WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott released the below statement following House Democrats’ passage of their wasteful, untargeted $1.9 trillion spending bill that was forced through the Senate last week without any Republican input or support.

On Monday, Senator Scott sent a letter to the Florida Congressional Delegation urging them to stand for Floridians and vote against the bill.

Senator Rick Scott said, “The Democrats in Congress, led by President Biden, Senator Schumer and Speaker Pelosi, have lied to the American people. This is not a COVID-19 relief bill and the completely partisan approval of this massive, wasteful and untargeted $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan Act” is one of the most shameful, costly and political moves ever made by Congress.

“Throughout this expedited and partisan process, Democrats in Congress used every tool at their disposal to hide this bill from the American people. In the Senate, Democrats used the budget reconciliation process, which allowed the more than 600-page bill to move to the floor for a vote before any member was even given the opportunity to read the text. The bill also received zero Senate committee references – shutting Republicans completely out of the lawmaking process. The truth is, Democrats don’t want transparency. They don’t want American families to know that this bill raises our debt to $30 TRILLION, and dedicates only 10% of its funding to fighting COVID-19 and less than 1% for vaccination efforts.

“Democrats are living in a fantasy land where debt doesn’t matter, spending has no consequences, and inflation is impossible. The cost of living in America is already rising. Since President Biden took office, average gas prices are up more than $0.50 per gallon and we know that this bill’s enormous price tag will create even more inflation and be used by Democrats to raise taxes – hurting our low and fixed-income families, like mine growing up, the most. This isn’t how Congress should work. I will keep fighting against the waste in this bad bill and for fiscal responsibility and the targeted delivery of aid for families and businesses truly in need.”

Families in Florida and across this nation deserve to know the truth. Here are just a few of the wasteful items in the Democrats’ “COVID” bill – none of which have anything to do with COVID-19 relief or containment:

• Stimulus checks for state and federal inmates.
• $360 billion for state and local bailouts that predominantly benefit liberal states.
• Nearly $1 billion for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor railway, a woefully mismanaged public railway system.
• $645 million for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute for Library and Museum Services.
• $570 million paid leave benefit, available exclusively for federal employees to keep their children home when public schools refuse to reopen.

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