Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) making remarks on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on April 23, 2020. (Photo: C-SPAN/Screenshot)
'It Is a Joke': AOC Uses 30-Second Floor Speech to Rip GOP Over Inadequate Covid-19 Relief Efforts
"If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1st and make sure that we include rent and mortgage relief for our constituents," said New York Democrat ahead of vote.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only had 30 seconds on Thursday afternoon to share her frustration with her opponents on the Republican side of the aisle as the U.S. House of Representatives debated the next phase of federal legislation aimed at providing economic relief for the crisis spurred by the coronavirus outbreak.
While the package passed Tuesday by the Senate is expected to also receive approval in the House later in the day, the Democrat from New York is among those progressives who have expressed deep criticism of the bill. In her brief remarks Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said it was laughable for GOP lawmakers to claim they are doing anything other than serving the wealthy and corporate interests of large companies as they continue to fight against meaningful economic proposals that would center the needs of working-class families, low-income people, small business owners, and others suffering most from the pandemic.
"It is a joke when Republicans say that they have urgency around this bill," she said. "The only folks that they urgency around are Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Shake Shack--those are the people getting assistance in this bill. You are not trying fix this bill for mom and pops."
While referencing large restaurant chains that will benefit disproportionately from the new relief package that includes over $300 billion in additional funding for a flawed small business loan program, Ocasio-Cortez said the legislation does little to help those struggling to make ends meet.
"If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1st and make sure that we include rent and mortgage relief for our constituents," she said.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also rose ahead of the vote to decry its inadequacies.
Ahead of the vote in the House, a broad coalition of progressive groups on Wednesday sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers urging them to vote against the Senate approved legislation, known as COVID 3.5, as it fails key tests in terms of putting the needs of people, families, and Main Street businesses ahead of corporate interests and the greed of industry.
"We call on all progressive House members to make clear now that you will oppose any bill in the next round that does not put the majority of focus on the People's agenda that Americans desperately need and expect from our elected leaders," the letter stated. "To achieve this, we believe it's critical that the House go first and pass a Democratic bill early in the next round to set the terms of debate, maximize leverage, and honor all the voters who turned out in 2018 to elect a Democratic House."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only had 30 seconds on Thursday afternoon to share her frustration with her opponents on the Republican side of the aisle as the U.S. House of Representatives debated the next phase of federal legislation aimed at providing economic relief for the crisis spurred by the coronavirus outbreak.
While the package passed Tuesday by the Senate is expected to also receive approval in the House later in the day, the Democrat from New York is among those progressives who have expressed deep criticism of the bill. In her brief remarks Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said it was laughable for GOP lawmakers to claim they are doing anything other than serving the wealthy and corporate interests of large companies as they continue to fight against meaningful economic proposals that would center the needs of working-class families, low-income people, small business owners, and others suffering most from the pandemic.
"It is a joke when Republicans say that they have urgency around this bill," she said. "The only folks that they urgency around are Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Shake Shack--those are the people getting assistance in this bill. You are not trying fix this bill for mom and pops."
While referencing large restaurant chains that will benefit disproportionately from the new relief package that includes over $300 billion in additional funding for a flawed small business loan program, Ocasio-Cortez said the legislation does little to help those struggling to make ends meet.
"If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1st and make sure that we include rent and mortgage relief for our constituents," she said.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also rose ahead of the vote to decry its inadequacies.
Ahead of the vote in the House, a broad coalition of progressive groups on Wednesday sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers urging them to vote against the Senate approved legislation, known as COVID 3.5, as it fails key tests in terms of putting the needs of people, families, and Main Street businesses ahead of corporate interests and the greed of industry.
"We call on all progressive House members to make clear now that you will oppose any bill in the next round that does not put the majority of focus on the People's agenda that Americans desperately need and expect from our elected leaders," the letter stated. "To achieve this, we believe it's critical that the House go first and pass a Democratic bill early in the next round to set the terms of debate, maximize leverage, and honor all the voters who turned out in 2018 to elect a Democratic House."
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only had 30 seconds on Thursday afternoon to share her frustration with her opponents on the Republican side of the aisle as the U.S. House of Representatives debated the next phase of federal legislation aimed at providing economic relief for the crisis spurred by the coronavirus outbreak.
While the package passed Tuesday by the Senate is expected to also receive approval in the House later in the day, the Democrat from New York is among those progressives who have expressed deep criticism of the bill. In her brief remarks Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez said it was laughable for GOP lawmakers to claim they are doing anything other than serving the wealthy and corporate interests of large companies as they continue to fight against meaningful economic proposals that would center the needs of working-class families, low-income people, small business owners, and others suffering most from the pandemic.
"It is a joke when Republicans say that they have urgency around this bill," she said. "The only folks that they urgency around are Ruth's Chris Steakhouse and Shake Shack--those are the people getting assistance in this bill. You are not trying fix this bill for mom and pops."
While referencing large restaurant chains that will benefit disproportionately from the new relief package that includes over $300 billion in additional funding for a flawed small business loan program, Ocasio-Cortez said the legislation does little to help those struggling to make ends meet.
"If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1st and make sure that we include rent and mortgage relief for our constituents," she said.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also rose ahead of the vote to decry its inadequacies.
Ahead of the vote in the House, a broad coalition of progressive groups on Wednesday sent a letter to Democratic lawmakers urging them to vote against the Senate approved legislation, known as COVID 3.5, as it fails key tests in terms of putting the needs of people, families, and Main Street businesses ahead of corporate interests and the greed of industry.
"We call on all progressive House members to make clear now that you will oppose any bill in the next round that does not put the majority of focus on the People's agenda that Americans desperately need and expect from our elected leaders," the letter stated. "To achieve this, we believe it's critical that the House go first and pass a Democratic bill early in the next round to set the terms of debate, maximize leverage, and honor all the voters who turned out in 2018 to elect a Democratic House."