Mr. Mccarthy youve heard me talk about the upcoming freshman class. Half of the Incoming Freshman class will be women. Yvette harold is the first republican native American Woman elected to congress. Steve nee bice is the first iranian American Woman elected to congress. This makes me very proud as a republican. And as an american. It shows the party of lincoln is also continuing the legacy of the first black american to serve in congress, Joseph Rainey of south carolina. Rainey was born into slavery and even after gaining his freedom he received little education as a child. He was drafted by the confederacy but escaped and went to bermuda and started a business. After the war he moved back to georgetown, south carolina. With his family in 1867 he became chairman of the countys republican party. Just a few years later he was elected in 1870 and became the first black american in congress. Where he worked tirelessly, fought for civil rights, education, and Economic Opportunity for all. Next month well celebrate 150 years for Joseph Raineys election. Im going to have a party and anniversary celebration, i hope oull all attend the ceremony. Now, back in may, nbc news said that President Trump would need a miracle to deliver a vaccine by the end of the year. Not only did democrats echo this same pessimistic view, they even cast doubt on whether the americans should trust the safe and effective vaccine. Yesterday, pfizer announced a 95 effective rate in the late stage trial. And showed it was effective in older adults as well. Earlier this week, moderna, also announced their vaccine had a 94. 5 effective rate. This is the most Important News in probably a generation. And its because of American Innovation and this administrations plan to effectively distribute the vaccine to the American People. One doctor says 20 million americans could receive the vaccine next month. We know that a vaccine is how we ultimately defeat this virus. So we need to help reinforce the work of operation warp speed. That is why House Republicans introduced our included 47 billion in h. R. 14, the commitment to defeat the virus and keep america healthy which we introduced just last month. Now, when it comes to small business, as we promise a vaccine would lift our spirits, Small Businesses across this country might not be able to wait that long. They have been asked to do the impossible and now are facing further lockdowns with no help from washington. The wall street journal recently reported that hundreds of companies that received p. P. P. Loans have filed for bankruptcy, citing a lack of additional stimulus payments as the pandemic wears on. But that number of businesses in america going under is without question much higher after you see that the journal only reviewed large firms that received loan forgiveness, which amounts to only 13. 5 of the total participants in the program. The Washington Post reported nearly 100,000 businesses nationwide have already shut their doors permanently. Theres no more time to delay. We must act now. We are in session. I call on every member in this chamber, especially the democrat moderates who complained about Nancy Pelosis failure in delivering a covid deal to sign Jamie Herrera beutler Paycheck Protection Program discharge petition. There is 130 billion in relief sitting there. Its already appropriated. All we have to do is vote to free it up. Now, back in september, 23 socalled moderate democrats wrote to their house leadership urging for a bipartisan negotiation with republican colleagues. Every one of them signed this letter. They admitted if pelosi failed that a discharge petition would e the only resort. Well, this was back in september. These are 23 democrats. I take them at their word and at their signature. Theyre in session today. They can sign the discharge petition and this could be done today. Elp could be on the way. Speaker pelosis approach that nothing is better than something is wrong and Everybody Knows it. The American People have paid he price for it. And now democrats are clamoring to go home for the rest of the year. Thats a disgrace. You signed a letter. You put your name to it. And you stated that if something did not happen, a discharge petition, you would go to. Well, you know what, nothing happened. Your leadership in Speaker Pelosi said nothing is better than something, and we watched hundreds of thousands of businesses shut down, to lose their dream. We have 138 billion already appropriated, already sitting there. All it takes is your signature and followthrough on what you said you would do. Now is the day, now is the time, and lets stop playing games and lets work for the American Public. With that lets go to questions. Yes, sir. Welcome back. Reporter thank you. Appreciate it. Why is it appropriate for the president , as he did yesterday, to call local officials who certify the elections and what is the end game for the president when states certify their results . Do you accept this election will be over . Mr. Mccarthy i dont know who the president called. He is an american citizen. He can find out any facts that are going on. I know a number of members who call their Election Officials and ask how many votes are left, whens the count going to take place, are there provisional ballots, how many are in my district . Were still counting a number of congressional districts still out there that have not been called yet. Yes, at the end of the day, when every legal vote is counted, when every recount is finished and every legal challenge is heard, yeah, people will accept what the results are. Yes, sir. Reporter any effort to delay certifications by the states so that republican legislatures could name their own electors to the Electoral College . Mr. Mccarthy i think im clear on that. I think every legal vote should be counted. Every recount should be finished and the states should finish their work. Eporter [indiscernible] reporter have you had any conversation about covid relief in substantive manner . Mr. Mccarthy with who . Reporter anybody thats empowered to make a deal. Mr. Mccarthy im in the house. It would be the speaker of the house, no. I talked to the white house. Reporter can you give us a sense of where things are going . Mr. Mccarthy things are still at the same place. Theres one roadblock, theres one big wall that stopped this entire time and its Speaker Pelosi. I would think after the politics that she played and the election being over that shed now put the American People first. She still seems to be in the same position. The good news is you have 23 democrats who put their name on a letter back in september who said, if you did not do your job, Speaker Pelosi, we would sign the discharge petition. So now if they keep their word, if their word is true and the letter is right, we can at least get p. P. P. Relief going. Eah. Reporter cases are spiking across the country and in congress. Theres still a number of your conference members that are not Wearing Masks around the capitol. Are you concerned about that . And are you concerned that this virus might spread to your colleagues, keeping you all from getting things like the ndaa, government funding and a covid relief bill done before the end of the year . Mr. Mccarthy well, i continue to get concerned about the rise in the spike. I tell you i just went through two days of a conference where every Single Person wore their mask except when they were speaking. I think the people have been very clear and understand the seriousness to this. I think that is why when we introduced our bill, h. R. 14, we added 47 billion more to help in any need we can to make sure the vaccine moves further. It is a miracle we would have a vaccine this year, just as everybody said it would be impossible. But operation warp speed worked. Not just one vaccine, but now were on the cusp of maybe having three vaccines. With a 95 effectiveness, no one dreamt or thought that would be possible. Now, how do we get the safe and secure vaccine out to the country . The president s done a lot of work ahead of time, especially with that, and thats why we provided more money, utilizing the military that does this so well. There could be 20 million americans that could have the vaccine next month. I think that is really the future of how we turn the corner on all of this. We need to continue to work towards that. It would be very helpful, though, if we could have Speaker Pelosi to stop the political games. I mean, how could she send people home . I mean, i dont know what to trust on her because she said back before summer we would not leave until we had a covid relief bill. She sent us home. You now have 23 democrats. Either theyll be like the speaker, give a word and not keep it or they keep the word what they signed their letter name to letter on. Reporter so youre advising your members to wear a mask . Mr. Mccarthy yes. Reporter you talked about the Record Number of g. O. P. Women who have been added. Of course, the democrats still have the majority and they say they want to overturn the hyde amendment. Our catholic viewers want to know, what can your party do to prevent that from happening . Mr. Mccarthy i think thats the law of the land. Despite where you stand on the issues, should you spend taxpayer money for this . I mean, thats been clear for a number of years. Thats something that even joe biden voted for in the past but now wants to change his mind to appease a different wing within his own party. I think now that we have a stronger number inside the house, it would be hard to shift. But i know what the democrats have done. Even defeating a democrat in their own party in a primary based upon this belief because they will not tolerate different views. You know, the one thing you look at the republican party, our greatest strength is our diversity. Of how many places we come. Thats why were successful winning two seats in miami. Winning in new york. Defeating a Committee Chair in minnesota. Think about california. Prior to the special election last year, the last time a republican switched a democrat seat in california was 22 years. Were on the cusp of doing it four times in this election. Thats the home state of the speaker. Its also my home state, too. Yes. Reporter so joe biden and other democrats have stated that some portion of student debt should be canceled. Do you think student debt or some portion thereof should be canceled . Mr. Mccarthy if you watch President Trump, he did do part of that already. In the process. I think what really needs to happen is people need to get in a room and work on a covid relief package. I think getting the economy back working again is the best way of moving forward. On how to deal with anyones debt. Reporter the ndaa sent to conference yesterday. When that comes back, the president has threatened to veto over the confederate provision in there. Would you support congressional override to get the ndaa passed . Mr. Mccarthy im not sure what the president said there. I think when the ndaa comes out it will pass and the president will sign it. Yes, sir. Reporter the biden team wants to be briefed on the vaccine distribution. Biden himself says that if they dont get coordinate with the top administration, people in the top when it comes time to distribute mr. Mccarthy why would you say that if he doesnt know about it . Reporter should there be coordination with the Trump Administration and the Biden Transition Team about istributing the vaccine . Mr. Mccarthy well, the first thing i think the biden team should do is take back the words that they said earlier, especially kamala harris, to scare the American Public about a vaccine thats 95 effective. I think Governor Cuomo should do the exact same thing. When i listen to my own overnor. I think they should allow this administration that did operation warp speed and stop playing politics with it. We have a safe and secure not one vaccine but on the cusp of having three in the short time period. Dr. Slaoui has done 14 vaccines before this. Hes put the American Public first. The president , you have one president at a time. We have the military putting through and planning this ahead of time. So i want to follow through and if we can get the people the vaccine next month, lets do it thats what will save lives. Playing politics with this is wrong. If joe biden wants to make a claim first, in your question was, he doesnt know about it but claims people will die. Well, how can he make the claim if he doesnt know anything bout it . I think we have our doctors, our scientists, our researchers. They are the experts. Lets let them work and push this through and lets stop playing politics with it. That would be the number one thing i would do. The one thing he should do is stop saying the things hes doing for political reasons. Thats whats hurting the American People. That is what will have people die when they have a vaccine thats 95 effective. To delay it at a time when its spiking, i think he knows better than that. Reporter whats your reaction to gavin newsom to being at this restaurant without a mask . Mr. Mccarthy i hope the democrats that signed this letter is not like governor ewsom. Say one thing and do another. If the 23 of them said action wouldnt take they would sign a discharge petition, i wish they would do it. Whats concerning to me who was around the table, too. From the medical association. And then to say at the very beginning that they were outside, werent even wearing a mask. I know what gavin newsom said if we are out to eat within the last month, wear a mask, take a bite and put the mask on. I think he lost a lot of credibility with californians. Reporter are you having a small thanksgiving or big thanksgiving . Mr. Mccarthy well, my wife and my daughter. I call that small. Y dogs, too. Theyll get all the extra food. I wish you all a very happy thanksgiving and i hope we do not leave until the we get this discharge petition and get it done and we could actually get it done today. Thank you very much. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] use your mobile devices and go to cspan. Org for the latest video, live and on demand, to follow the transition of power. President trump, president elect biden, news conferences and vent coverage at cspan. Org. Booktv on cspan2 has top nonfiction books and authors every weekend. Coming up this weekend, saturday at 1 00 p. M. Eastern, from the recent virtual brooklyn book festival, authors veronica chambers, amy, and sandra garcia. Then, the history of civil right new york. D at 7 25 p. M. Eastern, adam cher. Ottom, author of more from the book festival as authors discuss the past and future of technology. Effects of ential the coronavirus of society. And at 9 00 p. M. Eastern, political scientist and author debra stone talks about her book counting how we use numbers to decide what matters, shes interviewed by Data Scientist and author kathy oneill. Watch booktv on cspan2 this weekend. Joe biden is president elect. Stay with cspan for live coverage of the election process and transition of power. C span, your unfiltered view of politics. Dennis mcdonough served as chief of staff and Deputy National security advisor under president obama. Next, he outlines president elect joe bidens policy priorities which include coronavirus response, the economy, Climate Change and racial justice. He also talks about the current president ial transition period and associated National Security challenges. The center for strategic and International Studies posted hosted the event. Its 50 minutes