WASHINGTON, May 29 -- Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed bipartisan legislation co-sponsored by Rep. Peter Welch to revamp the Payroll Protection Program (PPP), providing more flexibility for small businesses struggling to survive during the coronavirus pandemic. This bill is a stand-alone version of similar reforms that were included in the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800), which passed the House last week. Majority Leade  more

WASHINGTON, May 28 -- Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Stephen F. Lynch (D-Mass.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) introduced legislation Wednesday to protect Dr. Anthony Fauci and other directors of National Research Institutes and Centers from being fired for politically-motivated reasons. As Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Dr. Fauci has been vital   more

WASHINGTON, May 28 -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, issued the following joint statement with Sens. Mark R. Warner, D-Virginia, Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont, Doug Jones, D-Alaska and Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, to cover the wages and benefits of employees of affected businesses and nonprofits until the economic and public health crisis is resolved: "Each day, more Americans are finding themselves out of work due to the coronavirus pandemic. That is why I'm proud to cosponsor the Payc  more

WASHINGTON, May 30 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release: "In a global pandemic that in 100 days has killed more Americans than died in Vietnam and Korea and is predicted to kill thousands more, we need every weapon in our arsenal. "Now is the worst possible time to withdraw from the World Health Organization, which coordinates the coronavirus response and which the world depends on for expertise on everything from deadly respiratory infections to polio. "It  more

WASHINGTON, May 30 -- Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, issued the following news release on May 29: Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to make permanent the live audio access to oral arguments it has adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they further asked the Court to allow live video coverage of its proceedings. Leahy and Grassley also noted that the vast majority of Americans support audio and video access to our nation's justi  more