DeLauro Delivers Floor Remarks Applauding the American Rescue Plan
WASHINGTON—House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) delivered the following remarks on the House Floor in support of the coronavirus relief package, the American Rescue Plan. A video of DeLauro's remarks can be found here.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the American Rescue Plan.
After a year of battling this pandemic, our communities are on the edge, and the American Rescue Plan is here. To the American Public, help is on the way. It will put money directly in people's pockets. The $1,400 per person payments and the expansion of unemployment benefits will help people deal with increasing debt, paying rent, buying food, and paying healthcare bills.
State and local funding is necessary to prevent our state and local governments from relying on tax increases to stay afloat and keep first responders, front line health workers, and other providers of vital services on the job.
One of the provisions included in the American Rescue Plan that I am particularly proud of, that I have championed for nearly two decades, is the expansion and improvement of the Child Tax Credit. In this plan, the credit is increased from $2,000 to $3,000 for children six to 17 with an additional $600 for each child under six—think of that. It is a new lifeline to the middle class, and it cuts child poverty nearly in half. Franklin Roosevelt lifted seniors out of poverty, 90% of them with Social Security, and with the stroke of a pen, President Biden is going to lift millions and millions of children out of poverty in this country.
As families struggle to stay in their homes, feed their families, and purchase necessities, this plan provides for hard-working Americans. It includes $12 billion in emergency food assistance, including an extension of increased food stamps. The relief also provides $45 billion for rental and mortgage assistance.
It is time to make a bold investment in the health and security of the American people. A watershed moment. A historic piece of legislation. We will vote for the American Rescue Plan with the determination to adequately meet this moment with strength, with action, and with hope. Thank you, and I yield back.