CORNING – Congressman Tom Reed says he sees the possibility of a stimulus package being passed during the end of the Trump Administration.
Reed held his weekly teleconference with reporters Wednesday morning. The Congressman started his call by discussing recent developments with stimulus negotiations, which he says involved a series of meetings with White House officials, along with bipartisan members with both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate.
Reed says he sees “a path” for a possible package.
“I think there is a path forward here to put an emergency bill together by the end of the year,” Reed said. “Talking to the folks that are involved in these conversations, in particular the White House, an indication that the President will sign a package that we negotiate in good faith.”
The Congressman explains, however, that the package would be “significantly” smaller than the $1.8 trillion package that was on the table before the election. In addition, Reed says that he’s concerned that Congressional leadership is more focused on the runoff election in Georgia rather than a COVID stimulus package.
“That is, in my opinion, downright disappointing, and also, in my opinion, has their priorities all wrong,” Reed said. “The priority should be the American people who are suffering, who need a stimulus package. The size of the package would get us through the March 1 deadline.”
Reed says the package would give “immediate relief” to the American people while also allowing the Biden Administration to determine if additional relief would be needed later in 2021. The Congressman additionally says that he and an increasing group of Congressional members are gearing to lead the fight for a package.
“We will continue to push, and I can tell you we are not going to just sit back idly by as a group of pragmatic governing members,” Reed said. “We are going to use every tool in the tool box, and we are getting stronger and stronger each and every day, saying ‘Enough is enough of leadership for putting politics over people’ and we are getting ready to lead if they don’t want to do that, we’ll take over and make sure people’s concerns are the top priority as we go forward, especially with the upcoming Congressional Session.”
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