CBC Editorial: “Are Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis Going to Sit Back in Silence and Inaction?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

August 10, 2020

CBC Editorial: “Are Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis Going to Sit Back in Silence and Inaction?”

Trump Executive Orders “Desperate, Inadequate, and Likely Illegal,” While Tillis and Burr Do Nothing to Pass Economic Relief Bill

Raleigh, N.C. - In an editorial published today, North Carolina’s Capitol Broadcasting Company slammed Senators Thom Tillis and Richard Burr for their silence and inaction in passing an adequate economic relief bill through Congress. Tillis and Burr’s continued failure to pass a relief package comes as the Winston-Salem Journal reports that North Carolinians are exhausting their unemployment insurance faster than residents of other states.

Specifically, the CBC questioned why Tillis and Burr have not spoken up with regards to four Trump administration executive orders that would slash federal unemployment payments by $200 per week, provide little real economic relief for struggling families, and which have been widely panned as creating new economic uncertainty and confusion.

“Struggling families in North Carolina are rapidly running out of options while Senator Tills and Senator Burr sit back and do nothing to provide them relief,” said Piedmont Rising Executive Director Casey Wilkinson. “Tillis and Burr showed no leadership three weeks ago as federal unemployment payments expired, and they’re showing no urgency now to assist families who don’t know how they’re going to pay for housing, health care, or food. Tillis and Burr must demand that Senate GOP leadership negotiate and pass a comprehensive relief package to avoid making this crisis even worse.”

More from the CBC Editorial:

• “Are [Tillis and Burr] going to do their jobs – and demand the same of their fellow senators – to work with the House of Representatives and produce a pandemic economic recovery package that is best for North Carolinians and the nation?”

• Trump’s executive orders are “desperate, inadequate, and likely illegal” and “shortchange the needs of millions of out-of-work Americans to shelter their families, feed their children and provide other basic services that keep the nation operating and the economy from complete collapse.”

• “Burr and Tillis need to speak up to demand Trump makes sure states – particularly North Carolina – have the resources they need. they should demand the Senate engage in serious and sincere talk with the House about a truly comprehensive relief package that HELPS NORTH CAROLINIANS AND ALL AMERICANS FIRST.”

###