 "Biden urges Congress to pass robust relief package for most hit by Covid-19")
US President-elect Joe Biden Tuesday urged the Congress to pass a robust economic reforms package that can meet the urgent needs of Americans who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Right now, the full Congress should come together and pass a robust package of relief that addresses these urgent needs, Biden said in Wilmington, Delaware, as he introduced his economic team to the nation.
But any package passed in the lame duck session is likely to be at best just the start, he said.
My transition team is already working on what I will put forward for the next Congress to address the multiple crises we are facing especially our economic and COVID crises, Biden said.
His remarks came as a bipartisan group of Senators unveiled a USD908 billion coronavirus relief package which is designed to provide enough relief through the end of March.
Our USD908 billion framework provides our front line healthcare providers, students, families, small businesses, and workers with the support they need and deserve during this devastating pandemic, said Senator Joe Manchin, one of the key authors of the bill.
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This is not a USD1.8 trillion stimulus bill. This is a relief measure half that amount -- USD908 billion -- with USD560 billion in repurposed funds from the first CARES Act, so the amount of new money is actually USD348 billion, said Senator Mitt Romney.
Included in this measure is a liability provision that provides a temporary suspension of any liability-related lawsuits at the state or federal level associated with COVID-19, giving states enough time to put in place their own protections, he said.
The Problem Solvers Caucus, made up of 25 Democrats and 25 Republicans, helped draft and endorsed the package.
Senator Mark Warner urged his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put months of stalled negotiations behind them, and to support the bipartisan compromise in order to ensure that families across the country are not forced to spend the holiday unable to put food on the table.