House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Monday called on Republicans to “stop posturing” and propose bills that both parties can agree on.
“We have real problems facing this country, and it’s time for the Republicans to quit the political posturing by proposing bills they know will not pass either chamber and get serious and work with us towards a solution," the Democratic leaders said in a joint statement.
Each party pushed its own plan for a relief bill last week, only for both to fail in the Senate. The GOP supported a bill granting an additional $250 billion to the Small Business Association’s Paycheck Protection Program, but Democrats called to add $100 billion for hospitals and $150 billion for state and local governments and for food assistance funding.
“Further changes must also be made to the SBA’s assistance initiative, as many eligible small businesses continue to be excluded from the Paycheck Protection Program by big banks with significant lending capacity,” Pelosi and Schumer said on Monday. “Funding for COVID-19 SBA disaster loans and grants must be significantly increased to satisfy the hundreds of billions in oversubscribed demand.”
They continue, “Finally, we all desire an end to the shutdown orders so we can get Americans back to work and back to normal. However, there is still not enough testing available to realistically allow that to happen,” they continue. “We Democrats demand adequate funding for the production and distribution of national rapid testing and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – it cannot wait. The collection and publication of demographic data are also desperately needed, so that we can accurately determine the level of impact on under-served communities and communities of color and direct needed resources to them immediately.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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