Congress passes coronavirus aid bill

March 18, 2020 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Washington D.C., Mar 18, 2020 / 03:35 pm (CNA).- Congress has passed a second bill responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including paid leave for coronavirus-related reasons for many Americans.

On Thursday, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201), a $2.5 billion stimulus package. The White House has previously said that President Trump would sign the legislation.

The House passed the stimulus package early on Saturday morning by an overwhelming vote of 363 to 40. Of those voting in favor, 140 Republicans joined 223 Democrats while 40 other Republicans voted against the bill.

Although the bill received broad bi-partisan support, Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), James Lankford (D-Okla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) all voted against the bill.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) was declared to be a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) officials last week. There are more than 7,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. and 97 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Wednesday.

Among other provisions, the bill helps fund free Coronavirus testing for all Americans and requires commercial insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, Indian Health service and TRI-CARE plans to cover testing diagnosis without cost-sharing.

Additionally, the legislation requires businesses with fewer than 500 employees to provide 14 days of paid sick leave for employees who are infected with the virus, are under quarantine, are caring for a family member with the virus, or who have children sent home from school closings.

“The vast majority” of businesses with more than 500 employees already provide paid sick leave, House Republican leadership said, commenting on the bill, but the New York Times editorial board reported on Saturday that some large corporations did not have an across-the-board provision for paid sick leave in their company policies.

Technical changes were made to the bill on Monday allowing for expanded tax credits for small businesses to provide paid leave, reportedly at the request of the Trump administration. Speaker Pelosi on Tuesday called for expanded paid leave in an expected third stimulus package.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that the chamber planned to pass the House bill, but that the Senate would not adjourn for the week until “a far bolder package” was passed. 

Congress previously passed a $8.3 billion response package that was signed into law by President Trump on March 6.

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US bishops disappointed by Supreme Court decision upholding travel ban

June 27, 2018 CNA Daily News 2

Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2018 / 11:51 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has expressed disappointment with a Supreme Court ruling upholding President Donald Trump’s travel ban, which prohibits nationals from several countries from entering the U.S.

“The travel ban targets Muslims for exclusion, which goes against our country’s core principle of neutrality when it comes to people of faith,” said the statement, issued by Bishop Joe Vásquez of Austin, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ migration committee, and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, who chairs the religious freedom committee.

“We are disappointed in the Court’s ruling because it failed to take into account the clear and unlawful targeting of a specific religious group by the government,” continued the statement.

“The Catholic Church takes a strong stand against religious discrimination, and we will continue to advocate for the rights of people of all faiths, as well as serve migrants and refugees through our various ministries.”

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 to uphold the ban. Chief Justice John Roberts authored the majority opinion in Trump v. Hawaii, which fell along ideological lines.

The Court found that President Donald Trump was acting within the limits of his authority when he announced a travel ban on nationals from seven countries. The policy prohibits entry into the U.S. of most nationals from five majority-Muslim countries: Libya, Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Somalia.

A change to the policy, enacted a few weeks before the Supreme Court was to hear the challenge to the ban, also prohibits entrance of nationals from North Korea, and to certain government officials from Venezuela and their immediate families.

The U.S. bishops’ conference, along with Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in opposition to the travel ban. The groups argued that the ban was a violation of the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.

Trump, however, has emphasized the decision as necessary to protect Americans against terrorism and other violence.

A statement from the White House June 26 called the ruling “a tremendous victory for the American People and the Constitution.”

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