Even though the $3 trillion Democrat coronavirus stimulus bill, the one labeled as a “parade of absurdities,” included support for her plan to make cheap oil purchases for the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Oklahoma Democrat congresswoman Kendra Horn couldn’t and didn’t vote for the measure on Friday.
It passed on a 208 to 199 vote and four of Oklahoma’s representatives in the House voted against it while Rep. Frank Lucas did not vote.
Rep. Horn announced her opposition to the HEROES Act the day before the vote was taken.
““Messaging bills without bipartisan support are a disservice to the American people, especially during a time of crisis. This is not the time for partisan gamesmanship, this is the time to find common ground and deliver help where it is needed most,” said Horn in a statement released by her office.
“In response to COVID-19, our relief efforts must be targeted, timely, and transparent. The HEROES Act does not meet those standards. To deliver timely relief, we must put aside proposals that lack bipartisan public support and work to negotiate a legislative package that can pass both houses of Congress and earn the support of the White House,” added the congresswoman.
She joined fellow Oklahoma Reps. Kevin Hern, Tom Cole and Markwayne Mullin in casting votes against the measure. Thirteen other Democrats joined Rep. Horn in opposing the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act which builds off an earlier $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that delivered billions to Americans and U.S. businesses. The bill got the support of only one Republican, Rep. Peter King of New York.
During the drafting of the HEROES Act, Rep. Horn urged Democrat leaders in the House to work with Republicans to craft stimulus legislation rather than taking a partisan approach to the next relief bill.
Horn wasn’t alone in criticizing Democratic leadership for not involving Republicans in the drawing of the measure. So did Republican Rep. Tom Cole.
“Crafted behind closed doors and without any Republican input whatsoever, the so-called HEROES Act is mostly a liberal wish list but deceptively packaged by Speaker Pelosi as coronavirus relief and with a price tag of more than $3 trillion,” he said on Friday.
“After working across party lines in both chambers to deliver four substantial relief packages to the American people over the last several weeks, I am disappointed that House Democrats chose to abandon that same spirit of bipartisan cooperation and instead waste time considering legislation that will never see the light of the day in the Senate or make it to the president’s desk.”
While the measure passed easily in the House, it is likely to face defeat in the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate.
