Sen. McConnell delivers remarks on CARES Act in Morehead, Ky.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell delivered remarks in Morehead on the CARES Act and its impact on the Commonwealth.
Senator McConnell spoke to a group of healthcare workers at St. Claire HealthCare in Morehead on Friday on the impact of the CARES Act on communities in Kentucky. $100,000,000 dollars have been granted to rural hospitals as a result of the CARES Act.
Senator McConnell started his briefing talking about how COVID-19 largely blindsided politicians as well as the public, saying no one knew what exactly they were dealing with, and how the government worked to overcome the challenges that the virus posed.
He said COVID-19 devastated the economy, saying “We went from the country’s best economy in 50 years - in February of this year. February of this year, we had the best economy in 50 years - in two-and-a-half months, we looked like the Great Depression in the 30′s.”
He says the challenge to lawmakers was trying to work out how they could work to save the economy, and move forward from the unprecedented circumstances. Speaking on establishing the CARES Act, the senator said that lawmakers came together to create the CARES Act in about a week.
“Cumulatively, we have thrown at this disease, and all the impact it had roughly $3 trillion dollars. The bad news about that from a financial point of view, as you can imagine, our country has a cumulative debt the size of our economy for the first time since World War II. That is a significant challenge,” said Senator McConnell.
McConnell said working from home taught him the potential of working remotely and says Kentucky needs to provide broadband connectivity in the state to make sure all counties are plugged into current technology.
The Senator spoke about a return to normalcy, saying the “two things we’re looking for that are the most important things to get back to... is kids in school and jobs returning.”
McConnell says until a vaccine is found and is widely available, the two above concerns are of primary concern.
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