Throughout the federal, state, and local response to the health and economic impacts of the Coronavirus, I’ve been a leading voice in the Commonwealth on getting our state on the road to recovery while championing critical issues that matter most to the people in our area.
In my time in Congress, I have been a vocal advocate for expanding rural broadband service to the underserved in our community. In this time of crisis, demand for high speed broadband has never been greater; closing the digital divide is the key to lifting up countless communities, students, and businesses in unserved areas. At the start of this crisis, I introduced the
Serving Rural America Act, a bill that would create a five-year pilot grant program at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and authorize $100 million a year for a total of $500 million over five years to expand broadband service to unserved areas of the country. I firmly believe this important piece of legislation represents a significant advancement in the discussion about how best to solve our country’s remaining broadband challenges amid this pandemic and I hope that Congressional leadership considers including this text in future COVID-19 legislation.
Small businesses have been one of the most affected sectors as our nation fights the COVID-19 pandemic. I have been doing everything I can to hear from these small businesses and get them the relief they need to keep their doors open and keep employees on the payroll. Last week, I had the opportunity to hear from the Hanover Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Williamsburg Business Council about what issues local businesses are facing amid pandemic recovery. In response to COVID-19, Congress has passed four bipartisan bills, with my support, that have given billions in aid to our Main Street job creators. As we move forward with COVID-19 response and recovery, I will continue to focus on getting Americans back to work and defeating this virus by incentivizing rehiring and removing regulatory barriers to job creation and protecting small businesses.
During COVID-19 recovery, I have been leading the effort to get dollars to Virginia that support innovation and prepare our nation for the future. Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a $354 million, four-year contract with Phlow Corp., located in Richmond, Virginia, that would create the nation’s first strategic stockpile of key ingredients needed to make medicines. To prevent domestic shortages of critical medications, the Medicines for All Institute, based in the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) College of Engineering, has joined forces with Phlow Corp. to bring manufacturing of vulnerable pharmaceuticals and their ingredients back to the United States. In March, I called Vice President Pence and his team to advocate for this project and I am thrilled HHS has chosen them to provide U.S.-based manufacturing capabilities of essential generic medicines, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and chemical precursor materials. As a former public health official and co-chair of the Congressional Public Health Caucus, I know the importance of strong leadership on projects that will do the most good for our nation and our Commonwealth. The production of these is vital to our response during the COVID-19 pandemic, and our robust reliance on foreign sources of essential generic medicine ingredients is something we must address.
Our commercial fishery and aquaculture industries are vital to the health of our regional economies. In Virginia, commercial fisheries and aquaculture account for over 18,000 jobs and bring hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue to our Commonwealth. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit these industries hard by causing severe drops in markets and demand. In March, I voted for the CARES Act, which provides $300 million in relief for the fishery and aquaculture industries. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recently announced Virginia would only receive $4.5 million of CARES Act relief for impacted fisheries and watermen in Virginia. While this is welcome news, the current 1.5% allocation for Virginia watermen is not nearly enough. I joined my colleagues
in sending a bipartisan letter to Secretary Ross expressing concern over the NOAA's plan for disbursing fisheries relief funding that I supported under the CARES Act. We laid out a clear plan of recovery for the backbone of our coastal communities, and I look forward to swift action from the Department of Commerce and NOAA.
I will continue to be a leader in the Commonwealth on issues that matter most to folks like you. As your representative, I am doing everything I can to ensure the First District has every resource possible to combat this pandemic. I make this promise: we will fight the virus together until we defeat it together. In the end, we are going to be stronger and healthier than ever before – because that is who we are as Americans. Stay safe.
