Prioritize Save Our Stages Funding

Floor Speech

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Mr. WILLIAMS of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak for thousands of music venues, movie theaters, and museums that are struggling to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past year, Congress has come together in a bipartisan manner to pass over $3.5 trillion in pandemic assistance. While much of this aid was necessary, government bureaucracy has routinely delayed getting this money into the hands of the American people. As of today, there are still $1.3 trillion in unspent COVID-19 relief.

In December, the House passed my bipartisan Save our Stages Act, which established the $15 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, providing direct relief for music venues, movie theaters, and museums devastated by the pandemic. These businesses were the first to close and will be some of the last to reopen.

Nine weeks have passed since President Trump signed this into law, and the SBA still has not even produced the application for venue owners to apply. At this rate, some grants won't be delivered until summer.

This is unacceptable, and the SBA needs to get to work immediately. Every day we wait, there is another door that permanently closes. The bottom line is: The shows must go on.

In God we trust.

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