Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07), voted in favor of H. Con. Res. 11, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2021, giving Congress an additional tool to pass the COVID relief legislation that enacts President Biden and Congressional Democrats’ comprehensive American Rescue Plan into law. 

“Today I voted in favor of the Budget Resolution so that we can move forward on a process to deliver on President Biden and Congressional Democrats’ American Rescue Plan,” said Rep. Terri Sewell. “I hope Republicans will respond to President Biden’s calls for renewed bipartisanship and work with us to pass a relief bill quickly. However, if Republicans refuse to negotiate in good faith, we must move forward to get critical relief to Alabama families.”

“Our American Rescue Plan will expand coronavirus testing and treatment, provide resources to schools, and support small businesses. It will also provide direct stimulus payments to working families and expand eligibility for adult dependents,” continued Sewell. “The cost of inaction is growing every day, particularly for the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs as a result of this pandemic. With Emergency Unemployment Assistance set to expire on March 14th, there is no time for delay!”

This budget resolution gives Congress the option of using a budget reconciliation measure to get crucial relief to the American people as quickly as possible.  Reconciliation provides fast-track procedures that will allow President Biden’s American Rescue Plan to pass with a simple majority in the Senate. 

The President’s American Rescue Plan takes a multifaceted approach to tackling the public health and economic crises stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic: 

• Beat the virus and safely reopen schools: The plan will mount a national vaccination program that includes setting up community vaccination sites nationwide. It will also take complementary measures to combat the virus, including scaling up testing and tracing, addressing shortages of personal protective equipment and other critical supplies, investing in high-quality treatments, and addressing health care disparities. The plan will also make the investments necessary to safely reopen schools.

• Deliver immediate relief to working families bearing the brunt of the crisis: The plan will provide direct assistance to households across America The plan will also provide direct housing and nutrition assistance to families struggling to get by, expand access to safe and reliable child care and affordable health care, extend and expand unemployment insurance so American workers can pay their bills, and give families with children as well as childless workers a boost through enhanced tax credits.

• Support communities struggling with the economic fallout: The plan will provide crucial support for the hardest-hit small businesses, especially those owned by entrepreneurs from racial and ethnic backgrounds that have experienced systemic discrimination. The plan also provides crucial resources to protect the jobs of first responders, frontline public health workers, teachers, transit workers, and other essential workers that all Americans depend on.

Read the full resolution text here.