The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted alot of pain on our community; pain felt most deeply by those who lost loved ones, essential workers, who are overwhelmingly low-income workers of color, and small businesses. 

The most important step we can take to move forward beyond the pandemic is to get vaccinated and boosted. The vaccines are safe, tested, and extremely effective. Please go to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website to find the most convenient location for you to get vaccinated or boosted.

I was proud to secure billions in COVID-related aid to Georgia in the American Rescue Plan, including $2 billion to expand Medicaid, $1.5 billion in childcare funding, and $1 billion for Head Start to ensure families can continue to access quality early-learning opportunities.

The  American Rescue Plan, which I helped pass, also included $245,712,324 to 565 small businesses in the Fifth District. The Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) and Shuttered Venues Operators Grant (SVOG) funding was an invaluable lifeline to the small businesses that make the Fighting Fifth such a rich and vibrant community. In April 2022, I voted to replenish the RRF with an additional $42 billion dollars and $13 billion for a new Hard Hit Industries Award.

The pandemic exposed how badly the people and small businesses in our community and communities around the country needed to be supported, and I will always support efforts to invest in and uplift those who need it most, when they need it most.