The Democratic victory lap over passage of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus recovery plan made a stop at the Mall of America in Bloomington on Monday.
Governor Walz, standing outside the mall’s community COVID vaccine center, welcomed Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, as well as Congresswomen Betty McCullom and Angie Craig.
“These is the group that helped lead the American Rescue Plan,” said Walz, who noted fellow Congressmen Dean Phillips and Ilhan Omar weren’t able to join them.
Minnesota Republican Congressmen Pete Stauber, Jim Hagedorn, Tom Emmer, and Michelle Fishbach were never mentioned.
The four Republicans of the state’s split Washington delegation did not vote in favor of the plan, along with every other House and Senate member of the GOP.
“I want to thank the American people,” said McCollum. “This bill passed because the American people believed in the vision Joe Biden had with the Democrats about what we could do to tamp down the spread of this virus, to get a vaccine moving forward, and to come together as an American public to address a pandemic that’s just a crisis all over the world.”
McCollum said taxpayers from all parties were calling for some kind of relief.
“We didn’t have any help in congress, not one Republican vote,” she said. “Not one. For my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who say ‘we can’t afford this,’ we can’t afford any more pain and suffering.”
In a statement after passage of the bill, Emmer called the measure an advancement of the political agenda of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Gov. Walz said he’s grateful for what was done in Washington to make the plan a reality.