Last night, House Democrats took the first step in making the American Rescue Plan a reality. But while Democrats were keeping their promise to the American people, Republicans — those who bothered to show up to the vote — refused to support sending relief to the millions of families struggling across the country through no fault of their own.

Democrats voted to send working people $1,400 direct payments, plus additional relief funding. Republicans voted to leave millions high and dry. 

USA TODAY: “USA TODAY asked people around the country how they would spend $1,400. For them, a stimulus check is more than cash. Fourteen hundred dollars can stave off eviction or a utility shutoff. It can nurse a teenager back to health, provide seed money for a business, pay for an education and, in some cases, provide a new sense of freedom.

Democrats voted to boost funding for vaccine distribution, while every single House Republican opposed it. 

ABC News: “It would also provide hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to state and local governments, schools and vaccine and COVID-19 testing efforts — in addition to nutritional and child care assistance.”

Democrats voted to provide small businesses struggling to keep their doors open with much-needed aid, while Republicans turned their backs on them. 

NPR: “The Small Business Administration would get $25 billion for a new grant program for ‘restaurants and other food and drinking establishments.’ Grants would be available up to $10 million per entity and $5 million per physical location with a maximum of 20 locations. The legislation sets aside $5 billion of the total money to be targeted to businesses with less than $500,000 in revenue in 2019. … The bill includes another $1.25 billion for the Small Business Administration’s Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program.”

Republicans last night voted against:

  • Mounting a national vaccination program, containing COVID-19, and safely reopening schools.
  • Delivering immediate relief to working families bearing the brunt of this crisis by sending direct payments and thousands of dollars of benefits to working families.
  • Supporting communities that are struggling in the wake of COVID-19.

Democrats listened to the American people and voted for President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, while Republicans showed just how out of touch with voters they are. 

Reuters: “Biden’s aid bill wildly popular with Americans — except Republicans in Congress”

New York Times: “In the SurveyMonkey poll, 4 in 5 respondents said it was important for the relief bill to include $1,400 direct checks, including nearly 7 in 10 Republicans.”

New York Times: “The poll found that 78 percent of Americans supported the stimulus checks, including 90 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans — suggesting that Republicans in Congress who want to reduce the checks to $1,000 are out of step with their constituents on this issue.”

Yahoo News: “Of all 20 policies covered by the poll, the two most popular were the ones at the center of Biden’s current COVID proposal: $2,000 relief checks (74 percent favor vs. 13 percent oppose) and increased federal funding for vaccination (69 percent favor vs. 17 percent oppose).”

The post Republicans Oppose Sending Americans Thousands of Dollars of Relief appeared first on Democrats.