“The American people need us to throw them a life preserver, not an anvil.”

Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) spoke on the Senate floor about Nancy Pelosi’s $3 trillion liberal spending spree which would not help those impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

Excerpts of Senator Barrasso’s remarks:

“I come to the floor today to discuss the House Democrats’ $3 trillion spending spree.

“The American people are at a point where they need a life preserver. Instead, Speaker Pelosi has just thrown them an anvil. It’s absurd.

“Her Covid-19 proposal: it’s pricey, it’s partisan and it’s a pipe dream. It’s a bloated bonanza of all her leftwing socialist projects.

“It weighs in at over 1,800 pages, but there’s one glaring omission: House Democrats forgot to help fight the coronavirus.

“This bill is Nancy Pelosi’s Socialist Democrat Dream, but it is a nightmare for the American people.

“Nancy Pelosi needs a very serious reality check.

“The far-left fantasy will never become law. It cannot pass the Senate.

“The country is trying to recover from the coronavirus.

“People are stressed, they’re struggling, they’re sacrificing, they’re suffering.

“They need help to survive the crisis.

“People have been living through two months of lockdowns to slow the spread of the disease.

“While the infection rate has finally started to flatten, tragically tens of thousands of Americans have already died.

“More than 36 million people have lost their jobs.

“People back home in Wyoming and all across the country, they know what we need to do.

“We need to get back to business safely. We need the disease behind us. We need our communities back, and we need it as soon as possible.

“Yet as states reopen, incredibly, the Democrats are exploiting and prolonging the nation’s pain. Why? It seems to me like they are trying to do it for political gain.

“Joe Biden has called this deadly disease an ‘incredible opportunity to fundamentally transform the country.’

“Nancy Pelosi agrees. The global outbreak she said is ‘a wonderful opportunity.’ That’s according to the Speaker of the House.

“She cannot let a crisis go to waste. She is wasting the public’s time on a proposal that has not a single chance in the world of becoming law.

“This bill really is a political payoff to Nancy Pelosi’s constituencies, to her allies.

“Look at the wish list. Topping the House Democrats’ $3 trillion liberal wish list is the great blue state bailout: It’s a trillion dollars more to bail out very badly mismanaged states, Democrat-run states, local governments, sanctuary cities.

“The bill rescues underwater blue state pension plans. And includes a tax cut for the wealthiest 1% who live in those specific states: Illinois, New York, California. A windfall for wealthy taxpayers in Democrat-run states.

“And that’s not all.

“The bill provides direct payments to illegal immigrants.

“Astonishingly, there is not a single dime for additional Paycheck Protection funds. Not for the small businesses that we need to keep workers on the payroll.

“Even though the program has saved 50 million jobs already in America.

“The bill does want to seek to release prisoners from ICE detention centers. Notably, there is no liability protection for the small businesses that we need to get to reopen the country. It’s not included in her bill.

“These are mom-and-pop businesses in my home state of Wyoming who are facing an avalanche of abusive lawsuits as they try to reopen.

“The Wyoming legislature actually addressed it in a special session on Friday. We need to address it for the nation.

“The proposal that Pelosi has put out abolishes state voter ID requirements, and it overrides state voting laws. It’s all part of her master plan for federal control of state election laws.

“The Pelosi bill bails out the U.S. Postal Service.

“And it funds something that she calls ‘environmental justice’. Does it to the tune of $50 million.

“How does that help in the fight against coronavirus?

“The proposal takes good care of the marijuana industry. Even though selling pot is still a felony in most states.

“I don’t know how that helps in the fight against the coronavirus.

“No matter, the Pelosi plan gives the cannabis businesses special access to cut-rate financing.

“In fact, her bill reads more like a marijuana measure than a pandemic package. That’s because it includes the word ‘cannabis’ 68 times, more often than she mentions jobs, hiring. The important thing about getting our country open, getting our communities back.

“This Democrat Socialist Christmas List just goes on and on.

“And the astronomical price, $3 trillion.

“If enacted, this Pelosi package would be the largest waste of taxpayer dollars in U.S. history.

“Now Nancy Pelosi must not realize that families all across America are having a hard time paying their bills, feeding their kids, paying the rent.

“Otherwise, why would she put all of this money and all of these things, these priorities—payouts to sanctuary cities, how does that help us fight coronavirus? Favorable financing to the marijuana industry and tens of millions for ‘environmental justice.’

“Keep in mind, much of the money from the bipartisan CARES relief package that Congress already passed, money that’s been appropriated, has not yet been spent.

“In March, Congress approved nearly $3 trillion in combined coronavirus aid. Lots of it has gone to states.

“My home state of Wyoming just had a special session of the legislature this past Friday, Saturday to see how we’re going to go ahead spending the billions of dollars, $1.25 billion that have come to so many states.

“And Wyoming, as a number of other states, is smaller in size got the lowest amount of money. And they haven’t spent it. They’re having the special session to decide how to spend it.

“Some states may need more flexibility in spending it, but Nancy Pelosi is trying to send out another trillion dollars to states and to cities.

“As a Republican from the start, our focus has been on helping people through the health and the economic crisis that is upon us. We want to help the American people weather the storm.

“Now House Democrats say that Nancy Pelosi lays down a marker for future bipartisan talks.

“In reality, Democrats are only weakening their position by betting big against the American economic recovery.

“Because the Pelosi bill includes specific what I believe are job-killing proposals. Not things to help more Americans work, but things making it harder for Americans to get back to work.

“This bill would slow the recovery by keeping millions of Americans on the government payroll all the way into 2021.

“This bill, this fantasy island that Nancy Pelosi is on, extends increased unemployment benefits so people could make more money by not working than by going back to work.

“That means as much as half the workforce could earn more by not working than by returning to work all the way into 2021.

“So the Democrat Socialists want the businesses that are trying to reopen and to rehire workers to compete with unemployment benefits until 2021, until April of next year.

“The Democrats are proposing that these American businesses, instead of hiring 36 million Americans who are out of work, they want to make it easier for them to hire illegal immigrants than the Americans who are currently out of work.

“The bill also raises taxes on struggling small businesses.

“It mandates paid family leave through the end of 2021 and removes the small business tax exemption.

“It’s as if Democrats don’t want the economy to reopen and don’t want people to return to work.

“Before the pandemic hit, we had record job growth, we had record-low unemployment, record high consumer confidence. Now unemployment is approaching the level of the Great Depression.

“The best way to help the 36 million people who are out of work is to reopen our communities and reopen our country.

“It’s telling that House Democrats’ $3 trillion bill includes no measures to help Americans get back to work, no added support for hard-hit small businesses and no protections for American jobs.

“Congress will be considering providing more virus aid in coming months and weeks. Any recovery legislation will have to be targeted, temporary and tailored to address the coronavirus emergency.

“Covid-19 legislation must include reasonable, responsible liability protections for health care providers and for employers, for the small businesses in our states. And it needs to promote economic growth and jobs.

“Senate Republicans are focused on reopening America.

“The American taxpayer can’t be asked to pay for the items on Speaker Pelosi’s $3 trillion Socialist Christmas List.

“The American people need us to throw them a life preserver, not the anvil that Nancy Pelosi has thrown their way.”

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