Washington, D.C.—Today, Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA), the Vice Chair of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), released the following statement after the Department of Labor reported that first-time unemployment claims for the week ending April 4 reached 6.6 million. This means that nearly 17 million Americans have lost their jobs in the last three weeks as a result of the economic impact of the coronavirus.

“This is a catastrophe. Nearly 17 million Americans have lost their jobs and they likely won’t find another one until the contagion is under control—and that may be a long way off. Congress can’t address this piecemeal—Americans need to know that they’ll get the support they need as long as the crisis lasts. That means building triggers in a follow-up to The CARES Act so that support automatically continues when it’s needed and discontinues when it’s not.”

Congressman Beyer is currently serving his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Northern Virginia suburbs of the nation’s capital. In addition to his role as Vice Chair of the JEC, Beyer serves on the House Committee on Ways and Means and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.