US Congress approves US$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill in big win for Joe Biden
- Package includes US$1,400 stimulus checks and other initiatives, in one of the biggest federal efforts in years to assist lower- and middle-income families
- It also sets aside funds for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, schools, state and local governments and ailing industries from airlines to concert halls
A Congress split along party lines approved a landmark US$1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill on Wednesday, as US President Joe Biden and Democrats claimed a triumph on a bill that marshals the government’s spending might against twin pandemic and economic crises that have upended a nation.
The House gave final congressional approval to the sweeping package by a near-party-line 220-211 vote precisely seven weeks after Biden entered the White House and four days after the Senate passed the bill.
Republicans in both chambers opposed the bill unanimously, characterising it as bloated, crammed with liberal policies and heedless of signs the crises are easing.
Most noticeable to many Americans are provisions to provide up to US$1,400 direct payments this year to most adults and extend US$300 per week emergency unemployment benefits into early September. But the legislation goes far beyond that.
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The measure addresses Democrats’ campaign promises and Biden’s top initial priority of easing a one-two punch that first hit the country a year ago.
Since then, many Americans have been relegated to hermit-like lifestyles in their homes to avoid a disease that has killed over 528,000 people – about the population of Wichita, Kansas – and plunged the economy to its deepest depths since the Great Depression.