Republicans give update after meeting with Biden about COVID-19 relief package

GOP senators updated the press after meeting with President Biden to discuss a coronavirus relief package.

Video Transcript

[CAMERAS CLICKING]

- Do you [INAUDIBLE]?

JOE BIDEN: Oh, no. I'm anxious for it to talk.

[CAMERAS CLICKING]

I feel like I'm back in the Senate, which I like to think is the best thing I did.

SUSAN COLLINS: Good evening, everybody. We have just had a very productive, cordial two-hour meeting with the president and the vice president and some of their key aides, to discuss the next steps on the COVID relief package. We outlined for the president the provisions that we have proposed as part of an approximately $600 billion package. He explained in more depth areas that were not fleshed out as much in the package, the $1.9 trillion package.

And it was a very good exchange of views. I wouldn't say that we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that in a two-hour meeting. But we did agree to do, is to follow up and talk further at the staff level and amongst ourselves and with the president and vice president on how we can continue to work together on this very important issue.

All of us are concerned about struggling families, teetering small businesses, and overwhelmed a health care system, getting vaccines out and into people's arms, and strengthening our economy and addressing the public health crisis that we face. So I think it was an excellent meeting, and we're very appreciative that as his first official meeting in the Oval Office, the president chose to spend so much time with us in a frank and very useful discussion.

Finally, let me just say that we have demonstrated in the last year that we can come together on a bipartisan package dealing with the current crisis. In fact, we've done that not just once or twice, we've done it five times. And I am hopeful that we can once again pass a sixth bipartisan COVID relief package.