Letter To POTUS Re: COVID Relief

January 31, 2021
The President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
As you proclaimed in your Inaugural Address, overcoming the challenges facing our
nation “requires the most elusive of things in a democracy: Unity.” Heeding that important call,
we welcome the opportunity to work with you in a bipartisan manner to combat the COVID-19
virus and provide continued support to families struggling during the pandemic.
In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief

framework that builds on prior COVID assistance laws, all of which passed with bipartisan
support. Our proposal reflects many of your stated priorities, and with your support, we believe
that this plan could be approved quickly by Congress with bipartisan support. We request the
opportunity to meet with you to discuss our proposal in greater detail and how we can work
together to meet the needs of the American people during this persistent pandemic.
Addressing this public health crisis has required robust and rapid support for vaccine
development and distribution, testing and tracing, treatment and supplies, including the
production and deployment of personal protective equipment. We agree with you that
continuing to build our capacity in these areas is crucial to overcoming the pandemic. Like your
plan, our proposal includes a total of $160 billion to enhance our capabilities in these areas as
well as to support our health care providers, who are on the front lines of the pandemic. Our
plan mirrors your request for $4 billion to bolster our behavioral health and substance abuse
services.
Our proposal also includes economic relief for those Americans with the greatest need,
providing more targeted assistance than in the Administration’s plan. We propose an additional
round of economic impact payments for those families who need assistance the most, including
their dependent children and adults. Our plan also includes extending enhanced federal
unemployment benefits at the current level and fully funding your request for nutrition assistance
to help struggling families.
We share your goal of providing additional assistance for our small businesses. Included
in our plan are additional resources to help our small businesses and their employees through the
successful Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.
Getting our children back to school and making sure that schools are able to stay open
safely are priorities that we strongly support. Our plan includes resources for these purposes as
well as for child care, which is a critical component to getting Americans back to work.
Finally, we note that billions of dollars remain unspent from the previous COVID relief
packages. Just last month, Congress provided $900 billion in additional resources, and
communities are only now receiving much of that assistance. Some of the spending appropriated
through the CARES Act, passed last March, also has yet to be exhausted. The proposal we have
outlined is mindful of these past efforts, while also acknowledging the priorities that need
additional support right now.
In 2020, Members of the House and Senate and the previous Administration came
together on a bipartisan basis five times to direct the resources of the federal government toward
combatting the urgent COVID-19 pandemic. Each of these laws received the support of
members from both political parties. With your support, we believe Congress can once again
craft a relief package that will provide meaningful, effective assistance to the American people
and set us on a path to recovery.
We recognize your calls for unity and want to work in good faith with your
Administration to meet the health, economic, and societal challenges of the COVID crisis.
Thank you for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
__________________________ __________________________
Susan M. Collins Lisa Murkowski
United States Senator United States Senator
__________________________ __________________________
Bill Cassidy, M.D. Mitt Romney
__________________________ __________________________
Rob Portman Shelley Moore Capito
__________________________ __________________________
Todd Young Jerry Moran
_________________________ __________________________
M. Michael Rounds Thom Tillis

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January 31, 2021

Dear Mr. President:

In the spirit of bipartisanship and unity, we have developed a COVID-19 relief

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

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