Steve joining us on newsmakers is republican congressman greg walden. Here in the studio is bob q sack, editor in chief of the hill newspaper. I want to begin with fridays boat and the procedure move from congressman massey. A number of colleagues are upset they had to make a trip back to washington to force the vote. What were you hearing . Rep. Walden it was unfortunate, unfair and unnecessary. We all get a voting card. We have a right to privileges on the house floor. It was just not necessary at all. We have the votes. We have a quorum in the house, as was easily identified and removed on. In the end it did not have a delay in effect but it did discomfort some members. We are 435 we are down a couple of members. There are a lot of members that illnesses and are dealing with things that make them more vulnerable to the virus. I dont know. It was a waste. It was unfortunate. Steve did the move put members at a health risk . Rep. Walden i think it did. Otherwise members would have stayed more isolated. They would not have driven here from michigan or ohio. Gotten on a plane like i did from the west coast or fly down from new york or somewhere. Im sure they would have rather stayed where they were. Frankly that was the medical guidance we were given. Dont move around a lot. Stay isolated. Stay home. We were not able to maintain those protocols because of this. Mr. Massey believes strongly what he believes and is voters will have a say in how they interpret that. I know the president interpreted it. The big news is we passed the bill unanimously in the senate, overwhelmingly in the house. Im not sure there were many objectors. It moves forward to the president. He will put it into law. We have people falling through the cracks. You see with the economy is doing. The deep dive over the cliff. This will build a bridge across the ravine, get together side and have a safety net for people who are falling. Steve let me turn to bob. Bob you have been a health care leader, the Top Republican member on the energy and Commerce Committee. Who are you talking to and win we going to get on top of this . When will we see improvement . Rep. Walden thats a good question. I think we will see improvements in a couple of weeks. We are probably seeing it now except we dont have enough testing going on. We all know that has been a shortfall in this. A lesson learned. Something i hope we dont repeat in the fall. That is a piece of it. As we continued to get it processed, hopefully with the isolation, this extraordinary measure the American People are undertaking we will see a slowing of the spreading of this virus. That will help. There will be hotspots. I believe fully in the people i talked to, the former fda commissioner or i listened to dr. Fauci a lot. When they speak, i listened. Others onf the fda, the president s team have made it clear we have to take these measures to begin to stop or slow the spread of this virus. Hopefully nature is a friend. Typically on these coronaviruss, when you get to your harder periods like summer in the northern hemisphere, if it behaves like others, a should begin to die off. Having said that, and we look at some data out of the Southern Hemisphere as they go into their winter, this thing, we should anticipate will reemerge in the fall like a traditional flu does. We need to be ready for it. I have delegated part of my staff on the energy and Commerce Committee to focus on what lessons we are learning along the way, how to make sure we are not repeating those when fall comes, what do we need to do to be ready if we have a resurgence in the fall. Bob the president was to reopen the economy in some fashion by easter sunday, a couple of weeks away. Is that wise . Some say that is dangerous. Rep. Walden he is an optimist and i appreciate that, but hes listening to his medical staff and his scientists around him that are at the lectern with him almost every day. There may places where we might be ready to do that. There is the medicine and the protocols that will dictate that. I think the president will follow his advisors on that. We would all like to be able to get out of the house. Im a northwestern or. We do not want to be boxed in our houses. We want to be outside regardless of the weather, but this virus is a mean enemy. Everybody recognizes that. We will follow the science, follow the virus. Hopefully what we are doing now will allow some areas to come out sooner than others, but that is yet to be determined. Areas andthe urban the role mass transit maybe creating, gathered together on the same subway or train or whatever, commuting back and forth, you will see out of manhattan it spreading into surrounding neighborhoods where people commute to the city. You will probably see that in other cities as well. The virus lives quite a long time on certain surfaces. People are crowded together in mass transit and going home. My fear is as we ramp up the testing you will see a lot more cases. Unlike china where they dont count the a symptom medicaid is, we do here asymptomatic cases, we do here. We have got to do much more on testing. We are ramping up, surging up in that capacity. As we work towards some sort of medicine to address the virus and eventually a vaccine. Aree the president said we trying to minimize the threat from the virus. At times calling it a democratic hoax, saying it will wash away. Has there been mixed messages from President Trump . Rep. Walden i have been in briefings since this was first announced and i heard from pretty distinguished medical providers on tv a lot that they thought this could be contained in china and we did not have much to worry about. I was in briefings with highlevel folks who made that point as well. Then he got away and everything changed. I think that is what you have to do in a situation like this. What we thought at one point ended up not being the case because it spread faster than people realized. We changed our protocols. Originally the cdc said unless you have been traveling in and out of wuhan or somewhere connected there, you were not even at a high risk. They had the until case in california that was community transferred, that immediately changed the cdc protocol. Now we know it is here, in virtually every country on the planet, and it spreads more rapidly than we originally thought. I think it lives longer on surfaces than scientists originally thought. We need to adjust and focus on the future. How do we make sure in the fall the kids have a place to learn . How do we make sure our Health Centers are fully funded . One of my criticisms of this bill is the community Health Centers only funded through november. Why have we not given them sustainable funding for the next four or five years like senator murray and alexander and i advocated for . White dont we pass surprise happensbilling that and stop the gelding that happens . Gouging that happens . Bob there is talk and there will be more. Do you think that could be surprise medical building could debbie and bill four could that be done in bill four or five . Rep. Walden we passed that bill in the committee unanimously. Democrats were trying to impeach the president , we were working together to protect consumers from getting ripped off from the Emergency Rooms one out of five visits. Worked close and i together. The education and labor committee, mr. Scott and the Ranking Member, they were sidebyside on this. Ways and Means Committee passed a bill. The dials are somewhat similar. Why cant we get this done . Protect consumers, make sure doctors get paid what they deserve, and your insurance works as advertised. We need to get it done and done now. Bob as far as the economic impact, the chairman of the Federal Reserve said we are in a recession now. How fast do you think the economy can rebound . Can it rebound this year . Rep. Walden one would hope so. This is a hit like we have not endured in my lifetime. I have lived through 9 11. I was here on the house triangle in front of the capital when the plane hit the pentagon. I have lived for the worst in afghanistan and iraq, hurricanes, the financial meltdown but nothing like this. Instead of being told go spend and rally, go to the theaters and ballparks, go shop, we are told to shelterinplace, dont go out, only for necessities. Otherwise stop what you do. We have never from the government told our economy to just halt. Look at the streets of new york city or any town in my district. There is nobody on the sidewalks. We are a 70 consumer driven economy. Consumers cannot get out and spend. There is cross pressure against science and medicine. How long do we need to stay cooped up to get the upper hand on the virus and stop the spread . How soon can we be let go . We probably do have to look regionally at this. I commend the administration for putting that concept out there. My district stretches from the atlantic to ohio. You can have a vast difference of cases and demands on hospitals. I have some counties that only have one case, but their hospital is about to go broke because the state said you cant do any elective procedures in your hospital. They are calling me saying we only have one case in the hospital and we are going broke because we cant do elective procedures. We are making extreme measures now, but i think we need to be very thoughtful Going Forward about where can you let up a little bit and when. When is the question mark here because science has to dictate that. Steve i want to followup with regard to the economy, the debt and deficit. For for the Coronavirus Crisis we were facing a 1 trillion spending deficit this year. An overall debt in excess of 23 trillion. Add onto that. Were looking at 25 trillion by the end of this year. How do we turn that around . Rep. Walden it is the challenge of the next congress. There are some out there advocating health bonds like we did war bonds to finance some of this. We have to find a way through but we cant do it with a broken economy that does not come out of a ditch. Is makecue package sure we dont go off the ravine and the cliff. We get in and out of the ditch. There will be more stimulus Going Forward, im sure. At some point will we get our economic legs back under us then we have got to address this deficit crisis. It is upon us. It is unfair to the next generation. The only thing more unfair is to completely destroy americas economy and Health Care System and leave the place in real shambles. We have to do what we are doing now. We may have to do more in the short term. In the longterm, all of us will have to roll up our sleeves and sit down and figure out how to get this deficit under control. Steve how do you do that . Cut spending and raise taxes . Rep. Walden it may be a combination of both. Has been every time we have entered into one of those agreements, the spending never gets cut and taxes got raised. How do you address that for the longterm . That will take systemic reforms, programs no one has been willing to touch. Im not talking about people in their elder years. Im talking about what can you do not to the person just entering the workforce and give them a system that will be sustainable financially Going Forward as we keep the promise to those who are on these other programs. I think there is room to get savings. I think there is room for efficiencies in government. I look at reforms that brilliant young people in Silicon Valley have developed to upend entire industries and bring incredible synergy. You think about the online economy, the gig economy and the reforms. I would love to tap in to their brilliant minds. How can we simplify government and cut the overhead and make it more userfriendly . I believe what we did in this bill to allow telehealth for seniors on medicare means they will not see their doctors, getting a quicker return and we are paying for three medicare. I think we will save money because you are more apt to get the answer you need over a video screen quicker than if you wait to get an appointment with your doctor and expose yourself to everybody else in the waiting room. There are some things we can do here to move america forward. Bob i was texting with another member this week who said it was outrageous that members had to come back and vote this week. Outside of the Thomas Massie thing, isnt it time for congress to move to some type of remote voting process . Most reporters can work from home, but a lot of them are up there and its dangerous. Do you think congressman needs to implement rep. Walden there is a big debate about what we should or should not do. Out of this you will see a very serious look. I was here at 911. We had a serious discussion. What if something happens to the capital and wipes out most of the house . How would we replace people and keep continuity of government . There are some strong constitutional issues about service and replacement in the house. It has to be by election. On the voting side we are nearing the point where we can probably find some Common Ground in rare circumstances where you have a threat where you could vote remotely. Im sure we could develop the technology to do it. I dont want to get to the point where lazy members decide they never have to come to washington to participate. They can sit on their lounge chairs and push a button and vote and go about their daily fun. That will not work either. In a rare circumstance i think for the health and safety is on the line and people in their communities could be affected negatively by us going back and forth and getting something and spreading it in a pandemic situation, there ought to be a better way here. We could not do at this time. You have to change the rules to allow change. You have to be here to vote to change the rules. We have a quorum back. Others were here in d. C. Who were willing to come in if they had to to meet a quorum requirement. Because of their own Health Situations wherever they lived around here when in session or state in their offices. Steve you know bob you know President Trump very well. The president has rated himself a 10 out of 10 for handling this virus. There are reports that were highlighting this coming issue. While few saw or thought it would get this bad, it has gotten very bad. How do you think the president is doing . What would you advise him to do in the weeks and months ahead . Rep. Walden i think the president has done everything he can to move every obstacle out of the way to get the medical equipment, to get the approvals necessary for new treatments. I am glad he has done what he has done. The Vice President as well. They have a great team around them. Hes an executive. He has run big businesses. B understands what you have to do to keep cash flow going, keep your people employed and take care of them. He is the engine driving this, but he has an Extraordinary Team and his cabinet working with him every day. I look at he was out there at the podium with him. Dr. Fauci. Onel ambassador birx. The head of the fda. It is a powerful team. I am darn glad they are in the lead. Have there been problems . Of course. Former hhs secretary Donna Shalala said i will not criticize. I ran hhs rate years for eight years. They are moving parts and think you dont quite get right. We will learn and move forward. I think that is true here. Talking about a person, i have never seen a president more accessible to the press. I daily press weaving led by the president , the Vice President and his team. Thats an unprecedented in and of itself in terms of access. He has put himself out there. He has been a strong leader on this. As long as he keeps listening to his team and working with the congress he has, we will get bipartisan results. When i called different members of the administration and said i have got a constituent at a brewery or a distillery that was to make hand sanitizer, they are like, got it. Things got changed. When we had a problem getting protective equipment to oregon, we said what is going on . Can you give us a daily report . Pretty soon we got a daily report. Everyone is trying to get the same goal here and that is what we need to focus on. How do we win the battle for the people by putting the virus back in the box. Steve when he dismisses Governor Cuomo sankey does not need the ventilators, and refers to the governor of michigan as that woman governor rep. Walden i dont know why we are having that discussion. Things have been hurled at the president that are not very becoming. My governor said the worst thing about the pandemic is it keeps you up at night, the president of the united states. That doesnt help anything. That is where most of us in congress are focused. We are not getting wrapped around what people say to each other through the media or whatever. I put my time in on problem solving. There are lots of republicans and democrats that proved that is what we do best with the vote on this big bill and that is where we are focused Going Forward. Bob now that you have passed this to trillion dollar bill, the budget the annual budget of the federal government. Rep. Walden bigger than that. Bob what are going to be the implementation challenges . There are many Business Owners watching this program and they want to get access to the massive amounts of loans. Where do you see the implementation challenges Going Forward . What can the administration do to get the money out as quickly as possible . Rep. Walden im thankful secretary mnuchin was in the lead on this. What they looked at is what is the fastest way to get working capital into the hands of american entrepreneurs. How do we help people falling into unemployment . How do we get more cash into the hands of americans who may be getting furloughed . How do we keep the Employment Base together . The workers and Small Business. They decided the fastest way was through the 7a sba program. That is administered at your local financial institution. You go in and sit across the desk to talk to the person that manages your line of credit and say here is my payroll, my costs. I want to b