Some good news from this
week:
- President
Trump approved Governor Bill Lee’s
request for additional federal assistance for Tennessee’s
response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which I – along with every member
of the Tennessee congressional delegation – asked the president to do. This disaster will continue to
place a significant financial burden on individuals, the state, and local
governments, and President Trump’s quick action will help
Tennessee respond to this crisis.
-
The U.S. State Department has been sharing with me and my
staff the most up-to-date information provided by our embassies so
that Tennesseans traveling overseas who are trying to return home can be
assisted. The Department reports that over 50,000 American citizens
have been brought back from more than 100 countries around the world in
the last few weeks, but there is more work to be
done. Click here if you know of a Tennessean who
is overseas and needs help returning to the
U.S.
How can the CARES Act can help
you?
I encourage Tennesseans to
visit my website to learn more about how
you can take advantage of the federal assistance package
Congress passed and President Trump signed into law
that will keep paychecks coming, relieve financial burdens and
help contain COVID-19.
The “Volunteer Spirit” is on full
display
These are trying times, but
Tennesseans are resilient. Despite all of the current
anxiety, illness and economic harm caused by COVID-19, we have seen
countless examples of Tennesseans stepping up and volunteering their time and
resources to help fight back. Here are just a few examples
of how Tennesseans are supporting their communities
and the medical professionals on the front lines fighting to contain the spread
of COVID-19:
• When
Baptist Memorial Health Care in Memphis found 30,000 N95 masks in storage that they couldn’t use because
the elastic bands were old and rotten, a group of Memphis volunteers
came together and repaired the masks in one weekend so they
could be used by those who need them.
• Myron Rolle – a former
Tennessee Titans football player and current neurosurgery resident at
Mass. General and Harvard Medical School – has volunteered to serve in a Mass. General clinic treating
patients coming in off the street with COVID-19
symptoms.
• Many across the Tennessee Valley
are dedicating their time and their resources to contribute
to the production of facemasks. Read about some of those
efforts here.
• One Middle Tennessee man has donated 500 masks to first responders and hopes to provide even
more.
• A
Clarksville resident has set a personal goal to produce 10,000 masks for medical
responders.
• Girl Scouts in Memphis had to put
selling cookies on hold due to the pandemic, so they decided that
they would instead donate them to
Memphis-area hospitals, the YMCA and the Mid-South Food
Bank.
• “I believe in
Nashville” has donated over 10,000 protective
face masks to protect Tennesseans.
• A Carhartt plant in Camden is using its
facility to produce personal
protective equipment for health care workers.
• Over 100 inmates in Tennessee’s
Department of Corrections are creating suits and masks for the state’s medical facilities fighting the
spread of the virus.
• Distilleries across our state have stepped up to contribute to
the containment efforts of this virus by using their facilities to
produce hand sanitizer. You can view a list of some
participating distilleries here.
• Tennessee’s
own Dolly Parton has personally donated $1
million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help fight the spread
of this disease.
• Food banks across our state are working hard
to give food to those who need it during this
difficult time.
• Members of the Tennessee National Guard have volunteered to join the fight against
COVID-19 by assisting the COVID-19 Medical Task Force.
• A veteran and small business owner has
been traveling across Tennessee in her mobile food truck providing free meals to those in
need.
• Jacks of
Knoxville has transformed its
business into a distribution center for masks that will be donated and
distributed
to those at-risk of coronavirus.
• FedEx, collaborating with the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is
participating in Project Airbridge and is transporting more than
450,000 Tyvek suits, and seven million facemasks to help support
COVID-19 relief in the U.S.
• The Tennessee Titans, partnering with Project C.U.R.E
Nashville, opened a medical supplies drive in
Nissan Stadium. The Tennessee Titans have also donated
$50,000 to the Metro COVID-19 Response Fund.
• The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
has donated 50,000 respiratory masks to help
emergency workers responding to the coronavirus pandemic. TVA is
also helping by making $1 billion in credit available to help 154 local
electric utilities keep the power on for families who may have trouble
paying their electric bills during this
crisis.
• Nissan has donated over 20,000 face masks to Tennessee's medical
professionals fighting COVID-19.
• HCA Healthcare, partnering with Google, has developed a data portal that will provide health care
workers across the country with much-needed health care data related to
COVID-19.
Protecting small businesses in
Tennessee
America’s small businesses are the backbone of our nation’s
economy, but too many are struggling to stay in business as a
result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The good news is that sweeping
relief is on the way. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – a
nearly $350 billion program – is now open for
applications. This program can help small businesses with fewer than 500 employees
cover eight weeks of payroll costs, most mortgage interest, rent, and
utilities. The federal government has temporarily shut down the
economy because of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and the federal
government must help those who are hurt by it. The first goal of the CARES
Act – legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by
President Trump on March 27 to combat the impact of COVID-19 – was
to keep paychecks coming to American workers. The Paycheck Protection
Program aims to do just that. If an employer maintains its
payroll, then the portion of the loan used to cover payroll costs, most
mortgage interest, rent, and utilities can be forgiven for the 8 weeks
after the loan is made. Click here for more information on how you can take advantage of these small
business loans.
Urging U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to
make COVID-19 antibodies test free for
everyone
This week, I,
along with Senator Roy Blunt from Missouri, wrote to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary
Alex Azar urging him to confirm that the CARES Act
requires free tests for Americans to find out if they have had COVID-19 and
are likely immune to the disease, at least in the short-term. We are
dealing not just with a medical issue here, we are dealing with an
issue of confidence. For weeks, Americans have
watched 24/7 news coverage of the dangers of COVID-19. Even if the government says you
can go back to work and back to school, many Americans may be
reluctant to leave their homes. The availability of two types of free
tests—one, a diagnostic test to determine if you have COVID-19,
and two, an antibodies test to determine whether you have had
it and are likely immune, at least for the short term—will
give Americans confidence that it is safe to go back to work and to
school and restart the economy. A copy of the letter
is available here.
Below are a few news articles I thought you might
enjoy:
The Tennessean: Lamar Alexander: How
the new coronavirus relief law helps
Americans
Tennessean: Grandparents have to get creative
to connect with grandchildren during
coronavirus
WKRN: Nashville grandfather and granddaughter have
sweetest socially distant dance-off
Williamson Herald: Alexander has right answer to resolve surprise medical
billing
Tennessean: How to advance the
common good during the coronavirus
crisis
“Be
specific. People are looking for answers.”
#26 in Lamar Alexander’s Little
Plaid Book
