Latest from Lamar, Notes from the Senate Desk

*Important News from
this Week:*

-
The single most important piece of conservation
legislation in half a century, the Great American Outdoors Act, is
headed
[link 1]to President Trump's desk to be signed into law, which will
cut in half the $12 billion maintenance backlog in our national
parks, including $224 million in the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park.

-
Americans remembered
[link 2]the life and legacy of civil
rights icon John Lewis. John Lewis' life proves that the story of America
can be, as the Rev. Ben Hooks used to say, "a work in progress for the
better - even though we still have a long way to go." Sixty years ago,
John was a Fisk University student in Nashville protesting laws that
did not allow him to sit at lunch counters because of his race. He
died a member of the United States Congress and a winner of the
Presidential Medal of Freedom. Tennesseans are grateful that he helped us
understand better the meaning of equal opportunity.

-
I cosponsored
the School Choice Now Act, which provides scholarships to students so
they have the opportunity to return to the private school they attended
before the pandemic - and gives other students a new opportunity to
attend private school.

-
Tennessee families with children who
receive free or reduced school meals are eligible for financial assistance
to help with the cost of food in March, April, and May when schools
were closed. Deadline to apply is July 27 and parents can apply here
[link 3].

-
This week I cosponsored legislation to provide short
term assistance to child care providers who have been affected by this
pandemic so that they can safely reopen and provide child care services
in to working families.

*Most important conservation legislation in
half a century heads to President Trump's desk*

The U.S. House of
Representatives this week passed [link 4] the single most important
piece of conservation legislation in half a century, the Great American
Outdoors Act. Today, too many of our national parks are in bad shape,
and American families visiting those parks are often shocked to find
that so many of the roads, picnic areas, trails, campgrounds and
visitor centers are in such bad condition or even closed. This bill, which
is now headed to President Trump's desk for his signature, includes the
Restore Our Parks Act I introduced that will cut in half the $12
billion maintenance backlog in our national parks, including $224 million
in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Here is what this means
for Tennessee - places like Look Rock Campground in the Smokies,
which has been closed for several years because the sewage system doesn't
work, will have the resources needed to reopen so the 5,000 families
who camp there each year can continue to enjoy it. And the Cherokee
National Forest in East Tennessee, which suffers from a $27 million
deferred maintenance backlog and welcomes more visitors each year than most
of the western national parks, will have its roads and trails
restored. And then in West Tennessee, the Tennessee National Wildlife Refuge,
which has about $8 million of maintenance work that needs to be done
on boat ramps and boat docks, will receive the support it needs as
well. It will also fully and permanently fund the Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF), an unrealized goal of Congress and the conservation
community since 1964. Fully funding the LWCF was also a recommendation
of President Reagan's Commission on Americans Outdoors, which I
chaired in 1985.

None of this would be possible without the strong
support of President Trump and so many Democrat and Republican members of
Congress. In the midst of all the bad things that are going on today,
this is a good thing. I'm glad Congress has been able to work together
to pass this important bill, and I look forward to the president
signing it into law.

*Protecting America's students*

All parents,
regardless of income or circumstance, should be able to decide which
school best meets their child's needs, whether that school is public or
private. Legislation I cosponsored [link 5] this week, the School Choice
Now Act, provides scholarships to students to have the opportunity to
return to the private school they attended before the pandemic - and
gives other students a new opportunity to attend private school.
Children in all K-12 schools, public and private, have been affected by
COVID-19. Many schools are choosing not to reopen and many schools are
failing to provide high-quality distance learning. The students who will
suffer from this experience the most are the children from lower
income families. This bill will give families more options for their
children's education at a time that school is more important than
ever.

I also proposed [link 6] that the federal government continue to defer
student loan payments for borrowers who are unemployed due to the
current crisis. In March, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress
deferred student loan payments for six months, but without congressional
action, payments will resume starting October 1st, which is just around
the corner. What do we say to those 43 million student loan borrowers
today? I propose that we say this: Number One: No Income: No monthly
payment. In other words, if you have a student loan, your monthly
payment is zero if you do not have any income, for whatever reason. Number
Two: When you do begin earning income, your monthly payment will
never be more than 10 percent of your income after you deduct the
necessities of life, such as the cost of housing - such as rent or mortgage -
and food.

*Preparing for the next pandemic*

This week, I
introduced [link 7] the Preparing for the Next Pandemic Act -- legislation
that will maintain sufficient onshore manufacturing for tests,
treatments and vaccines, and rebuild state and federal stockpiles of supplies
like masks and ventilators. In this internet age, attention spans are
short. Even with an event as significant as COVID-19, memories fade and
attention moves quickly to the next crisis. That makes it imperative
that Congress act this year on needed changes in order to better
prepare for the next pandemic. Let's not succumb to the familiar dangerous
habit of 'Panic. Neglect. Panic.' At least Congress can take these
three steps to keep vaccine manufacturing on shore and stockpiles
supplied, now, while the pandemic has our attention, while we have our eye on
the ball.

The Preparing for the Next Pandemic Act does three
things:

-
*Onshore Manufacturing* - provides new, sustained funding -
$5 billion over 10 years - to maintain sufficient onshore
manufacturing for tests, treatments and vaccines so that when a new virus emerges,
the United States has a facility ready to manufacture those products
as quickly as possible.

-
*State Stockpiles* - provides new,
sustained funding - $10 billion over 10 years - so states can create and
maintain their own stockpiles of supplies such as masks and ventilators
with help from the federal government.

-
*Federal Stockpiles* -
improves the federal Strategic National Stockpile, by allowing the
Federal government to work with companies to maintain additional supplies
and manufacturing capacity so we are even better prepared for the
next pandemic.

There is also broad agreement about additional steps
Congress needs to take to prepare for the next pandemic, including
improving disease surveillance, restoring support for our state and public
health systems which Governor Mike Leavitt and others describe as
being badly underfunded for the last 30-40 years, and better coordination
of pandemic response. I intend to keep legislation to better prepare
for future pandemics on the top of the congressional to-do list until
it's done.

*Supporting child care providers so working parents can
go back to work *

This week I cosponsored legislation to provide
short term assistance to child care providers who have been affected by
this pandemic so that they can safely reopen and provide child care
services in to working families. Child care is a critical part to getting
our country back to work. Two-thirds of children in the U.S. under
age six have parents in the workforce, and those parents can't go to
work if they don't have someone to take care of their children safely
during the day. I have urged other senators to support Senator Joni Ernst
of Iowa's proposal to provide more support to child care centers,
operators, and providers who have been severely harmed by the COVID-19
outbreak so they can continue to provide critical services to working
parents

*Below are a few articles from this week I thought you might
enjoy:*

*WATE-ABC Knoxville Channel 6: Senator Alexander proposes
help for student loan borrowers [link 8]*

*WBIR-NBC Knoxville
Channel 10: Bill dedicating around $2 billion for national parks to be
signed into law [link 9]*

*ABC News: Sen. Lamar Alexander introduces new
proposal for pandemic preparedness [link 10]*

"Be on
time."

*#25 in Lamar Alexander's Little Plaid Book *




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