WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — After months of negotiations, the compromise COVID-19 relief bill passed the House and the Senate, with huge majorities.
But Congressman Fred Keller (R-Pa.) voted no.
“This bill on certain avenues doesn’t do it for me,” Keller said.
Keller was one of just 52 of the 435 House members who voted against the bill.
“When you look at the things included in there, that really aren’t about getting people back to work because the best stimulus is a job,” Keller said.
Keller did not support the inclusion of stimulus checks or the removal of business liability protections from the bill.
“There’s money in there for special interests, I think there’s money in there for the Kennedy Center, the bailout for the post office. Let’s not lump it in with this,” Keller said.
Keller says there were parts of the bill he liked, including extending the Paycheck Protection Program and billions for vaccine distribution.
“Many of those things that I wanted were in there because I went in and advocated for that with my constituents, but what I didn’t advocate is to put them further in debt on policy positions that have nothing to do with COVID-19,” Keller said.
“Congress didn’t end up being the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said.
Warner helped hammer out the compromise bill. He admits it isn’t perfect.
“We could argue and quibble about whether it should be a little bit more or a little bit less. End of the day though, help is on the way,” Warner said.
Warner says Democrats plan to work on another COVID-19 relief bill when the new Congress convenes after the first of the year.