Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is supporting Congress and President Donald Trump moving forward with a fourth coronavirus stimulus package.
McConnell spoke with The Associated Press (AP) on Friday where he explained how he thinks the next bill needs to be more targeted.
“There will be a next measure,” McConnell told AP.
He went on to say that the next package “should be more a targeted response to what we got wrong and what we didn’t do enough for — and at the top of the list there would have to be the health care part of it.”
In March, Congress pushed through three major coronavirus response packages — including the historic $2 million stimulus package — to combat the economic impact of the pandemic.
While the House and Senate are not scheduled to be back in session until mid-April, lawmakers are still discussing the next steps in order to prepare for the upcoming bill.
But. despite the urgent need to combat the economic crisis, McConnell insists he is “not in favor of rushing.”
“We’ve got to wipe this out and we’ve got to wipe it out in warp speed,” McConnell said. “And so I would put that at the top of the list of places we need to look and see what could we have done better in the previous bill, the $2.2 trillion.”
“We can’t sustain economically this happening again. We’ve got to solve the health part of it, which means not only treatment but vaccines.”
McConnell’s interview with the AP came hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released a statement about the fourth coronavirus stimulus package.
Pelosi and Democratic lawmakers are aiming to prioritize those impacted by the virus —from a health and economic stance. Pelosi is also advocating to provide more direct help for American workers and healthcare professionals on the front line.
In the statement, she notes the staggering unemployment claims numbers as it continues to rise.
Pelosi wrote on meeting “the needs of the American people”:
“It is imperative that we go bigger and further assisting small business, to go longer in unemployment benefits and provide additional resources to process UI claims and to give families additional direct payments. We must also provide the desperately needed resources for our hospitals, community health centers, health systems and health workers on the frontlines of this crisis. We cannot succeed in defeating this virus unless we more strongly support state and local governments with significantly more resources.”
The Internal Revenue Service is reportedly expected to begin sending direct payments to Americans on April 9.