Congressman Cleaver Votes For FY 2021 Budget Resolution

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, United States Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) voted in favor of H. Con. Res. 11, the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget Resolution, which was passed by the House of Representatives with a vote of 218-212. The budget resolution gives Congress an additional tool to pass a substantial COVID-19 relief package to provide the resources needed to defeat coronavirus and bolster the struggling economy.

"Economists of every ideological stripe—from Fed Chair Powell to Treasury Secretary Yellen to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—have all been unequivocal in the belief that there is greater risk in doing too little than too much when it comes to the next COVID relief package," said Congressman Cleaver. "We cannot allow typical Washington gridlock to stop us from getting urgently-needed vaccines and financial relief to Missouri families. By beginning the budget reconciliation process, we have given ourselves an opportunity to pass an ambitious relief package that will crush COVID-19 and support tens of millions of Americans in their time of need. That's exactly what this moment calls for."

Today's budget resolution passed by the House of Representatives gives Congress the option of using a budget reconciliation measure to pass a coronavirus relief package. Reconciliation provides fast-track procedures that allow Congress to pass legislation with a simple majority in the U.S. Senate rather than the 60 votes typically needed to overcome a legislative filibuster. Today's resolution provides a budgetary framework of up to $1.9 trillion—the estimated cost of President Biden's American Rescue Plan.

Reconciliation is the exact same procedure the Republican-controlled Congress used in 2017 to pass the $2 trillion Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which delivered 83% of benefits to the top 1% of Americans when the national unemployment rate was at 4%. Republicans also attempted to use the reconciliation process in 2017 to repeal the Affordable Care Act, however, failed to garner support from a majority of the Senate.

"There is nothing in the reconciliation process that precludes my Republican colleagues from working with Democrats to craft a relief package that meets the scale of the crisis at hand—in fact, I welcome it," said Congressman Cleaver. "However, the American people cannot wait another six months for Congress to act, as Senator McConnell forced us to do last year while millions of our citizens fell into poverty. We need to demonstrate urgency to the public by immediately passing a package that sends $1,400 direct payments to families, provides funding for states and municipalities to distribute vaccines, extends unemployment benefits for workers, administers rental and homeowner assistance, and more. There is certainly bipartisan support for all of these measures among the American people, and I hope we can find that same bipartisan support in Congress."

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. For more information, please contact Matt Helfant at 202-590-0175 or matthew.helfant@mail.house.gov A high-resolution photo of Congressman Cleaver is available here.