Putting workers and families first

Mr. Bonnici alleges that representatives Speier, Pelosi and myself put lives at risk to advance a “political agenda.” This is false and offensive. In fact, we fought very hard to protect the millions of Americans whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by the coronavirus.

On March 23, the Senate considered, but failed to pass legislation allowing the secretary of the treasury to give secret loans to large corporations with no transparency and with few strings attached. This bill put corporations first and did little to help workers who have lost their jobs.

My House colleagues and I worked well into the night over four days to change the bill from a corporate trickle-down bill to legislation benefiting workers, families, hospitals and small businesses. Thanks to our efforts, any business that receives aid must use that funding to keep workers on their payroll, and bonuses to executives, stock buybacks or dividends to shareholders are banned. We also successfully included $100 billion for our health care system and added $260 billion for an additional $600 weekly for every American receiving unemployment benefits. The final bill did not include funding for clean energy tax credits, online voting or bans on voter ID requirements, as Mr. Bonnici erroneously claims.

The CARES Act is bipartisan legislation that reflects compromise by both parties. No legislation is perfect, but I’m proud of our work to ensure the law puts workers and families first.

Anna Eshoo

Menlo Park

The letter writer is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing District 18.