WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-US Sen, Pa.) and Robert Casey (D-US Sen, Pa.) have issued statements in response to the $1.9 trillion spending bill passed Saturday.
Senator Toomey refers to bipartisan support for five bills that provided almost $4 trillion in response to COVID last year, but says this year, President Biden and congressional Democrats refused to work with Republicans and instead, “rammed through a wasteful $1.9 trillion bill on a strictly partisan vote.”
He goes on to say, “This bill is not about responding to COVID. It is about exploiting the final stretch of a public health crisis in order to enact a longstanding liberal wish-list for years into the future. Only a fraction of the funds in this bill can even be spent this year.”
Meantime, U.S. Senator Casey says now that the Senate has passed the American Rescue Plan, the country is one step closer to putting the virus behind us.
“When the House passes the American Rescue Plan and sends it to President Biden’s desk, we will put more money in the pockets of working families, help our children return to school safely and ensure everyone who wants to can be vaccinated.”
Full statements from both Senator Toomey and Senator Casey below.
Senator Pat Toomey Statement
U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) issued the following statement regarding his vote opposing the Democrats’ partisan, wasteful $1.9 trillion spending bill:
“Last year, Congress passed, with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, five bills that provided almost $4 trillion in response to COVID. This year, President Biden and congressional Democrats refused to work with Republicans and instead rammed through a wasteful $1.9 trillion bill on a strictly partisan vote.
“This bill is not about responding to COVID. It is about exploiting the final stretch of a public health crisis in order to enact a longstanding liberal wish-list for years into the future. Only a fraction of the funds in this bill can even be spent this year. The following are merely a sample of indefensible items in this bill:
- Making Obamacare subsidies available to people with six figure incomes,
- Sending $350 billion to blue states and cities, despite their record high revenue collections in 2020 and $500 billion sent to them last year
- Sending payments to farmers and ranchers equal to 120 percent of their borrowings, irrespective of their earnings, wealth, or affects from COVID, and exclusively for ethnic minorities or immigrants,
- Sending $1,400 stimulus checks to violent incarcerated criminals,
- Paying federal employees to stay home for another 15 weeks, even after many of them have been working from home for the past year,
- Funneling hundreds of millions of dollars to the arts, humanities, and ‘environmental justice.’
“None of this is COVID-related, yet it is all in this spending monstrosity. At the same time, this bill fails to address the biggest problem facing Americans: fully reopening businesses and getting kids back to school as quickly as possible.”
Senator Bob Casey Statement:
Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is releasing a statement following Senate passage of the American Rescue Plan:
“Now that the Senate has passed the American Rescue Plan, the country is one step closer to putting the virus behind us. When the House passes the American Rescue Plan and sends it to President Biden’s desk, we will put more money in the pockets of working families, help our children return to school safely and ensure everyone who wants to can be vaccinated.”
The Senate’s version of the American Rescue Plan also includes provisions authored by Senator Casey:
Investing in Home and Community-Based Services: Senator Casey secured roughly $12.667 billion to expand Medicaid home and community-based services. States may use these funds to recruit and train workers, purchase personal protective equipment and testing supplies, offer wage increases and benefits or reduce wait lists among seniors and people with disabilities who wish to receive home-based care.
Saving Lives in Nursing Homes: Senator Casey secured $500 million for nursing home strike teams to manage COVID-19 outbreaks and another $200 million for technical assistance on infection control and vaccinations.
Vaccinating Seniors Against COVID-19 and Helping Grandfamilies: Senator Casey secured more than $1.4 billion for vaccination outreach, education and transportation to appointments for seniors, to help reduce social isolation for those restricted to their homes and to pay for home-delivered and congregate meals. The Senator also secured a new resource center to support grandparents and older relatives raising relative children.
Reducing Child Care Costs for American Families: Senator Casey secured the inclusion of his legislation to expand and improve the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. Working parents will be able to receive up to $4,000 for child care expenses for one child, up to $8,000 for two or more kids.
Supporting Foster and Homeless Youth: Senator Casey secured an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that will allow working former foster youth and homeless youth to claim the EITC as soon as they age out of the foster care system while full-time students.
