House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the trillion-dollar coronavirus relief package being considered by Republican Senate lawmakers this week is not enough to remedy the economic impact of the virus.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with White House officials and Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, Pelosi said: “We want to see this bill, not just have a conversation.”
Pelosi and Schumer said Republicans should stop stagnating, and generally dismissed the Republican Party’s emerging effort as inappropriate.
“The president has been a disaster in the entire health care area,” said Schumer. “He’s holding them back.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, left, attends a ceremonial swearing-in for Congressman-elect Chris Jacobs, RN.Y., Tuesday, July 21, 2020, at the Washington Capitol.
(AP)
Republicans are set to launch a $ 1 trillion package as a counteroffer to Pelosi’s approved $ 3 trillion plan approved by the House of Representatives as they compete to reach an agreement by the end of the month.
The proposed virus aid package would be the fifth, following the $ 2.2 trillion bill passed in March, the largest such intervention in the United States. The unemployment rate has remained in the double digits, higher than in the Great Recession of the last decade, and a federal eviction moratorium on millions of rental units approved on the latest bill is about to expire.
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Since the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down, authorities are struggling to contain the coronavirus and avoid further economic hardship. The United States has more and more infections and a death toll of 140,800, more than anywhere else in the world.
The $ 1 trillion package would send a new round of direct cash payments to Americans below a certain income level, grant small business loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and create a civil liability shield five years against what Schumer warns is a potential “epidemic” of coronavirus lawsuits.
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It is also expected to include at least $ 105 billion for education, with $ 70 billion to help reopen K-12 schools, $ 30 billion for universities, and $ 5 billion for governors to allocate.
Associated Press contributed to this report..
