House Democrats are being criticized for attempting to include funding in the emergency coronavirus relief bill for items not related to the virus, including $35 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
“For an additional amount for ‘Operations and Maintenance,’ $35,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 2021, for operations and maintenance requirements related to the consequences of coronavirus: Provided, That notwithstanding the provisions of 20 U.S.C. 76th et seq., funds provided in this Act shall be made available to cover operating expenses required to ensure the continuity of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and its affiliates, including for employee compensation and benefits, grants, contracts, payments for rent or utilities, fees for artists or performers, information technology and other administrative expenses,” the House bill reads, according to Fox News.
Democrats believe #coronavirus can be cured by providing $35 million in funding to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. pic.twitter.com/i26vSzhiYU
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) March 24, 2020
“Dems: It is totally unreasonable to consider overall economic health during a health crisis, unless, of course, you mean the economic health of the Kennedy Center,” senior fellow at the National Review Institute Andy McCarthy said on Twitter.
Dems: It is totally unreasonable to consider overall economic health during a health crisis, unless, of course, you mean the economic health of the Kennedy Center …
— Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) March 24, 2020
The bill also includes $300 million in funding for the National Endowment of the Arts and $300 million for the National Endowment of the Humanities, as well as support for NASA and the Internal Revenue Service. An additional $300 million in taxpayer funding is designated for what the bill describes as “Migration and Refugee assistance.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff defended the Democrats’ push to include funding for items that don’t appear to have any connection to the virus, such as voting by mail and early voting provisions, by insisting they are addressing issues that are also related to “economic health.”
“I think what they’re really focused on is, we want to make sure that we protect, not only the health of the economy, but the health of our democracy,” Schiff said. “And for that reason, we want to make sure that we provide that people can vote by mail, and have early voting. We saw the fiasco in Ohio. We don’t want that repeated. And I think what Donald Trump would like, what Mitch McConnell would like is a situation where they can create a corporate slush fund that they can do with as they choose, and the voters won’t be able to hold them accountable. Because they won’t be able to get to the ballot places without risking their lives. And so, we view the economic health and the health of our democracy as very much interrelated. They view the health of their slush fund and suppressing the vote as interrelated, and I think that’s part of the conflict.”
Senate Democrats blocked a $1.8 trillion GOP-proposed relief package on Monday night, in a move many believe was encouraged by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is aiming to include other provisions in the agreement.
“Instead of taking that legislation — urgent, necessary legislation — and passing it quickly, Democrats have now decided to allow Speaker Pelosi to block it through proxies here in the Senate so that she can rewrite the bill with a ton of crap that has absolutely nothing to do with the public health emergency that we face at this moment,” Republican Sen. Ben Sasse said on the Senate floor Monday night.
As of Tuesday, the coronavirus has killed 582 people in the United States and infected over 46,000.
