III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 693 

Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to implement an agenda 

to Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy 

(‘‘THRIVE’’). 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 

Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND, Mr. UDALL, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. HEINRICH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to implement an agenda to Transform, Heal, and Renew by 

Investing in a Vibrant Economy (‘‘THRIVE’’). 

Whereas families and communities throughout the United 

States share similar hopes and dreams of a good life that 

is free from worry about meeting basic needs, with reliable and fulfilling work, a dignified and healthy standard 

of living, and the ability to enjoy time with loved ones; 

Whereas the United States faces the stress of multiple, overlapping crises—old and new—that prevent the achievement of these fundamental human rights and needs, in 

which the COVID–19 pandemic has killed over 180,000 


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United States residents; tens of millions of United States 

workers remain unemployed; rising economic inequality 

has made working families vulnerable; tens of millions of 

individuals do not get the health care they need; and intensifying climate change increases the threats to our 

health, economy, and livelihoods; 

Whereas these health, economic, and climate crises have magnified centuries-old injustices, causing high rates of death 

and hardship among Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities due to long-standing systemic racism—a fact 

spotlighted by an emerging, multiracial movement to end 

violence against Black people; 

Whereas these crises are causing the inequitable workloads of 

women—particularly women of color—to grow, especially 

as women of color overwhelmingly make up the essential 

workforce, bearing the weight of the increased care needs 

of children, the elderly, and the sick; 

Whereas, even before the COVID–19 crisis, many rural communities and independent family farmers suffered from 

poverty, declining economic opportunity, and alarming 

rates of farm bankruptcy, including loss of land from 

Black farmers and the exploitation of Black, Brown, and 

Indigenous farmers caused by predatory and racist public, private, and governmental institutions and policies; 

Whereas the root of our interlocking economic and environmental crises is society’s historical willingness to treat 

some communities and workers as disposable; 

Whereas it is necessary to counteract systemic injustice and 

value the dignity of all individuals in order to address unemployment, pandemics, or climate change and ensure 

the survival of the Nation and the planet; 


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Whereas the choices made in response to these crises will 

shape the United States direction for the 21st century 

and beyond, offering an opportunity to reshape our society to provide a good life for each of us and for our children and grandchildren; and 

Whereas the United States has the means to support fulfilling livelihoods for millions of people—Black, Indigenous, Brown, Latinx, Asian/Pacific Islander, White, immigrant, urban and rural, old and young, of many faiths, 

genders, abilities, and talents—while working to heal 

harms, protect communities, and invest in a future that 

fosters justice, not crisis: Now therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to 

3 respond to the crises of racial injustice, mass unem4 ployment, a pandemic, and climate change with a 

5 bold and holistic national mobilization, an Agenda to 

6 Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vi7 brant Economy (‘‘THRIVE’’) (referred to in this re8 solving clause as the ‘‘Agenda’’), to build a society 

9 that enables— 

10 (A) greater racial, economic, and gender 

11 justice; 

12 (B) dignified work; 

13 (C) healthy communities; and 

14 (D) a stable climate; and 

15 (2) such Agenda shall be assessed upon its abil16 ity to uphold its foundational pillars, including— 


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1 (A) creating millions of good, safe jobs 

2 with access to unions by— 

3 (i) investing in projects including— 

4 (I) upgrading our broken infra5 structure to expand access to clean 

6 and affordable energy, transportation, 

7 high-speed broadband, and water, par8 ticularly for public systems; 

9 (II) modernizing and retrofitting 

10 millions of homes, schools, offices, and 

11 industrial buildings to cut pollution 

12 and costs; 

13 (III) investing in public health 

14 and care work, including by increasing 

15 jobs, protections, wages, and benefits 

16 for the historically unpaid and under17 valued work of caring for children, the 

18 elderly, and the sick; 

19 (IV) protecting and restoring 

20 wetlands, forests, and public lands, 

21 and cleaning up pollution in our com22 munities; 

23 (V) creating opportunities for 

24 family farmers and rural communities, 

25 including by untangling the hyperVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:03 Sep 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR693.IS SR693

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1 consolidated food supply chain, bol2 stering regenerative agriculture, and 

3 investing in local and regional food 

4 systems that support farmers, agricul5 tural workers, healthy soil, and cli6 mate resilience; and 

7 (VI) developing and transforming 

8 the industrial base of the United 

9 States, while creating high-skill, high10 wage manufacturing jobs across the 

11 country, including by expanding man12 ufacturing of clean technologies, re13 ducing industrial pollution, and 

14 prioritizing clean, domestic manufac15 turing for the aforementioned invest16 ments; 

17 (ii) prioritizing the mobilization of di18 rect public investments, while excluding 

19 false solutions that— 

20 (I) increase inequality; 

21 (II) privatize public lands, water, 

22 or nature; 

23 (III) violate human rights; 

24 (IV) expedite the destruction of 

25 ecosystems; or 


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1 (V) decrease union density or 

2 membership; 

3 (iii) driving investment toward real 

4 full employment, where every individual 

5 who wishes to work has a viable pathway 

6 to a meaningful and dignified job with the 

7 right to form a union, including by estab8 lishing new public employment programs, 

9 as necessary; and 

10 (iv) subjecting each job created under 

11 this Agenda to high-road labor standards 

12 that— 

13 (I) require family-sustaining 

14 wages and benefits, including child 

15 care support; 

16 (II) ensure safe workplaces; 

17 (III) protect the rights of work18 ers to organize; and 

19 (IV) prioritize the hiring of local 

20 workers to ensure wages stay within 

21 communities to stimulate economic ac22 tivity; 

23 (B) building the power of workers to fight 

24 inequality by— 


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1 (i) reversing the corporate erosion of 

2 workers’ organizing rights and bargaining 

3 power so that millions of new clean energy 

4 jobs, as well as millions of existing low5 wage jobs across the economy, become the 

6 family-supporting union jobs that everyone 

7 deserves, including by— 

8 (I) passing the bipartisan Pro9 tecting the Right to Organize Act; 

10 (II) repealing the ban on sec11 ondary boycotts; 

12 (III) requiring employer neu13 trality with regard to union orga14 nizing; 

15 (IV) ensuring that ‘‘franchising’’ 

16 and other corporate structures may 

17 not be used to hinder collective bar18 gaining on a company-wide, regional, 

19 or national basis; 

20 (V) advancing sectoral bar21 gaining in certain economic sectors; 

22 and 

23 (VI) ensuring that no workers 

24 are misclassified as ‘‘independent con25 tractors;’’ 


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1 (ii) expanding union representation 

2 for all workers; and 

3 (iii) creating ladders of opportunity, 

4 particularly for women and people of color, 

5 to access registered apprenticeship and 

6 pre-apprenticeship programs in commu7 nities of all sizes across the country; 

8 (C) investing in Black, Brown, and Indige9 nous communities to build power and counter10 act racial and gender injustice by— 

11 (i) directing at least 40 percent of in12 vestments to communities that have been 

13 excluded, oppressed, and harmed by racist 

14 and unjust practices, including— 

15 (I) communities of color; 

16 (II) low-income communities; 

17 (III) deindustrialized commu18 nities; and 

19 (IV) communities facing environ20 mental injustice; 

21 (ii) ensuring that investments in these 

22 communities enable— 

23 (I) the creation of good jobs with 

24 family-sustaining wages; 


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1 (II) economic ownership opportu2 nities that close the racial wealth gap; 

3 (III) pollution reduction; 

4 (IV) climate resilience; 

5 (V) small business support; 

6 (VI) economic opportunities for 

7 independent family farmers and 

8 ranchers; and 

9 (VII) the expansion of public 

10 services; 

11 (iii) ensuring that affected commu12 nities have the power to democratically 

13 plan, implement, and administer these 

14 projects; 

15 (iv) prioritizing local and equitable 

16 hiring and contracting that creates oppor17 tunities for— 

18 (I) people of color; 

19 (II) immigrants, regardless of 

20 immigration status; 

21 (III) formerly incarcerated indi22 viduals; 

23 (IV) women; 

24 (V) LGBTQIAP+ individuals; 


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1 (VI) disabled and chronically ill 

2 individuals; and 

3 (VII) marginalized communities; 

4 and 

5 (v) providing access to quality work6 force training, including through registered 

7 apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships to 

8 ensure real pathways to good careers, in9 cluding those that have historically been 

10 inaccessible; 

11 (D) strengthening and healing the nation12 to-nation relationship with sovereign Native Na13 tions, including by— 

14 (i) making systemic changes in Fed15 eral policies to honor the environmental 

16 and social trust responsibilities to Native 

17 Nations and their Peoples, which are es18 sential to tackling society’s economic, envi19 ronmental, and health crises; 

20 (ii) strengthening Tribal sovereignty 

21 and enforcing Indian treaty rights by mov22 ing towards greater recognition and sup23 port of the inherent self-governance and 

24 sovereignty of these nations and their 

25 members; and 


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1 (iii) promulgating specific initiatives 

2 that reflect the nuanced relationships be3 tween the Native Nations, including— 

4 (I) the confirmation by Congress 

5 that Tribal nations can exercise their 

6 full and inherent civil regulatory and 

7 adjudicatory authority over their own 

8 citizens, lands, and resources, and 

9 over activities within their Tribal 

10 lands; 

11 (II) the codification of Free, 

12 Prior, and Informed Consent as it re13 lates to Tribal consultation; and 

14 (III) the implementation of the 

15 United Nations Declaration on the 

16 Rights of Indigenous Peoples, without 

17 qualification; 

18 (E) combating environmental injustice and 

19 ensuring healthy lives for all, including by— 

20 (i) curtailing air, water, and land pol21 lution from all sources; 

22 (ii) removing health hazards from 

23 communities; 

24 (iii) replacing lead pipes to ensure 

25 clean water is available to all; 


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1 (iv) remediating the cumulative health 

2 and environmental impacts of toxic pollu3 tion and climate change; 

4 (v) ensuring that affected commu5 nities have equitable access to public 

6 health resources that have been system7 ically denied, which includes— 

8 (I) upgrading unhealthy and 

9 overcrowded homes, public schools, 

10 and public hospitals; 

11 (II) ensuring access to healthy 

12 food, mental health support, and re13 storative justice; and 

14 (III) investing in universal 

15 childcare, care for individuals with 

16 disabilities, senior care, and a robust 

17 care workforce; and 

18 (vi) focusing these initiatives in Black, 

19 Brown, and Indigenous communities that 

20 have endured disproportionately high death 

21 rates from COVID–19 due to higher expo22 sure to air pollution and other cumulative 

23 health hazards as a result of decades of en24 vironmental racism; 


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1 (F) averting climate and environmental ca2 tastrophe, including by— 

3 (i) contributing to a livable climate 

4 and environment for today and for future 

5 generations, including by— 

6 (I) staying below 1.5 degrees Cel7 sius of global warming; 

8 (II) building climate resilience to 

9 keep communities safe; and 

10 (III) ensuring sustainable re11 source use; 

12 (ii) deploying investments and stand13 ards in the electricity, transportation, 

14 buildings, manufacturing, lands, and agri15 cultural sectors to spur the largest expan16 sion in history of clean, renewable energy, 

17 emissions reductions, climate resilience, 

18 and sustainable resource use; 

19 (iii) transforming the power sector in 

20 order to move the country, by not later 

21 than 2035, to carbon pollution-free elec22 tricity that passes an environmental justice 

23 screen to prevent concentrating pollution 

24 in Black, Brown, and Indigenous commu25 nities; 


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1 (iv) prioritizing materials and parts 

2 that meet high labor, environmental, and 

3 human rights standards throughout the 

4 supply chain; 

5 (v) supporting sustainable, domestic 

6 production of healthy, nutritious food that 

7 pays independent farmers and ranchers a 

8 fair price for their land stewardship; and 

9 (vi) ensuring that funding under this 

10 Agenda goes to workers and communities 

11 affected by the economic and environ12 mental crises, not to corporate fossil fuel 

13 polluters; 

14 (G) ensuring fairness for workers and com15 munities affected by economic transitions by— 

16 (i) guaranteeing that workers and 

17 communities in industries and regions in 

18 economic transition due to COVID–19, cli19 mate change, and other economic shocks 

20 receive— 

21 (I) stable wages and benefits, in22 cluding full pension and healthcare; 

23 (II) early retirement offerings; 

24 (III) crisis and trauma support; 

25 and 


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1 (IV) equitable job placement; and 

2 (ii) investing in transitioning areas to 

3 support— 

4 (I) economic diversification; 

5 (II) high-quality job creation; 

6 (III) community reinvestment; 

7 (IV) retooling and conversion; 

8 (V) reclamation and remediation 

9 of closed and abandoned facilities and 

10 sites; 

11 (VI) child and adult care infra12 structure; and 

13 (VII) funding to shore up budget 

14 shortfalls in local and State govern15 ments; and 

16 (H) reinvesting in public sector institutions 

17 that enable workers and communities to thrive 

18 by— 

19 (i) rebuilding vital public services and 

20 strengthening social infrastructure in cities 

21 and counties, healthcare systems, schools, 

22 the postal service, and other services; 

23 (ii) investing in equitable public edu24 cation opportunities, including career and 

25 technical education pathways that prepare 


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1 youth—especially girls; Black, Brown, and 

2 Indigenous students; students with disabil3 ities; students from low-income families; 

4 and other students from marginalized 

5 groups—for high-quality jobs of the future, 

6 and state of the art technology and 

7 schools, so that from the beginning stu8 dents are prepared to transform society 

9 and preserve democracy; 

10 (iii) investing in the workers who pro11 vide care to children, the elderly, and com12 munities burdened by neglect; 

13 (iv) creating new public institutions, 

14 inspired by and improving upon New Deal15 era institutions, to ensure universal access 

16 to critical resources and to strategically 

17 and coherently mobilize and channel in18 vestments, in line with the above priorities, 

19 at the scale and pace that these times re20 quire; and 

21 (v) coupling this institutional renewal 

22 with democratic governance and account23 ability to correct the systemic misallocation 

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1 ing fundamental human needs and pur2 suing fulfilling lives. 

Æ 


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