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(CNS News) -- When asked how many trillions of dollars should be in the new COVID-19 relief bill – the Republicans are talking $1 trillion, the Democrats want $3.4 trillion -- Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said that both proposals involve “spending way too much money” and would not “solve the problem.”
At the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, CNS News asked Sen. Cruz, “Senate Republicans have said $1 trillion, Nancy Pelosi has said $3.4 trillion, how many trillion do you think should be in the new COVID relief bill?”
The senator responded, “I think both are spending way too much money. I think both proposals are failing to solve the problem. Instead of shoveling trillions more in spending from Washington, Congress should pass a recovery bill.”
“Our priority should be helping the millions of small businesses who are just now reopening, helping them survive, helping them thrive, helping them rehire the 44 million Americans who have lost their jobs, and neither bill focuses on that central concern,” Cruz said.
“What we should be doing is lowering taxes and repealing job-killing regulations that make it harder for small businesses to survive,” the senator continued. “Because until people are able to go back to work, the economic situation in our country is not turning around.”
Two bills are currently proposed in the Congress. Speaker Pelosi has proposed the $3.4 trillion HEROES act, or “Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions.” The HEROES Act includes stimulus checks, PPP loans, and expanded Medicare and Medicaid among other provisions according to a congressional summary.
Pelosi gave a summary of the bill on May 15: “The Congress must honor its responsibility to the American people to lessen the blow of the coronavirus by making the same serious investment of The Heroes Act to our state, local, tribal and territorial governments.”
“The plan that we are voting on today will make a tremendous difference not only in the budgets in the states, but in the lives of the American people,” she added.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) proposed a $1 trillion HEALS act, or “Health, Economic Assistance, Liability, and Schools,” on July 27.
McConnell said of the bill, “So we have one foot in the pandemic and one foot in the recovery. The American people need more help. They need it to be comprehensive. And they need it to be carefully tailored to this crossroads. That is what this Senate majority has assembled.”
“Getting kids back in school, getting workers back to work, and winning the health care fight against the virus,” are the main goals of the bill, according to McConnell.