U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL) and members of the Republican Governance Group, a caucus of congressional Republicans, recently urged the Biden administration to work in a bipartisan way to advance the next COVID-19 relief package.
The effort follows a move by the U.S. House of Representatives to start a process to pass stimulus legislation on a partisan basis.
“President Biden campaigned on bipartisanship and pledged to lead the country in a unifying way,” said Rep. Davis. “This latest round of discussions on additional COVID-19 relief will be the president’s first major opportunity to show the American people if he was telling the truth about how he would lead and govern.”
Since March, Congress has enacted five bipartisan packages in response to the public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that were derived from “good faith negotiations” and have provided “unprecedented resources” to help Americans, wrote Rep. Davis and the caucus members, who included U.S. Reps. John Katko (R-NY), Fred Upton (R-MI), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the members wrote that it remains important for lawmakers from both parties to work out a coordinated pandemic response. “Bipartisanship is not only essential to delivering an effective response to the pandemic, but to demonstrating our shared commitment to unifying the American people and forging the pathway forward together,” wrote Rep. Davis and his colleagues.
The lawmakers also noted concerns about the partisan approach being taken to use budget reconciliation to advance the currently proposed stimulus package, pointing out that strong support may be found on both sides of the aisle for many consensus-driven policies, including bolstering the national vaccination and testing programs, providing immediate assistance to the public, and expanding existing supports for struggling businesses.
“I know we will have policy disagreements on how to get the country through this pandemic, but as a conservative committed to governing, I believe both parties have an obligation to our constituents to work together and find common ground,” said Rep. Davis.