SoMuchWinning ...and Covid
I have never had a week like the one I just had.
In the last seven days, the United States Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the United States Supreme Court, Speaker Pelosi selected me to be on one of the largest conference committees in our history to work out differences between the House and Senate on Chinese competitiveness legislation, AND the United States House of Representatives took up and passed four pieces of my legislation!
There are not many people that can say they have been able to pass that many pieces of legislation in one week. I'm just still in a little bit of shock.
The four pieces of legislation I am referring to are:
- The MORE Act – which would legalize cannabis and provide support for those who have been the victims of the failed war on drugs.
- My bipartisan Medical Marijuana Research Act – which would make it easier and legal for scientists to do research on the benefits of cannabis.
- Replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund that I created last March – which will add $42 billion to support 177,000 restaurants that were not able to receive funds in the first round of grants.
- And just yesterday, the House voted on my and Rep. Doggett's legislation to revoke Russia's Most Favored Nation Status – which will end Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with the Russian Federation and initiate the process that would formally deny Russia access to the World Trade Organization (WTO) because of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
None of this would've been possible without your help and support.
Many of the specifics in these four pieces of legislation came from conversations and concepts that I heard from you, my fellow Oregonians. I cannot thank you enough for that.
The relief bill for restaurants is critically important. With the initial fund we were able to help over 100,000 restaurants across the country, and over 2,000 here in Oregon.
Too many independent small businesses were forced to close at no fault of their own multiple times during the crisis phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants were provided to help them get by and get back on their feet. We look forward to providing relief for so many more.
Sadly, only about one-third of applicants received funding, leaving 177,000 restaurants with no assistance because the fund ran out too quickly. I immediately went to work building a strong bipartisan support network to push for providing additional funding for those who applied but were not able to receive help.
We have much more on our agenda, but I wanted to give you an update and thank you again for all of your support. Even though headlines and the news primarily spotlight the negative, there still are some glimmers of success that give me hope. While I keep working towards a more livable, just, and sustainable world. I look forward to continuing our work to build more together.
Courage,
P.S. I wrote this message before testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday morning. I'm only experiencing minor cold symptoms and following CDC guidance to quarantine. I am so thankful to be vaccinated and double boosted and that despite this, we got through a monumental week together. Please get vaccinated and boosted, everyone!