Sen. Chris Coons on Tuesday said he doesn't know how members of Congress will be able to go home for the holidays and "look our constituents in the face or the mask" if they haven't passed another round of coronavirus relief legislation.
"Part of why we have a federal government is to deal with disasters," the Delaware Democrat said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"A disjointed federal response, different standards, different direction, and, frankly, the way in which our current president, Donald Trump, has failed to give us a positive and consistent message about the public health crisis we’re in has made this worse."
"Lawmakers have a chance through the proposed bipartisan $908 billion relief bill to work together like they did early on in the pandemic to pass the CARES Act and deliver the relief the American people need," said Coons.
The senator said many in Congress have supported the compromise measure, but most Republicans oppose it.
"The 908 coalition, which is the group of senators that’s put together this next proposal, really was trying to stay below a trillion dollars simply because there’s been pressure from the Republican majority here for months to not do another really large relief package," he said.
Coons said that he is hearing from constituents who can't pay their mortgages or who have lost their jobs, and stressed that another rebound of relief checks will help keep the economy from dipping further into a recession in the months that are coming before a COVID-19 vaccine is readily
"This pandemic has infected nearly 15 million people, taken nearly 280,000 American lives," he said. "If we're going to slow the destruction of this pandemic, we need to provide more support for state and local governments, for hospitals, for schools, for the distribution of the vaccine, and for relief for individuals, families and small businesses that need help reopening."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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