2 — Monday, March 30, 2020
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

U.S. 
Rep. 
Debbie 
Dingell, 

D-Mich., held a conference call 

this afternoon with various media 

outlets to briefly discuss the details 

of the Coronavirus Relief Bill passed 

by Congress. According to Dingell, 

the $2 trillion would be sectioned 

off into seven main categories: 

individual, small businesses, large 

businesses/corporations, hospitals 

and public health, local and state 

governments, federal safety net 

and education. 

Dingell 
said 
the 
bill 
will 

hopefully boost the economy and 

keep the workforce intact. 

“My prayer is at the end of this 

they’re going to have jobs to go back 

to,” Dingell said. “That’s one of the 

things we worked really hard to get 

into this bill, that any help was tied 

into protecting the workers.”

Dingell highlighted some of the 

areas the bill focuses on and said 

it will boost supplies for personal 

protection 
equipment, 
which 

includes masks and gloves. 

“(The bill) provides direct aid 

to the healthcare institutions, it 

boosts supplies of the personal 

protection equipment in critical 

medical care,” Dingell said. 

The bill will also supply funding 

for both small and large businesses. 

Dingell emphasized how important 

funding for the auto industry would 

be, saying that there are roughly 17 

million jobs directly connected to 

the auto industry. 

Dingell 
likened 
the 
global 

pandemic to “an invisible enemy” 

and said this bill will hopefully give 

them enough for their “arsenal.”

“We’re at war … with an invisible 

enemy, and we don’t have enough 

tools in our arsenal,” Dingell said. 

“This bill is going to get us there 

and if it’s not enough, we’re going 

to have to do more. But we need to 

give people hope. We need to put 

stimulus into the economy.”

Dingell 
emphasized 
how 

dependent America is on getting 

medicine and medical supplies 

from China. She said she hopes that 

there is some type of investment to 

change this dependency.

“We 
need 
a 
massive 

infrastructure bill,” Dingell said. 

“Hopefully, when we come out of 

this we’re going to invest in what 

we need to invest in — at the same 

time, we’re going to be creating 

jobs which ultimately make our 

economy stronger. We’ll put more 

money in and we’ll create more 

revenue.”

Dingell urged everyone to follow 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s call to 

“stay home and stay safe,” and to 

use technology to remain in contact 

with others during this time. 

“We got to do what we got to 

do which is stay home,” Dingell 

said. “(But) we have to remain in 

contact and check in with each 

other. We have to stay together as a 

community and if we stay together 

as a community, we’re going to get 

through this.”

One 
reporter 
asked 
about 

unemployment benefits for the self-

employed since many have had their 

claims rejected. According to NPR, 

the new bill creates a temporary 

Pandemic 
Unemployment 

Assistance program that will serve 

through the end of the year. 

Dingell 
responded 
that 
she 

was 
unsure 
if 
unemployment 

claims will now be automatically 

reviewed. 

“This 
legislation 
is 
dealing 

with 
people 
directly 
impacted 

by 
coronavirus,” 
Dingell 
said. 

“If they have lost their job or are 

not getting income related to the 

coronavirus, they should, I hate to 

say this, reapply. If they are having 

problems, my office is open seven 

days a week.”

WXYZ-TV news reporter Jim 

Kiertzner 
asked 
Dingell 
about 

President Donald Trump’s tweets 

directing 
criticism 
at 
General 

Motors and Ford Motor Company.

“He’s going after General Motors 

and Ford for not wrapping up 

production of ventilators, of masks 

and so on,” Kiertzner said. 

Dingell replied that she has also 

read the tweets, but would prefer 

to deal with the pandemic over the 

politics. 

“I have stayed on top of this 

issue from day one,” Dingell said. 

“We need all the help we can get 

in Michigan. We’re going to be the 

epicenter. We’re going to be like 

New York, faster than any of us 

wants to think about it. Nobody 

wants to get into a pissing contest 

with the president, we need his 

leadership right now.”

Dingell said she believed the 

large three auto companies — Ford, 

Chrysler and GM — are doing what 

they can to provide ventilators, 

but she said some type of federal 

“management” is necessary. 

MediaNews 
Group 
journalist 

Dave Herndon asked Dingell if 

there was a plan for those still in 

school, K-12 specifically. 

“Governor Whitmer was talking 

about the possibility of the school 

year being over in Michigan, I was 

wondering, is there something 

that the Congress is working on?” 

Herndon asked. 

Dingell replied that though there 

are currently no plans on a national 

level because education is largely 

a state issue, the schools will only 

reopen when it is completely safe 

to do so, regardless of the timeline. 

“We probably won’t hit an apex 

in Michigan for two to three 

weeks,” Dingell said. “I don’t know 

when we’re going to reopen. We’ll 

open the schools when it’s safe to 

open the schools. The first priority 

right now is to keep people safe and 

that means not gathering in large 

groups, and quite frankly I don’t 

know what’s going to happen, but I 

think it’s pretty likely that we will 

not open schools until the fall.”

Daily 
Staff 
Reporter 
Alyssa 

McMurtry 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

amcmurt@umich.edu.

ALYSSA MCMURTRY

Daily Staff Reporter

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ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily

Paige Engkvist volunteers to make extra masks for hospitals that are short on supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rep. Dingell reviews details 
of $2 trillion COVID response

Recently passed legislation extends aid to families, businesses across 
the country in largest stimulus package in modern American history

