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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Charmaine Riley, riley@civilrights.org, 202.548.7166

92 Groups Urge Senate to Protect Health, Rights, and Democracy in COVID-19 Response

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and more than 90 civil rights, labor, and religious organizations today urged senators to take strong, comprehensive action this month to address the health and economic consequences of the continuing COVID-19 crisis. The groups called for swift, bold action to save lives, preserve and strengthen our vital institutions, and to ensure that the eventual economic recovery is equitable.

WASHINGTON

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and more than 90 civil rights, labor, and religious organizations today urged senators to take strong, comprehensive action this month to address the health and economic consequences of the continuing COVID-19 crisis. The groups called for swift, bold action to save lives, preserve and strengthen our vital institutions, and to ensure that the eventual economic recovery is equitable.

"The Senate has a moral obligation to ensure that all Americans have the resources they need to withstand this crisis, and to provide additional resources to the people and communities that have borne the brunt of the pandemic's impact. It must do so in a manner that protects the civil and human rights of all people; and because we are all in this together, it must not leave out any community on the basis of factors such as race, color, national origin, immigration status, disability, sex, or age," the groups write in their letter.

The groups urge senators to pass legislation that:

  • Ensures robust and equal access to quality health care
  • Provides targeted and more relief for marginalized communities
  • Protects the most vulnerable working people
  • Ensures safeguards for homes and financial health, and provides shelter to those most in need
  • Reduces law enforcement responses and the risks to incarcerated people and corrections employees
  • Combats sharp increase in hate crimes
  • Minimizes learning loss, ensures equal educational opportunity, and protects student loan borrowers
  • Protects our democracy and elections
  • Ensures a fair and accurate 2020 Census
  • Protects immigrants and citizens alike

The groups note: "The future is what we must create together. We have to unite across our differences and reimagine what our commitment truly is to one another. It is profoundly important that the eventual recovery works for everyone, and that Congress adopts policies that leave us in a better place."

The signatories and letter are available here.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. Through advocacy and outreach to targeted constituencies, The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals.

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