. i often get calls from our friends and those who live in my munity sharing their heartbreaking stories.before ing to congress， i spent years working in health care as an associate dean at florida international university’s medical school. i spoke regularly with public health experts and epidemiologists who spent their careers studying how to crush infectious diseases like the coronavirus. and throughout this pandemic， i have relied on their counsel2 to help guide our response.

it’s been over seven months since our country has faced the worst health crisis in more than 100 years. we’ve now lost close to 200，000 lives， and this pandemic has plunged our country into an economic recession that we haven’t experienced since the great depression.

nearly 200，000 lives. each one meant the world to their families， to their munities， to their loved ones. i often get calls from our friends and those who live in m