Working families in the commonwealth and around this country. He has been working diligently on the cares act that was recently passed. He is going to talk to us about that today. And we cant wait to hear about it. Were so thrilled also to have Stephanie Murray here with us today. Readl open our inbox and stephanie on politico playbook first thing every morning. Stephanie, thank you for being here. Aboutd go on and on chairman neil and im not going to because i want to kick it over now to hear from him and hear from stephanie and thank you all for joining us today via zoom. Stephanie good afternoon. Thank you so much to the Kennedy Institute and for everyone who is joining us this afternoon. In q2 congressman neal for being so generous with your time. My name is Stephanie Murray. Im the author of the political massachusetts playbook. It is my pleasure to be here, especially to kick off this new version of the institute form as we get used to our live online. Im glad to be here with you all today in this new way. Thats enough for me. I will open it up to congressman neil if you would like to offer us some opening remarks and get us started. Rep. Neal thank you, stephanie. I want to say a special word of thanks to vicki kennedy. Official andigh professional regard for teddy kennedy. I have modeled part of my legislative career on his argument we were to be advocates for the people of massachusetts. And just as importantly for the people of the united states. In addition, i think we were both of the same opinion as related to sometimes complicated legislation. We were not met to entertain the american people. We were meant to inform them. That is part of the legislative mission that the two of us found with great consistency. Vicki mentioned this was an extraordinary legislative life. I think history has an instance where that institute reminds us all the time of the significance of substantial legislative achievement and how important that is. I want to offer my condolences at this time to the Kennedy Family on the passing of maeve townsend. And her son, gideon. I know the tragedy the family is witnessing. We all offer our best at this time. Stephanie congressman neal, to get us started, i would like to take your temperature, in a way. You started as chairman of the ways and Means Committee. It has been a whirlwind couple of years. We had a historic government shutdown, and impeachment trial and now a global pandemic. Probably the most disruptive thing any of us will experience in our lives. How are you feeling right now and how are you seeing your role as the chairman of such an Important Committee in congress . Rep. Neal im a great believer in institution of American Public life. I understand fully the legislative responsibility we have. The ways and Means Committee wrote much of the act in consultation with Speaker Pelosi. Recall the ways and Means Committee has with the responsibly for tax, trade, tariffs, medicare, Social Security and management of the public debt. Our responsibilities are broad. Its an esteemed position one gets a hold in the house of representatives. I think the cares act reflects not only my personal interest, but also a long legislative history as to how we should respond to this pandemic. I worked very closely with phase one with Speaker Pelosi and secretary mnuchin. We were back and forth on the phone with the secretary. We had bold authorship on phase two and phase three. I will say to those who have dialed in it will likely be phase four and probably phase five as well. Describede has been as stimulus. More accurately the description should have gone along the lines of really stability and relief. There are parts of that complicated response we had but i did not do this in a flybynight effort. I went back to individuals who had long successful legislative careers and influence and understanding the parameters of this magnitude of the issue of this magnitude. I immediately sought out advice from bob ruben, secretary of the treasury during bill clintons years. He managed the mexican debt crisis. Janet yellen, former chairwoman of the Federal Reserve board, hank paulson who guided the Bush Administration after the financial collapse of 2008. Steve ratner, who handled the bailout of president obama. I was in touch with jay powell the Federal Reserve board. And jack lew has been unyielding in loyalty to me over the years. A subsequent gettogether lasted for more than two hours with Speaker Pelosi. We did it again a week ago. I was in touch with secretary lazar, secretary mnuchin regularly. We decided to try to divide Public Policy here understanding that until the health issue is resolved you are not going to get to the economic contagion that it has created. So help foremost and then we moved to the economic process. Economic consequence of what the Health Scenario has put in front of us. I think relying upon people who in this instance stand behind the president everyday at the briefings, their careers. These are individuals who have great credibility in this conversation. I think relying upon those who have experience in career responsibilities is a really important step. Stephanie everything you just said piques my interest. But could you talk about the role of the federal government in this whole crisis and how you think the federal government is doing . We see this push and pull almost every day with President Trump talking about the economic crisis versus the health crisis. Being hopeful to get the economy and country back up and running like normal. The past deadline for that was easter. That passed and things are still not back to normal. Do you think the federal government is doing a good job right now in handling this . Rep. Neal i think the implementation was slow. I think they were confusing messages from the administration. I go back to the New York Times story that appeared in the last between four hours. It is well sourced and well documented. I think there was another very important consideration here. It is called the National Principal. That is when the upper occurred in Washington State, we did not say in america this is a Washington State problem. We said this is an american problem. And the response has to be based upon an american belief in the National Principal. We were able to rush a two the state of washington. I think governor inslee gets credit for what he was able to do by taking it seriously immediately. As you can see the situation seems to have plateaued in the state of washington. Seems to have plateaued in the state of california. I think Governor Cuomo has done a pretty good job in the state of new york on this. I also think governor dewine and the house of representatives and in the united state senate, the governor of ohio. I think he has responded appropriately as well. Much of the responsibility here in terms of resources has to come from the federal government. Were are the only ones with the capacity to respond to this crisis. But administration frequently will fall into the hands of the governors. I think many others have all been able to meet the moment. Stephanie it is interesting that you mentioned the governors. What more can the federal government do . It seems like there handling it in a patchwork way. There are different advisories and different states. Some governors are more vocal than others and obtaining ppe. A coalition of governors has banded together asking for 500 billion in the next stimulus package. What can you as the chairman do in the next phase of the cares act to remedy all these issues the states are facing . Rep. Neal we are in phase 3. 5 right now. We decided we would go from phase three to phase four. As you know, the paycheck protection act and the unappointed insurance issue, the hospital money, the first hospital dollars flowing last thursday evening. 100 billion. The first 30 billion has been trounced. They will be subsequent investment in hospital. I noted earlier that massachusetts is the gem of the Hospital System in the world, understanding they all play every day and not just massachusetts but nationally, internationally as well, understanding the role of the 100 billion is important. I think there will have to be another round of investment in our hospitals. Another 100 billion. The governors have asked for more state and local assistance. I agree with that. That is a bit of a dustup you are witnessing now. These are reasonable considerations. I understand that. I also think reasonable people can agree when you have 17 Million People who filed for Unemployment Compensation just last week, the system will be exhausted very quickly. The money we set aside, the first 250 billion, will be exhausted fairly quickly as well. We will have to go back to Unemployment Insurance as well. I think the problem with the Small Business administration is that about 151 billion has gone out the door. There have been about 3800 institutions that participated with sba. I will tell you, whether it is the retention tax credit or the workshare initiative, these are, i think, suitable opportunities to make sure people keep working. We need to adhere to that. That was part of the plan. Conversations with janet yellen in particular. She said to me in the course of my conversations with her and the others i described earlier, she said, lets put the ceiling at 75,000 for single filers. 150 thousand dollars for joint filers. 150,000 for joint filers. Those first payments went out over the weekend. Those dollars will go into the hands of people who need them the most right away. Understanding this is daytoday sustenance for them, but also more likely to spend it. We use the irs because there was an immediate system of channeling that money because of taxpayer id numbers. Social security administration. There is a system of Social Security administration. Getting that money out would be easier. The Community Development block grant money for towns across the country and state government. There was a channel for that, a pipeline to get the money out. The best way to describe it was balanced. Stephanie even as checks are starting to hit Bank Accounts from this phase, we are talking about what is coming up next. For viewers watching, what should we be looking out for in the next iteration of the stimulus package or maybe even the one after that . Rep. Neal i think we are looking at rebuilding the safety net once again. I think there is going to be an additional round of help we just described. But i also think there will have to be more money for the Unemployment Insurance system. Not to miss the point that the people in the front lines it is remarkable. I live across the street from Baystate Medical center in springfield. It is the largest employer in western massachusetts. Along with other community hospitals, they are on the front lines. Mercy hospital, the sisters of providence, they are three blocks from where i live as well. Yesterday as i was hearing the horns honked and the banners waving, i walked to the end of the street and this spontaneous outpouring of goodwill for what is going on inside those hospitals is astounding. But they need more protective equipment. They need more ventilators. And they will need more assistance. We published this morning dollar allocations for hospitals in western massachusetts. They will need more money. There is no doubt about that. They are on the front lines. These doctors, nurses and Health Care Professionals are providing heroic work. Assisting them is part of our obligation in congress. Stephanie to get this a done in congress, how are you looking at doing that when even being together in a room for members of Congress Might be a safety hazard . The photos and videos of what is happening where people are sitting where they dont normally sit. Are you looking at result voting or voting in shifts to keep social distance . What is the plan here . Rep. Neal many of those discussions are underway and how best to do it. The simplest answer would be something i would like to think i learned quite well along the way. Long legislative history. It is called an arcade procedure. That arcane procedure is really to let the measure passed if you find agreement. Is called unanimous consent. I was there that friday morning. Lead at the debate on the democratic side. It was a bit surprising that anybody could object to the is called unanimous consent. Front of us given the fact that the Surgeon General and tony fetch he brixon and others were saying to us that you need to get this up and going right now. I think the speaker was about a row in front of me. We were practicing the six feet of social distancing. It was a bit louder than the conversations we usually have. We thought that procedure of unanimous consent was appropriate at the moment. All that means is that if there is no objection, legislative sessions can bring the matter to i think we could still do that again once the speaker and the administration reach an accommodation, which i expect will happen in the early days of this week. Stephanie in the political environment we are in, it is hard to imagine things reaching unanimous consent. To gets acted so quickly this wave passed. Do you feel like the pandemic has brought members across the aisle and of different factions of the Party Together . Does it feel different to you . It calls for a moment of goodwill and trust. Those were items i embraced in the house of representatives. The men and women of goodwill were usually the ones that got things done. They were not those usually pining for media attention. They were much more interested in getting usmca done. Getting the secure act done. Getting the cares act out the door. That generally means that i think it is a pretty good idea, the whole sum of our criticisms. When you find yourself constantly criticizing the other side, its harder to find an agreement with them in a perilous moment like this. Not that criticism does not make us better. But in a moment like this, once you define the problem, you also have to define the solution. The conversation the speaker and i had about three weeks ago with secretary mnuchin, it hearkened back to a different time. I have a Good Relationship with them. He said to me, mr. Chairman, if you get usmca done, i guarantee you it will go to infrastructure. That has to be part of phase four. When the speaker and i were on the phone, back and forth with him, we said i will call you back, he said, i will call you back. Can you live with this . Can you live with that . It harkens back to a different time where we did that kind of legislation. We were determined to get an outcome. I think that conversation did highlight the people that people can sometimes differ on a wide range of issues also can find agreement to the threat america faces in this pandemic. Stephanie could you tell us a little bit more about that process . Meeting late at night or talking all night to get this hashed out . What was your role in getting this space done . Rep. Neal ive had the speakers ear in these deliberations and conversations , largely because we have served together for long period of time. I also think the advantage republicans have in the administration have been dealing with Speaker Pelosi, they thought she can deliver her caucus. Some people say that is she should be able to do that. Modern politics does not reward the Political Party system as much as it rewards individual players. And i think that, as she asked me any times about technical questions, she spoke to me about numbers issues. I did suggest, for example, that we give Community Banks room. They generally would be the group that would have the best working relationship with Small Business. They got caught up in some of the reforms of 2008. So i suggested, based upon advice bob rubin gave to me, he said, look, use the intermediary to get the money out the door fast, and the speaker agreed with that, and that likely will be something that the administration is receptive to as well. I do think there has to be give and take. Im going to give a pretty accurate description right now of legislative life. Democrats control one half of one third of the federal government. That is the reality. But the one half of the one third that we do control is the house of representatives. So to get an agreement, you cant run past us. And i think everyone has figured out you cannot run over her. So, why not legislate based upon the fact that you need the house of representatives to concur . And i think, again, good negotiators at moments like this are really important. And that does not mean you are an accommodationist, it means you are a legislator understanding the arithmetic in front of you. Stephanie speaking of that arithmetic, how much do you think the federal government will have to spend or borrow when it comes to these stimulus packages . You mentioned another 1200, 2400 payment, more funds for state and local governments, for mayors. When this is said and done, how much do you think it will cost . Rep. Neal recall that congress does this go policy. Another accompanying partner here is the Federal Reserve board because they do monetary policy. And what the Federal Reserve board has done has essentially matched the effort that congress has made. So they are buying loans, they are securing private debt, and that frees up the banks to loan more money, more quickly. And when i spoke with jay powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve board, i laid out what we were thinking of and he said i agree, go big. I encouraged at that time the conversation to go to the speaker. He reiterated, a big. So right now between what we have done in the congress on fiscal policy and what the fed has done, you are north of 4 trillion right now. I think youre going to need more given Unemployment Insurance, hospitals, and i also think the infusion of cash into the hands of people who need it at the middle and lower end of the economic scale is going to have to proceed immediately. Stephanie talking about how much this is going to cost, it reminds me of something you have spoken about at length. Which is the Social Security system, and how it is kind of teetering and in a few decades there might not be any money left. So, are we in a better position to go through this pandemic now than we would be in several decades . And what should the federal government be doing to prepare for the next big, lifechanging event, economic downturn, anything like that . Rep. Neal as you know, i am a laboring believer in the guarantee of Social Security. You can outlive an annuity. You cannot outlive Social Security. And we decided again after careful deliberation to get money into the hands of Social Security recipients. Retirement is supposed to be a threelegged stool. It is supposed to be a retirement plan, which we addressed in this care is by granting people access to the 401 k s. It is also supposed to involve personal savings. But there is a bedrock principle here, and the guarantee of mr. Roosevelts genius, Social Security. The Social Security system, even though it is paying out more than it is taking in, still covers us well into the 20 30s. We have time to address that issue, but i would also say that the number of people in america who rely upon Social Security for a major part of their Retirement Income is critical. The average Social Security benefit is about 16,000 a year. That means that half the people who receive Social Security benefit in america received less than 16,000 a year. So the legislation i recently authored past the house, the most important advance in retiring entire mitt savings in 15 years, i intend to build upon it. Retirement savings is critical for all americans. I intend to make that a priority. What about trade during a time when the economy has been ground to a halt . Travel of all kinds is locked in place . How are you thinking about trade, and has your thinking changed at all, or does the country need to be doing Something Different now because of the situation we are in . Rep. Neal actually developed a good working relationship with bob lighthizer. He shares many democratic views of trade. Anybody who said in a house of representatives that we were going to get almost 380 votes for a trade agreement, we would have said not long ago next stop for you is bellevue. Instead, after months, a year of negotiating with bob lighthizer, we were able to put together a hemispheric trade agreement that me involve me negotiating with Prime Minister trudeau, door t lopez open a. We have a redoing of nafta, a hemispheric agreement that was endorsed by the Teamsters Union as well as the american chambers of commerce. It has been one of the highlights of my career. Massachusetts is heavily dependent upon trade. We have got a firstrate health care community. We have a firstrate tech sector. We handle our own as it relates to manufacturing. But massachusetts, given the ocean and given that airport and then the Regional Airports as well, we are a tradedependent state. More than one third of our economy in massachusetts is trade related. So shaping these agreements so that they accommodate all parts of the American Family needs to be very important. I also think it is one of those interesting debates you go into, because this administration in washington, they share more democratic views of trade than republican views, but it is interesting and i think it is something you should maybe take a look at as a reporter, and that is the perspectives on trade are changing in america. This has been one of those moments when people are beginning to question how we might build better trade deals going forward. Stephanie on that note of massachusetts, i want to talk about some things that happened in your district that is kind of ongoing, and that is the tragedy unfolding at the holyokes home. Of veterans have passed away a number from the coronavirus, dozens of staff are infected. The governor has opened an independent investigation. The attorney general opened an investigation. And now the federal government is opening an investigation as well. So i just wanted to check in with you about that and what accountability is going to look like. I know you have a personal connection there. Rep. Neal the soldiers home, my i am a frequent visitor there because my uncle has been there for a while. The mayor i started my career with Bill Sullivan of springfield, he is there. I have many friends there. I would also highlight the front page of the springfield republican has a very moving story about tony king, who died of the coronavirus at 102 years old. He was part of that team that back in the 1930s with others who were on the team, they refused to participate in the Little League world series because an africanamerican would not be allowed to play in north carolina. And the gary brown column this morning, the story about tony king and his years at the soldiers home is a lesson for all americans. Thats years before Jackie Robinson came to play for the dodgers, it is years before dr. Kings i have a dream speech. There are a lot of and women on the ground who were doing a pretty good job and tony king at that time was barely out of his teens. So i think the story is moving, but my uncle has been tested positive. The soldiers home is a unique institution. It has some federal obligation, overwhelmingly it is the state of massachusetts that administers the soldiers home in holyoke. Many people think of it as a hospital. It is really a residence. And the proximity, particularly in the dementia unit, you can see sitting next to each other how the contagion would spread very quickly, and it did. I talked to governor baker extensively about this a number of times. And maura healy, as you noted, is opening an inquiry. The u. S. Attorney is opening an inquiry. A lot of people at the soldiers home have died. Ive been in touch with the staff, the nurses, and others. Even though it is not a federal responsibility, i was helpful to the soldiers home, which he would appreciate. Because teddy and i were believers in earmarking, and we were able to earmark support over the years for the soldiers home. Again, this is a residence, those men and women who live at that facility. Stephanie so this is bringing us close to the end of our conversation, so i wanted to give you a few moments to make any points i did not ask you about or things i forgot to ask. Rep. Neal well, again, i think the National Principal should be foremost for all of us here. And the National Principal is that we do not check on with the what the geography of the country is as to who is being impacted. We do not ask about anybodys race or gender, or any of those issues. This is an american challenge. Its an international problem, an american challenge as well. And i think applauding the first responders, those workers on the front lines, those who should remain in our prayers. And i am always grateful to academic institutions who live out history, and a lifelong friend in vicki kennedy, one of the most important holders of an american legislative memory, and that is teddy kennedy. So muche thank you congressman neal for being so generous with your time. Thank you to mrs. Kennedy. And on behalf of the Kennedy Institute, thank you so much for everyone who joined us this afternoon. This has been a really thoughtprovoking conversation for me. I hope you feel the same way. It was great speaking with you, congressman. Rep. Neal thank you. The coronavirus pandemic is having an impact on the congressional schedule. Steny hoyer announced that members will not be back for legislative is this until monday, may 4. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has announced the same. This is two weeks after the chamber was scheduled to return. Members have been advised that they will have sufficient notice if legislation were to be considered before may 4. Watch live coverage on cspan, see the senate on cspan2. Washington journal primetime. An evening edition of washington journal. On the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. On guests are Lori Lightfoot her personal response to the pandemic and dr. Andrew morning. Talks about the spread of the virus and the latest data on how well it is being controlled. Join the conversation monday night at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Their Credit National Committee Chair tom perez talks about president ial politics and the coronavirus pandemic with political playbook coauthors and a palmer and jake sherman. This is about half an hour. I am author of the political playbook. I am right im joined by jake sherman. Thank you so much for joining us. We are going to be talking about the response to coronavirus
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