washington janet yellen us presidentelect joe bidens nominee for treasury secretary urged lawmakers on tuesday to act big on the next coronavirus relief package adding that the benefits outweigh the costs of a higher debt burdenyellen said her task as treasury chief will be to help americans endure the final months of the coronavirus pandemic and rebuilding the us economy so that it creates more prosperity for more people and ensures that american workers can compete in an increasingly competitive global economybiden who will be sworn into office on wednesday outlined a 19 trillion stimulus package proposal last week saying bold investment was needed to jumpstart the economy and accelerate the distribution of vaccines to bring the virus under controlneither the presidentelect nor i propose this relief package without an appreciation for the countrys debt burden but right now with interest rates at historic lows the smartest thing we can do is act big yellen a former federal reserve chair told the senate finance committeei believe the benefits will far outweigh the costs especially if we care about helping people who have been struggling for a very long time she saidthe proposed aid package includes 415 billion to bolster the us response to the virus and the rollout of covid19 vaccines some 1 trillion in direct relief to households and roughly 440 billion for small businesses and communities particularly hard hit by the pandemicmany americans would receive stimulus payments of 1400 which would be on top of the 600 checks approved in a pandemic relief bill passed by congress last month supplemental unemployment insurance would also increase to 400 a week from the current 300 a week and it would be extended to septemberyellen received an endorsement from all former treasury secretaries from george schultz to jack lew who urged senators in a letter to swiftly confirm yellens nomination so she can quickly tackle daunting challenges in the economyaddressing these pressing issues will require thoughtful engagement by the department of the treasury any gap in its leadership would risk setting back recovery efforts the former secretaries wrotea spokeswoman for departing treasury secretary steven mnuchin who steps down on wednesday could not immediately be reached for commentyellen also addressed the treasurys stance on the dollar after president donald trump frequently called for a weaker dollar to boost us exportsthe united states should oppose attempts by other countries to artificially manipulate currency values to gain trade advantage she said adding that the targeting of exchange rates for commercial advantage was unacceptableshe said china was clearly the most important strategic competitor of the united states and underscored the determination of the biden administration to crack down on what she called chinas abusive unfair and illegal practicestreasury secretaries have previously affirmed their commitment to a marketdetermined exchange rate and some in recent years have said that a strong dollar is in us interestsshe also said that she believed some but not all of the signature 2017 tax reform act should be repealed