Bader ginsburg who died friday night. She died on the eve of the jewish new year, the first jewish woman on the Supreme Court and a very interesting thing about individuals who die right before the new year. They say they suggest very righteous people die at the very end of the year because they were needed until the very end. Under jewish tradition those who die on the new year holiday, a title given to the righteous and saintly. Certainly Justice Ruth Bader ginsburg was entitled to this honor, being righteous and saintly. At her confirmation hearing she talked about her immigrant experience was her father was a jewish immigrant, her mother was a secondgeneration american, she talked about American Values and then she said what has happened over me could only happen in america and then she spent her entire career protecting those values that make america a great nation it is in the reason people come here in order to reach their full potential. It guided her well in her public service
This is an institution that rests on the trust and reverence of the American People. Losing that trust and reverence is dangerous is dangerous. Its dangerous for millions of people who will lose the Affordable Care act protections. Its dangerous for the women who could lose their right to choose and all of us who do not want to turn back a half a century of progress. Its dangerous for our economy at a time when American Workers and consumers find themselves at the mercy of corporations that have grown larger and more powerful than at any other time since the gilded age. Its dangerous for the future of our planet and safety of our climate, at a time when the west is burning, seas are rising, and the earth is warming faster than ever before. And, quite frankly, its dangerous for our democracy. We owe the American People a voice and a decision that will shape the course of history for generations. And we owe the memory of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her seat on the Supreme Court more than jus
The time we are meeting right now. And more than 22 million initial unemployment claims filed in the past month. Some regions of our country have lost as many jobs over the last month as they did during the worst year of the great recession. These statistics are not just numbers on a page, madam speaker. These are our neighbors. They are our family, they are our friends, their health is at risk and their economic reality has changed overnight. Since the start of this pandemic, congress has provided more than 2 trillion in emergency relief. To get Small Businesses the financial help they need to survive. To help hospitals and Health Care Workers on the frontlines. To expand testing. To provide every american access to an affordable vaccine when it is developed. I could go on and on and on. We need to make sure that these resources are going where congress intended. That they are helping struggling americans, Small Businesses without any rampant fraud or accuse and companies arent taking
The speaker pro tempore the house will be in order. The chair lays before the house a communication from the speaker. The clerk the speakers rooms, washington, d. C. April 23, 2020. I hereby appoint the honorable kathy castor to act as splote on this day. Signed, nancy pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives. 7 the speaker pro tempore the a prayer will be offered by our chaplain, father conroy. Chaplain conroy let us pray. Merciful god, thank you for giving us another day. Send your spirit of peace and comity among the members of the peoples house. These are days of great political, social, and economic stress in our nation, and those whose work is to legislate through this pandemic are naturally under considerable pressure. Give us all patience, especially with one another. May all our citizens in the midst of great turmoil be filled with gratitude for those in our nation whose work must go on when it would be so easy not to assume their responsibility to do so. Continue to bl
What started just weeks ago half a world away is having a devastating impact across our country. No community has been spared. More than 855,000 cases have been confirmed. Nearly 48,000 lives lost as of the time we are meeting right now. And more than 22 million initial unemployment claims filed in the past month. Some regions of our country have lost as many jobs over the last month as they did during the worst year of the great recession. These statistics are not just numbers on a page, madam speaker. These are our neighbors. They are our family, they are our friends, their health is at risk and their economic reality has changed overnight. Since the start of this pandemic, congress has provided more than 2 trillion in emergency relief. To get Small Businesses the financial help they need to survive. To help hospitals and Health Care Workers on the frontlines. To expand testing. To provide every american access to an affordable vaccine when it is developed. I could go on and on and o