We must pass HEROES Act

The HEROES Act, a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package, has been sitting in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's lap for more than two and a half months. Yet, as the virus spread and the economic situation got worse, McConnell opted to do nothing for working people in Missouri.

The relief package proposed by Sen. McConnell on July 27 is $2 trillion dollars short and 73 days late. The bill drastically reduces the $600 in weekly unemployment benefits that thousands of Missouri families, laid off through no fault of our own, are relying on right now as a lifeline. And during a time where millions of working people are without a job, health care or retirement security, the package also includes a bill from Sen. Mitt Romney that fast-tracks Social Security and Medicare cuts.

With summer recess approaching, time is running out. As president of the Southeast Missouri Central Labor Council, and on behalf of all those struggling at the present time, I am calling on Missouri Senators Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt to step up and show what it means to be a leader in a time of crisis: The Senate must pass the HEROES Act.

MARK BAKER, Jackson