WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) joined Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business to discuss the GOP COVID-19 relief package that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) released this week. Senator Coons highlighted his priorities for negotiations on the next relief package – including support for state and local governments and federal unemployment assistance – and his new bipartisan legislation to bring manufacturing for critical supplies to the United States.

“We’ve had two months to negotiate. I’m really disappointed frankly that we are just now seeing Majority Leader McConnell’s proposal, and it’s a proposal that clearly doesn’t have the support of all of the Republican caucus. Talking to Republican colleagues, about half of that caucus is not going to support that bill. So these negotiations need to get going and get going quickly in a way that will help us again deliver bipartisan support to the American people,” said Senator Coons, who shared his concerns about the HEALS Act, introduced by Leader McConnell. 

Highlighting the priorities he’s heard from constituents, Senator Coons said, “I’m hearing lots of concerns in Delaware from small businesses about another round of PPP support that will help them either get open again or stay open; from parents and teachers about safe reopening of schools; and from citizens who are concerned about whether or not the unemployment benefits that they’ve benefitted from over the last four months now will still be there. We are about to hit a significant cliff where an eviction moratorium for renters – which is about a third of all Delawareans – and the unemployment from the CARES Act from four months ago will both run out."

On a new bipartisan manufacturing initiative, Senator Coons said, “Today, I’m introducing a bipartisan bill with Senator Rubio, Senator Cornyn, Senator Hassan. It’s a manufacturing resiliency task force. One of the things we have seen in this pandemic is that we are vitally reliant on China for critical supplies – whether it’s medical devices like ventilators or it’s pharmaceuticals. This is a look at how we could restore to the United States manufacturing that has gone offshore in the last 20 years and that we should try and bring back to the United States, so that we're not as vulnerable to sudden shocks globally whether it’s a pandemic or something else. I think this is an important next step in making sure that manufacturing in the United States is resilient, and can get built back stronger after this recession.

Full audio and video available here. A transcript is provided below.

Q: Joining me right now is Delaware Senator Chris Coons. Senator, it’s great to see you this morning. Thanks for joining.

Sen. Coons: It’s great to see you, Maria. Thanks for having me on.

Q: So tell me what the priority is from your standpoint. What needs to be in this stimulus package?

Sen. Coons: Well, Maria, what’s striking is that the House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act two months ago. The biggest pieces of that bill that are utterly lacking in the HEALS Act, which was just introduced by Majority Leader McConnell here in the Senate, is aid to state and local governments. As you may know, I spent 10 years in county government in Delaware. All over our country, we have got state and local governments that have record revenue shortfalls. A million and a half public employees have already been laid off. These aren’t faceless folks in grey buildings. They’re teachers, they’re paramedics, they’re nurses. They’re the folks who administer programs like unemployment or small business assistance at the local level. And so, frankly, I think we have to provide another round of relief to state and local governments. 

Q: Well, how are you going to ensure that those state and local governments use the money wisely. We know that the state unemployment coffers are under serious strain. We had Mayor de Blasio on this show about a month ago. He says he needs seven and a half billion dollars right now. What is he going to use the money for? It’s obviously not going to help the police bring law and order in any of these cities.

Sen. Coons: Well, Maria, frankly having adequate funding for state and local police is an important part of continuing to have prosperous and stable and safe and secure local communities, but frankly so is having the resources for reopening our schools safely. One of the key things that I think was missing from the HEALS Act was sufficient funds for schools to reopen; both to have enough for testing and for PPE. I’m hearing lots of concerns in Delaware from small businesses about another round of PPP support that will help them either get open again or stay open; from parents and teachers about safe reopening of schools; and from citizens who are concerned about whether or not the unemployment benefits that they’ve benefitted from over the last four months now will still be there. We are about to hit a significant cliff where an eviction moratorium for renters ­– which is about a third of all Delawareans – and the unemployment benefit from the CARES Act from four months ago will both run out. We’ve had two months to negotiate. I’m really disappointed frankly that we are just now seeing Majority Leader McConnell’s proposal, and it’s a proposal that clearly doesn’t have the support of all of the Republican caucus. Talking to Republican colleagues, about half of that caucus is not going to support that bill. So these negotiations need to get going and get going quickly in a way that will help us again deliver bipartisan support to the American people.

Q: Well, you’re right. People are facing some serious strain out there. Let’s go through some of the things you said. First off, on schools, the president had earmarked $105 billion. Is that not the right number? And secondly, on the CARES Act that was passed in the House a couple of months ago, it is totaling three and a half trillion dollars that Nancy Pelosi would like to move forward. It includes the $600 unemployment benefits until January. We are talking about debt in this country of $21 trillion. We are soon going to be having as much debt as the entire size of the economy at $22 trillion. So was that a realistic plan? I know you say well we passed it months ago. I'm disappointed hearing what the GOP is coming up with now, but was the three and a half trillion dollars truly realistic given its price tag?

Sen. Coons: Well, Maria, let’s be clear. Four months ago, the Senate passed the CARES Act unanimously. That was $2.3 trillion. Two months ago, the House did pass what’s called the HEROES Act, and it’s got a price tag a little over $3 trillion. What’s been introduced here in the Senate just yesterday is at about a trillion [dollars]. That is a big difference: one to three trillion [dollars]. Of course, we have to be concerned about the long-term impact of our national debt. We are pushing out more spending to sustain our economy, to respond to this pandemic than has been done federally; since the second World War. But what I hear from small business owners, from parents, from public employees, from folks that lost their jobs is that if it were not for this federal support, we would be in the second Great Depression. So, there are 30 million Americans, roughly, who are relying on this $600 a week additional federal unemployment. The proposal that we’ve just seen from the Republican majority here in the Senate would make every person take a 30% pay cut who is currently relying on unemployment. One of the main challenges we face is antiquated IT systems at the state and federal level. Changing that so that we've got a more resilient, more adjustable system isn't going to be possible on the fly in a couple of weeks. So, we've got to negotiate something that is responsible in this environment, and in my view that means extending unemployment for an awful lot of folks who otherwise won't be able to keep a roof over the heads of their families. There’s one other thing I want to a talk about, Maria, if I could for a moment. Today, I’m introducing a bipartisan bill with Senator Rubio, Senator Cornyn, Senator Hassan. It’s a manufacturing resiliency task force. One of the things we have seen in this pandemic is that we are vitally reliant on China for critical supplies – whether it’s medical devices like ventilators or it’s pharmaceuticals. This is a look at how we could restore to the United States manufacturing that has gone offshore in the last 20 years and that we should try and bring back to the United States, so that we're not as vulnerable to sudden shocks globally whether it’s a pandemic or something else. I think this is an important next step in making sure that manufacturing in the United States is resilient, and can get built back stronger after this recession. 

Q: It is, and you are right. Thank you for introducing this legislation because I think many Americans were, just you know, shocked to learn that 70% of our active ingredients in our prescription drugs are made in China. And then in the middle of the pandemic, China tried to threaten us, with The Global Times, state-run media, saying well maybe we won't export these prescription drugs right now since Trump is pushing Xi Jinping on tariffs. This is very important. Let me ask you this, Senator. How long do you expect it is going to take for an average company to say okay, I am taking my supply chain out of China and I’m going to put it in the U.S. or I am going to put it in India, et cetera. Is this an eight-year time frame, a five-year time frame? I know this doesn't happen overnight. It’s great to get this started, but this is a long-term decision. 

Sen. Coons: It is. Maria, I worked for a global manufacturing company for eight years before I went into local government, and I will tell you, reallocating manufacturing resources and facilities around the world is a challenging thing to do. It depends on what industrial sector you are in, and whether you are leasing contract manufacturing space or whether you directly own and have built and control it. China has been the most appealing, fastest growing market for decades, and many American companies have been heavily invested there, but this is not a new development. Over the last five years, Xi Jinping has taken the Chinese government, and the Chinese Communist Party in a sharply different direction, so many American companies have already been looking at the question of whether they couldn't diversity where they are doing manufacturing. What I am hoping we’ll do is to provide incentives for them to bring that manufacturing back to the United States. The company I worked for had much of its manufacturing in Germany and the United States because it was advanced manufacturing, so it required high-skill, highly integrated workforces. I think we can compete and win in manufacturing. It just requires sustained bipartisan focus on this. 

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