Harrisburg Activists Decry Senator Toomey’s Inactivity as Senate Recesses Amidst National Coronavirus Crisis
Senator Toomey in Hot Seat During #SenateFailure Protests
At Strawberry Square, Harrisburg residents criticized Senator Pat Toomey’s decision to go on vacation instead of taking meaningful action on COVID relief. Protesters delivered Senator Toomey a report card with a big F and also a #DoYourJob petition. They demanded that he and other GOP senators return to DC and pass the HEROES Act that will provide relief to our communities.
The Senate’s refusal to act in the midst of crisis is a clear failure of leadership – and the people across the country are holding their senators accountable. The Harrisburg rally is part of a national #SenateFail Day of Action and is just one of a number of protests, campaigns, or actions planned across the country, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.
On July 2, 2020, the Senate headed home for recess despite having done nothing to respond to the escalating public health and economic crisis spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic that is now reaching new heights across the country. The Senate has failed to move forward with the $3 trillion stimulus package, the HEROES Act, which already passed the House of Representatives. The HEROES Act would provide relief to families during the pandemic, especially to millions of immigrants left out of other COVID-19 Relief Packages. It would shield undocumented immigrants, most of whom are essential workers and disproportionately hurt by the virus, from deportation, make them eligible for federal stimulus funds, deliver additional health care benefits to those who are eligible for Medicaid, and release people from immigration detention.