ICYMI: McHenry Joins After the Bell to Discuss Path Forward on COVID-19 Economic Relief
Washington,
June 18, 2020 -
Republican leader of the House Financial Services Committee, Patrick McHenry (NC-10), joined After the Bell on Fox Business to discuss next steps in the effort to combat the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus public health crisis. The Ranking Member also stressed the importance of a plan to right-size relief policies to ensure long-term financial stability.
Watch the full interview here or by clicking on the image above.
On the timing of future COVID-19 relief legislation:
“Well look, Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats rushed a partisan approach with their bill that they passed a couple weeks ago. Three trillion dollars of new spending, they’re pouring money into failed social programs without any innovation or meeting the needs of where the American people are right now, much less the states. So, my view is that we have to measure twice and cut once. This is the last big bill that will come before the presidential election, so let’s get it right. Let’s make sure we understand the needs of education, of communities and businesses, so they can actually get back to work in a safe and effective manner. What I’d like to see is pro-growth tax policy and regulatory policy that lifted the economy in the first two years of Trump’s presidency and can lift the economy once again. Those are the fundamentals that I think need to be a part of this bill.”
On extending enhanced unemployment insurance (UI) benefits:
“Well I think we need to have measures that fit with the locality. I represent a lower cost area to live and so a wage in my district may be wonderfully middle class and in New York city very, very different. So, I think we need to have benefits that fit localities and the states, and the states’ needs. So, I would commend to you the ideas put out by Glenn Hubbard and Tim Geithner today, where you have a measure of support and you support a percentage of a person’s income and have it count. Right now, in my district you can make $48,000 a year, which is above the median income in my district, and do that on unemployment. So, I think there is a limitation on our economy placed by having unemployment benefits that quite frankly are too generous for the expectation that people go back to work.”
On the need for a plan to wind down Federal Reserve emergency programs:
“Well I hope they are, and I think that’s what I’ll be pushing for. Look, the Federal Reserve came in as basically the fireman, an insurance policy or a fire department showing up to put the flames out. They’ve done that and they have done that effectively in a broad-based way. Its lending; it’s not government spending and they’ve kept to those confines. I think it’s very important that when we get through this economic crisis, this health crisis that has now become an economic crisis, that we put these tools back away and only hold them for the most egregious of circumstances in order to save the economy and save the American people from enormous hardship, not for everyday uses and not for ideological games that a bunch of Members of Congress really are interested in playing. Let’s make sure that the Fed sticks to its knitting, gets it right, and then pulls back so that the American people can live free, and be happy, and be successful and economically independent.”
Watch Republican Leader McHenry’s full interview on After the Bell.
Visit Financial Services Committee Republicans’ website for additional resources and updates on efforts to mitigate the economic impact of coronavirus on consumers.
