WASHINGTON, D.C. (LOOTPRESS) – Following their more than two-hour meeting with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss their COVID-19 relief proposal, the group of 10 Republican Senators—including U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)—released this statement:
“It was an excellent meeting, and we are very appreciative that in his first official meeting in the Oval Office, President Biden chose to spend so much time with us discussing the response to the COVID crisis. We presented our proposal to the president, and we had a very productive exchange of views,” said the senators. “On five previous occasions, Congress has demonstrated that we can come together to deliver COVID-19 relief for the American people. In the coming days, talks among our group, the Biden administration, and other senators will continue as we work in good faith on a sixth bipartisan package to help struggling families, get students back to school, assist our small businesses and their employees, provide relief for health care providers, and accelerate testing and vaccine programs.”
During the meeting, Senator Capito was able to bring up a few topics of special significance to West Virginia in the context of COVID relief. Specifically, she advocated for additional funding for the Provider Relief Fund to include a rural hospital set aside due to the unique challenges they have faced during the pandemic. Additionally, she shared with the president the need to double down in our fight against opioids in light of the daunting facts that addiction and overdoses have increased since the pandemic began.
Senators Capito, Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) sent a letter to President Biden on Sunday, January 31, outlining their COVID-19 relief compromise, and they accepted an invitation to meet with the president last night. The senators unveiled the details of their COVID-19 relief proposal this morning.
Since March 2020, Congress has passed five bipartisan COVID-19 relief bills and provided more than $4 trillion in COVID-19 relief. The latest COVID-19 relief packaged provided $900 billion in additional resources and was signed into law on December 27, 2020. Much of that assistance is only now being disbursed.
Click HERE for the details of the senators’ proposal.
