South Florida House Republicans Vote Against President Biden's $1.9 Trillion Pandemic Relief Package
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - On Saturday morning, the US House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, but the bill did not pass with bipartisan support.
President Joe Biden said, "We have no time to waste. If we act now, decisively, quickly, and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus."
President Biden praised the House for passing the bill and calling on the Senate to take quick action.
"We can finally get our economy moving again. And the people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to relieve that suffering. The American rescue plan does just that it relieves the suffering and it's time to act," said Biden.
His COVID relief package would give each unemployed American $400 a week in federal unemployment money, through August 29th. That's up from $300 a week they are getting now.
Individuals making $75,000 a year or less would get a $1,400 check.
That's up from $1,200 in the first stimulus bill and $600 in the second.
Couples earning less than $150,000 a year would get a $2,800 one-time payment.
Families with children would be eligible to get an additional $1,400 for each dependent.
Families earning $200,000 a year or more, get nothing.
Additionally, college students will be eligible for one-time payments.
The final vote tally was 219. No Republicans voted for it.
Democrats want the measure on the President's desk before enhanced federal unemployment benefits expire on March 14th.
"We need to fix our economy. Majority of our Americans are suffering," said Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Many Republicans have argued that the legislation overreaches and serves as a liberal wish list of agenda items and complain that they have been locked out of the process for crafting the measure.
Congressman Carlos Gimenez, who voted against the bill, released a statement saying, "I could not vote for a package filled with excessive non-COVID-19 items and a lack of ability for republicans to have input in the process. Far too many Americans are struggling to recover from the covid-19 pandemic and deserve substantial targeted assistance."
Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart said, "Since the beginning of the pandemic, Congress has passed five bipartisan relief bills that total nearly $4 trillion. From this total, approximately $1 trillion remains unspent, yet house Democratic leadership wants to waste an additional $2 trillion that our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay for."