Dem Sen. Casey: Lives ‘Depend Upon’ Passing Another COVID Bill Before 2021

“Hello, I’m Senator Bob Casey.
This week our nation has lost over 1,000 Americans a day to COVID-19, as daily case counts have climbed above 150,000.
We mourn those we’ve lost and pray for those still suffering, and their families.
However, prayers and condolences are insufficient. The United States Senate must act.
In May, the House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Heroes Act in order to contain the virus and help Americans suffering from the virus.
The Heroes Act took a range of steps we desperately need, including providing direct relief to workers and families, increasing our testing capacity and helping small businesses stay afloat.
For all these months, this vital legislation has collected dust in the Senate because Majority Leader McConnell refuses to bring it to the floor for a vote.
Instead of providing real help to all Americans, Republicans in the Senate have been focused on broad corporate immunity, which would put more Americans at risk and do nothing to contain COVID-19.
Like President Trump, Senate Republicans are in denial about the severity of the pandemic and in denial about the result of the presidential election.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won the election and are now President-elect and Vice President-elect. They have called for our nation to come together during this time and confront our common challenges, especially the public health crisis and the jobs crisis.
Senate Republicans should stop genuflecting to the current president and get to work on protecting our country.
We need a smooth transition so that the Biden-Harris Administration has the resources they need to confront the pandemic and the national security threats in the months ahead.
At a time when we’re losing more than 1,000 Americans a day to COVID-19, our nation can’t waste another day.
Recently, we’ve received good news about vaccines that we hope will be deemed safe and effective by the FDA.
In order to distribute those vaccine doses efficiently, contain the virus and help our nation build back better, the Trump Administration has an obligation, an obligation, to work with the Biden-Harris Transition.
It’s time for Majority Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans to work with Democrats in the Senate to pass COVID-19 relief legislation that meets the needs of struggling small businesses and families who are out of work and who can’t pay rent or put food on the table.
It’s time to pass legislation that helps hospitals, nursing homes and home and community-based providers who are overrun by the virus. The lives of our grandparents, our parents, sisters and brothers, neighbors and friends depend upon passage of a bill by the end of this year.
We need a bill now to help all Americans, and the Trump Administration must engage in an orderly transition.
Both of these actions will make a substantial difference in the fight against COVID-19, will save lives and livelihoods, and put our country on a stronger footing when a new administration takes office on January the 20th of next year.
Thank you for listening. May God bless you, your family and our country in this time of crisis.”