Congress delivers Biden’s first victory

Joe Biden will make his first prime-time television address to deliver a message of ‘hope’ after congress passed his $2.5 trillion COVID-19 relief plan a year into the pandemic.

Joe Biden’s $US1.9 trillion Covid-relief plan, months in the making, is one of the largest US rescue packages ever. Picture: AFP

US President Joe Biden goes before the nation on Friday in his first prime-time television address to deliver a message of “hope” after congress passed his $US1.9 trillion ($2.49 trillion) COVID-19 relief plan a year into the pandemic.

“There is real reason for hope folks, I promise you,” Mr Biden will say, according to a preview of his remarks.

The speech will be the opening salvo in a White House blitz to seize the initiative after congress passed the American Rescue Plan on Thursday.

The congressional passage of the relief package delivered a resounding victory for the President and giving what he called a “fighting chance” to millions of families and businesses suffering during the pandemic.

The $US1.9 trillion plan, months in the making, is one of the largest US rescue packages ever. It will dramatically impact every aspect of the world’s biggest economy for years to come while protecting and expanding the country’s social safety net.

Democrats say they have met a historic moment of crisis head on, funnelling federal dollars into vaccine distribution, stimulus cheques of up to $US1400 to most Americans, extending unemployment benefits for millions and expanding government funding for healthcare.

The measure only narrowly passed the House of Representatives by a 220-211 vote, with zero support from Republicans, who accuse Mr Biden of abandoning his inauguration day pledge to unify a divided nation.

But as Republicans stood in opposition, progressive and moderate Democrats locked arms and marched the measure across the finish line days before unemployment benefits were set to expire.

The bill heads to the White House, where Mr Biden — who made the American Rescue Plan his top legislative priority — said he would sign the measure into law on Saturday AEDT. “This legislation is about giving the backbone of this nation — the essential workers, the working people who built this country, the people who keep this country going — a fighting chance,” he said.

At a presentation with vaccine makers, Mr Biden went on to call the bill a “historic victory for the American people” and said “there’s a real reason for hope” in beating back the pandemic.

Minutes earlier, cheers and applause rose from the floor when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -declared the measure passed. “This is a critical moment in our country’s history,” she said. “Help is on the way — for the people, for the children.”

The bill extends eviction and foreclosure moratoriums, pours billions into state and local governments, provides help for small businesses, increases food aid and sets aside $US130bn for schools. Democrats argue the bill’s child tax credit expansion will slash child poverty by up to 50 per cent.

But Republicans attacked what they called the bill’s “socialist agenda” and massive cost, saying more than 90 per cent does not go to directly combating COVID-19.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy called the plan “a long laundry list of left-wing priorities that predate the pandemic and do not meet the needs of the American families”. The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, savaged the bill as “Democratic overreach in the name of COVID relief”. “This is by far one of the worst pieces of legislation I’ve seen in the Senate,” he said. The bill passed the upper chamber on Sunday AEDT along strict party lines.

Americans outside Washington appear to see it very differently, as polls show overwhelming bipartisan support for the bill.

Nevertheless, Mr Biden is signalling that he will soon hit the road on a mission to sell the package to the American people.

Mr Biden this week visited a business billed as Washington’s oldest hardware store, which has benefited from the Paycheque Protection Program begun under Donald Trump’s administration to help businesses stay afloat during the crisis. The administration is continuing the program, but Mr Biden said it would be tailored to focus on businesses with 20 ¬employees or fewer.

The last congressional plan to fight the coronavirus, which has to date left more than 528,000 dead in the US and brought the economy to its knees, was enacted in December. It expanded unemployment payments and extended them through to March 14. That deadline has loomed as Mr Biden and Democrats crafted their latest package, but the new measure is set to extend the benefits until early September.

AFP