Joe Biden celebrated approval of his economic plan to deal with the pandemic: “This is a giant leap for the United States”

“Today I can say that we have taken a giant step forward in keeping the promise I made to the Americans when I took office 45 days ago, that help was on the way,” Biden said. in a White House speech after the Senate approved the bailout.

“We calculate that this plan this will translate into the creation of around 6 million jobs, it will increase our GDP by a trillion dollars and it will put our country to compete with the rest of the world as the rest of the world moves, China in particular “he added.

Rescue pack includes new direct payments of $ 1,400 to taxpayers earning less than $ 80,000 per yearas well as unemployment benefits and funds for state and local governments, vaccinations and the reopening of schools.

“85% of US households will receive direct payments of $ 1,400 per person,” Biden said, and predicted that the stimulus package will “halve child poverty” in the country. “This plan puts us on the right track to defeat the virus and bring the help they need to the families who are suffering the most,” he said.

Biden urged the House of Representatives, which already gave its initial approval to the bill last week, to vote “quickly” to approve the Senate version, which would complete the process so the president can sign it and become law. “This nation has suffered too much for too long,” he said.

The lower house is expected to start considering the bill passed in the Senate on Tuesday, with the goal that Biden can sign it before the end of next week.

The president delivered his speech nearly two hours after the Senate approved the bailout, the third to be approved in the United States since the pandemic began a year ago.

No Republican senator voted in favor of the stimulus package, which was approved by a narrow margin of 50 to 49, a fact Biden downplayed during his appearance.

“The key is that the American people strongly support what we do,” said Biden, recalling that several polls have shown support between 60% and 70% of citizens for the stimulus plan.

Likewise, the plan includes a $ 350,000 million bailout for state and local governments, $ 20 billion for a national immunization plan and another 50,000 for the covid-19 screening system, in addition to extending up to on September 6, unemployment benefits, which expire on March 14.

The bailout also includes funds for airlines, local transportation systems and the rail network, as well as food programs, rental aid or funding for the reopening of schools.

Biden’s original proposal called for an increase to $ 15 an hour in the federal minimum wage, which is currently $ 7.25 an hour since 2007, but that point has not garnered enough support.

This is the third economic bailout approved by Congress since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, following the $ 900,000 million bailout Congress promoted in December and the $ 2.2 trillion dollars approved in March 2020, which was the largest in the country’s history. .

With information from EFE

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