U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) Saturday released the following statement after voting against Speaker Pelosi’s $1.9 trillion reconciliation bill:
“As safe and effective vaccines get us closer to ending this pandemic, we should be focused on defeating coronavirus, getting Americans back to work, and helping small businesses recover.”
Representative Walorski continued. “Instead, Democrats tossed bipartisanship aside for a rushed, one-sided, $1.9 trillion spending bill – with less than 9% actually going to fight COVID. There hasn’t even been a full accounting of $1 trillion in unspent relief funds, but Speaker Pelosi wants taxpayers to foot the bill for trillions more. This massive bailout will send Hoosier tax dollars to fiscally irresponsible cities and states, force taxpayers to fund abortion, and make it harder for small businesses to hire workers and rebuild our economy.”
Walorski closed her statement saying, “This is not the unity President Biden once called for, and it’s certainly not the targeted COVID relief our country needs.”
BACKGROUND
H.R. 1319 would add $1.9 trillion in spending even as more than $1 trillion in existing COVID relief funding remains unspent. Congresswoman Walorski this week cosponsored a resolution requesting information from the Biden administration about funding from previous relief measures that has not been used.
Despite claims the massive reconciliation bill is needed as an emergency COVID relief measure, much of the funding – $670 billion – would not be spent until fiscal year 2022 or later. The legislation includes a $350 billion bailout for state and local governments. Less than 9% of the $1.9 trillion would go to public health efforts to combat coronavirus.
The House passed H.R. 1319 by a vote of 219 to 212
Video of Walorski speaking on the House floor in opposition to the $1.9 trillion spending bill that fails to account for $1 trillion in unspent relief funds is available here.
H.R. 1319 also excludes longstanding protections against taxpayer funding for elective abortion. Without Hyde protections in the reconciliation package, more $414 billion in taxpayer dollars could potentially be used to pay for elective abortions or plans that cover elective abortions.
Congresswoman Walorski this week joined her colleagues in introducing an amendment to include Hyde protections in the $1.9 trillion reconciliation bill to prohibit taxpayer dollars from funding abortions. Walorski previously offered a similar amendment in the House Ways and Means Committee. House Democrats rejected both amendments.
The full text of the Rodgers-Foxx-Walorski amendment can be found here.
Video of Walorski speaking on the House floor about the lack of pro-life Hyde protections in the bill is available here.
Walorski represents the 2nd Congressional District of Indiana, serving as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Ranking Member of the House Ethics Committee.
