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Date: 4/11/2023
SPRINGFIELD — After a run of legislative successes during the Biden administration, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal believes the House of Representatives is heading to an “impasse” when it comes to future pending bills such as the Inflation Reduction Act, which he called “the most important and consequential piece of legislation that addresses climate change.”
The CARES Act, which Neal asserted saved the American economy, the infrastructure bill, and the renegotiation of trade agreements are all part of four years of accomplishment.
He added that as recently as last week, Republican members of the House were actively trying to undo some of the bills passed “while simultaneously many of their stalwart supporters are applying for the tax credits.”
“There’s more than a little bit of irony there,” he added.
Neal made his remarks during a new episode of “Government Matters” on Focus Springfield.
He said the most pressing issue right now is increasing the debt ceiling. Many Republicans in the House voted for a number of bills to help the country and the economy to emerge from the impact made by the coronavirus pandemic and “now the bill is due,” he explained.
“The pandemic relief that took place, it had to be done and I don’t know — understand — how they can now say [that] — and by the way, this only happens when there is a Democratic president that they preach this fiscal probity. So, the legislation as it relates to the debt ceiling is a reminder we still live in a $25 trillion economy here in the United States. We can manage this debt. I think the president’s position is correct and that is to raise the debt ceiling and then we can negotiate.”
Neal emphasized, “But look, I’m not voting to cut Social Security. I’m not voting to cut Medicare and I’m not voting to cut Medicaid. After that, they [the Republicans] need to tell us where they are going to take us with their new majority of the House, which by the way is very fractious.”
Speaking of the divide within the Republican side of the House, Neal noted, “There’s a fringe element there, of that there is no doubt.” This “fringe element” elevated Rep. Kevin McCarthy to the position of speaker of the House. Neal added he believes that McCarthy was “looking for any deal” to win the position and made those arrangements with the more radical House members of the Republican side.
One the agreements that McCarthy accepted was that all it takes is one member of his party in the House to question whether or not he should remain as speaker. “That means his standing could be eliminated very fast,” Neal added.
Speaking of inflation, Neal rejected the idea that President Joe Biden’s policies and the recovery legislation passed by Congress is responsible for the increase in prices. “Is Joe Biden responsible for 10% inflation in the UK?” Neal asked rhetorically. “Is he responsible for inflation across eastern Europe?”
Neal noted that according to Jerome H. Powell, a Republican, who is the chair of the Federal Reserve, it is the supply chain issue that has fueled inflation, along with the oil crisis in Europe caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a shift in spending priorities by Americans and the tight labor market. Powell made his remarks during a press conference late last month.
“I can make this argument since I wrote most of the CARES Act, and I can tell you we wanted to get money into the hands of people who needed it. This was about food on the table. This was about the utilities being paid monthly. The idea of making sure that those children had the heat on in the house. So, I look back on that and it should be a proud moment for Americans,” he said.
Neal added the country lost, in the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, 22 million jobs. He said that all of those jobs have been returned and now the country has 11 million open jobs.
Neal believes that about 40% of the Republican Party nationwide has taken the position of not supporting Ukraine in its war against the Russian invaders, and about half of the Republican caucus in the House have expressed support for more support to Ukraine. He praised Biden for rallying the world to support Ukraine, and Neal noted that Finland and Sweden are applying for acceptance into NATO and that Switzerland is considering it because of the aggressive nature of Russia’s actions.
Speaking about how the House is divided along political lines, he said there are still members of Congress who want to sit down, speak about legislation and reach out across the aisles. “I think the merits of the arguments still count. I think the consequence of the legislation still counts. You change lives through legislation,” he said.
Neal offered an example. “The Affordable Care Act, 13 years on, 40 more million Americans have health insurance because of the Affordable Care Act. I played a major role helping to get that over the goal line. We knew what we could pass and it’s worked really well. We’re going to keep upgrading it. It’s become much more popular with the American people and all of that talk at the time of repeal and replace Republicans have never agreed amongst themselves about health insurance, never mind agreeing with us on it.”