The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021” mentioning Michael F. Bennet was published in the Senate section on page S1434 on March 10.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT OF 2021
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now on the American Rescue Plan, later today, the House of Representatives is set to approve the American Rescue Plan and send it straight to President Biden's desk for his signature, capping a monthslong effort by the Democrats to pass bold COVID relief to defeat the pandemic and boost our economy. Once President Biden signs the bill into law, it will immediately become the most sweeping Federal recovery package in recent history.
Even a cursory reading of the headlines gives you a sense of the historic nature of this bold and so helpful legislation.
Here is one from yesterday from the New York Times:
Growth in the U.S. could surge on the stimulus plan and a rapid vaccine rollout.
Wouldn't that be great? We think there is a very good chance of its happening.
Forbes:
U.S. Economy Will Recover Twice as Fast Thanks to $1.9 Trillion Stimulus.
That is from Forbes, a conservative publication.
The Associated Press:
COVID bill to deliver big health insurance savings for many.
This is something so many Americans desperately need and want.
Here is another from the New York Times:
In the Stimulus Bill, a Policy Revolution in Aid for Children.
A policy revolution.
Simply put, the American Rescue Plan is one of the most significant Federal relief efforts that Congress has seen in a very, very long time. I am greatly looking forward to its becoming law.
Now, I have spent a lot of time talking about all of the different provisions of the bill today and in previous remarks on the floor of the Senate. That is because the American Rescue Plan is a truly comprehensive effort. COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of American life. So we had to craft legislation that spanned the gamut: schools, businesses, families, jobs, healthcare. Because this bill is so wide-ranging, I haven't spent enough time on the significance of the individual programs.
I want to rectify that over the next several weeks. This morning, I want to focus on two initiatives: first, the child tax credit and, second, agricultural assistance for disadvantaged farmers.
According to the most recent data, more than 10 million children live below the poverty line in America--10 million children. A child starting out in life, through no fault of his or her own, lives below the poverty line, and we know what that means in terms of food and healthcare and housing and education. Compared with other nations around the world, the United States dedicates a relative pittance--a pittance--to fixing that terrible injustice.
Listen to this. This is something that should make us both ashamed that the United States has been in this position for so long and proud that the American Rescue Plan will help rectify that injustice. Here it is: The United States ranks next to last among the world's 37 most developed economies in terms of family benefits--barely ahead of Turkey--nothing that can make Americans proud.
Of course, the pandemic has made the problem of child poverty even worse. It has forced parents to serve as childcare providers and surrogate teachers while trying to keep up with their own jobs. For millions of Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own, the pressure only increased. The difficulty of childcare during the pandemic is likely one of the main reasons there has been a disproportionate share of women who have fallen out of the workforce. The pandemic has left mothers and fathers with impossible choices, between keeping their jobs and incomes or leaving work to care for their children, stuck at home, whom they so dearly love
Democrats decided to tackle this problem head on in the American Rescue Plan. We expanded the child tax credit to provide up to $3,000 per child, ages 6 to 17, and $3,600 per child under the age of 6 for an overwhelming majority of families in this country. Analysts predict that this policy will cut childhood poverty in half--in half. That is an astounding statistic. It will cut childhood poverty in half. A goal of so many who have studied the frailties in some of our policies for a decade, for a generation, has been to remove people--young children--
from poverty, and half will be so removed.
That is just one reason reviewers have called the American Rescue Plan one of the ``most far-reaching anti-poverty efforts in an [entire] generation.''
A salute to Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, and Cory Booker, who really spearheaded this, along with Congressman Neal in the House; Ron Wyden and his committee that worked on drafting it; and my staffers who spent so much time on making this work as well. A salute to them.
Now, another provision that has received too little attention is the support this bill will provide to disadvantaged farmers. Across nearly every statistic, farmers from socially disadvantaged communities fare worse than their White counterparts, suffering from generations of systemic discrimination, land loss, and what Secretary Vilsack calls a
``cycle of debt.'' It is almost something that recalls the days of slavery and sharecropping and tenant farming. Recently, these farmers have suffered again, disproportionately, from COVID-19.
The American Rescue Plan provides more than $10 billion to support our Nation's agriculture and sets aside, roughly, half of it--half of it--for disadvantaged communities, particularly Black farmers, for debt relief, education, training, and land acquisition. Though it is only a small fraction of the overall bill, experts have called the American Rescue Plan ``the most significant legislation for Black farmers since the Civil Rights Act.''
It is amazing what we can do when we put our minds to it. The hangover from the horrible treatment that rural African-American farmers have gotten since the days of slavery can, in part--in decent part--be undone by this legislation.
I want to thank some of my fellow Senators who did such work on this bill. The provisions I have mentioned owe a great deal to the members of the Agriculture Committee and the Finance Committee. Senator Stabenow was relentless in pushing this issue. Senator Wyden, chair of the Finance Committee, helped out a great deal, and Senators Warnock and Booker pushed very hard as well.
The American Rescue Plan is going to have an immense impact on nearly every community in America. In the weeks and months to come, I will be highlighting how much good it will do.
I have a few housekeeping things to do.
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