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US COVID: Congress reaches long-awaited deal for aid package

Monday, 21 December 2020 10:11 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 21 December 2020 10:29 AM ]

In Brooklyn, Americans waited for food last week outside the Barclays Center, a distribution point for the Food Bank for New York City, US. (Photo by Associated Press)

US lawmakers have reached a deal for a new package after months of wrangling to provide the first aid in months to an economy and individuals battered by the surging coronavirus pandemic.

"We've agreed to a package of nearly $900 billion. It is packed with targeted policies to help struggling Americans who have already waited too long," Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell in a statement.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer confirmed an agreement had been reached with Republicans and the White House on a deal that "delivers urgently needed funds to save the lives and livelihoods of the American people as the virus accelerates."

The aid package would be the second-largest economic stimulus in US history, following a $2.3 trillion aid bill passed in March.

More than 317,000 Americans have died of the coronavirus and more than 17.81 million contracted the virus. COIVD-19 is now infecting more than 214,000 people in the US each day.

"At long last, we have the bipartisan breakthrough the country has needed," Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor, following months of contentious debate.

The aid package will give $600 direct payments to individuals -- half the amount provided in checks distributed last March under the CARES Act. It will also boost unemployment payments by $300 per week and includes billions for small businesses, and money for vaccine distribution, schools and renters facing eviction.

"Anyone who thinks this bill is enough does not know what's going on in America," Schumer said at a news conference. He said he would push for more aid after Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.

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Lawmakers had been locked in the logjam over the Federal Reserve's pandemic lending authority and other issues that had forced negotiations into the weekend.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives will likely vote on the package on Monday, with the Republican-controlled Senate to follow, according to House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer.

After assuming office, Biden will face America’s largest crisis, which has put millions of Americans out of work, with unemployment rising and poverty rate spiking.

Economists say US economic growth will remain sluggish until vaccines are widely available in mid-2021.

The US poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November, up 2.4 percentage points since June, the biggest jump in a single year since poverty tracking began 60 years ago.