President-elect Biden pushes Trump to sign COVID-19 relief bill
Dec 26, 2020
Washington DC [US], December 27 : Accusing Donald Trump of "abdicating responsibility", US President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday pressed the outgoing President to immediately sign a COVID-19 relief bill that is pending.
"It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families don't know if they'll be able to make ends meet because of President Donald Trump's refusal to sign an economic relief bill approved by Congress with an overwhelming and bipartisan majority," Biden said in a statement.
This comes as members of both parties urged Trump to sign the USD 2.3 trillion packages, The Hill reported. Earlier, the bill was passed with bipartisan support in US Congress. However, Trump is unimpressed and has called for certain changes to be made in the bill.
Stressing on the urgency to sign the bill, Biden added, "It needs to be signed into law now. But it is also a first step and down payment on more action that we'll need to take early in the new year to revive the economy and contain the pandemic."
The President-elect's statement comes as the US continues to be the worst affected country by the coronavirus with 18,800,165 cases. Raising concerns about the unrelenting pandemic, he said that about 10 million Americans will lose unemployment insurance benefits.
"This abdication of responsibility has devastating consequences. Today, about 10 million Americans will lose unemployment insurance benefits. In just a few days, government funding will expire, putting vital services and paychecks for military personnel at risk," Biden said.
"In November, the American people spoke clearly that now is a time for bipartisan action and compromise. I was heartened to see members of Congress heed that message, reach across the aisle, and work together. President Trump should join them, and make sure millions of Americans can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads in this holiday season," he added.
