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<\/p>\nWashington, DC…U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding appropriations and COVID-19 relief:\u00a0 \u201cYesterday, leaders in the Senate, in the House, and the Secretary of the Treasury reached the major agreement that struggling Americans have needed for months.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to pass another historic rescue package to help American families through this pandemic. We are going to pass full-year government funding so the Armed Forces and all federal departments have the resources and the certainty they need. And we are going to do both these things as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\u201cSenate Republicans have been trying since July to get more targeted, bipartisan relief into the hands of the American people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn July, we proposed to send about $1 trillion to priorities including a second round of the Paycheck Protection Program, direct checks for households, and funding for healthcare providers, testing, and K-12 schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocrats said no. They said they\u2019d block anything short of their multi-trillion-dollar left-wing wish list.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere was one headline: \u2018$2 trillion or bust: Democrats draw red line in coronavirus spending battle.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cSo in July and August, when Republican Senators tried to extend expiring federal unemployment benefits, Democrats blocked us. Laid-off workers lost their benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn September and again in October, as people kept hurting, the virus kept spreading, and schools tried to find footing, every Republican voted for a multi-hundred-billion-dollar package.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth times, Democrats blocked the relief. All-or-nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut a few days ago, with a new President-elect of their own party, everything changed. Democrats suddenly came around to our position that we should find consensus, make law where we agree, and get urgent help out the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a few days of hard work, we\u2019ve assembled another historic, bipartisan, rescue package. Just under $900 billion of relief targeted toward our fellow Americans who need help the most.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll begin where this pandemic will end: vaccinations. Thanks to the genius of science and the leadership of President Trump, Operation Warp Speed has produced safe and effective vaccines. Now we need to distribute them nationwide. This rescue package provides many billions more dollars to expand vaccine purchasing and distribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil we have won, we need to keep wearing masks and taking precautions. Even so, more Americans will fall ill. So this legislation continues to fund health providers and COVID testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pandemic has fallen especially hard on children and parents. Our legislation includes major funding, more than $80 billion, for K-12 schools to reopen safely and get kids\u2019 educations back on track. There are billions more for childcare providers to reopen safely as well. And new investments in rural broadband will improve both education and telehealth down the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, there are Americans\u2019 personal finances. The impossible kitchen-table questions that millions of working families have faced this year, through no fault of their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in March, thanks to Chairman Rubio, Senator Collins, and Senator Cardin, we created the Paycheck Protection Program. It\u2019s saved small businesses and helped millions of American workers keep receiving paychecks rather than pink slips.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be insanity for us to have saved these jobs all this time only to drop the ball with the end in sight. So this bill will send more than $280 billion to re-open the PPP for a targeted second round. And we made sure churches and faith-based organizations will stay eligible.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, millions have already been laid off. So, months after Republicans tried to stop benefits from expiring in the first place, this package will resume a temporary federal supplement to unemployment insurance. And it extends other programs for self-employed and gig workers that would have expired.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to the particular leadership and direction of President Trump and Secretary Mnuchin, households will receive a second round of direct relief checks \u2014 $600 per adult and per child.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just some of the aid that will be heading Americans\u2019 way in a matter of hours.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo sprawling left-wing wish list. No unconstrained bailouts for state and local governments, with no connection to COVID needs. Just smart, targeted, bipartisan policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cited a figure of $900 billion. But listen to this: The net new cost is less than roughly $350 billion. We are recovering more than half a trillion dollars in unspent money that Congress had already set aside and channeling it to these urgent needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd thanks to our colleague Senator Toomey this legislation winds down some of the temporary emergency powers we lent the Federal Reserve to make sure our financial system survived last spring.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of talented leaders helped make this happen. Leader McCarthy has been an invaluable partner. White House Chief of Staff Meadows has been central.<\/p>\n
\u201cColleagues such as Senators Collins, Murkowski, Romney, Cassidy, and Portman helped prod the Senate toward consensus with their bipartisan work. And I just mentioned Senator Toomey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to give particular thanks to the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the pandemic, Steven was already a crucial partner for the Republican majorities in Congress. We enacted the most consequential tax reform in a generation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe helped create the conditions for explosive job growth, wage growth, and record-low unemployment. Our country had the strongest-possible starting point to weather this storm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, the Secretary has been even more essential. He helped Congress develop and pass the historic CARES Act in record time. It prevented a complete economic collapse at the hands of this virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom drafting CARES, to implementing it, to the intervening months, to this latest package, Secretary Mnuchin has been an extremely capable and patient partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s helped guide our nation through this dark period toward the daybreak that lies ahead. On behalf of the Senate and the country, I thank the Secretary for his countless hours of work and his incredible effectiveness in extraordinary times.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this rescue package will dominate headlines, we\u2019re also set to fund the entire federal government on a bipartisan basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must not overlook the tireless work from Chairman Shelby, Senator Leahy, and our Appropriations Committees in both chambers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir hard work goes beyond just avoiding shutdowns.<\/p>\n
\u201cFull-year funding bills give our Armed Forces the certainty to make plans and budgets, so we can continue to modernize our capabilities and keep pace with competitors like Russia and China.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s bills also tackle important domestic priorities.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything from agriculture research to the fight against opioid abuse to border security and law enforcement are provided for.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe aren\u2019t defunding the police or abolishing ICE around here. Not on our watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cFederal law enforcement from the U.S. Marshals to the Border Patrol will get the resources they need to protect innocent Americans and uphold the rule of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I want to especially thank Chairman Shelby and Congresswoman Granger for beating back a number of far-left poison pills.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese bills maintain pro-life guardrails on funding, secure President Trump\u2019s approach to Title X, and respect our citizens\u2019 Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Senate is about to cast some incredibly impactful votes. None of us think any of this legislation is perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut a big, bipartisan majority of us recognize the incredible amount of good it will do when we send it on to the President\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe American people have waited long enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am glad for our country that we are now moving ahead together.\u201d<\/p>\n
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