Washington, D.C. – Congressman Don Bacon (NE-02), along with 199 of his colleagues, including 14 Democrats, today voted against the fifth coronavirus bill that was rushed to the floor by Speaker Pelosi, without input from any Republicans and most Democrats. This $3 trillion bill wish list has no chance of passing the Senate or being signed into law. He issued the following statement following the vote:
“Our country is suffering through an economic crisis we have not seen since the Great Depression caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Families and businesses are hurting and we need to find the right bipartisan legislative action to help our country heal and economy recover. The previous four COVID supplemental bills were successful because they were crafted with overwhelming bipartisan support. This partisan bill is the most expensive legislation in American history and will fundamentally change our way of life for decades to come, and was written with absolutely zero Republican input. Further, it has absolutely zero chance of passing in the Senate and becoming law. The Speaker could have spent this week seeking a bipartisan plan that helps ailing families and small businesses instead of this fruitless messaging bill. Further, this bill is the height of fiscal irresponsibility that explodes our deficit to beyond $7 trillion this year alone, the worst in our nation’s history. There are areas in this I would like to see passed in this bill, but the $3 trillion total cost is unacceptable. Unfortunately, the Speaker loaded this bill down with expensive poison pills."
Some of the unacceptable items in the partisan wish list of Speaker Pelosi include:
Federal government takeover of elections, including ballot harvesting ripe for abuse.
Suspension of the cap on SALT tax deductions - a policy change that would directly benefit mainly millionaires and billionaires.
Millions of more dollars for spending unrelated to Coronavirus.
No real help for our farmers and ranchers by not providing additional funding in the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) – the funding arm of the USDA.
Directs $1,200 of Economic Impact Payments to illegal immigrants at the expense of U.S. taxpayers.
Provisions mandating the blanket release of certain federal prisoners and alleged criminals including those within one year of release and prisoners over 50.
