FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 6, 2021
Contact: Press@paul.senate.gov, 202-224-4343

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) issued the following statement regarding his vote against the $1.9 trillion COVID spending bill advanced by President Biden and congressional Democrats as COVID relief. The bill passed along party lines with a 50-49 vote.

“I am disappointed but not surprised that Senate Democrats rejected efforts to open schools now, target aid to only those who need it, and end programs that are keeping people out of work. Instead they chose to borrow money to give to their political allies and further their radical agenda. While I fear the consequences of adding $2 trillion more our children will have to pay back, I am proud to have successfully stopped their multiple attempts to give taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood abortion mills across America,” said Dr. Paul.

Dr. Paul won an early victory in forcing Democrats to remove a provision that would have allowed every Planned Parenthood across America to receive free money through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – money which was always intended for small businesses. The Paul team strenuously argued to the Senate Parliamentarian that this waiver would only benefit Planned Parenthood and thus violated the so-called Byrd rule.

In the final minutes before passage, Democrats made a last-ditch effort to add the provision back, but Dr. Paul and his team successfully blocked that too.

As part of the nearly 24-hour “vote-a-rama” amendment process, Dr. Paul also introduced an amendment to stop Democrats’ attempts to use taxpayer dollars to fund labor unions and other large, well-financed nonprofits through expanded access to paycheck protection loans. It failed to pass.

You can read about Dr. Paul’s efforts to stop Democrats’ attempt to give free money to Planned Parenthood, HERE.

You can also read about Dr. Paul’s amendment to eliminate union access to PPP, HERE.

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