TYLER, Texas — With Congress on a break, Senator John Cornyn visited Tyler Wednesday morning to see how the relief funds from the CARES Act are impacting the community.
Sen. Cornyn (R-Texas) toured the East Texas Food Bank, helping pack dry goods while learning more about how it has helped the community during the coronavirus pandemic.
“The good news is occasionally, Congress gets it right,” he joked.
He was joined on his tour by local leaders in politics, education, and health care, to hear their stories of what the CARES Act has meant to the region.
“Approximately 68,000 more of our neighbors in those 26 counties [we serve] were becoming food insecure,” Dennis Cullinane, the food bank’s CEO, said. “Almost 282,000 [total] in East Texas. And almost 40% of the people who were seeking assistance back at the height of the pandemic in April and May, were families that did everything right and did everything by the book and had never had to seek assistance from a pantry or public support before.”
Sen. Cornyn said more than $77 million has been delivered to municipalities and organizations in Tyler. The East Texas Food Bank received money from the Paycheck Protection Program that it has used to serve 3.6 million meals since the pandemic began.
CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances hospital received more than $16 million for personal protective equipment and to make up for lost revenue and additional costs due to caring for COVID-19 patients.
“When we really stopped for about six to eight weeks doing elective procedures,the impact at CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances was $38 million," Chris Glenney, CEO of CHRISTUS Northeast Texas Region, said. "And so, the CARES Act funding helped close that gap and I think, will help keep us strong into the future.”
Sen. Cornyn made special mention of gratitude for the work done by Tyler Independent School District, which received more than $4 million. Superintendent Marty Crawford said some of that money was spent on 9,000 Chromebooks to help students complete their coursework at home, but much of it was spent to help students and their families survive.
“During the actual shutdown period, the last three months of school, March through May, we were able to provide nearly 60,000 meals in partnership with the East Texas Food Bank standing beside us, them also providing that, as well, to the families that truly needed it,” Crawford said. “With a school system of 75% economically disadvantaged, we certainly recognize that food stability and food security was something—especially in those early months—that was really needed in this community. And we were fortunate enough to have our friends here at the East Texas Food Bank stand should-to-shoulder with us—along with the Mentoring Alliance—in the delivery of those meals.”
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While Sen. Cornyn looked at the effect of Congress’s first major coronavirus relief bill, he acknowledged the work being done, even while both chambers are on recess, on another one.
“We’re working every day to try to make progress,” he said. “I’ve been on daily conference calls with Secretary Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, trying to come up with a strategy, really, to bring the House of Representatives to the table and work out a negotiated outcome."
“And, unfortunately, the closer we get to the election, I think political dysfunction starts to kick in. But we need to overcome that, particularly in the time of a national, indeed an international emergency. And I’m a little more optimistic today than I have been that we will get that done," he said.
Sen. Cornyn mentioned that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has pledged to call all members back to Washington D.C. on 24 hours notice if an agreement is reached and a bill can be voted on. Sen. Cornyn also said he expects that a funding bill for the U.S. Postal Service coming out of the House of Representatives will be the foundation of the next stimulus plan.
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“That provides us a moving vehicle,” he said. "For the Senate then to take up, add some additional help in terms of the Paycheck Protection Program, individual payments to individuals, our health care providers, and the like, and then send it over to the House and see if we can get it done. I think it gives me a little bit of encouragement that, at least, we see a little bit of momentum.”
As he waits for others in the capital to make a move, Sen. Cornyn praised the work being done on the ground to get the CARES Act money to the people who need it most. “I’ve been inspired,” he said, “by the sort of leadership that I’ve seen at the local level around the state, including here in Tyler, where everybody has stepped up.”
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