By Rep. Antonio Delgado There comes a time when politics as usual truly needs to be put aside -- when all the partisan bickering needs to take a back seat to meeting the needs of the American people. One would hope such a time would be in the middle of a pandemic that has taken more than 150,000 lives and left more than 40 million Americans unemployed as we struggle through a historic economic collapse. For months, our communities have put our lives on pause. While Americans retreated indoors and worked and studied at home, our essential workers have kept our communities running. Our state and local governments met the moment -- providing critical services, from keeping buses and ambulances operating to setting up testing sites to facilitating mental health services to educating our young people. When our communities needed it most, our local governments answered the call. Meanwhile, these same state and local governments have budgets that are hemorrhaging due to the devastating affect COVID-19 has had on local commerce and the corresponding tax revenue used by these entities to fund the critical services they provide. That's why the House passed the Heroes Act, which directs nearly $1 trillion in funding to state and local governments and includes my bipartisan Direct Support for Communities Act -- legislation that would ensure every single community, regardless of size, is able to qualify for federal coronavirus relief funding. I've communicated with local elected officials here at home across the political spectrum, and all agree -- Democrats and Republicans -- that the funding for state and local governments set forth in the Heroes Act is absolutely essential. As Montgomery County Executive Matt Ossenfort and I recently discussed, with the rise of suicide cases, drug overdoses and domestic violence incidents comes the increased need to provide human services at the local level. Yet these are the very services facing the potential of significant cuts in the absence of federal relief. Tragically, here we are, over a month after the passage of the Heroes Act, and the initial proposal for state and local government funding put forth by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Senate amounts to zero dollars -- not a single cent. Whatever one thinks of the trillion-dollar price tag put forth in the Heroes Act, at least it acknowledges the pain our communities are being forced to endure and the need to provide meaningful relief. To the contrary, a counterproposal of zero dollars is blatantly dismissive of the harsh reality so many folks are facing across the country. It all makes you wonder how disconnected from the realities of everyday American life certain folks in Washington, D.C. must be to comport themselves in this fashion. Is it really a mystery why so many Americans have stopped believing that our system of government is truly for the people and by the people? From where I sit, it is profoundly revealing that in a situation this economically dire, this abnormal, special interests remain at work and continue to undermine the will of the people. We must be better than this. If not now, then when? Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, represents New York's 19th Congressional District.

By Rep. Antonio Delgado I've cried many a tear as a black man in America. Sometimes, it is the only way to process the fact that, in the eyes of so many, I'm a walking threat for no reason other than the blackness of my skin. And it's been this way for as long as I can remember. I'll never forget my mother telling me when I was growing up that her one job was to make sure I survive in America -- to find ways to ensure that when I left the house to go play and hang out with my friends, I made it back home alive. Today, I'm a black man representing a district that is nearly 90 percent white and in one of the most rural parts of the country. I'm the first person of color to ever represent upstate New York in Congress. The road I traveled to get here was not easy. But my experience is proof that voting can bring about change that once might have seemed out of reach -- in fact, it's crucial to changing the laws and policies that have caused so much agony. With survival comes pain and grief to the point your mind is too weary to think and words don't seem to matter anymore. I felt that during the multimillion dollar, race-baiting ad campaign launched against me during the 2018 campaign, designed to make me out to be a threat to the very community I come from. The attacks were relentless and maliciously played on ugly stereotypes and degrading notions of black masculinity. Language can hardly do justice to the depth of anguish and heartache I felt during those moments. It was hardly the first time I'd felt such despair. The dehumanization of racism relentlessly beats upon the soul. And the image of yet another person taken from us sets off fits of rage I know in my heart do no one any good. Anger is natural and expected, but it must be channeled for a higher purpose, otherwise it becomes self-destructive. So you pray and you pray for an answer, and somewhere down deep, a voice rises above the cries of the soul to affirm that the only choice, the only answer, is love. What is love? In times like these, it's justice in action; it's agency grounded in the moral observation that we are all one -- that, as the Roman African playwright Terence wrote, "nothing human is alien to me." And let us understand that love in action is hopeful without being a pushover; powerful without being destructive; schemeful without being sinister. It's how change happens in a democracy set against the alternative that only might makes right or that only certain "men" are fit to govern. Here in America, we have committed ourselves to the noble idea that ordinary people can govern themselves -- and do so freely. None of this is to suggest that voting is the be-all and end-all. Protesting and engaging in civil disobedience have a critical role to play, especially as an expression of love. Protest and voting go together: The twin pillars of our democracy are freedom to speak our minds, and one-person, one-vote. Indeed, the power of the vote is often maximized when it can tap into the energy protesters make visible. But protesting alone is not enough. If you want to hold police officers accountable through the criminal justice system, then you need to vote and elect prosecutors who will do so. If you want to change training practices and use-of-force policies to prevent unjust outcomes, then you need to vote for local officials who will make these changes and negotiate contracts that bring about real accountability. And if you want national leaders with the moral courage to lead with compassion and love rather than with cowardly fear-mongering designed to fan the flames of hate and division, then you must vote for those leaders. Let your voice and your vote be heard, if you want to make change happen. Antonio Delgado, a Democrat, represents New York's 19th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

By Rep. Antonio Delgado The United States reached a devastating milestone last week with 100,000 lives lost to the coronavirus. The magnitude of loss is difficult to fully comprehend. That is as many as the entire populations of Columbia County and Delaware County combined. At the same time, our nation is undertaking a reopening process meant to help regain some sense of normalcy and push our economy through these incredibly challenging times. Critically, with the easing of lockdown restrictions comes the potential of a second wave of infections. To protect against this and give ourselves the ability to contain emerging hotspots, it is imperative our testing capacity meet the moment. This is what informed my support for the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which passed the House and Senate on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis and was signed by the president. It includes $25 billion for testing and also requires the administration to provide a strategic testing plan within 30 days. On May 17, the administration released its strategic testing plan. According to the document, the administration intends to "maintain" the mid-May testing levels of approximately 300,000 tests per day. Since the release of the plan, numerous medical experts have made it clear that 300,000 tests per day is simply not enough. Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, recently walked through the math: U.S. hospitals need close to 100,000 tests daily to monitor the virus and minimize spread within their facilities. Nursing homes, which are particularly susceptible to the virus and home to vulnerable populations, require another 150,000 tests daily. Those two needs account for 250,000 of the proposed 300,000 tests, leaving us with almost no ability to test people showing symptoms in our communities. Instead, experts say we need closer to 900,000 tests per day. How does the administration intend to fill the gap? According the plan, testing will grow as states are "empowered with enhanced knowledge and funding." In other words, the work is left to the states. There are problems with this approach, starting with the practical difficulties of states acquiring testing kits. While states may logistically be better positioned to designate testing sites, acquiring kits requires knowledge and navigation of national and international supply chains, which has presented challenges for states. Then there's the cost. State budgets are already hemorrhaging due to the economic impact of COVID-19. This is exactly why the House passed the HEROES Act, which includes not only significant relief to our state and local governments to address the loss of revenue attributable to coronavirus, but also provides $75 billion for testing. Importantly, the additional $75 billion on top of the previous $25 billion authorized by Congress is what many medical experts believe is necessary to reach the testing capacity needed at this time. Here we are weeks later: States and local governments continue to wait for assistance while the Senate refuses even to vote on this bill and the White House sits silent. Instead, the administration is putting most of its effort behind encouraging states to reopen. It appears they're willing to do so without the testing capacity we need. It is a very dangerous proposition to open America and put people at risk without taking the necessary steps to protect against the potential of a second large-scale wave -- a wave that would not only take more lives but put our economy at a standstill again. We simply cannot afford the risk of leaving states unprepared. The stakes are just too high. To those who think this is all too difficult to predict, so why not wait and see, I would ask them to reflect upon the fact that in four months we've already lost 100,000 of our fellow Americans to this vicious disease. Simply put, we need more than a wait-and-see approach or a plan that hopes that states can somehow just work it all out. This is a matter that requires our federal government to lead and provide meaningful guidance and support in order to achieve the testing capacity necessary to truly protect public health while reopening America.