The new US House after taking the oath of office in January will form a new committee to tackle the crisis of income and wealth disparity that is accelerating as a result of the coronavirus crisis, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th December, 2020) The new US House after taking the oath of office in January will form a new committee to tackle the crisis of income and wealth disparity that is accelerating as a result of the coronavirus crisis, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday.
"I am proud to announce the creation of the new, bipartisan Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, which will be an essential force in Congressional Democrats' action to combat the crisis of income and wealth disparity in America," Pelosi said.
The speaker said the panel would modeled upon the so-called National Economic Committee founded by President Roosevelt and Congress during the Great Depression of the 1930s to study and combat the concentration of wealth in America and its role in triggering economic collapse.
"Clearly, the disparities in income and equity in our country are vast. We've known that they've only gotten worse and the pandemic again puts it in sharper focus," she added.
The United States has been the country hardest hit by the COVID-19 since its global outbreak this year, with more than 19.5 million positive cases logged since January and over 338,000 deaths related to the virus. After a respite in the summer to early fall period, infections have started surging again, pushing hospitalization up to daily record highs of above 100,000 in recent weeks.
Some 10 months into the coronavirus pandemic, a third of US adults are having difficulty covering everyday costs such as food, rent or car payments, according to a recent survey by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The next US Congress will be sworn in on January 3.
