Major Biden victory as Congress passes huge COVID relief plan
11 March, 2021
The U.S. Congress on Wednesday finally passed Joe Biden's enormous financial relief package, delivering a resounding victory for the president and giving what he called a "fighting chance" to an incredible number of families and businesses suffering during the coronavirus pandemic.
The $1.9 trillion plan, months in the making, is one of the greatest U.S. rescue packages ever, and will impact every aspect of the world's biggest economy for years to come.
Democrats say they have met a historic moment of crisis at once, funneling federal dollars into vaccine distribution, stimulus checks as high as $1,400 to many Americans, extended unemployment benefits for millions and an expansion of government funding for healthcare.
The measure only narrowly passed the House of Representatives by a 220-211 vote, with zero support from Republicans, who accuse Biden of abandoning his Inauguration Day pledge to unify a divided nation.
But as Republicans stood in opposition, progressive and moderate Democrats locked arms and marched the measure over the finish line days before critical unemployment benefits were set to expire.
The bill, which cleared the Senate last weekend, now heads to the White House, where Biden -- who made the American Rescue Plan his top legislative priority -- said he plans to sign the measure into law on Friday.
"This legislation is approximately giving the backbone of the nation -- the fundamental workers, the working persons who built this country, the people who keep this country going -- a fighting chance," the president said in a post-vote statement.
Minutes earlier, loud cheers and applause rose from the ground when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared the measure passed.
"This is a crucial moment in our country's history," the top congressional Democrat said. "Help is on the way -- for the people, for the children."
The bill extends eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, pours billions of dollars into state and local governments, provides help for smaller businesses laid low by the pandemic, increases food aid and sets aside $130 billion for schools.
And Democrats argue that the bill's child tax credit expansion would slash child poverty by up to 50 percent.
Republican lawmakers decry what they call the bill's "socialist agenda" and its own massive cost, saying a lot more than 90 percent does not head to directly combating COVID-19.
One congressman warned that the $1.9 trillion price amounts to $5,487 for each and every man, woman and child in the united states.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy called the program "an extended laundry set of left-wing priorities that predate the pandemic , nor meet up with the needs of the American families."
But Americans outside Washington view it very differently, as polls show overwhelming bipartisan support for the bill.
Nevertheless, Biden is signaling that he'll soon hit the road on a mission to market the package to the American people.
On Tuesday, Biden visited a business billed as Washington's oldest hardware store, which includes benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program begun under Donald Trump's administration to help businesses stay afloat during the crisis.
"We're going to keep on with this," Biden said of the PPP as he chatted with store owner Mike Siegel.
The administration says it'll tailor the program in order that it focuses on businesses with 20 employees or fewer.
The last congressional intend to fight the coronavirus, which has to date left a lot more than 528,000 dead in the United States and brought the economy to its knees, was enacted in December.
It expanded unemployment payments and extended them through March 14.
That deadline has loomed as Biden and congressional Democrats crafted their latest package, however the new measure is defined to extend the huge benefits until early September.
Democratic leaders have hailed the American Rescue Plan as historic and transformative.
Progressive Democrats had pushed for higher supplemental unemployment great things about $400, but after a last-minute standoff with a moderate Democrat, the Senate kept the payments at $300 weekly.
With the bill's passage likely, the Paris-based Organizsation for Economic Cooperation and Development sharply raised its 2021 global growth forecast Tuesday amid greatly improved monetary prospects.
And it sees the US economy climbing by 6.5 percent this season, practically double its previous forecast.
Source: japantoday.com