WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told senators on Tuesday that the United States should return to full employment next year despite headwinds from the coronavirus Delta variant and again urged Congress to quickly lift the federal debt limit.

Yellen stated that the recovery from a COVID-19-induced recession is still fragile but fast in prepared remarks.

Yellen explained that “while our economy continues its expansion and capture a substantial portion of the jobs lost during 2020,” significant obstacles from the Delta variant continue suppressing the speed of recovery and present substantial barriers for a vibrant economy.

“I remain positive about the economy’s medium-term course and believe we can return to full employment next years.

Yellen testifies about COVID-19 relief assistance efforts. She stated that Emergency Rental Assistance was expanding quickly in order to avoid evictions. With 1.4million payments being made to tenants and landlords, she said.

She also said that the “too many of the funds remain bottlenecked in the state and at local levels”, and that those jurisdictions need to work towards removing barriers to aid.

Yellen reiterated that a default on the debt due to Congress failing to raise the federal debt limit could lead “to a loss of full faith and credit in the United States” and the country would be likely facing a financial crisis or economic recession.

She expressed hope that the debt limit would be increased on a bipartisan basis. U.S. Senate Republicans voted to block a measure for government funding that would have raised the debt limit late Monday.