present. Mr. Allen. Present. Mr. Smucker. Mr. Banks. Mr. Walker. Mr. Coleman. Mr. Klein. Present. Mr. Fulcher. Mr. Watkins. Present. Mr. Wright. Mr. Mus are. Present. Mr. Johnson. Present. Mr. Calorie. Present. Mr. Murphy. Mr. Van drew. Present. Chairman scott, this concludes the rollcall. Excuse me, susan wild present. Does anyone else want to note they are present . [inaudible] david sharon, ms. Underwood hello . Mr. Chairman, its congresswoman fox. I just want to note that congressman thompson was here and stepped out for just a moment and also that we have several members at misses bars funeral today. Kentucky people as well as other states. So there are several absent because of that funeral going on right now. That is certainly understandable. Thank you very much. Pursuant to Committee Rule seven c, Opening Statements are limited to the chair and Ranking Member and witnesses. I now recognize myself for the purpose of making an open statement. First, following up on the Ranking Members comment, i want to express my deepest condolences to our colleagues mourning the loss of loved ones. Our thoughts and prayers are with representative omar for the loss of her father, representative bonamici for the loss of her mother, representative barr for the loss of his wife, and our friend Jim Sensenbrenner for the loss of his wife. We are living in tough times for everyone but i know that these are particularly difficult times for those mentioned and we just want to wish them strength and peace. We are with them during this difficult time. Today we are discussing how covid19 is exacerbating inequalities in labor, education, and health, and the steps Congress Must take. A mountain of evidence has made it clear that to effectively respond to this pandemic we must address existing racial inequities in education, the workforce, and education. Bias andion, racial chronic underfunding of schools serving students of color produce consistent achievement gaps. We know that our k12 Public Schools have a racial funding gap. That is the difference between funding and School Districts serving students of color compared to School Districts serving predominantly white students. Positionedg gap has students of color to fall even further behind their peers. Black and latino students are less likely to attend schools that have the capacity to establish high quality Distance Learning programs. They are also less likely to have the basic technology such as a computer, highspeed internet, and as a result, latino students are expected to lose nine months of learning and black students are expected to lose 10 months of learning due to the pandemic. White students are expected to lose only six months. Addition, states will face a 615 billion revenue shortfall due to the pandemic. As the committee discussed last isk, Public Education usually one of the largest expenditures and unless the federal government provides immediate relief for state and local governments, it wont matter whether funding for education will be cut, but how much those cuts in education will be. While wealthier districts can fall back on property tax revenue, low income public School Districts will have to rely heavily on state funding. School districts that predominantly serve students of color, severe cuts in education will come at the time of greatest need. Consequences of these shortfalls are already evident. Nearly 750,000 Public School employees have lost their jobs since march. In colorado, the state Legislature Passed a budget that cuts a billion dollars from schools next year. Workforce, outlook is similarly concerning. Black and latino workers face significantly higher risk of unemployment. Although the rate of unemployment for white and latino workers has lowered, rates for black workers have increased in recent weeks. Among those who remain employed, workers of color are more likely to be employed in occupations with the highest risk of infection. Of black and latino workers can work from home compared to nearly 30 of white workers. Disparities,ese workers of color have been disproportionately affected by the department of labors refusal to issue enforceable Workplace Safety standards to protect workers from covid19. Workersk and latino disproportionately work in lowwage jobs. Congress has not raised the federal minimum wage in more than a decade. The longest period of time in its history. Weaker labor laws have eroded Union Membership and workers collective bargaining rights, which have left essential workers vulnerable to a deadly virus. The most profound consequence has been the pandemics devastating impact on the health of people of color. Africanamericans have been dying from covid19 infections at about 2. 5 times the rate of white americans. The death ratey, for latinos in the month of april was about 22 people per 100,000 adjusted for population and age. Native American Communities are suffering disproportionately. The Navajo Nation surpassed new york and new jersey with the most infections per capita. This follows the pattern of past diseases. With these challenges and education and workforce issues, disparities are rooted in structural inequality. People of color entered the pandemic with structural problems including health care discrimination, housing instability, food insecurity, and limited access to transportation. Left of budget cuts have limited funding of rural and Community Hospitals and communities of color, leaving families with few options. Access,of increasing the Trump Administration has been actively working to take it away in the midst of a Public Health emergency. A texas lawsuit threatens the entirety of the Affordable Care act. These efforts excuse me. These cynical efforts disproportionately impact people of color. If theseefforts efforts to strike down the law are successful, the uninsured rate among the Africanamerican Community would nearly double to 20 . Hispanic of uninsured individuals would grow. But we are not here to talk about the problem. We are here to discuss solutions. The heroes act which the house passed last month would take important steps towards addressing racial inequalities. Education, the legislation dedicates nearly 1 trillion of relief for states and localities to help reverse painful cuts to Public Schools. Proposingrther by more than 100 billion in additional Emergency Education funding to help cover the cost of cleaning supplies and other open,es required to purchase educational technology, sustain special education, and have colleges and universities maintain their institutions. Osha toes act directs issue an Emergency Temporary Standard that would require protections for workers at highest risk for contracting covid19. It also expands access to emergency paid leave to nearly 140 million workers. Inle paid leave provisions the Coronavirus Response act took important steps in the right direction, too many workers including many healthcare workers were excluded from those protections. The heroes act puts family and medical back into family and medical leave by dramatically expanding the circumstances in which workers can take 12 weeks of emergency pay, but we will not force workers to choose between a paycheck and the health of the people around them. Act expands Health Care Insurance coverage for covid19 testing and treatment, provides full coverage for the cost of premiums and furloughed workers, and increases the investment in health and nutrition for Community Support by including 1 billion of special funding and an additional 1 billion for Community Service to help address poverty. Invests the heroes act 75 billion dollars in testing and Contact Tracing to help contain the virus. This includes 500 million to recruit and train contact public through the workforce systems and communitybased organizations. Provisionsy, these represent a major step taken by getress to help our nation through this Global Healthcare crisis. As we confront this unprecedented challenge, we must accept our responsibility. Act, we will be experiencing recovery that offers relief to some, that leaves many low income communities and people of color to face longlasting or permanent setbacks in education and access to health care. This has stained our countrys legacy for too long. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses, who will share the scope of the challenge and policy considerations to get us on the right course. Im pleased to recognize the Ranking Member for her Opening Statement. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I also want to extend my to those who suffered the lost of loved ones recently. Our prayers go out to them and their families during this difficult time. Mr. Chairman, youve heard me express my concerns about these virtual hearings, but it bears repeating. They fly in the face of 230 years of congressional and legislative precedent. These events undermine what our founders intended when they created our representative republic. Americans are stepping up to help combat this virus while their elected leaders in the house stay home. It is shameful. And mr. Chairman, ant so you know, this is entirely remote hearing it is not. A number of my republican colleagues and i are participating from the Committee Room in washington, d. C. And i encourage you and all other members to return to congressional precedent and hold our hearings in person. Turning to the topic of todays virtual hearing, the coronavirus and related state imposed shutdowns have caused devastating job losses and Unemployment Rates not seen since the great depression. Schools were forced to close their doors abruptly and switched to Remote Learning overnight, which impacted 97 of our countrys students. But lets remember that prior to the covid19 pandemic, the u. S. Economy and market were strong. Real gdp increased 2. 3 in 2019 in 2018. In february, the Unemployment Rate was at a historic low. 5. 4 inemployment was august 2019, the lowest ever recorded. Hispanicber 2019, the Unemployment Rate was 3. 9 , also the lowest ever recorded. And in june 2019, asian unemployment was a record low 2. 1 . At the beginning of 2020, workers in the bottom 10 of income had higher average wage growth than those in the top 10 . By january 2020, low income earners saw a 15 increase in pay since the president took office. However, we know that americans including minority communities have felt the negative effects of these unprecedented times. The centers for Disease Control and prevention estimates that blacks and hispanics account for nearly 40 of covid19 deaths in the u. S. Minority communities have also been impacted by pandemic related shutdowns, with the rate of blackowned businesses falling 41 , hispanic businesses falling 32 , and asian owned businesses falling 26 . Policieshe progrowth enacted by Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration benefited workers , employers, and families before the onset of the pandemic. Reopening the economy responsibly and ensuring Public Health are not mutually exclusive. We can and must open america again while taking into consideration the recommendations from our Public Health officials. Jobsmonth, 2. 5 million were added to the economy. Thatnificant indicator reopening the economy safely is the best way to help all americans get back on their feet. The wall street journal reported that new layoffs are being offset by employers hiring or recalling workers to allow more businesses to reopen. The white house and cdc have issued guidelines for reopening america again. Which includees three phases from Public Health officials are intended to help state and local leaders make timely decisions about reopening the economy and getting people back to work while protecting lives. State has started implementing phased reopening plans, allowing nonessential businesses to reopen and operate safely, allowing employees to return to work and americans to resume daily activities. The prepandemic economy ushered in under the Republican Led Congress and the Trump Administration benefited workers, employers, and families alike. Lows,ment was at record including minority unemployment. Low income earners saw a 15 increase in pay and 7 million jobs were available and ready to be filled. To achieve prepandemic Economic Conditions that enabled americans to flourish, we must continue forging a forwardlooking path to help minority communities recover and prosper as they were prior to the pandemic. Mandating further topdown federal laws and policies as proposed by House Democrats will only compound the challenges that all americans currently face as we continue to combat covid19. Witnessesthank the for participating in this hearing but i hope in the future we can have all our witnesses testifying here with us in washington as we work in person on behalf of hardworking americans. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Thank you, and i look forward to that day myself. To all other members who wish to insert written statements, do so by submitting them to Committee Clerk electronically in microsoft word format by 5 00 sunday, july 5. I will now briefly introduced our witnesses. Professor,s senior fellow and associate professor at Morehouse School of medicine, and past president of the American Health association. Valerie wilson is the Director Program on race, ethnicity, and economy at the Economic Policy institute. She is an alumni of Hampton University in my district. Is president of the foundation for research on equal opportunity. Mr. John king is the ceo of Education Trust and former secretary of the United States department of education. Witnesses forthe participating today and look forward to your testimony. That we the witnesses have seen the testimony and it will appear in full in the hearing record. Pursuant to Committee Rules and practice, each of you is asked to limit your own presentation to a five minute summary of your written statement. Let me remind the witnesses that it is a legally to knowingly and willfully falsify any statement to congress. During your testimony, staff will be keeping track of time and will use a chime to signal when one minute is left, and when time is not entirely, a more obnoxious chime will occur at that time. Please be attendant to your time and when your time is over, please wrap up your testimony and mute your microphone. If anyone is experiencing technical difficulties during your testimony or later in the hearing, stay connected on the platform and make sure you are muted and use your phone to immediately contact the committee i. T. Director, whose number has been provided. We will let all witnesses make their presentations before we move to a number of questions. When answering questions, please remember to unmute your microphone and mute when yo