WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, the United States Senate voted on Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Senator Rick Scott’s (R-Fla.) amendment with Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to divert unobligated funds from the Democrats’ wasteful so-called “COVID” bill, the American Rescue Plan Act, to pay for the authorized funding in the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act of 2021. Every Republican Senator present voted in favor of this amendment, but Democrats blocked its passage.

Senator Ron Johnson said, “We are currently $28 trillion in debt with trillions more guaranteed to be added over the next few years with Biden and the Democrats’ reckless spending proposals. Before we authorize and spend more money, we need to first use the unspent and unobligated funds we have already appropriated. Congress has provided $5.9 trillion in total COVID relief. $4 trillion has been disbursed and nearly $2 trillion has not been spent. This amendment does not take away any money from testing, vaccines, or small business programs.  Repurposing unobligated funds from the American Rescue Plan is a practical way to provide and offset funding for this massive bill. We don't have an unlimited checking account. We are mortgaging our children’s future.”

Senator Rick Scott said, “Congress must take action to hold Communist China accountable and ensure our nation has the resources it needs to combat the threat from this great adversary, but we should do that in a fiscally responsible way. That’s what our amendment does. It simply pays for provisions in the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act by using unobligated and unnecessary funding from the Democrats’ American Rescue Plan. Only in Washington, where Democrats believe debt isn’t real and spending has no consequences, would Democrats block such a reasonable measure. I won’t accept the lie that government waste, high debt and massive spending is inevitable, and neither should the American people. I will never stop fighting to protect the tax dollars of hardworking families in Florida and across the nation.”

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