Harris says $1.9 trillion COVID bill is ‘much-needed help’ for Black America
'We are going to keep working to get this plan across the finish line,' Harris said
Vice President Kamala Harris fully supports the next round of COVID-19 aid which will provide assistance for Black Americans who were severely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, according to NPR.
Harris made an appearance at the 40th Annual Black History Month Virtual Celebration hosted by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. This year, the theme was “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity.”
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Harris called the pandemic an “accelerator” and said that for “whom things were bad before they’re even worse now.”
“We are looking at a country in a situation where more than two in three Black Americans personally know someone who has been hospitalized or who has died from COVID-19,” Harris said.
“Black women workers are being forced out of the workforce in record numbers, and so many Black small businesses are being forced to close their doors,” Harris continued.
Harris’s comments come a day after the House passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package that would provide financial support including up to $1,400 for individuals and couples, unemployment benefits, emergency rental assistance, and an increase to the child tax credit.
Biden hopes for “quick action” from the Senate to approve the bill to help aid Americans.
“If we act now decisively, quickly, and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus. We can finally get our economy moving again,” Biden said. “The people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. We need to relieve that suffering.”
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While discussing the relief package, Harris mentioned that she met with Washington D.C. health director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt on Thursday in a pharmacy that serves a predominantly Black community to converse about the concern for “equitable distribution” of the COVID vaccine.
“We know how folks were treated, historically, in terms of medical science and research. So we know it is an issue that we must acknowledge. We must continue to also educate folks about what is happening now that is different,” said Harris.
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