Voting against the new stimulus package Friday, U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, said the 2,000 page document was formed without bipartisan input and was riddled with special interest funding.

The bill passed in a 208-to-199 vote Friday, with all but one Republican voting against the legislation. It will now be sent to the Senate, where Keller said it will fail.

“Make no mistake, the bills have no chance of becoming law,” he said. “In a time where millions of Americans are newly unemployed and struggling to feed their families, Speaker Pelosi and her democrat colleagues are taking advantage of a national crisis to grant a new normal that would shock the conscience of the founders of our great republic.”

The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or the HEROES Act, would spend the $3-trillion on a base $1,200 check to Americans, as well as tiers of payment to essential workers, farmers, and more with funding for COVID-19 testing and states to prepare for the coming election.

While no one is calling for a return to business as usual several months before the COVID-19 pandemic, Keller said the $50 million given for environmental justice grants and illegal aliens made the bill a “nonstarter,” among other reasons.

“I have never seen, in my time in Harrisburg or Washington, a more partisan piece of legislation actually receive a vote,” he said. “This legislation is simply a give-away to liberal interests. It mentions cannabis more than it mentions jobs or China for that matter, it prioritizes things like environmental justice grants and bailing out failing unions and multi-employer pension plans over truly responding to the issues before us.”

Additionally, the bill would give taxpayer money to illegal aliens, he said.

“The American people want to get back to work so they can provide for their families,” said Keller. “In response to that, Speaker Pelosi has given their tax dollars to people who are in this country illegally.”

With the morbidity rate lower than originally projected, at about 1 percent, said Keller, Speaker Pelosi is “Wasting valuable time and resources,” by forcing the bill to come to a vote.

If passed, the legislation would be damaging for years to come, by increasing government spending and expanding governmental control, he said.

For the remote voting bill, the legislation is a clear “power grab,” and comes as many states are loosening restrictions.

“It has no support or input from Republicans and flies in the face of what it means to deliberate,” said Keller.

The U.S. Congress must continue to meeting together in-person to facilitate discussion and maintain openness to the press and American people.

“We should be leading from the front like millions of frontline, essential workers of America, not retreating when the American people need leadership,” he said. “We should not be abdicating our responsibility to meet, discuss and do business for the people.”

Keller said he spoke with President Donald Trump Thursday at his visit to Allentown.

“He shares our goal of restoring freedom, giving people the option of returning to work safely and returning the power of America to the people,” he said.

However, it is due to the sacrifices of the people of Pennsylvania, many of whom have put their lives on hold to save others, that legislators now have the ability to help them return to work, said Keller.

“Pennsylvanians have really stepped up and many of them shut their businesses and made the necessary adjustments and sacrifices to stop the spread of COVID-19 to allow hospitals the time necessary to build capacity and increase the supply chain of resources,” he said. “Because of this, we are now in a very different place today than we were when the virus first appeared.”