As the U.S. Senate grappled over what to do with a wide-ranging coronavirus economic stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives on Saturday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday urged an additional $750 billion to address the growing crisis.
Schumer’s office said his proposal would fund a range of emergency operations, including relieving potential capacity problems at hospitals, expanding jobless benefits, delivering help to small businesses and funding childcare for healthcare workers and first responders.
“We will need big, bold, urgent federal action to deal with this crisis,” Schumer said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a speech on the Senate floor did not refer to Schumer’s latest move and instead noted that the House of Representatives had not yet sent the Senate a multibillion-dollar bill it passed early on Saturday.
Without providing specifics on how he would respond to either the House-passed bill or Schumer’s $750 billion plan, McConnell said of the coronavirus crisis: “The Senate is committed to meeting these uncertain times with bold and bipartisan solutions.”
(Reporting by David Morgan, Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan; writing by Richard Cowan; editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)
