Biden Urges US Senate To Act Quickly On $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package

Biden Urges US Senate To Act Quickly On $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Package

President Joe Biden on Saturday welcomed the overnight passage by the US House of Representatives of an enormous, $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, saying it moves the country closer to full Covid-19 vaccination and economic recovery.

The package passed the House just after 2:00 am (0700 GMT) Saturday, in a 219 to 212 vote, with not one Republican vote, and moves next week to the Senate.

“I hope it will receive quick action,” Biden said in a brief address from the White House.

“We have no time to waste. If we act now, decisively, quickly and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus.”

[irp]

The vote in the House meant that “we’re one step closer to vaccinating the nation, we are one step closer to putting $1,400 in the pockets of Americans, we’re one step closer to extending unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who are shortly going to lose them.”

He said the bill — which would be the second-largest US stimulus ever, after a $2 trillion package approved in March — would also help schools reopen safely and allow local and state governments to avoid “massive layoffs for essential workers.”

The House vote came just days after the Covid-19 death toll surpassed 500,000 in the United States, the world’s worst total.

Democrats have called the aid package a critical step in supporting millions of families and businesses devastated by the pandemic. It extends unemployment benefits, set to expire mid-March, by about six months.

But Republicans say it is too expensive, fails to target aid payments to those most in need, and could spur damaging inflation.

[irp]

The administration appears poised to use a special approach requiring only 51 votes in the 100-seat Senate — meaning the vote of every Democrat, plus a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris, would be required.

But progressives suffered a major setback when a key Senate official ruled Thursday that the final version of the bill in that chamber could not include a minimum wage hike.

Biden campaigned extensively on raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, from the $7.25 rate that has stood since 2009. Progressives have been pushing the raise as a Democratic priority.

In his remarks Saturday, the president made no mention of the issue, a source of discord within the party.

Most Republicans, and a few Democrats, opposed the higher wage, so having it stripped from the Senate version of the legislation could actually ease its passage.

AFP