We passed critical COVID relief, but...

Yesterday, the Senate passed a bold COVID relief package for America's working families.

Or, more accurately:

Yesterday, Senate Democrats passed a bold, critical, and long-overdue COVID relief package for America's working families – despite extraordinary Republican obstructionism and by the slimmest possible margin.

Here's some of what's in there:

• Direct relief payments for families struggling through the worst economic crisis in nearly a century;

• Aggressive measures to cut child poverty rates in half;

• Emergency funding for local and state governments to stave off catastrophic budget shortfalls;

• Expanded unemployment benefits;

• Billions of dollars to boost the vaccine rollout nationwide.

None of those things is controversial. In fact, they're just first steps in containing the virus and rebuilding our economy.

Yet after more than a year of businesses closing, workers losing their jobs, families suffering, and hundreds of thousands of Americans dying, Senate Republicans were more unified in blocking support for working people than they were in blocking a violent, seditious mob from storming the Capitol.

Yesterday's vote was a victory, and once President Biden signs the bill into law, our neighbors and communities will be far better off for it.

But it's a temporary win; Congress will need to do so much more in the coming months and years to make sure we fully recover and are prepared for future challenges.

And, frankly, it was far too close a win. Our movement will need to keep up the levels of passion and hard work and organization we showed in 2020 so that in 2022, we can expand our Senate majority.

That's what our movement is all about, and I know that if we stick together, we can make sure our government answers working people, not billionaires, special interests, and extremists.

Ron