12.03.20

Will Democrats Finally Let Congress Pass COVID Aid They Don’t Even Oppose?

After Speaker Pelosi And Sen. Schumer Spent Months Holding Bipartisan Agreements On Healthcare, Economic Assistance, And Education Funding Hostage To Far-Left Demands, Will They At Long Last Agree To ‘Deliver Right Away On All The Subjects Where Everybody Agrees’?

 

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Anyone who’s heard me speak about coronavirus relief going back months has heard one central principle: Let’s deliver right away on all the subjects where everybody agrees, and argue over the rest later. That solution to this impasse has been in plain sight for anyone willing to see it. Agree where we agree, bank that progress, make law, take a whole lot of pressure off struggling people, and then keep debating the areas where we don’t agree. There is no actual reason why the fates of common-sense policies like a second round of the job-saving Paycheck Protection Program had to be linked to the fates of fringe proposals like stimulus checks for illegal immigrants. There’s no reason why the fate of funding for vaccine distribution, or extending unemployment aid, or legal certainty for universities, should have been tied to radical ideas like paying people more not to work than essential workers earn on the job. Those linkages have been totally arbitrary. Just a political decision that Democratic leaders made many months back. Democratic leaders have tried to create a narrative where it’s taken for granted that the most bipartisan, commonsensical relief policies would live or die with their side’s most outlandish ideas. But that isn’t so.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 12/03/2020)

• LEADER McCONNELL: “[T]he underlying reality is still with us: There are many important policies that have strong bipartisan support; there are many others that do not; and the way to help the country is for our Democratic colleagues to finally let the former group be signed into law while we keep arguing over the latter. The targeted second round of the Paycheck Protection Program that we’ve been trying to establish since July would help a huge number of small businesses survive to the finish line and help huge numbers of workers keep their jobs. And it could pass the Senate today, probably with 95 votes. With the apparent success of Operation Warp Speed, it makes no sense to skimp on the systems to distribute and deliver vaccines around the country. Those funds could pass the Senate today, possibly unanimously. University presidents have made it clear they need legal certainty for their re-openings. That shouldn’t be partisan. Liability protections should be able to pass the Senate today. A number of our Democratic colleagues have focused especially on several of the unemployment relief programs that are set to expire in a matter of days. I specifically made sure to include those programs in my framework a few days ago. That extension could pass the Senate today.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 12/03/2020)

• LEADER McCONNELL: “[H]ere in the Senate, I put forward a serious and highly targeted relief proposal including the elements which we know the President is ready and willing to sign into law. Why should these impactful and non-controversial life preservers be delayed one second longer? At long last, let’s do what Congress does when we want an outcome. Let’s make law on all the subjects where we agree, on all the areas where President Trump is ready to sign bipartisan relief into law.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 12/03/2020)

 

 

 

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SENATE REPUBLICAN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

Related Issues: Senate Democrats, COVID-19, Appropriations

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