Billy Long: My Republican colleagues and I are dedicated to restoring, renewing and rebuilding our great nation

(From Seventh District Congressman Billy Long)

Since he was sworn in, President Trump has experienced a record-breaking presidency, ushering in the strongest economy in U.S. history and delivering the fastest labor market recovery following an economic crisis in history. 

The meteoric economic rise our nation has experienced under the Trump Administration is undeniable, leaving Democrats with little else to do other than to prolong the economic shutdown by delaying additional COVID-relief. 

The COVID-relief packages President Trump signed into law, including the highly successful Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), have launched us into a rapid economic comeback, and delaying critical relief is their final – but hopeless— Hail Mary. 

In last week’s Long’s Short Report, I outlined the record-smashing August jobs report, the fourth consecutive report to blow past expectations. These reports have shown that over 50% of the jobs lost due to COVID-19 have returned, proving that President Trump’s plan for recovery is working. 

This outstanding achievement is credited, in part, to the overwhelming success of the Paycheck Protection Program, which has saved 51 million jobs, or 84% of the small business workforce, thus far. In Missouri alone, over 930,000 jobs were saved due to the PPP program. 

The 4.9 million loans totaling close to $522 billion gave small businesses critical federal funding that could be used for payroll, rent, or utilities with the guarantee that their loan would be completely forgiven if used for those purposes. This lifeline ensured that many small businesses could survive the COVID-driven economic shutdown, and many were able to keep their employees on the payroll thanks to PPP loans.

Despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claims that there was “no data as to why” we should replenish the Paycheck Protection Program, American business owners saw the value in this program, and over 50 million jobs were saved because of it. 

The program’s undeniable success and contribution to our strong economic comeback has prompted Congressional Republicans to include funding for another round of PPP loans in upcoming COVID-relief packages, but Democrats have blocked any packages that exclude their $1 trillion partisan wish list. 

The Great American Comeback is well underway, but in order to create more jobs and rebuild our economy, we must give small businesses the support they need to stay open, retain employees, and grow; initiating another round of PPP loans is the most immediate and effective way to do that.

While PPP loans have saved hundreds of thousands of jobs across Missouri and millions across the country, the “Beat Trump at all cost” Democrats have focused their efforts on defunding and dismantling the police while keeping businesses on Main Street shuttered. 

And now this from Minnesota Public Radio on 9/15/20: “with violent crime on the rise in Minneapolis City Council asks: ‘where are the police?’” As crime and murders have spiked in many major cities seeking to abolish police has turned out to not be all peaches and cream as we were led to believe. Joe Biden has promised to “build back better”, yet all I see from Democrats is a concerted effort to stifle economic growth and destroy the strong America we’ve enjoyed the last four years simply because they don’t like the man who built it. 

The violent rioters many Democrats are openly supporting are literally burning our cities to the ground along with intentionally setting forests on fire. My Republican colleagues and I are committed to restoring, renewing, and rebuilding our great nation, and offering small businesses another round of PPP loans is one of the many ways we plan to do it.