Newhouse Votes Against Pelosi’s Progressive Payoff
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) released the following statement after voting against the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1319, a nearly $2 trillion budget reconciliation package:
"This ‘relief package' is a payoff to Speaker Pelosi's far-left progressive base. With only 9% of this massive bill dedicated to direct COVID-19 relief and more than $1 trillion in unspent funds from previous bipartisan packages, this is not what America needs right now. Eventually, somebody will have to pay for it. That means higher taxes – which I strongly oppose – at a time when families in Central Washington and across our nation are struggling to recover from prolonged economic shutdowns," said Rep. Newhouse.
He continued, "This bill will not provide the targeted, immediate relief we need to defeat this virus and reinvigorate our economy. Instead, it is chock-full of liberal wish list items – from $350 billion in state and local government funding without requiring any accountability to a $100 billion bailout for multi-employer pensions with no reforms. If we are going to recover from this pandemic, we have to work together, and it's unfortunate Democrats have taken this partisan route."
The legislation – which is being called a pandemic relief package – includes $1.9 trillion in new spending, including the following items that are not related to American COVID-19 recovery:
- $21,000 for federal employees to stay home
- $25,000 bonus for state government workers
- $50 million for Planned Parenthood
- $200 million for Museum and Library Services
- $270 million for Endowment for Arts and Humanities
- $1.5 billion for Amtrak
- $12 billion for foreign aid
- $15 billion for illegal immigrant-eligible healthcare
- $111 billion for welfare without work requirements