WASHINGTON - After President Biden reiterated in his State of the Union address his plans to ask Congress for additional COVID-19 funding, U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and 33 additional Republican colleagues are asking the President for a thorough accounting of how the government has spent the nearly $6 trillion in taxpayer funds to combat the pandemic. The public deserves detailed information on the allocation of funds before Congress even considers additional COVID-19 funding requests from the White House.
“Recent news reports indicate the Administration is poised to request an additional $30 billion from Congress for its response to COVID-19,” the senators wrote. “While we have supported historic, bipartisan measures in the United States Senate to provide unprecedented investments in vaccines, therapeutics, and testing, it is not yet clear why additional funding is needed.”
“…Since passage of the American Rescue Plan in February, questions are mounting about where exactly the additional money has gone,” the senators continued. “A recent investigative report from the Washington Post headlined, ‘Immense fraud creates immense task for Washington as it tries to tighten scrutiny of $6 trillion in emergency coronavirus spending’ details the federal government’s shocking failure to provide the American public with a faithful accounting of how it has spent its money.”
“…Congress must receive a full accounting of how the government has already spent the first $6 trillion,” the senators concluded.
In addition to Senators Risch, Crapo, and Romney, signatories to the letter include Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
You can read the full letter here.
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