“American Families Deserve a Process and a Bill that Put Their Actual Needs at the Center”
‘For the sake of America’s kids, American jobs, and Americans’ health, Democrats should put the political games aside and resume the same kinds of bipartisan talks they demanded constantly all last year.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding COVID-19 relief:
“In 2020, a Republican Senate and Republican Administration led five historic pandemic rescue packages on a completely bipartisan basis.
“We marshalled the largest federal response to any crisis since World War II — about $4 trillion across five bills. All of it completely bipartisan.
“But now, Washington Democrats have other ideas.
“Even though we are still pushing out $900 billion in relief that Congress passed less than two months ago… even though a group of Senate Republicans met with President Biden to discuss bipartisan avenues for hundreds of billions of dollars more… Washington Democrats have decided they want to go it alone.
“It was last March, remember, when a senior House Democrat called this disaster, quote, a ‘tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision.’ Americans are suffering but their side sees an opportunity to ram through ideological change.
“That’s the impulse behind Democrats’ latest $1.9 trillion proposal. Their plan for more massive borrowing puts left-wing myths ahead of the scientific evidence and the nation’s urgent needs.
“While the Biden Administration’s own scientists say schools could re-open safely now with smart and simple precautions, their proposal buys into the myth from Big Labor that schools should stay shut a lot longer.
“While Republicans want to save as many jobs as possible, Washington Democrats are backing Senator Sanders’s demand to more than double the minimum wage. The Congressional Budget Office says this would kill 1.4 million American jobs. Nonpartisan experts say it would send more people to the unemployment line than it would lift out of poverty.
“But, remember — this is about liberal dreams, not urgent needs. Some Democrats even want to break Senate rules to jam this through.
“Last week, the Senate had a 14-hour voting marathon on amendments to the phony partisan budget that Democrats jammed through as a procedural step. We got Senators on the record on a host of questions that matter to American families.
“Sadly Democrats blocked our efforts to say that, at the very least, school districts where teachers have been vaccinated certainly need to reopen… to press states to accurately report nursing-home deaths… to protect the free exercise of religion… and several more.
“Other amendments divided Democrats and were adopted. For example, over some Democrats’ objections, the Senate said illegal immigrants should not receive stimulus checks… that the Keystone XL Pipeline should not be cancelled… and that our government should not declare war on fracking.
“But — amazingly enough — at the end of the night, the very same Senate Democrats who’d sought to appear moderate by supporting those three things turned around and voted in lockstep to strip them out.
“Our colleagues who said they supported these changes voted to strip them right back out at the end of the night.
“That’s about as Washington D.C. as it gets.
“For the sake of America’s kids, American jobs, and Americans’ health, Democrats should put the political games aside and resume the same kinds of bipartisan talks they demanded constantly all last year.
“American families deserve a process and a bill that put their actual needs at the center.”
Related Issues: Education, Health Care, Senate Democrats, Jobs, Keystone XL Pipeline, Economy
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