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Here we are, in the midst of the worst public health and economic crisis in more than 100 years.

As you read this, the number of COVID-19 cases is skyrocketing to the highest levels ever. We are approaching 200,000 newly confirmed cases of the virus every day. Hospitals and ICU beds are filled to capacity. Deaths are on the rise. People are worried about their jobs, how they are going to put food on the table for their families, and whether they'll be able to pay their rent or mortgage.

And what is the Republican Senate doing in response? NOTHING. All that Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues seem interested in during this unprecedented crisis is confirming right-wing judges and Federal Reserve Board members, and trying to delegitimize Biden's victory. Pathetic.

On Thursday, the Senate adjourned until November 30. By the time we return to the chamber, it is likely that 2 million more of our friends, neighbors and family members will have come down with the virus and 20,000 more will have died.

And when we do return, we will only have a limited amount of time to pass a number of programs put in place to protect working people during this pandemic.

Take a look at what the holiday season could look like in Trump-McConnell land:

- 12 million Americans will see all of their unemployment benefits expire the day after Christmas.
- A program allowing more than 30 million Americans with student loans to temporarily suspend repayment expires at the end of the year, as does national eviction moratorium.
- Federal funding to help state and local governments fund paid sick leave expires.

Sisters and brothers: our message is simple. Congress cannot simply close up shop, go home and leave millions and millions of people in desperate anxiety.

The bad news is that we are at a point in this pandemic where the spread of the virus threatens to increase exponentially during the winter months. The good news is that it appears we are close to a vaccine that will go a long way toward hastening the end of this crisis.

This is precisely the moment we should be making it easier for people to care for their families and stop the spread of the virus. It is the right thing to do morally. It is the right thing to do from a health perspective. It is the right thing to do economically.

So today I want to ask you to do something important — to make your voice heard on this issue before my colleagues return from recess. What do you say?

Sign my petition: tell Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate to join with Democrats and take action that will help the American people care for their families and stop the spread of a virus that threatens to spiral totally out of control.

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Here’s what that means:

- Extending $600 a week in unemployment benefits.
- Providing emergency payments of $2,000 to every working class American until the crisis is over.
- Empowering Medicare to cover all medical bills and healthcare expenses of the uninsured or under-insured.
- Canceling rent and mortgage payments until the pandemic ends.
- Making sure no one in America goes hungry by substantially increasing nutrition assistance.
- Appropriating adequate funds for states, cities, hospitals and schools.

The coronavirus has impacted people throughout the world and our own country, and it has proven especially dangerous for low-income people and communities of color the most.

Before this pandemic began, half of American workers were living paycheck to paycheck. Now, as a result of the pandemic, that situation is even worse. When you have no job and nothing in savings, how can you pay for food, rent, health care, childcare, car payments and other expenses?

At the same time, the billionaire class has never had it so good. In fact, some of the wealthiest people in this country have made extraordinary amounts of money — almost $1 trillion — during the pandemic. That is obscene.

And now Republican leadership wants to shut down Congress and head home for a break?

Well, I respectfully disagree.

I think you do, as well.

Sign my petition: tell Mitch McConnell and the Republican Senate to join with Democrats and take action that will help the American people care for their families and stop the spread of a virus that threatens to spiral totally out of control.

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We are in an unprecedented moment in American history, and it is easy to feel like we are alone or that we must all fend for ourselves. But that would be a terrible mistake. Now more than ever, we must remember that we are all in this together. And that’s why making your voice heard right now is so important.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders


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