Sen. Joe Manchin, who is part of the bipartisan group of lawmakers pushing for a $908 billion coronavirus relief bill before the end of the year, said Tuesday that both President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been giving "encouraging signs."
"We just can't fail," the West Virginia Democrat said on "CBS This Morning." "People are running out of their lifelines, which end and are eliminated at the end of December."
Manchin said his group plans to start releasing sections of their bill Tuesday afternoon, with almost all of it to be public at day's end.
"Food assistance, shelter, the basic necessities of life are something that we have to continue to help people," he added.
Manchin said the group will begin rolling out sections of the bill Tuesday afternoon, and 90% of it will be public by the end of the day. It's important to pass the measure, he added, because of the different deadlines concerning evictions and other issues that will run out at the end of the year.
"I don't know how any senator could go home or any congressperson could return home not making every effort," Manchin said. "How can you look at people that'll be displaced or be evicted or in hunger lines? People that you've never seen in long lines for food assistance … I don't know how you can go home and say, 'Well, I'm sorry, we had to come home for Christmas vacation.'"
Manchin said Democrats and Republicans are working to determine what could have been done better with the CARES Act earlier this year, and he is proud of their efforts.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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