WASHINGTON, DC-U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) spoke on the Senate floor today to urge passage of the improved, Senate Finance Committee economic stimulus bill. He also called on the Republican Senate leadership not to further delay a vote on the bipartisan stimulus bill.
“We had a lot of talk on the other side of the aisle but not nearly enough action to say that we're going to support a proposal, not just what the House sent us, but an improved, and I think a much more significant proposal, to hit this economy in the way that we should hit it, with a stimulus to get the economy moving, to create jobs, to provide relief for our families and to move into the future together,” said Senator Casey. “We should do it this week and make sure that we don't pass something which is watered down and which won't do the job.”
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee passed a bipartisan bill that makes a number of improvements to the stimulus package passed by the House of Representatives. The Senate version improves on the House version by adding an extension of unemployment benefits, providing rebate checks to 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans not covered in the House bill, adding $1 billion in funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help low-income Americans heat their homes and improving the business tax provisions to help companies that are now struggling the most.
Casey continued, “In order to stimulate this economy, we have to invest in strategies we know will work. Economists say one of the only ways that's proven to jolt our economy is to invest in unemployment insurance. The Senate bill adds this to the stimulus package. 20 million American senior citizens are also provided some relief. That wasn't addressed in the House proposal. In order to get this right, in order to jolt our economy, we need to help seniors. We need to make sure that a quarter of a million disabled veterans are helped as well and receive rebates.”
The Senate Finance Committee bill has been endorsed by a wide range of groups including The AARP, The Seniors Coalition, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Officers Association of America, Vietnam Veterans of America, The American Legion, the United Spinal Association and the Disabled American Veterans.
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“We had a lot of talk on the other side of the aisle but not nearly enough action to say that we're going to support a proposal, not just what the House sent us, but an improved, and I think a much more significant proposal, to hit this economy in the way that we should hit it, with a stimulus to get the economy moving, to create jobs, to provide relief for our families and to move into the future together,” said Senator Casey. “We should do it this week and make sure that we don't pass something which is watered down and which won't do the job.”
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee passed a bipartisan bill that makes a number of improvements to the stimulus package passed by the House of Representatives. The Senate version improves on the House version by adding an extension of unemployment benefits, providing rebate checks to 20 million seniors and 250,000 disabled veterans not covered in the House bill, adding $1 billion in funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to help low-income Americans heat their homes and improving the business tax provisions to help companies that are now struggling the most.
Casey continued, “In order to stimulate this economy, we have to invest in strategies we know will work. Economists say one of the only ways that's proven to jolt our economy is to invest in unemployment insurance. The Senate bill adds this to the stimulus package. 20 million American senior citizens are also provided some relief. That wasn't addressed in the House proposal. In order to get this right, in order to jolt our economy, we need to help seniors. We need to make sure that a quarter of a million disabled veterans are helped as well and receive rebates.”
The Senate Finance Committee bill has been endorsed by a wide range of groups including The AARP, The Seniors Coalition, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Officers Association of America, Vietnam Veterans of America, The American Legion, the United Spinal Association and the Disabled American Veterans.
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