Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez laid into the coronavirus relief bill Friday ahead of a potential vote in the House.
Calling the measure “shameful,” Ocasio-Cortez accused Senate Republicans of fighting for “greed” and “one of the largest corporate bailouts with as few strings as possible in American history.” (RELATED: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says Give Stimulus Cash To Everyone, Just ‘Tax It Back’ From Rich People Later)
Rep. @AOC: “What did the Senate majority fight for? One of the largest corporate bailouts with as few strings as possible in American history. Shameful!” pic.twitter.com/oLJJu6wUlG
— The Hill (@thehill) March 27, 2020
“The greed of that fight is wrong, for crumbs for our families,” Ocasio-Cortez continued, arguing that the Senate’s bill had put her in an impossible position with no good options.
“The option that we have is to either let them suffer with nothing or to allow this greed and billions of dollars which will be leveraged into trillions of dollars to contribute to the largest income inequality gap in our future,” she explained.
“There should be shame about what was fought for in this bill, choices that we have to make,” Ocasio-Cortez concluded, warning, “Our community’s reality is this country’s future if we don’t do anything.”
.@RepAOC @AOC: “Our community’s reality is this country’s future if we don’t do anything. Hospital workers do not have protective equipment. We don’t have the necessary ventilators. We have to go into this vote eyes wide open…” pic.twitter.com/PaFGc9ncKM
— CSPAN (@cspan) March 27, 2020
The New York Democrat had voice concerns about the bill on Twitter in recent days, in part due to the fact that the relief bill would not send stimulus checks to non-citizens.
To clarify, $1200 checks are ONLY going to some w/social sec numbers, NOT immigrants w/ tax IDs (ITINs).
Thanks to GOP, these checks will be cut off the backs of *taxpaying immigrants,* who get nothing. Many are essential workers who pay more taxes than Amazon.
Wall St gets $4T
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 26, 2020
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie has also voiced concerns about the bill, threatening to stand in the way of a simple voice vote on the measure.