On this day, March 28, 1942, Japanese-American lawyer Minoru Yasui (1916-1986) violated a military curfew in Portland, Oregon, and demanded to be arrested after he was refused enlistment to fight for the US. He was one of the few Japanese Americans who fought laws that directly targeted Japanese Americans or Japanese immigrants following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In 2015 he was among 17 people awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom.
Also on this day March 28, 1939, the front page of the Eugene Register-Guard blared the headline: "Mighty Oregon Scramble Ohio State to Take Hoop Title of All America," right under a declaration that the Spanish War had ended, of course.
It will not pass the Senate, and even then faces a presidential veto
The Democrat controlled US House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act today which appropriates about $3 trillion in stimulus and a cornucopia of other sundry payments in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The YES vote was 208 to 199 NO votes.
Among other things, the bill
- Provides FY2020 emergency supplemental appropriations to federal agencies
- Provides payments and other assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments
- Provides additional direct payments of up to $1,200 per individual
- Expands paid sick days, family and medical leave, unemployment compensation, nutrition and food assistance programs, housing assistance, and payments to farmers
- Modifies and expands the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans and grants to small businesses and nonprofit organizations
- Establishes a fund to award grants for employers to provide pandemic premium pay for essential workers
- Expands several tax credits and deductions
- Provides funding and establishes requirements for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing
- Eliminates cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatments
- Extends and expands the moratorium on certain evictions and foreclosures
- Requires employers to develop and implement infectious disease exposure control plans
The bill also modifies or expands a wide range of other programs and policies, including those regarding
- Medicare and Medicaid
- Health insurance
- Broadband service
- Medical product supplies
- Immigration
- Student loans and financial aid
- The federal workforce
- Prisons
- Veterans benefits
- Consumer protection requirements
- The U.S. Postal Service
- Federal elections
- Aviation and railroad workers
- Pension and retirement plans
Members of the Oregon Delegation voting YES, were
Blumenauer (D)
Bonamici (D)
DeFazio (D)
Members of the Oregon Delegation voting NO, were
Schrader (D)
Walden (R)
--Staff ReportsPost Date: 2020-05-16 14:38:10 | Last Update: 2020-05-17 14:38:42 |