China News Service, September 17th. According to the US "World Journal" report, the epidemic has hit the US catering industry severely. Many businesses are struggling to operate and more people have closed their doors.

A few days ago, US Congressman Meng Zhaowen held an online briefing on the new proposal to help the catering industry. At the meeting, many representatives of Chinese catering industry called on the government to issue relevant subsidies as soon as possible to help businesses tide over the difficulties.

  On September 15, local time, US Congressman Meng Zhaowen held an online "Restaurant Law" proposal briefing session, inviting Chinese catering industry and community representatives to attend.

She said that the catering industry is one of the industries that new Chinese immigrants rely on for survival. Her parents' first job in the United States was in a restaurant. She also worked in a restaurant when she was a student.

Today, the epidemic has put the catering industry in trouble.

  Meng Zhaowen said that in order to alleviate the plight of the catering industry, she has proposed a "restaurant law" by 125 members of the House of Representatives of the United Nations, planning to set up a rescue fund of US$120 billion to assist the catering industry hit by the epidemic.

The proposal is about to enter the voting stage, and she called on the participants to make suggestions to help the proposal better implement.

  Chen Shanzhuang, president of the American Chinese Catering Industry Association (New York) and owner of the Brooklyn Golden Palace Restaurant, said that since the outbreak in March, the catering industry in New York City has been hit hard. Until now, the industry cannot open dine-in meals and can only rely on take-out and outdoor restaurants. Make up for the loss.

More than half of the restaurants failed to survive the epidemic and had to shut down. Many employees lost income.

  Zhu Tianhuo, chairman of the American Chinese Food Alliance, said that the "Salary Protection Loan Program" is just a drop in the bucket, and many catering companies have not successfully applied for subsidies.

The epidemic has hit the catering industry hard for at least three months. In addition to employee salaries, rent and utilities still need to be paid, and the industry urgently needs subsidies to tide over the difficulties.

  Kong Qingchao, vice chairman of the Chinese Catering Industry Association of the United States, said that he has been in the catering industry for 40 years and is now encountering the biggest dilemma.

Even if the epidemic slows down, many employees are worried about contracting the epidemic and would rather receive relief payments than return to work, adding challenges for businesses to restart.

If the "Restaurant Law" is implemented, he suggested that the government provide multilingual application service promotion, so that new immigrants who do not speak English well should miss this opportunity.

  In addition, many overseas Chinese community leaders spoke at the meeting, supporting the "Restaurant Law" proposal and looking forward to its early implementation.

(Mou Lan)