coronavirus relief plan senate majority leader chuck schumer and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell delivered final arguments on this legislation. the bill passed on a party line vote of 50-49. cloakrooms. mr. schumer: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, it's been a long day, a long night, a long year, but a new day has come and we tell the american people help is on the way. when democrats assumed the majority in this chamber, we promised to pass legislation to rescue our people from the depths of the pandemic and bring our economy and our country roaring back. in a few moments, we are going to deliver on that promise. this bill will deliver more help to more people than anything the federal government has done in decades. it is broader, deeper, and more

comprehensive in helping working families and lifting people out of poverty than anything congress has seen or accomplished in a very long time. the pandemic has affected nearly every aspect of american life so this bill spans the gamut and provides support to every part of our country. for americans who doubted that the government can help them in this time of crisis, you will be getting direct checks, your schools will receive assistance to reopen quickly and safely, your local businesses will get another lifeline and the day when you receive the vaccine will be a lot sooner. the american rescue plan will go down as one of the most sweeping federal recovery efforts in history. it's never easy to pass legislation as momentous as this, but it will all and soon

be worth it. now, i know that on saturday morning, the american people aren't watching our proceedings here. they are probably out walking the dog or sitting down at breakfast with the kids, but i want them to know help is on the way, that their government is going to give one final push to get us over the finish line. i want the american people to know that we're going to get through this and some day soon our businesses will reopen, our economy will reopen, and life will reopen. we will end this terrible plague and we will travel again and send our kids to school again and be together again. our job right now is to help our country get from this stormy present to that hopeful future and it starts with voting aye on

the legislation before us. vote yes on the american rescue plan. vote yes. and before i yield the floor, one final note, let us all express our deepest gratitude to all of my colleagues. we went through a long, long period in the last day, to the staffs of the committees and the personal senate offices who worked so hard to put this legislation together, and especially let us thank the great floor staff, the clerks, the cafeteria workers, the custodial staff and the capitol police.

many of them have worked for as many as 36 hours straight. my notes say here let's get them a round of applause, but you've already done that. and one more thank you to my great and wonderful staff. i'll thank all of them by name at a later date because i want them to be awake and alert when i do. i yield the floor. mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the -- the president pro tempore: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: the senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard way. the voters gave the democrats the slimmest majority. the voters picked a president who promised bipartisanship. the democrats' response is to ram through what they call, quote, the most progressive

domestic legislation in a generation on a razor-thin majority in both houses. the right path was obvious. we followed it five times last year. five rescue packages totaling $ 4 trillion and none got fewer than 90 votes. the senate wrote the cares act, republicans and democrats shoulder to shoulder, that was the road to real pandemic relief, but democrats actually wanted, mr. president, something else. they explained their intent very clearly, to exploit this crisis, quote, as a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision. that's how you get this massive bill with only 1% -- 1% for vaccinations, that ignores the science on reopening schools that's stuffed with unrelated covid spending that even top

economists say is wrong for the economy. 2021 is already set to be our comeback year because the american people's resilience and the bipartisan foundation that we laid last year. we could have worked together to speed up victory, but our democratic colleagues made a decision. their top priority wasn't pandemic relief, it was their washington wish list. so, mr. president and colleagues, i strongly recommend a no vote. the president pro tempore: the clerk will announcer: majority leader chuck schumer held a news conference to discuss the passage of the senate's version of resident biden's $1.9 triio