众议员亚历山大·奥西奥·科尔特斯(纽约州)是美国众议院仅有的五名投票反对近5万亿美元的一揽子计划向在冠状病毒大流行中努力维持公司运营和员工薪酬的小企业提供另一部分援助。

其他四名议员是共和党人:乔迪·希奇(佐治亚州)。)、肯·巴克(科罗拉多州)、安迪·比格斯(亚利桑那州)和托马斯·马西(肯塔基州)。)。

尽管遭到反对，4840亿美元的一揽子计划以压倒性的两党支持以388比5获得通过。密歇根州的独立候选人贾斯汀·阿玛什出席了投票。总共有35名成员没有投票。该法案于周二获得参议院一致通过，现在将提交白宫，预计唐纳德·特朗普总统将在白宫迅速签署成为法律。

大约3800亿美元用于小企业，其中3200亿美元用于补充两周前用光的大部分可原谅贷款的工资保护计划(PPP)；750亿美元用于医院；250亿美元用于扩大病毒测试。

对企业的救助将由小企业管理局分配，尽管尚不清楚这笔额外的资金将持续多久，因为最初的3500亿美元购买力平价在大约两周内被160多万企业耗尽。

该法案标志着自导致美国经济瘫痪的全球健康危机爆发以来，国会批准的第四个救助计划。美国劳工部周四上午报告称，上周又有440万人申请失业救济，自3月14日以来，美国失业总人数已超过2600万。

当购买力平价基金枯竭时，特朗普政府和国会共和党人呼吁无条件追加资金，立即向受欢迎的项目注入更多资金。然而，民主党人强迫就援助进行谈判，并要求为测试、医院、地方和州政府等项目提供额外资金。

最终版本包括比政府要求的多1300亿美元的小企业补贴，以及确保农村、少数民族和妇女拥有的小企业等服务水平低下的人群受益的附加条款。扩大检测和医院的资金被包括在内，以安抚民主党人。

但众议院最自由的成员之一选择不支持两党协议，称其未能走得足够远，为美国人提供个人经济救助。奥西奥-科尔特斯几天前威胁要反对这项立法，并告诉记者新闻周刊在投票前的几个小时里，她仍然犹豫不决。

4月14日，来自纽约亚历山德里亚·奥西奥·科尔特斯的民主党女议员戴着口罩保护自己免受冠状病毒的侵害，来到纽约市皇后区的一个记者招待会上。

“当共和党人说他们对这项法案有紧迫感时，这是一个玩笑。他们身边唯一有紧迫感的人是像露丝的克里斯牛排屋和摇摇小屋这样的人。你不是在试图为妈妈和爸爸修正这个法案，”奥西奥-科尔特斯在一次现场演讲中说。“我们必须争取资助医院，争取资助检测。这就是我们在这个法案中争取的。这是不合情理的。如果你有急事，你可以立法，就像5月1日租金到期一样，并确保我们为选民提供租金和抵押贷款减免。”

她不是唯一不喜欢这项立法的进步人士。国会进步党团的几名成员本周对此表示了担忧。普拉米拉·贾亚帕尔代表(华盛顿)。)对该法案也有类似的不满。她求婚了国会帮助公司支付员工100%的工资，期限最长为三个月。然而，贾亚帕尔投票赞成这项措施。

“我们必须做得更好，我们必须提供真正的救助。这不是它，”贾亚帕尔告诉新闻周刊。“我们接受了一个糟糕的、不够充分的共和党提议，我们让它变得更好，所以这是好的。但是在几天内，我们将达到在越南失去的美国人的数量。”

像巴克这样的保守派越来越多地表示担心国会通过的几项救助计划对国家赤字意味着什么。

“我们正在进行这个国家的两党破产，”他在一份声明中说。“我们不会通过向被政府强制隔离的经济体投入数万亿美元来拯救我们的社区，结束这场危机。”

比格斯列举了反对给支持联系人追踪的地方捐款的理由，他说这可能等同于政府越权和侵犯隐私。他质疑“美国人民会默许违反宪法和压制政府的行为”还要持续多久，他指的是为了阻止病毒的传播而强制关闭企业。“我们现在需要开放美国，”他在地板上补充道。"我呼吁我们的州长立即释放他们的公民。"

在一个一系列推文阿玛什认为，手头的提案“没有解决导致最后一项法案如此不公平和无效的结构性缺陷。”

尽管如此，该法案的成功通过结束了两党就小企业贷款计划进行的为期两周的激烈党派谈判。

民主党人已经在推动另一项大规模救助计划，其中包括为州和地方政府提供更多个人福利和资源。他们设想其规模和范围类似于上个月通过的2.3万亿美元的刺激计划，并为5月4日国会返回时起草的措施设定了雄心勃勃的时间表。

但这两项任务都面临障碍，通往快速、两党一致的道路似乎不太可能。共和党人越来越怀疑发放更多的钱立法者通过拨款总额约3万亿美元来对抗流行病的影响，迫使国债飙升。

在投票前的几个小时里，议员们挥舞着头巾和面具，登上众议院大楼，进行党派攻击，指责他们在过道另一边的同事拖延了急需的救援。

众议院议长南希·佩洛西于4月23日抵达DC首都华盛顿。

“国会共和党人随时准备采取行动。但民主党人要求对一个坚实的项目进行彻底的改革，并阻止了资金，”少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡(右加州)说。“但是因为民主党人决定阻挠...残酷的结果是对工人、家庭和小企业的援助减少，焦虑增加。”

多数党领袖斯坦尼·霍耶(民主党)回击道。

"我认为我们都应该现实一点，他说。我们等了两周。为什么？这样，我们两周前或三周前提出的、现在已经被共和党人有效接受的建议就能被接受。"

回到首都，让国会在现代史上最严重的公共卫生危机中投票，对这个历史机构来说是一个超现实的过程。

议员们不得不在小范围内进行电子投票，以便让众议院的435名议员练习社交距离。成员、助手、记者、警察和工作人员都戴着各种颜色、材料和大小的面具。包括数百个席位在内的众议院在两个独立的、长达数小时的投票系列中，被大约12名美国国会议员清洗干净。

民主党本周推动暂时改变众议院规则，允许远程进行投票和委员会会议，但遭到了共和党的强烈反对，迫使民主党领导层放弃努力。周四，霍耶、麦卡锡和其他高级成员之间的闭门会议未能达成两党解决方案。

由于众议院和参议院仍暂定于5月4日返回，霍耶说他们的两党会谈将在下周继续。

他对记者说:“我认为我们需要提高信心水平，相信技术实际上能够发挥作用，并且对双方都公平。”。

OCASIO-CORTEZ JOINS 4 GOP LAWMAKERS IN OPPOSING $480 BILLION CORONAVIRUS AID FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, HOSPITALS AND TESTING

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was one of only five members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote against a nearly half-a-trillion-dollar package to provide another tranche of aid to small businesses struggling to keep their companies afloat and their employees paid amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The other four lawmakers were Republicans: Jody Hice (Ga.), Ken Buck (Colo.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Thomas Massie (Ky.).

Despite the opposition, the $484 billion package passed 388-5 with overwhelming bipartisan support. Independent Justin Amash of Michigan voted present. Overall, 35 members did not vote. The legislation was approved by the Senate on Tuesday with unanimous support and will now head to the White House, where President Donald Trump is expected to swiftly sign it into law.

Roughly $380 billion is included for small businesses, $320 billion of which is to replenish the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for mostly forgivable loans that ran out of money two weeks ago; $75 billion for hospitals; and $25 billion for expanded virus testing.

The relief for businesses will be distributed by the Small Business Administration, though it's unclear how long this additional batch of money will last, as the initial $350 billion for PPP was depleted within roughly two weeks by upwards of 1.6 million businesses.

The bill marks the fourth relief package Congress has appropriated since the onset of the global health crisis that's crippled the U.S. economy. The Labor Department reported Thursday morning that another 4.4 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total number of jobless Americans to more than 26 million since March 14.

When PPP funds ran dry, the Trump administration and congressional Republicans called for a no-strings-attached supplemental to pump more funds immediately into the popular program. However, Democrats forced negotiations over the aid and demanded for additional money for things like testing, hospitals, and local and state governments.

The final version included roughly $130 billion more for small businesses than the administration requested, along with added provisions that ensure portions reach underserved populations like rural, minority and women-owned small businesses. The money for expanded testing and hospitals was included to appease Democrats.

But one of the chamber's most liberal members chose not to support the bipartisan deal, saying it failed to go far enough and provide individual economic relief for Americans. Ocasio-Cortez threatened to oppose the legislation days ago and told Newsweek in the hours leading up to the vote that she remained undecided.

Democratic Congresswoman from New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wearing a face mask to protect herself from the coronavirus, arrives at a press conference in the Corona neighbourhood of Queens on April 14 in New York City.

"It is a joke when Republicans say they have urgency around this bill. The only folks they have urgency around are folks like Ruth's Chris Steak House and Shake Shack. You are not trying to fix this bill for mom and pop," Ocasio-Cortez said in a floor speech. "We have to fight to fund hospitals, fighting to fund testing. That is what we're fighting for in this bill. It is unconscionable. If you had urgency, you would legislate like rent was due on May 1 and make sure we include rent and mortgage relief for our constituents."

She wasn't the only progressive who disliked the legislation. Several members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus voiced concerns about it this week. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the caucus, had similar gripes with the bill. She's proposed for Congress to assist companies in paying their employees 100 percent of their salary for up to three months. However, Jayapal voted for the measure.

"We have to do better, we have to deliver real relief. This is not it," Jayapal told Newsweek. "We took a bad, insufficient Republican package that was proposed, and we made it better, so that's good. But in a couple of days, we will reach the same number of American lives lost that we had in Vietnam."

Conservatives, such as Buck, have increasingly cited concerns about what the several relief packages Congress has passed will mean for the national deficit.

"We are engaged in a bipartisan bankruptcy of this country," he said in a statement. "We will not heal our communities and put an end to this crisis by throwing trillions of dollars at an economy chained by a government-mandated quarantine."

Biggs cited opposition to giving money to localities that support contact tracing, which he said could amount to government overreach and invasion of privacy. He questioned how much longer the "American people will acquiesce to unconstitutional and crushing government action," referencing the forced business closures to stop the virus' spread. "We need to open America now," he added on the floor. "I call on our governors to free their citizens immediately."

In a series of tweets, Amash argued the proposal at hand "doesn't fix structural flaws that made the last bill so unfair and ineffective."

Still, the successful passage caps off two weeks of intense partisan negotiations over the small-business loan program that both parties support.

Democrats are already pushing for another massive relief package, one to include more individual benefits and resources for state and local governments. They're envisioning its size and scope to be similar to the $2.3 trillion stimulus passed last month and have the ambitious timeline for the measure to be drafted when Congress returns May 4.

But both of those tasks face hurdles, and the road to a speedy, bipartisan agreement seems unlikely. Republicans have become increasingly skeptical of doling out more money amid lawmakers forcing the national debt to skyrocket by appropriating a total of about $3 trillion to combat the pandemic's effects.

Brandishing bandanas and masks across their faces, members ascended to the House floor in the hours leading up to the vote to lob partisan attacks and accuse their colleagues on the other side of the aisle of stalling the much-needed relief.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) arrives at the U.S. Capitol on April 23 in Washington, DC.

"Congressional Republicans stood ready to act. But Democrats demanded sweeping changes to a solid program and blocked the money," Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said. "But because Democrats decided to obstruct... The cruel result is less assistance and more anxiety for workers, families, and small businesses."

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) shot back.

"I think we ought to all be realistic," he said. "We waited two weeks. What for? So that the proposal that we made two weeks ago, or three weeks ago, which has now effectively been accepted by the Republicans, would be accepted."

The act of returning to the nation's capital so Congress could vote amid the worst public health crisis in modern history was a surreal procedure for the historic institution.

Lawmakers had to cast their electronic votes in small waves in order for the chamber's 435 members to practice social distancing. Masks of all colors, materials and sizes were worn throughout the building by members, aides, reporters, police officers and staff. The chamber, including its hundreds of seats, were scrubbed clean by roughly a dozen U.S. Capitol employees in between two separate, hours-long vote series.

A push by Democrats this week to temporarily alter House rules to allow for votes and committee meetings to be conducted remotely was met with fierce GOP pushback, forcing Democratic leadership to scrap the endeavor. A closed-door meeting Thursday between Hoyer, McCarthy and other top members failed to produce a bipartisan solution.

With the House and Senate still tentatively scheduled to return May 4, Hoyer said their bipartisan talks with continue next week.

"I think we need to raise the confidence level that technology can, in fact, work and will be fair to both sides," he told reporters.