Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Senate: ‘We are abandoning our people’
'30 million Americans are on the brink of eviction,' said Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stood on the House floor on Friday to criticize Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who sent members of the upper chamber home to celebrate Thanksgiving without finalizing a coronavirus pandemic relief bill.
“And he broke the Senate as there are thousands of people in Texas lined up for food lines. He broke the Senate while hospitals no longer have beds to house the sick,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
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She continued, highlighting her interactions with people in her community and the urgent need for assistance as Americans are struggling.
“He broke the Senate, and dismissed the Senate, while 30 million Americans are on the brink of eviction. He dismissed the Senate when every single day, when we go back to our communities, people are asking us, ‘Where is there going to be help? Is there going to be a second stimulus check? Are we going to get the resources that we need?”
Ocasio-Cortez noted that millions of Americans “won’t be able to afford a meal to eat, that don’t know if they’ll be kicked out of their home, that are unsure if they’re going to have to quit their job to care for their child.”
According to the U.S. News & World Report, the number of COVID-19 cases in the United States has surpassed 12 million, days ahead of Thanksgiving. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave a “strong recommendation” to Americans with regards to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Approximately 254,000 Americans have died as of Friday.
Ocasio-Cortez continued to point out the fears of food scarcity for some citizens and her disdain for law markers arguing over relief packages while “people are going hungry.
“We are dismissing their needs as blue state needs or as bailouts depending on what party you voted for. Hunger has no party. Illness has no party. And when we allow suffering to be alleviated or concentrated based on political affiliation, we are doing a disservice to our entire nation,” she said.
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ABC News reported that there’s hope for conversations regarding a relief aid in the next coming weeks. The congressional ‘Big Four’ consisting of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer met Thursday. The four leaders discussed how the relief bill can be included in a spending bill that has to be approved by both chambers of Congress by Dec. 11.
Many people took to Twitter to voice their reactions to the congresswoman floor speech with one user citing that he became “so emotional.” Others discussed how the lack of a government response to the national turmoil was troubling.
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