House majority leader hopes to bring Covid relief bill for floor vote the week of Feb. 22
President Biden made clear in remarks Friday that he is prioritizing his Covid-19 relief bill over bipartisan efforts, giving his strongest criticism of Republicans since taking office.
“What Republicans have proposed is either to do nothing, or not enough,” Biden said in remarks at the White House.
“All of a sudden, many of them have rediscovered fiscal restraint and the concern for the deficits. But don’t kid yourself- this approach will come with a cost, more pain for more people, for longer than it has to be,” Biden said.
Biden said he can’t in “good conscious” agree to a bill with a smaller number, making clear that Democrats are likely going alone in attempting to pass the American Rescue Plan.
“So to me this is what this moment comes down to — are we going to pass a big enough package to vaccinate people? To get people back to work? To alleviate the suffering in this country, this year? That’s what I want to do. Or are we going to say to millions of Americans… ‘Don’t worry. Hang on. Things are going to get better. We’re going to go smaller. It’s just going to take us a lot longer. Like until 2025.’ That’s the Republican answer right now.”
“I can’t in good conscious do that. Too many people in the nation have already suffered for too long through this pandemic and economic crisis and telling them we don’t have the money to alleviate their suffering…is neither true nor necessary,” Biden said.
Biden also spoke about his efforts on getting recovery passed after the great recession in 2009 saying that it “wasn’t enough” or “big enough” adding, “It stemmed the crisis but the recovery could have been faster and even bigger. Today we need an answer that meets the challenge of this crisis and not one that falls short.”
Here’s a look at the key difference’s between Biden and the GOP’s Covid-19 proposal.
