“America’s moms are pleased and enormously relieved that the U.S. Senate passed the American Rescue Plan this afternoon. We thank the Biden-Harris administration and Senate majority leaders for this victory. For millions of people in this country, passage of this package is, quite simply, a matter of survival. It will provide essential support to moms and families who are facing severe illness, crippling stress, and the loss of loved ones, as well as the disappearance of jobs and income they relied on, depletion of college and retirement funds, hunger, homelessness, and futures that have been diminished. That is especially true for women and moms of color, who have experienced compounded harms in the pandemic due to structural racism.

“Given the indisputable pain and enormous need as the pandemic continues to sicken and kill people every day, and force hundreds of thousands of people onto unemployment each week, it is shameful that half of U.S. senators voted against this essential measure. Their partisanship is deeply disappointing and poses an enormous, enduring threat to our future.

“While we applaud passage of this bill, which will help moms and families survive the health and economic harm the pandemic has caused and support economic recovery, more is needed. We vow to work with our elected leaders to make sure struggling families have the unemployment benefits they need to make ends meet for as long as they need them. It will take time for our economy to recover and it is completely unrealistic to think everyone will be back to work by Labor Day -- and it would be cruel to cut off benefits before jobs return or to create an unnecessary gap in benefits because Congress won’t recognize this reality. Moms want to work, but care responsibilities have forced millions out of the workforce and jobs aren’t there and won’t return instantly. Congress will need to return to the question of unemployment benefits this summer.

“In addition, our country urgently needs comprehensive, sustainable paid leave that covers everyone, always. Only when we do that, and boost the federal minimum wage, which hasn’t been increased since 2009, will we be on track to unleash the economic prosperity we all deserve. We also need to create a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, many of whom have been on the front lines of the pandemic response. The direct assistance, unemployment benefits, child care and education funding, vaccine and health system support, temporary Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit expansion, and anti-hunger provisions the American Rescue Plan contains are welcome, but there is more to do.”