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Members of the United States Congress agreed to a $ 900 billion package to help millions of Americans affected by Covid-19 after months of disputes as the United States faces the largest outbreak of the epidemic in the world.
That package includes help with vaccine distribution, logistics and additional unemployment benefits of $ 300 per week, and a new round of $ 600 in stimulus checks, half the amount presented in checks distributed in March.
After months of debates, inter-party disputes and accusations exchanged even during last-minute negotiations, lawmakers reached an agreement.
“We have agreed to a package worth about $ 900 billion. It is full of specific policies to help struggling Americans who have already waited so long,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. .
House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer confirmed that an agreement had been reached with Republicans and the White House on “urgently securing the funds needed to save lives. and the livelihoods of the American people as the spread of the virus accelerates. ”
Schumer and Pelosi said in a statement that the agreement also includes $ 25 billion in housing assistance to prevent evictions and about $ 100 billion to help reopen schools and child care centers.
Representative Steny Hoyer, number two in the House, said he expected the deal to pass Monday and then the Senate.
This means it required a provision stating that it was a temporary measure signed by Trump early Sunday morning to continue funding the federal government for an additional 24 hours and avoid the shutdown.
The House and Senate agreed to the temporary measure earlier Sunday.
“The House of Representatives will act quickly to pass this legislation immediately to send it to the Senate and then to the office of the president for signature,” Schumer and Pelosi said in a statement. He added: “With the appalling acceleration of infection and daily deaths, there is no time to waste.”
President-elect Joe Biden, who promised to approve a new package when he takes office in January, welcomed the deal but said additional efforts should be made.
“Immediately, beginning in the new year, Congress will have to act to support our plan for COVID-19, support for troubled families, investment in jobs and economic recovery,” he said in a statement.
Affected economy
For several months, Democrats and Republicans had exchanged accusations that they had not reached an agreement on the second aid plan and continued to do so even after the agreement was agreed on Sunday.
Because the pandemic is causing a record number of injuries and deaths in the United States, the economy has taken a severe hit with the increase in the number of unemployed in the last two weeks.
Millions of Americans came close to losing unemployment benefits after Christmas, as the federal moratorium on home evictions and student loan payments should expire at the end of the month.
The new aid for struggling businesses and the unemployed is essential to revive the world’s largest economy, while the new vaccines raise hope that the epidemic will end soon.
The first package, valued at 2.2 trillion dollars, approved in March, prevented a new economic recession.
This package included huge sums to save American businesses, including $ 377 billion in small business grants to pay workers’ wages and rents, $ 500 billion in loans to major companies and countries, and about $ 600 billion. in tax exemptions and deferrals.
But its critics argue that much of the aid went to large businesses and was not enough for average Americans and small businesses.
