Friends,

Help is on the way. President Biden just signed into law the American Rescue Plan, which will help our country beat this virus and get our economy back on track.

This means another round of stimulus checks for working families, as well as support for small businesses, hospitals, and Americans who are out of work. It means a national vaccination program, so we can start to get our schools and economy back open safely. The American Rescue Plan also includes a historic expansion of the child tax credit that will cut child poverty in half.

There’s another part of the bill that might not get as much attention, but will truly change lives here in Virginia and around the country. I was proud to help negotiate a historic $17 billion investment in broadband access and affordability, because this pandemic has taught us that affordable high-speed internet access is a necessity, not a luxury — especially for our students.

Of course, this bill is not perfect. I would have liked to see Congress go further to raise wages and invest in infrastructure. I voted for an amendment to the bill that would have permanently raised the minimum wage, which unfortunately failed to get enough votes to pass. So our work continues. But in the meantime, the Democratic majority and President Biden have delivered a major victory that will help us finally emerge from this pandemic.

In closing, I just want to say something about how we got here. A few months ago, no one thought this would be possible. Had we Democrats not banded together to elect President Biden and my new colleagues from Georgia, Sen. Ossoff and Sen. Warnock, we would still be stuck dealing with the partisan games that have held back our country’s response to the virus. Instead, thanks to your hard work, we have a diverse Democratic majority that was able to work with President Biden and deliver real relief for the American people. That’s the power of our democratic process, and I want to say thank you for being there with me in this fight every step of the way.

Sincerely,
Mark Warner