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Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler joined a bipartisan group of members yesterday calling on the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to immediately resume negotiations on a COVID relief package to provide critical assistance to families, seniors, small businesses, and workers throughout Southwest Washington and across the country.

“We recognize that negotiating such a significant legislative proposal is difficult, but failing to reach a deal is unacceptable and is a failure of duty to the American people. During times of national emergencies, the American people look to elected officials to set aside their differences and take action through a sense of shared purpose and direction. The time for excuses has passed: Congress must work together and find compromise to jumpstart this process. We urge you to continue negotiations as soon as possible,” Herrera Beutler and the lawmakers wrote.

The full text of the letter follows and a PDF is available here.

Dear Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy:  

We are writing to urge you to immediately resume negotiations for a relief package to confront the dual public health and economic crises Americans are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.   

We are facing significant challenges related to COVID-19: over 170,000 Americans have died from the virus, hospitals in parts of the country are once again seeing a spike in cases, millions of businesses remain shuttered or restricted in their operations, state and local governments are facing significant revenue shortfalls, and the future of the weekly pandemic unemployment assistance is uncertain for the more than 30 million Americans without a job. Such unprecedented circumstances demand that political leaders work together to meet the challenges of this moment.  

We recognize that negotiating such a significant legislative proposal is difficult, but failing to reach a deal is unacceptable and is a failure of duty to the American people. During times of national emergencies, the American people look to elected officials to set aside their differences and take action through a sense of shared purpose and direction. The time for excuses has passed: Congress must work together and find compromise to jumpstart this process. We urge you to continue negotiations as soon as possible.  

We stand ready to work with you in the days and weeks ahead to ensure that no American is left behind. Thank you for your attention to this important matter.