Op-eds
Medium Post: Congress must provide immediate relief for consumers. Here’s how.
by Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
The coronavirus outbreak poses a major challenge to public health and to the economy. An unprecedented 22 million Americans filed for unemployment in the last four weeks, yet bills keep coming and debts keep piling up. A part of our policy response to the crisis must include solutions that help those teetering on the edge of financial ruin. For millions of Americans, a $1,200 stimulus check will not even cover one month of basic expenses, including rent and mortgage payments, food and … Continue Reading
April 15, 2020
Medium Post: Our Plan for a $50 Billion Child Care Bailout
by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith
The coronavirus pandemic is causing a crisis for the nation's child care providers and working families. Following the advice of public health experts and government officials, businesses have shuttered and families across the country are staying home to stay safe and to mitigate the spread of the virus. But this has pushed child care providers to the absolute brink: forced to either close their doors to stop the spread of the virus, or stay open around the clock to provide emergency … Continue Reading
April 14, 2020
The Root: Congress Must Mandate Release of Coronavirus Demographic Data—Including Race and Ethnicity
by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Karen Bass, Robin Kelly and Barbara Lee
The coronavirus pandemic is a crisis unlike any we’ve seen in our lifetime. In the United States alone, hundreds of thousands of people are confirmed sick, more than 20,000 people have died, and more than 16 million have filed for unemployment. Already, we are seeing the ways in which the pandemic is impacting communities unequally. The early data is alarming: The virus appears to be infecting and killing people of color at higher rates. This reflects the structural racism and systemic … Continue Reading
April 08, 2020
The New York Times: Congress Needs a Plan to Confront the Coronavirus. I Have One.
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Congress has passed three coronavirus packages aimed at providing immediate relief to families, workers, hospitals and small businesses, but with more than 12,000 dead and 10 million out of work, the scale of this tragedy demands we do much more - much faster. Communities across the country are entering a critical stage. Illnesses are mounting and our health system is stretched to the brink. Early data shows people of color are infected and dying at disproportionately high rates. Unemployment … Continue Reading
April 07, 2020
Medium Post: Protecting Our Elections During the Coronavirus Pandemic
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The coronavirus outbreak is not only a public health emergency and an economic crisis - it also threatens our elections. Elections are foundational to our democracy. But as federal, state, tribal, and local governments issue stay-at-home orders and encourage residents to practice social distancing to combat the virus, large-scale, in-person voting on Election Day could present serious risks to public health. While many states have taken steps to postpone primary elections or adopted … Continue Reading
March 26, 2020
Medium Post: Congress Must Move to Rapidly Increase Our Coronavirus Testing Capacity
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Congress is close to finishing its third legislative package to assist in the coronavirus response. It's imperative that as soon as this package is complete, we immediately turn to dramatically increasing our coronavirus testing capacity, which will help us address both the health and economic impacts of this crisis.I've outlined some ideas to consider as we move toward this long overdue goal.Widespread diagnostic testing is necessary to control coronavirus - as we've seen, countries … Continue Reading
March 24, 2020
Boston Globe: The coronavirus puts child care sector in need of a bailout
by Elizabeth Warren, Bruce Mann, Joseph Kennedy III, Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, Katherine Clark, Ayanna Pressley, and Conan Harris
Parents across the Commonwealth face a painful economic bind: their children are at home, but the child care check is still due. COVID-19 has (rightfully) forced the closure of child care centers across Massachusetts. In doing so, it has forced a profound reckoning about the state of the American child care system.The child care sector — long overlooked and long deprived of adequate public investment — is foundational to today’s economy. Nearly 80 percent of parents with young children are in … Continue Reading
March 21, 2020
CNBC: Coronavirus stimulus bill must include expanded Social Security payments
by Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden
Congress is allocating billions of dollars to respond to coronavirus and a growing economic crisis - and those dollars need to be directed right into Americans' pockets.Right now, Americans are facing a public health crisis and an economic crisis. Coronavirus carries special risks for older Americans and people with underlying health conditions, who are following the advice of public health experts by staying home and staying away from other people in order to reduce their exposure to … Continue Reading
March 20, 2020
USA Today: Any Coronavirus bailout must put workers first
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
As Congress responds to the coronavirus emergency, the financial security of workers and their families should be our first priority. That means making sure that any federal bailout of giant corporations directly helps their employees, fuels a grassroots recovery and ensures that those big companies make serious, long-term reforms that reduce the odds they're back before taxpayers again looking for another bailout.But the Trump administration's current proposals -- and the one released … Continue Reading
March 16, 2020
CNN: We need a grassroots stimulus package
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
The coronavirus relief package awaiting a Senate vote should not be delayed, and we must pass it immediately. But we need to do more.The US is heading toward a recession, and Speaker Pelosi has already announced plans for an additional emergency response package. This is the right approach. We must act quickly to enact a major fiscal stimulus package that wards off economic disaster. This legislation must meet the challenge of the crisis we face by taking the next steps crucial to … Continue Reading
February 24, 2020
Boston Globe: The coronavirus puts child care sector in need of a bailout
by Elizabeth Warren, Bruce Mann, Joseph Kennedy III, Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, Katherine Clark, Ayanna Pressley, and Conan Harris
Parents across the Commonwealth face a painful economic bind: their children are at home, but the child care check is still due. COVID-19 has (rightfully) forced the closure of child care centers across Massachusetts. In doing so, it has forced a profound reckoning about the state of the American child care system.The child care sector — long overlooked and long deprived of adequate public investment — is foundational to today’s economy. Nearly 80 percent of parents with young children … Continue Reading
October 16, 2019
Boston Globe: Housing rule would make it harder to fight discrimination
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
During the housing boom of the early 2000s, Massachusetts homeowners Ana and Ismael Ramirez did what a lot of homeowners did: They used a broker to refinance their home.The mortgage company set prices looking at objective measures like credit history and outstanding debt. But the mortgage company also empowered the broker who sold the mortgage to jack up the Ramirezes’ mortgage rate even more and pocket some of the difference. The Ramirezes suspected they had been duped, and they weren’t … Continue Reading
September 13, 2019
The Eagle Tribune: Safety standards, accountability must enforced after gas disaster
by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera
We will never forget the confusion, the anger and the disbelief this time last year, when our Lawrence, North Andover and Andover communities shook from the gas pipeline explosions that destroyed homes, businesses and roads. The explosions left thousands without heat or hot water during some of the coldest months of the year, put dozens of people in the hospital, and tragically killed one young man, 18-year old Leonel Rondon. A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report laid … Continue Reading
August 16, 2019
Indian Country Today: The federal government has a responsibility to write a new chapter in the story of its government-to-government relationship with tribal nations
by Representative Deb Haaland and Senator Elizabeth Warren
The story of the United States' treatment of Native Americans is a profoundly painful one. It is a story of genocide and forced removal, of systematic oppression and broken promises. Despite this painful history, the story of Native American people today is also one of resilience in the face of oppression, achievement in every walk of life, and contribution to a country that has taken so much.The federal government has a responsibility to write a new chapter in the story of the United … Continue Reading
May 20, 2019
Boston Globe: Getting people the behavioral health care they need
by Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Joe Kennedy III
Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled in favor of more than 50,000 patients who brought a class action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, for unfairly denying their claims for mental health and substance use disorder treatment. In his ruling, the judge blasted UnitedHealth for cutting costs at patients’ expense and preventing them from getting recommended treatment unless their behavioral health issue was an emergency.This ruling was an important … Continue Reading
May 16, 2019
Brennan Center for Justice Op-Ed: End the Two-Tiered System of Justice
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Four words are etched above the doors to the Supreme Court: "Equal Justice Under Law." That simple principle should be the foundation of our criminal justice system. But the hard truth is that America has two separate and very unequal justice systems. The first is a justice system exclusively for the wealthy and the well connected. For decades, Washington has let powerful corporate executives escape accountability, even when they scam millions of Americans or crash the U.S. economy. Take the … Continue Reading
May 09, 2019
CNN: Americans don't need cliché financial advice. They just need to be paid more
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Chase Bank fired off a tweet last week staging a hypothetical conversation between one of its customers and her bank account. The customer asks why her account balance is low, and the bank tells her not to go out for food or coffee when she can make it at home instead, or to spend money on a cab when she can just walk. The customer pretends not to listen. "I guess we'll never know," she says, brushing off her low balance and the bank's "advice" on how to manage her money.When I read that … Continue Reading
December 19, 2018
The Eagle Tribune: Justice for the Merrimack Valley starts with real accountability
by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey
The Merrimack Valley gas explosions that occurred this past September were among the most horrific disasters Massachusetts has ever seen. Leonel Rondon, an 18-year-old high school student from Lawrence, tragically lost his life. Dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed, and thousands of people were stuck without heat and water in their homes for months. We saw firsthand the devastation these gas explosions caused across these communities. These explosions were a terrible tragedy, … Continue Reading
December 18, 2018
Washington Post: It's time to let the government manufacture generic drugs
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Forty-seven states and the Justice Department are investigating a price-fixing conspiracy that's driving up the cost of generic drugs in the United States. One investigator called it "most likely the largest cartel in the history of the United States ." This crisis calls for action. That is why I'm introducing legislation to authorize the public manufacture of generic drugs wherever drug companies have warped markets to drive up prices. Drug companies use the "free market" as a shield against … Continue Reading
November 29, 2018
Foreign Affairs: A Foreign Policy for All
by Senator Elizabeth Warren
Around the world, democracy is under assault. Authoritarian governments are gaining power, and right-wing demagogues are gaining strength. Movements toward openness and pluralism have stalled. Inequality is growing, transforming rule by the people into rule by wealthy elites. And here in the United States, many Americans seem to accept-even embrace-the politics of division and resentment. How did we get here? There's a story Americans like to tell ourselves about how we built a liberal … Continue Reading
