Biden expresses delight as Congress moves to endorse Covid-19 relief bill
The United States President Joe Biden has expressed delight at the move by the Congress to approve a landmark $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
According Biden, the approval will further reinforce the Democratic priorities and showcase the unity his party will need to forge future victories.
Biden said Tuesday that the package aimed to fulfill campaign promises to tackle the pandemic and revive the country’s economy.
House and Senate Republicans have unanimously opposed the package as bloated, crammed with liberal policies and heedless of signs the dual crises are easing.
“It’s a remarkable, historic, transformative piece of legislation which goes a very long way to crushing the virus and solving our economic crisis,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Tuesday.
Biden and Democrats believe that the bill will help execute government programs that will benefts millions of Americans.
A dominant feature of the bill is initiatives making it one of the biggest federal thrusts in years to assist lower- and middle-income families. Included are expanded tax credits over the next year for children, child care and family leave plus spending for renters, feeding programs and people’s utility bills.
The measure provides up to $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, extended emergency unemployment benefits and hundreds of billions for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, schools, state and local governments and ailing industries from airlines to concert halls.
There is aid for farmers of color and pension systems, and subsidies for consumers buying health insurance and states expanding Medicaid coverage for lower earners.
“It’s not focused on COVID relief. It’s focused on pushing more of the far-left agenda,” said No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
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