mr. mccarthy: good morning, all. our top priority as our government and our country is to fight this disease and prevent its spread throughout the united states. the president last night i think took decisive and the correct action that was needed. these measures are in addition to the work that the president took earlier. the president stopping the flight from china has actually saved lives. now in congress, we have taken some action as well. as many of you just last week we passed $8 billion supplemental plan to focus on three major things. the testing, the treatment, and telehealth. which will help us not only in rural areas but throughout the country as we try to prevent the spread of this disease. along with this public health challenge, we're also working on mitigating the economic downturns from this virus as well. the president last night said we are committed to helping those who will face economic hardship as a result of work disruptions and illness. the country is looking to the government to come together and meet these challenges. but the bill that we saw that just came forth last night at 11:00 p.m. comes up short. there's a couple major problems with it. here's one glaring problem. under pelosi's bill, the social security administration will be set up to administer the paid sick leave program. this will take more than six months so it won't work in time. it also will hamper the administration from putting out

social security for those who need it right now that are in harm's way. this will hurt the very population that we're supposed to be helping. it forces permanent paid sick leave for all businesses without exemptions and no sunsets. instead, we're committing to get this right so we are working with the white house, with secretary mnuchin, and with the speaker. we should not just take a rush just because there's a bill. we want to make sure it works in the process we're-- where we're going. there are a few ideas. employer retention credit. making public health emergencies eligible for major disaster rograms. finally, solving the problems when it comes to math. there's a certain piece of legislation we can move that will be a piece of it that will give us millions of more masks out there for the health providers that need it. one of the things i will say to all of america, we have overcome bigger challenges in this country. every time we have a disaster,

it shows the very best of this country working together and coming together and actually making us stronger in the end. i'll make this commitment to everyone. republicans will not play politics. we're not going to criticize and sit back. we are going to work to make this right. i think the best thing we can do is take a deep breath. let's work together to make sure whatever bill we can pass right here works to the needs, best of everyone. we want to work with the speaker. we want to show the leadership not only this country wants but deserves. this is a moment in time that i believe in history that we come together. look, i know we will get through his. i know at the end of the day we will find to do what is right, and i want to make that day starting right now. i think the actions the president took was correct, and i think when you talk to the governors out across this

nation, they are showing is working well with this administration, we need to do the same in the house. yes. reporter: it seems like the terms aren't deal breakers, they are things can be addressed. the question is, can they be addressed before congress goes away for a week and takes a recess? how important is it to get this bill passed before you go away for recess knowing if this virus spreads you might not come back? mr. mccarthy: it's more important we get it right. i'm not concerned we go on recess. i think we stay here. we get it right. this is a time and place that you do not want to rush something. i mean, it's not just my words. if you talk to democrats on the rules committee themselves, earl perlmutter, you know, this has jurisdictions of many committees. no one got to see. it. it's there at 11:00. ust as your question raises,

it's more important that we take a moment to step back, let's work together. there are bright minds. we should be listening to those in the industry. we've got some bright minds down at the administration. here in our committees as well. let them look at it. let us get together and put the very best ideas together. i will promise you that you'll ind a very bipartisan vote for that and not one that slows it up by any means. i think we can get this done in the next 48 hours. reporter: you think the house should stay here until you get it done? mr. mccarthy: i think we can get this done in 24, 48 hours. i think it's critical we do. reporter: what was the concern here besides-- there were concerns on your side of the aisle about the context-- looking at wall street. putting a bill on the floor that they probably could have passed with democrats votes but didn't ass and many republicans sending kind of a message of confidence, is that part of the calculus that decides the policy elements or is it looking what's going on wall street right now and concerned there is a bill

that doesn't get signed by the president? mr. mccarthy: this is so different of an economy than it was in tarp. tarp was an economic meltdown. we have one of the strongest economies we've ever had in the last 50 years. that's a positive. we have the lowest unemployment. so what you really should be looking at, how do we make sure these people stay employed? before you're just trying to get money in the people's hands to get a consumption going. this is a stronger position to be in. one, you want to treat this virus.

but more importantly, you want to keep the economics going strong on the same basis. that's why we are in a stronger position to get this right and not play political games. reporter: are the asks by republicans beyond what you just mentioned there, are we talking about are you going to ask for the payroll tax poll day that the president mentioned last night? are there other economic elements beyond the two things you mentioned? mr. mccarthy: i believe if there are big things that will take more time, let's do what we can do together right now. we can work on those bigger things and come back in the next couple weeks. but i do believe it's critical we get a small portion of this done right now. i think it helps give confidence. remember, we are elected policymakers and leaders. this is our moment in time to show that we will rise to the occasion just as every other american believes we should do. reporter: you're hearing from your members frustration there are no testing kits. what's going on? mr. mccarthy: there are testing kits out there. there have been people tested. congress doesn't get in front of the line. i was just talking to one american company out there that is just on the verge of being able to have the test ready in the next short time. they're making sure it's done correctly. you could have a test back in eight minutes. so i mean, this is the ingenuity of this country. it's not just government's going o be able to solve it. we have such bright minds in the private sector as well.

we want to harness that. we want to create the cinergy. that's-- synergy. ebola, which was much more deadly, we were able to contain that back into africa. we now have a vaccine for it and others. unfortunately, when you look to italy and to these other countries, they didn't have the leadership that took the action that this president took by stopping the planes from china coming here. yes. reporter: what have you suggested to your members and how has it changed the campaign strategy for large gatherings? [indiscernible] mr. mccarthy: this is not a time to be sitting thinking about campaign events. this is a time this crisis is about america and this is what we should focus on. put campaigns all aside. this is not-- there's a time and place for that later. let's solve this problem. you are elected to be a policymaker, and let's work hrough that.

i just got off the phone with our members on a conference call. we had dr. monaghan on it. we had rodney davis from the house administration. we had larry kudlow. we're answering numerous questions. but the one thing i wanted to take away from all our members, that we will work with the speaker, we'll work with the administration, and we will make sure that we get this bill right. reporter: there was a conference call? mr. mccarthy: yeah. reporter: why didn't you do a conference meeting? mr. mccarthy: because we had a number of things changed. this is not our normal time for a conference we had on another day. i thought the participation would be bigger. i also would have other people that i wanted to participate on because they were someplace else instead of traveling into the capitol. no. i thought the participation would be better. it's also from a standpoint that does also help with health. that you don't have as big of group together. for participation it allowed everybody to be there. yes. reporter: tax credits and other things you're proposing to be added to the bill, you mentioned very briefly and i want to get a little more detail on that.

also, there is a big expansion of medicaid in the bill. do republicans have a problem with that? mr. mccarthy: the one thing i would sit back-- you are talking about the f-map and the expansion there. there is no scoring. there's no committee looking at that. these are such big items. i just do not believe it would be smart on our part to rush that through, that you got it at 11:00 p.m. last night, you're voting on it at 11:00 a.m. this morning without any score, without any work-through. where are the sunsets? i'd rather have the minds and expertise that we have on both sides of the aisle here, especially with the number of committees that have worked on this, to see that and have input. reporter: one of the items we're hearing from our viewers, they go to the market, there's nothing there.

they're going to their prescription pharmacies and they're starting to run low on certain drugs. what can congress do about that? mr. mccarthy: well, there's another thing congress has already done. this is the one thing i want to make sure the american public knows. just in the last five years, we have increased funding, almost 40%, when it comes to the national institute of health and the centers for disease and control, c.d.c. and n.i.h. those are the individuals that are helping lead in this process. you had a 40% increase. just in 2019, under this administration and our majority, we created the infectious disease rapid response fund. so they could actually go after dealing with this at the very beginning. and then we have the national stockpile. so we have been preparing for a situation such as this. unfortunately, when this first came to the fruition that president xi did not allow us in there. if our scientists, doctors were able to be in china from the very beginning, we'd have more nowledge and we would probably have helped save the world, containment could have been within their country. right now it's a different situation. so we will do everything in our-- on our part working with the private sector making sure we have facilities we need. the other thing, too, from a responsibility from all americans, not to panic, but

don't horde it as well. let's make sure those who need it, just like when it comes to a mask situation, you watched a run on mask. here we have two different masks. one is an industrial and one is a surgical. the industrial one could then work for medical providers. but because of our own regulations they would be sued if they sold it to them, but those are millions of masks. we can simply change that provision and there's one of the-- and that's one of the provisions we are looking t. those are millions of more masks today that will go forward to be sold. reporter: to follow-up on masks. there are people that are sick, why- [inaudible] mr. mccarthy: it's a combination of both. if you are a medical provider on the front line that's dealing with somebody that's sick, right there in testing, you put a mask

on along with the person that's sick. that's why you want to make sure, too, you have both. reporter: you expect the disaster declaration today. indiscernible] r. mccarthy: i think the actions this administration has taken-- i know some people criticized this president early taking the action of china not coming forward. i think those are appropriate, smart, helping to keep this country safe. reporter: do you expect that today? mr. mccarthy: i'll leave it up to the administration. reporter: what's the likelihood that congress extend the week on recess? mr. mccarthy: we monitor this day by day. i think from one situation, that's exactly how we should approach it. we want to make sure the policymakers are here to take what action is needed. we need to lead in this situation. we need to work together. remember, we have overcome so much in this country. but more importantly, this country has led in overcoming any of the problems all around the world. we will do the same with this. this is not a time to panic by

any means. i'm looking what's happening in the private sector and with government. at the end of the day we will get a vaccine. we're testing right now for the best treatments and therapies. we're taking the actions and the precautions ahead of time to make sure this does not spread as rapidly as we watched in italy and others. and whatever we see in front of us, we will overcome and we will solve it. thank you very much. reporter: did you halt mebts members from the administration about saying, ok, this is what we need to pass this bill? obviously they had concerns. they said they didn't like it in the current form. what did the administration or have you spoken to the administration? mr. mccarthy: we have been talking to the administration throughout. with secretary mnuchin, larry kudlow. we had larry kudlow talk about on a different topic. we modified what the conference was today. but larry kudlow talked about the current measurements within the economy, how strong we are.

prior to this virus, our economy was even growing bigger and we want to make sure we have that. remember this is different than the economic meltdown. we're walking into a virus that we're economically strong. how do we take the treatment, we prevent it and keep the economy going and that's our mission and that's what we'll achieve. thank you very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. isit ncicap.org] >> c-span created by cable in 1979 and brought to you by your television provider. >> next, testimony earlier from today on the