{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sablan.house.gov/usdol-cw-1-not-eligible-pua", "USDOL: CW-1 not eligible for PUA", "2020-08-10", "2020", "2020-08", "Democrat", "House", "MP", "Gregorio Sablan", "S001177", "sablan.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "USDOL: CW-1 not eligible for PUA                                           \n              Aug 9, 2020      \t\t        \t    \n      \t            \n                    \n                                            \n          \n        \n        \n            \n    \n  \n    \n    \n    The U.S. Department of Labor is standing firm, that CW-1 workers are not eligible for PUA. This is a bad decision. It creates a hardship for the unemployed workers; and it means the loss of millions of dollars to the Marianas economy and lost government tax revenues. I asked Secretary Scalia to personally review this decision on June 12. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D- Massachusetts) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), followed up on my request with their own letter on June 30. However, the Department maintains that PUA benefits as a Federal public benefit as defined in 8 U.S.C.  1611(c). It argues that since CW-1 workers are not considered qualified aliens under 8 U.S.C.  1641, they would therefore not qualify for PUA. It is unfortunate that the Department is choosing to ignore the PUA eligibility clauses in the CARES Act and is administering the program, in a manner contrary to the very intent of the CARES Act. That intent is to provide assistance to workers who have been displaced by the coronavirus crisis. This is not the first time that a federal agency, responsible for implementing the laws Congress passes, interprets the law in a way that is directly at odds with the intention of Congress.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sablan.house.gov/usdol-cw-1-not-eligible-pua"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2900400906801224, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}