OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendment to H.R. United States-Mexico Economic Partnership Act; Providing for Disposition of Senate Amendment to H.R. Purple Book Continuity Act of and for Other Purposes

Floor Speech

By: Andy Barr
By: Andy Barr
Date: Dec. 21, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Business and Consumers Entitlements and the Safety Net

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Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of long-delayed legislation to deliver more resources to the American people to defeat the COVID-19 virus and provide much-needed relief from government-imposed lockdowns of the economy.

Ultimately, no amount of government spending can substitute for a fully functioning, open economy free of government lockdowns. But I am confident this relief package, which provides over $284 billion to reload and strengthen the Paycheck Protection Program, will help bridge the gap until COVID-19 vaccines are widely distributed. It does so in a fiscally responsible way by rescinding and reallocating $429 billion in Federal Reserve emergency lending authority, and it repurposes unused PPP funds.

Importantly, this bill provides effective, targeted relief, with a net price tag of approximately $325 billion in new outlays. It does not include the liberal wish list that was the centerpiece of the Speaker's originally $3.4 trillion Heroes Act, a fiscally reckless proposal that needlessly delayed this reasonable bipartisan compromise.

For months, I have called on Congress and the administration to simplify the PPP forgiveness application for small businesses to ease their burdens and ensure lender participation. Today, that goal becomes a reality.

I also support the bill's extension of troubled debt restructuring relief, which allows lenders to work with their borrowers to modify loans. And I strongly support its provision to ensure small businesses can deduct expenses covered by PPP loans.

While it has taken far too long to get to this point, the bill we are passing today will bring much-needed help to American workers, families, and small businesses, without putting more massive amounts of debt on the American people.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill.

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