By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostA $1.9 trillion spending bill touted by President Joe Biden as
a measure to provide COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus is on the verge of
passing Congress.Area Congressmen are not impressed.Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves claims less than 10%
of the bill will target relief or stimulus and he points out an estimated $1 trillion
of relief appropriated by Congress last year has yet to be spent.“So why are we rushing into another $2 trillion on top of it
and, again, this bill has everything in it, except actual COVID relief?” Graves
asks in an interview with St. Joseph Post. “And it’s very frustrating.”Graves complains about several provisions in the bill, including
$135 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment
for the Humanities. The veteran Congressman is also critical of the $12 billion
allocation to foreign aid.Republicans, including Graves, have been critical of a $112
million appropriation approved by the House for an underground railroad in the
San Francisco district of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.Republicans also fought against a $350 billion allocation to
help state and local governments which suffered a drop in tax revenue during
business shutdowns early in the coronavirus pandemic.Graves contends the local governments don’t need a federal
bailout as much as they need a break in pandemic restrictions.“If you want to make up the revenue that is lost as a result
of the economic downturn, my idea is just open the economy back up; get people
back out, allow them to go about their normal lives,” Graves says.Graves doesn’t see a need for another stimulus package after
Congress approved $900 billion in coronavirus relief at the end of last year.“So why are we piling another two trillion on top of this that
won’t even be spent this year? So, did we need it? Not at this time, we didn’t
and we ultimately may end up being proven that we don’t need it at all,” Graves
says. “If we can get the economy back open, I don’t think that we needed to spend
this.”Congress approved $600 direct payments to many Americans in
that late 2020 bill when many called for $2,000 checks. This latest version of
relief contains $1,400 checks to residents making less than $75,000 and couples
make $150,000 to make up the difference with an extra $1,400 for each
dependent.Fellow Republican, eastern Kansas Congressman Jake LaTurner,
contends the bill is a partisan spending spree.“It’s a $1.9 trillion wish list for Democrat groups,” LaTurner
tells St. Joseph Post. “Less than 9% of it goes to actual COVID health issues.”The measure does contain $14 billion for research and
development of vaccines. Just short of $50 billion is allocated for testing and
contact tracing. It also includes $7.7 billion to hire 100,000 public health
workers.LaTurner claims the spending package rewards states controlled
by Democrats who went overboard in pandemic restrictions and saw huge dips in tax
revenue.LaTurner says another COVID relief bill might be needed, but
he says money already appropriated by Congress should be spent first.“I think that there is a need for another bill,” LaTurner
says. “I don’t think that that’s where we are today. If you have a trillion
dollars left to go out the door, you should get that money out. You should see
where there is more help needed.”As for the version nearing passage, LaTurner criticizes the
motive behind the measure.“This isn’t a COVID bill. This is a Democrat wish list.”No Republicans voted for it in the House. No Republicans voted
for it in the Senate.The package squeaked to passage in the Senate on Saturday. It
appears the House will vote on the Senate version Tuesday and send it to
President Biden’s desk.

Area Congressmen criticize $1.9 trillion spending plan on verge of passage