All across America, citizens are hoping for a second stimulus check to help with financial strains caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) is slamming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) for “failing to act” on a new relief bill. In a post on Twitter, McConnell wrote, “The historic CARES Act has helped families endure this crisis. But our nation is not done with this fight. More Americans are dying. Millions are unemployed. Added federal unemployment benefits are close to expiring. Democrats need to get serious and come to the table.”
Pelosi then hit back at McConnell, tweeting, “I would hope that over 10 weeks of failing to act, Leader McConnell would at least get his facts straight: The House-passed [Heroes Act] extends the enhanced unemployment benefits families are depending on — while his ‘proposal’ slashes benefits by $400 a week.” As Pelosi mentions, the house passed a coronavirus relief bill, in May, but McConnell and other Senate members made it clear that they were not planning to support the HEROES act. They also stated that they would likely wait to vote on it until after Memorial Day. Senate Republicans unveiled their bill, the HEALS Act, on Tuesday, but most Democrat leaders have slammed the bill for cutting a lot of funding to citizens and small business, and adding funding for things like a new FBI Building and Pentagon remodeling, as well as provisions for “increased business deductions for meals and entertainment.”
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The same day that the Senate GOP members release their bill, Pelosi issued an official statement on the proposal. “Ten weeks ago, Democrats passed The Heroes Act, which contains the solution to defeating the virus and safely reopening the country: supporting our heroes, crushing the virus and putting money in Americans’ pockets,” Pelosi said. “But for ten weeks, the Senate GOP has said just ‘pause.’ Once again, they have delayed releasing their plan. Children are hungry, families cannot pay the rent, unemployment is expiring and the Republicans want to pause again and go piecemeal.”
She added, “We have stood ready to negotiate for more than two months. Unfortunately, it still remains unclear if Republicans will produce a proposal today. I call upon the Republican leadership of the House and Senate and representatives of the President to come to the Speaker’s Office and join Leader Schumer and me within a half an hour of releasing their plan today to negotiate and get the job done. If Republicans care about working families, this won’t take long. Time is running out. Congress cannot go home without an agreement.” At this time, there is no word on when a new bill may be formally decided on.
