During the Saturday vote on the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion relief stimulus package, Oklahoma’s U.S. Senators voted against the measure. The package still passed 50 to 49 because the processed used to bring it to a vote called reconciliation. The Senate was in session for more than 24 hours to get to a vote on the bill.
U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe took to his Facebook page to level a rebuke at the Democrats for ramming the bill through the process.
“Today, I voted against Democrats’ $1.9 trillion bill that claims to bring immediate COVID relief to Americans, but fails to address the needs of rural Oklahomans and recklessly funds liberal priorities that are unrelated to the pandemic—much of it designated to be spent years from now.
“Instead of focusing on bringing relief to Oklahomans and responsibly reopening the economy, the Democrats have been playing partisan politics to get their liberal wish list done, including the bailout of blue states’ unbalanced budgets with our hard-earned tax dollars.
“We need to come together to prioritize relief for small businesses, reopening schools and addressing public health needs. I am sad to see that is not the case with this legislation,” Inhofe posted.
Lankford also voted against the relief package.
“The chaotic process that took place over the last week is further proof that this bill was not ready and not right,” said Lankford. “Congress came together five times over the past year in a bipartisan way to address the needs of Americans who have been affected by this health pandemic. There was no reason we couldn’t do that again except that Democrats wanted to load up this bill with non-COVID items. This $1.9 trillion bill funds several progressive projects that are not related to the COVID-19 pandemic and provides funding in many areas that won’t even be used this year.
“The best economic recovery is to get Oklahomans safely back to work using the funding still left unspent from December, not borrowing money from China and elsewhere. We should make sure we continue to respond to those who need an extra hand at this time but be careful not to create a crisis down the road that is left for our children and grandchildren,” said Lankford.
The U.S. House is expected to take up the relief package on Tuesday where it will likely be sent to President Biden for his signature.
