Dear Friends, I've been focused on providing Oregonians relief in a time when so many are worried about staying healthy, keeping their job, and paying the bills. Yesterday, we took a step forward in that effort when the House approved President Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to provide urgently needed relief. Included in the package is my restaurant relief proposal to provide $25 billion in grants to local restaurants and their workers, the industry hit hardest by the pandemic. Nearly a year ago, I began working with the Oregon restaurant community who provided key leadership in what would become a national movement to save our beloved local restaurants, cafes, and bars. Already, one in six restaurants have closed their doors for good since the start of the pandemic. Without targeted aid, there will be more restaurants closed and millions more jobs lost.  It is clear that restaurants need federal relief now in the form of grants, not loans, to protect the jobs, supply chains, and local economies they support. That is why even when our proposal was blocked by Mitch McConnell, we refused to give up. We knew this grant program was the best opportunity to save our restaurants and support their workers. While more needs to be done to help this struggling industry, our local restaurants and their workers will soon finally have a lifeline to get them through this public health crisis. Passage of my restaurant relief proposal could very well be the difference between survival for some of our most cherished local restaurants and losing them forever. We will get through this crisis, as we have the many that came before this. As we embark on the road to recovery and hopefully returning to normal later this year, I will continue to fight for the needs of Oregonians every step of the way.