Janet YellenPresident-elect Joe Biden, the Treasury Secretary, will call for “big” action against the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, according to prepared comments obtained by CBS News . The Senate will begin confirmation hearings Tuesday for Yellen and more key members of the Senate Mr. Biden’s office.
“Economists don’t always agree, but I think there’s consensus now: without further action, we run the risk of a longer and more painful recession now, and long-term scars on the economy,” Yellen will say.
His call to action comes just days after Mr Biden unveiled an FDR-style vision to control the coronavirus and deal with the economic crisis that has left millions at work since the beginning of the year. past.
“Over the next few months, we will need more help distributing the vaccine; reopening schools; helping states keep firefighters and teachers at work,” Yellen will say in his remarks. “We will need more funding to make sure unemployment insurance checks keep coming out; and to help families who are at risk of starvation or losing their roof.”
Mr. Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion US rescue plan includes provisions such as extending improved unemployment benefits through September and increasing those benefits from the current $ 300 a week to $ 400 a week, sending direct benefits to families in the form of $ 1,400 checks, the national distribution plan of vaccines and a number of other relief measures. Yellen will recognize the $ 1.9 trillion price on Tuesday.
“Neither the president-elect nor I are proposing this relief package without appreciating the country’s debt burden,” Yellen will say. “But right now, with interest rates at record lows, the smartest thing we can do is act a lot. In the long run, I think the benefits will far outweigh the costs, especially if we care about helping people who they’ve been fighting for a long time. “
Yellen, who previously held the presidency of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, will say she believes the Secretary of the Treasury has a dual mission: to help Americans weather the pandemic and get back to work and also rebuild the economy because American workers can compete globally.
Yellen is one of five candidates in Biden to run in Senate committees Tuesday. Designated Secretary of State Tony Parpellejant, Secretary-General appointed retired general Lloyd Austin, Designated Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and appointed director of National Intelligence April Haines he will also appear before Senate committees.
If confirmed, Yellen will be the first woman to serve as Secretary of the Treasury in the department’s more than 230-year history. Previously, she was also the first woman to serve as president of the Federal Reserve.