Pelosi stresses urgency for next relief bill: Hunger, joblessness don’t ‘take a pause’

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Sunday stressed the urgency of passing the next coronavirus relief bill as Republicans suggest waiting to see how state reopenings and the distribution of funds already allocated in previous stimulus packages impact the country. 

“Time is very important. We have lost time, but, again, setting aside how we got here, we can not take a pause,” Pelosi said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” 

“They may think it’s OK to pause, but people are hungry across America. Hunger doesn’t take a pause. People are jobless across America. That doesn’t take a pause. People don’t know how they’re going to pay their rent across the country. We have to address this with humanity,” she added. 

“Time is of the essence,” @SpeakerPelosi tells @margbrennan of action on the next #coronavirus relief bill as unemployment skyrockets nationwide.

“They may think it’s OK to take a pause, but people are hungry across America. Hunger doesn’t take a pause,” she says of GOP approach pic.twitter.com/zN87AyOgfQ

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 17, 2020

House Democrats approved a $3 trillion relief package Friday designed to help alleviate the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. 

{mosads}Senate Republicans have called the package “dead on arrival,” and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others have called for a “pause” in passing coronavirus relief bills.

The Democrats’ package includes $1 trillion for state and local governments, following calls from Republican and Democratic local leaders for federal funding amid budget constraints due to the pandemic as well as additional money for front-line workers and direct payments to households. 

Asked if she could accept liability limits for employers in the post-lockdown work environment, Pelosi said she has “no red lines.” 

NEWS: “We have no red lines,” @SpeakerPelosi tells @margbrennan when asked about liability protections and whether there is room for negotiation with Republicans. pic.twitter.com/40X0hUDTET

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 17, 2020

“The fact is the best protection for our workers and for their employers is to follow very good [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] mandatory guidelines, and we have that in our bill,” Pelosi said. “And that protects the workers, protects their lives as well as protects the employer if they follow the guidelines.”