Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday the 2.5 million women who had to leave the U.S. workforce due to the pandemic is a “national emergency,” as she urged support for the administration’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. At a virtual event on women and the economy hosted by Harris Thursday, California Congressmember Barbara Lee addressed the issue of poverty.

Rep. Barbara Lee: “This crisis has plunged more than 8 million more people into poverty since last year, about one in seven households nationwide, including more than one in five in Latino households, and many Asian American Pacific Islander and Native American households are struggling just to secure the food that they need.”