Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, said during a Ways and Means Committee hearing last week that despite the Democrats’ rhetoric about defeating the coronavirus, only nine percent of the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill goes towards vaccinations.
As President Joe Biden’s coronavirus bill edges closer to a vote on the House floor, Republicans, including Smith, have sounded the alarm over how little goes towards combatting the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation contains hundreds of billions in aid for state and local governments, which Republicans such as Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) have contended would unfairly punish fiscally responsible states such as Florida.
During the hearing last week, Smith noted that less than one-tenth of the coronavirus bill goes towards helping Americans get vaccinated and provide personal protective equipment (PPE):
Less than nine percent, less than nine percent of the money allocated in this bailout package goes for vaccinations, to put shots in people’s arms, to provide healthcare equipment, PPE, less than nine percent. But 90 percent of the lips moving was about crushing the virus. They want to distract you from the majority of this bailout package that are special gifts to their voters, their political allies, and their friends. Let’s say for what it is. Let’s think about this, more than a trillion dollars of money has already been appropriated in prior bipartisan covid packages. More than a trillion has been appropriated is there, there’s no need for an additional $1.9 trillion. If you count this $1.9 trillion to what’s been already spent that adds up to more than $17,000 per every American.
Smith asked rhetorically, “I would ask the Americans back home, have you got $17,000 in benefits from Congress in the last eleven months? We all know what the answer is.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.