Council for a Strong America Urges Congress to Pass Bipartisan Pandemic Relief

Washington, D.C. – December 15, 2020

Council for a Strong America urges Congress to act now, before this session of Congress adjourns, to pass pandemic relief for our nation’s families.

The economy continues to suffer, and with it, so do the vital programs that keep our children healthy, strong and learning. The bipartisan proposal before Congress right now provides funding to stabilize the child care sector through new Back to Work Child Care Grants, and it sustains critical nutrition programs with funding for school meal adaptations, continued pandemic emergency benefits (P-EBT), increased investment in SNAP nutrition incentives (GusNIP) and additional funding for WIC participants to help families purchase fresh fruits and vegetables.

“Providing direct grants to child care providers that are facing closure due to mounting costs will help shore up the sector, ensure our children have a place to safely learn and grow while parents work, and allow our economy to thrive once again,” said Barry Ford, President and CEO of Council for a Strong America. “Furthermore, this bill provides targeted food system relief to help address the diminished access to fresh and nutritious foods which are essential to the healthy development of our nation’s kids. On behalf of the nearly 800 retired admirals and generals of Mission: Readiness, the 3,000 business leaders of ReadyNation and the more than 5,000 law enforcement leaders of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, I urge Congress to pass this relief now as a downpayment on the vital solutions that will sustain our country through the pandemic.”

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Council for a Strong America is a bipartisan policy organization that engages law enforcement, military, business, faith and sports leaders to promote evidence-based policies and programs that enable kids to be healthy, well-educated and prepared for productive lives.