the issue at a news conference on capitol hill. good afternoon everybody. i'm pleased to be joined by my colleague senator warren and van hollen. in just two days the moratorium expires. established by the cares act and millions will be at risk. 22 million households with for

how to pay for next month's re rent. this is a potential catastrophe and why senate democrats including senator warren and van hollen and senator brown couldn't be with us today that is leading efforts on the senate floor on the issue tomorrow and other leaders and elsewhere have introduced bills that would provide an extension of the protections in the rental assistance necessary to keep people from their homes. you throw someone out of their home, their whole life gets disrupted, their healthcare other job opportunities, their kids educational abilities. housing is fundamental and it's been ripped by this crisis. leader mcconnell and the senate republicans have a blocked introduction of the bill refusing to act on the house

passed he rose bill passed within two months ago and they assisted me on a three-month pause while they assess the conditions in the country and that is their words. the delay has protested this moment we are about to see these critical protections expire. if they've sat down with us, speaker pelosi and i sent a letter three weeks ago that said let's sit down and start talking, we wouldn't be here. we already have an affordable housing crisis that disproportionately affect the black and brown families before the global pandemic forced people out of work and leader mcconnell wants to say how he's going to watch this play out. it seems the senate republicans finally felt it. now they say we should do another bill in the next few. but after months of waiting, senate republicans can't even agree on a plan.

in total disarray and conflict with each other and with the administration on a path forward, one of the priorities they do seem to agree on is what he's been clamoring about for the come of protecting corporations is the number one priority. one in five face and eviction and mcconnell can't stop talking about the pandemic of the lawsuits. they are having an illuminating eviction crisis and by all accounts. though we know evictions and unpaid bills can have serious and long-term effects on household and more than 40% of black and latin renters reportedly are unlikely to make the rent for the next pete period. getting evicted can cause damage to the family's finances and the records they years to repair without rental assistance. more people will experience

housing instability or homelessness putting their health and everything else at risk. one of my colleagues, what do they have to say to these individuals, you lose your job through no fault of your own beforyouare about to be evictedn through no fault of your own. what does mcconnell say, i want to help the corporate big boys, we don't need you. many of the people, and always ahead of what my staff rides if we pass the emergency rental assistance and extended the moratorium, we help families and individuals pay the bills, steve was the rental market and keep up with their property taxes and mortgages. so once again i say to the senate republicans work with us to get something done. begin bipartisan talks is the only way to pass the bill and to

provide people the help they desperately need. senate democrats will not stop fighting. i want to start by thinking of ththanking theleader that has bn instrumental in putting together help for families that are struggling and senator van hollen. we worked together because they are just days away from a housing crisis that could be prevented if mitch mcconnell stopped stalling and the senate acts. this is about o our health, our economy and our values. forcing thousands of people out of their homes to the pandemic will make a public health crisis worse. widespread housing disruptions will also affect essential workers and others who are keeping the economy going.

and it will hit communities of color are the hardest, further deepening racial inequities in the nation. so first, how bad is this problem? more than 30% of all renters say today they have little or no code that is they can make their next housing payment and 40% are not sure they will be able to make their next rent payment. nearly two thirds tha are not confident about making their rent are less than $35,000 a year, and more than a quarter of black and latin couldn't see last month's rent or have it deferred. think about that, but this one out of every four black or latino renters who are already behind on their rent, and to add to that, the high unemployment

rate, the number across the country who have had their hours and didn't come cut into the number of small businesses that have shuttered and may never reopen, it is clear the number of evictions will continue to rise. experts are predicting an avalanche if we don't institute new protections. we are already seeing the rise in cities where local eviction bands have lapsed. this is a crisis we can avoid instead of further delay and denial, the senate could step up now and prevent a catastrophe beforthe catastrophebut for mile forced out of their homes. representatives garcia and i introduced the protecting renters from evictions act. this bill prevents them from losing their housing if they have their hours cut and can

take their housing payment that would extend the federal eviction moratorium to last one year instead of expiring this week. that means the renters with the project at in march of 2021. it also makes it universal. every renter will be protected every renter will know they are protected. ..

>> thank you senator warren. and leader schumer thank you for your focus on people who are most at risk right now in our country and largely because of lack of action we have seen from senator mcconnell and senate republicans thank you for those comments and everything

else you are doing to address these issues. as both my colleagues have said the clock is ticking the seconds are winding down. in two days the federal protection blocking evictions will expire what is that mean for the millions of americans who are at home stretching to make ends meet millions of americans are now at risk of addiction if you look at all the americans not being able to make the next payment it adds up to 23 million of fellow americans. look at the numbers for my own home state of maryland, 20 percent today are behind on rent. on - - rent payments 29 percent to be there missed the last housing payment or have little or no confidence they can make their next housing payment and those

numbers are much higher for black and latino right - - renters. 330,000 marylanders are at risk of eviction by the end of this year. that's a staggering number and that is if you look around the country, this is a human catastrophe in the making and the real tragedy it is 100 percent avoidable if we were to take action. he never mentioned this tsunami evictions. senator schumer said he has been focused from the start on trying to help corporations and executives.

and a precipice over two months ago that senator warren and i and then to introduce the emergency rental assistance and stabilization act of 100 million-dollar find more than two months ago. here we are counting down the minutes we never should have been at this point where families are worried they may end up on the street. also it has a wine near moratorium for foreclosures and evictions for all renters and homeowners. sixty-day mortgage forbearance for delinquent borrowers increases 75 billion-dollar homeowner assistance fund to

help them pay mortgages and put a roof over their head. assistance for homeowners and desperately needed for renters. that was two months ago. for god sakes it is gross negligence if we don't get this done now to help our fellow americans in need. >> now we will take a few questions. >>. >> we did not get into negotiations. it was not on their list. it was on ours.

>> we have a health crisis and economic crisis and the crisis in the values bearing down upon us with millions of people about to lose their housing. and all leader mcconnell wants to talk about is to protect giant corporations. people across the country blue states and red states need protection and help in leader mcconnell needs to hear from all of them. [inaudible] >> the devil is in the details. how much?

what i do for schools? you can negotiate until you have a detailed proposal. and then they are not unified. they were not sure. that doesn't make sense. >> in those protections. >> they do not have the view. one month ago in 20 million people were out of work. and to assess the situation and to be out of touch. one of the main reason it is as bad as it is and to be so

enthralled by the business leadership that cares about protecting themselves from all liability way over the top. this is the greatest economic crisis in 75 years. he doesn't mention them to talk about the new york times and the cancel culture. [inaudible] it's very important for us and it's a high priority. think everybody.