A bipartisan group of 20 House lawmakers are calling on congressional leaders to improve the diversity of a coronavirus relief oversight panel to address the recession’s unique toll on minorities and women.

In a letter to Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiMcConnell: Senate unlikely to pass stand-alone Postal Service bill On The Money: S&P closes at new record high | Democrats press for vote on unemployment boost | IRS will send interest payments to 14 million taxpayers Overnight Defense: Trump rejects major cut to military health care | Senate report says Trump campaign’s Russia contacts posed ‘grave’ threat MORE (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMcConnell: Senate unlikely to pass stand-alone Postal Service bill S&P closes at new record high amid stimulus stalemate Unintended consequences of killing the filibuster MORE (R-Ky.), the group urged Congress to take up measures to expand and refocus the Congressional Oversight Commission created through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women and racially diverse communities,” the lawmakers wrote, urging Pelosi and McConnell to foster “a greater focus on the disparate impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in diverse communities.”

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The CARES Act created a five-person bipartisan commission to oversee how the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department used $500 billion allocated by the bill for emergency lending and grant programs for businesses and municipalities.

But the bipartisan group of 19 House Democrats and one Republican is urging Pelosi and McConnell to advance a bill to add more members to the panel and broaden its focus.

The coronavirus-driven recession forced thousands of businesses across the U.S to close and layoff millions of workers in the quickest, steepest economic downturn since the Great Recession. The pandemic has taken an even greater toll on people of color and businesses owned by women and minorities, which typically hold smaller financial cushions and lack reliable access to credit.

“These small businesses tend to be operated by those who live in the communities they serve, located in areas that are traditionally overlooked by larger outside corporations, and their closure is a severe blow,” the lawmakers wrote.

The House lawmakers asked Pelosi and McConnell to take steps to increase the racial and gender diversity of the oversight commission with new members, appoint a chairman, boost its funding, and “clarify the need” to focus on how to ensure aid reaches vulnerable communities and businesses.

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Doing so would likely require expanding the purview of the commission to include the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Small Business Administration’s emergency loan effort for small businesses created through the CARES Act. The commission does not currently have oversight of the PPP, but rather a variety of Fed facilities that target businesses much larger than the 500-person cap placed on PPP loans.

The oversight panel currently has four members, each one appointed by one of the House and Senate’s Republican and Democratic leaders: Sen. Pat ToomeyPatrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeyDunford withdraws from consideration to chair coronavirus oversight panel GOP senators push for quick, partial reopening of economy NSA improperly collected US phone records in October, new documents show MORE (R-Pa.), Rep. Donna ShalalaDonna Edna ShalalaShalala to face Salazar in Florida rematch Exclusive: Democrats seek to increase racial diversity of pandemic relief oversight board The Hill’s Coronavirus Report: Rep. Fred Upton says it is ‘tragic’ to see Americans reject masks, social distancing; Russia claims it will approve COVID-19 vaccine by mid-August MORE (D-Fla.), Rep. French HillJames (French) French HillExclusive: Democrats seek to increase racial diversity of pandemic relief oversight board Dunford withdraws from consideration to chair coronavirus oversight panel PPP application deadline should be extended and fixes made to program to keep recovery going MORE (R-Ark.) and attorney Bharat Ramamurti. All but one of the members are male and none are Black, Latinx, Native American or of Pacific Islander descent.

The House letter comes two weeks after a trio of Democratic senators proposed a bill to add four new members to the commission and require half of them to be from communities hardest hit by the pandemic.