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Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) revealed Thursday on the House floor that her sister is dying of the coronavirus.
The congresswoman, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, discussed her sister’s condition while speaking in support of the latest coronavirus relief bill, which passed in the Senate earlier this week and passed in the House later Thursday.
“I’m going to take a moment to dedicate this legislation to my dear sister who is dying in a hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, right now, infected by the coronavirus,” Waters said.
The congresswoman, who grew up in St. Louis with 12 siblings, did not name the sister who has COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus, during her speech in the House chamber.
The legislation allocates an additional $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program designated for small businesses. The initial rollout of the program drew criticism after it was revealed loans went to some large businesses and chains before the program ran out of money.
The new bill also allocates $75 billion to health care providers for expenses and lost revenues related to the coronavirus pandemic and $25 billion to expand testing.
On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced that her oldest brother, Don Reed Herring, died Tuesday night due to coronavirus complications.
“What made him extra special was his smile — quick and crooked, it always seemed to generate its own light, one that lit up everyone around him,” Warren tweeted on Thursday.
She noted in a later tweet that she was “grateful to the nurses and frontline staff who took care of him.”
“But it’s hard to know that there was no family to hold his hand or to say ‘I love you’ one more time— and no funeral for those of us who loved him to hold each other close,” she added. “I’ll miss you dearly my brother.”
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