Your response is requested to send a powerful message about our coronavirus relief priorities

Before the Senate debates this bill, it is important that we send a powerful message before it comes to a vote.

Friends -

We are in the midst of the worst series of crises in the modern history of our country. We are dealing with a pandemic, an economic meltdown, climate change, systemic racism and an unstable president undermining American democracy.

This is an unprecedented moment that requires an unprecedented response. And that means Congress must pass bold legislation for the next coronavirus relief package — legislation which protects working families, public health and free and fair elections.

When millions of Americans are unemployed — when so many are facing hunger, eviction, and lack of health care — we must act immediately to provide support to those who need it most.

Before the Senate begins debating this legislation, it is important that we send a powerful message before it comes to a vote:

Add your name to call on Senate Democrats to fight for a bold coronavirus relief bill that will provide critical relief to working people across the country.

Senate Republicans recently put forth their coronavirus stimulus proposal, and pathetic is too mild a word to describe their plan.

The Senate Republican bill provides nothing for hazard pay, nothing for nutrition assistance, nothing for the 92 million Americans who are uninsured or under-insured, nothing for the Postal Service to provide for effective mail-in-ballot elections, and nothing for state and local governments on the verge of bankruptcy.

But it does include another $29.4 billion for the Pentagon — on top of the $740 billion passed by the Senate a few weeks ago.

It does include another tax break for the meals and entertainment of wealthy CEOs. Under the Republican bill, if you are a wealthy business executive you get a 100% tax deduction for a three-martini lunch.

While the Republican bill slashes unemployment benefits by 43% for 30 million Americans who lost their jobs, it continues a $135 billion tax break to 43,000 millionaires — primarily in the real estate and hedge fund industry.

Needless to say, I am strongly opposed to the Senate Republican proposal.

Instead of listening to the needs of the military-industrial complex and the rich, we need to listen to the needs of working-class Americans.

Here is some of what what I am calling for in the next coronavirus relief package:

• Extend the additional $600 per week in unemployment benefits for the 30 million Americans who have lost their jobs.


• Ensure every working-class person in America receives $2,000 a month as long as the crisis lasts so that they can afford to pay rent and put food on the table.


• Provide hazard pay for workers who are putting their lives on the line.


• Offer aid to state and local governments to ensure they have the personnel and funding to effectively respond to this crisis.


• Expand Medicare to the 92 million Americans who are uninsured or under-insured.


• Continue the federal moratorium on evictions.


• Pass Masks for All, my legislation that would provide high-quality, reusable masks to every person in this country free of charge.

Brothers and sisters: We are in an unprecedented moment in American history, and it is easy to feel like we are alone or that we must all fend for ourselves. But that would be a terrible mistake. Now more than ever, we must remember that we are all in this together.

What this horrible pandemic has allowed us to do is reimagine the type of country we want to become. Will we be a country that guarantees all of our people have access to comprehensive health care, good-paying jobs, and a quality education? Or will we be a country that gives tax breaks to the billionaire class and large corporations at the expense of everyone else?

Together we must determine which direction we will go, and that is why I need to ask:

Add your name to demand that Democrats put forth a bill that addresses the needs of working people, public health and election security during the coronavirus pandemic.

If we continue to fight for the basic principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice, I am confident that we will not only get through this unprecedented crisis together, but that we will lay the groundwork for a better and more just America in the future.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

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