Operation, i should say search and rescue operations and providing medical care and setting up emergency shelters moving quickly to complete these tasks to get everyone to safety and minimize the loss of life. At some point you begin to transition to the recovery or restoring power and rebuilding and eventually trying to return to life as normal. As always, there will be aof transition between these periods where weve continued to focus n the shortterm response filed planning for the longterm recovery and while we are facing a much different type of crisis today, the same principles believe apply. Our hero at healthcare workers continue to respond to this on the front lines of the farmers or ranchers while ensuring people have food on their table. Mailman, delivery drivers, collectors and others in the critical sectors are keeping the talks of our society and our economy s running. And slowly but surely, recovery is happening. In texas and other states across the country, businesses are welcoming customers through the doors for the first time in a while. Parksni are beginning to reopen and making plans for the fall. Everydaevery day the needle is g in a positive direction, but im worried without some protection for these workers come a, busin, churches and food thing we are going to reverse course or stop them dead in their tracks. We are already seeing lawsuits piling up, claiming somebody did this or that in the incident. Unfortunately there was an incentive to use the virus that infected someone in the halfmillion as a cash cow and we are setting up for what could be one of the biggest in terms of litigation in history. You Better Believe those that could find themselves on the veceiving end of the lawsuits are taking notes. A recent survey by the National Federation of independent businessde found that nearly 70 of smallbusiness owners are concerned about liability claims and hospitals are cautious about resuming procedures like Organ Transplants or cancer biopsies because they can get sued as well. Even if you have done everything the Public HealthOfficials Say you should do they follow all the relevant guidelines enacting good faith and they could end up fighting a very long and veryou expensive lawsuit. They could end up winning that lawsuit tha but they could alsod up going bankrupt in the process because defending the lawsuit isnt cheap and at the time when we want people to focus like a laser on reopening the business we cannot allow that incentive or lawsuit lottery to lead and to deter the recovery. Congress needs to take action to prevent these opportunistic lawsuits from using the crisis to make money at the same time to hurt the economy and recovery. Leader mcconnell and i and others are working on a proposal to put commonsense reforms in i want to be clear about the goals of the legislation. There is no effort to pass a blanket immunity and to protect bad actors that put their employees or customers in dang danger. What we are talking about is a targeted protection for those that are acting in good faith following all of the relevant guidelines they make tremendous physical sacrifices while serving during this unprecedented time and we simply cant allow them to be taken to the cleaners by those working for a payout. More than a dozen states have already f provided protection Fr Healthcare workers by raising the threshold for medical malpractice lawsuits. The democratic governor of new york has issued an effect executive Order Granting the healthcare workers immunity from civil liability. The democratic governoric of new york has issued an executive order grantinexecutiveorder gram civil liability to healthcaree workers. It makes sense that i think it certainly makes sense elsewhere we need to provide the same level of protection for healthcare workers all across the United States so they can operate without fear having to defend a lawsuit when they were doing their best in a time of crisis and good faith to follow all of the appropriate guidance. But we cant stop there. We have to provide protection for the workers, businesses, the schoolsschools, nonprofits and r institutions that are critical to the recovery in the liability lawsuits according to the National Federation of independent business once they received the green light to open the door, they have to make a very important decision. Is it worth the risk . There is nothing stopping the first person who walks through the door from suing you and in a few weeks because they believe they can track the virus in the restaurant. Its not just businesses that are facing these types of decisions. Any Nonprofit Organization or agency serving the public is in a similar position. Even if theyve gone at Great Lengths to comply with Public Health recommendations. Public schools, colleges and universities weigh the decision of reopening, Liability Protections are going to play a major factor. Last week the Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Liability Protections and one of the witnesses wee heard was serving as general counsel of at Texas Christian University in fort worth texas. He called this the cliff problem and said that is what the university of Virginia Law School professor used to describe an uncertain standard of care. Its some sort of wine that would be catastrophic to cross. If you dont know where it is in the uncertainty will lead you to avoid the area altogether. In this case our country needs our colleges and universities to walk towards the cliff while not going over it just as we need healthcare workers, businesses, Nursing Homes and nonprofits to do the same but we cant ask them to do it blindly or in the dark or without providing the needed clarity so they can manage the risks. Most of us know how to manage risk in our lives but its hard to manage uncertainty and the in the midst ofnc this uncertainty these workers and institutions are critical to helping the response was for work and we cant ask or expect them to make decisions without some level of certainty. They will not inadvertently step over the edge of the cliff and find themselves in freefall. My home state of texas is a great place to do business. We keep taxes, Government Spending and regulations that a rational minimum in order to get people and businesses the freedom to pursue their dreams and prosper. Texas is consistently ranked as the best states at the start of business and for female entrepreneurs. Therees are 2. 6 million Small Businesses throughout the