Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) Thursday on CNN’s “The Situation Room” accused President Donald Trump of “playing with people’s lives” by not signing the so-called coronavirus stimulus bill.
Blitzer said, “On this Christmas Eve, President Trump is at his resort giving no indication at all about whether he will sign the bill containing $900 billion in desperately needed coronavirus relief.”
He added, “Holidays are here, but the country is facing the prospect of a government shutdown also the prospect that crucial pandemic benefits will expire for millions and millions of Americans who are in desperate need right now. Is all of this in the hands of the president right now?”
Cicilline said, “Unfortunately, it is. What the president is doing is unconscionable. People are hurting, really suffering because of the economic consequences and the public health consequences of this pandemic. We worked together in a bipartisan way and passed a relief package that didn’t have nearly enough in it, but it was a down payment, a beginning that provides extended unemployment, eviction moratorium, direct cash to families, rental assistance, vaccine distribution, testing regime, really important stuff, and small business assistance. All of that is up in the air because the president has not decided whether or not he will sign this bill.”
He added, “You know, this is not an episode of “The Apprentice.” He’s playing with people’s lives, with the well-being of the American people who are in desperate need of this unemployment assistance, of these survival checks. What the president is doing is unconscionable.”
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