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WASHINGTON – Janet Yellen, nominee for treasury secretary, calls on Congress to do more to fight a deep pandemic-induced recession, saying the threats of a longer and even worse downturn are too great to cut support now.
“Without further action, we are now risking a longer, more painful recession – and long-lasting scars to the economy later,” Yellen said in a testimony prepared at her confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee.
Yellen, who will be the first female secretary of state in the country’s history, is expected to have little trouble gaining approval in a Senate, which will soon be controlled by Democrats once two Democratic senators from Georgia sit.
SENATE FINANCIAL COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER YELLEN AS TREASURY SECRETARY BEFORE INTRODUCTION DAY
In her testimony, Yellen, who was also the country’s first female chair of the Federal Reserve, said that the swift action taken by Congress by passing trillion-dollar bailouts last year and an additional $ 900 billion in aid last month was successful in suffering a lot. ”
But she said the pandemic, even with the extraordinary government assistance, still caused ‘widespread devastation’.
Treasury nominee Janet Yellen has called on Congress to do more to fight a deep pandemic-induced recession, saying the threats of a longer and even worse downturn are too great to support to prune now. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP vi
‘Eighteen million unemployment insurance claims are paid every week. Food bank shelves go empty. “The damage is being wiped out, and as the president-elect said last Thursday, so must our response,” Yellen said.
“Over the next few months, we will need more help distributing the vaccine, reopening schools, helping states keep firefighters and teachers working,” Yellen said. She said more support would also be needed to keep the unemployment benefit checks out and to help families who are starving or at risk of being homeless.
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Biden last week unveiled a $ 1.9 billion relief plan that will provide more assistance to U.S. families, businesses and local communities and provide more support for vaccine production and distribution.
While Democrats endorsed the effort, many Republican lawmakers have expressed concern about the price of rising federal budget deficits.
Yellen said she and Biden were aware of the growing debt burden in the country.
“But now, with interest rates at historic lows, the smartest thing we can do is act big,” she said. “In the long run, I believe the benefits will outweigh the costs, especially if we want to help people who have been struggling for a very long time.”
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The Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday with Yellen is one of many that the Senate will hold while the incoming government in Biden tries to get its top cabinet officials into office quickly.