Janet Yellen calls on Congress to do more to tackle pandemic-induced recession

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary candidate Janet Yellen calls on Congress to do more to tackle a deep pandemic-induced recession, saying threats of a longer and even worse recession are too great to reduce support now .

“Without further action, we risk a longer, more painful recession now – and long-term scars in the economy later,” Yellen said in testimony prepared for his confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee. .

Yellen, who will be the first female treasury secretary in the country’s history, should have little trouble securing approval for a Senate that will be tightly Democratic-controlled once two Democratic senators from Georgia are seated.

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In her testimony, Yellen, who was also the country’s first female Federal Reserve chairperson, said the swift action taken by Congress in passing trillion-dollar bailouts last spring and additional relief measures of $ 900 billion last month had succeeded in “avoiding a lot of suffering.” “

But she said that even with extraordinary help from the government, the pandemic still caused “widespread devastation.”

“Eighteen million unemployment insurance claims are paid every week. The shelves of food banks are emptying. The damage has been extensive and, as the President-elect said last Thursday, so must our response, ”Yellen said.

“Over the next few months we will need more help to distribute the vaccine, to reopen schools, to help states keep firefighters and teachers on the job,” Yellen said. She said more support would also be needed to maintain unemployment checks and to help families who are hungry or at risk of becoming homeless.

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Biden last week unveiled a $ 1.9 trillion relief plan that would provide more help to American families, businesses and local communities and provide more support for vaccine production and distribution.

While Democrats endorsed the effort, many Republican lawmakers expressed concerns about the price to be paid given soaring federal budget deficits.

Yellen said she and Biden were aware of the country’s rising debt burden.

“But right now, with interest rates at historically low levels, the smartest thing we can do is act big,” she said. “In the long run, I think the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we are concerned about helping people who have struggled for a very long time.”

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The Senate Finance Committee hearing with Yellen on Tuesday is one of many the Senate will hold as the new Biden administration tries to quickly put its senior Cabinet officials in place.