{"id":98246,"date":"2020-03-27T22:15:36","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T05:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=98246"},"modified":"2020-03-27T22:15:36","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T05:15:36","slug":"president-trump-at-signing-of-h-r-748-the-cares-stimulus-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=98246","title":{"rendered":"President Trump at Signing of H.R.748, The CARES Stimulus Act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you all very much.  This is a very important day.  I\u2019ll sign the single-biggest economic relief package in American history and, I must say, or any other package, by the way.  It\u2019s twice as large as any relief ever signed.  It\u2019s $2.2 billion, but it actually goes up to 6.2 \u2014 potentially \u2014 billion dollars \u2014 trillion dollars.  So you\u2019re talking about 6.2 trillion-dollar bill.  Nothing like that.  And this will deliver urgently needed relief to our nation\u2019s families, workers, and businesses.  And that\u2019s what this is all about.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Iou7SsogGHc\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And it got a 96 to nothing.  And, I don\u2019t know, what was the number in Congress?<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  A voice vote.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  A voice?  It was fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>PARTICIPANT:  I think it was just as close.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s pretty amazing.  That\u2019s about the same thing.  Right, Kevin?<\/p>\n<p>LEADER MCCARTHY:  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So, that\u2019s fantastic.  But I want to thank Republicans and Democrats for coming together, setting aside their differences, and putting America first.<\/p>\n<p>This legislation provides for direct payments to individuals and unprecedented support to small businesses.  We\u2019re going to keep our small businesses strong and our big businesses strong.  And that\u2019s keeping our country strong and our jobs strong.<\/p>\n<p>This historic bill includes the following:<\/p>\n<p>$300 billion in direct cash payments will be available to every American citizen earning less than $99,000 per year; $3,400 for a typical family of four.  So a family of four: $3,400.<br \/>\nAnd then $350 billion in job retention loans for small businesses, with loan forgiveness available for businesses that continue paying their workers.  The workers get paid.<br \/>\nApproximately $250 billion in expanded unemployment benefits.  The average worker who has lost his or her job will receive 100 percent of their salary for up to four full months.<br \/>\nSo, things like this have never happened in our country.<\/p>\n<p>$500 billion in support for hard-hit industries, with a ban on corporate stock buybacks \u2014 we don\u2019t let them buy back the stock; we don\u2019t let that happen \u2014 and tough limits on executive compensation.<br \/>\nOver $100 billion to support our heroic doctors, nurses, and hospitals.  And you see what\u2019s happening.  And I want to thank, while we\u2019re here, also the incredible job that\u2019s done by the Army Corps of Engineers and by FEMA.  It\u2019s been incredible.  They did four hospitals in two days or three days, in New York.  And they\u2019re, like, incredible structures.  What a job they\u2019ve been doing.  And they\u2019re doing them all over the country.<br \/>\n$45 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund, supporting our state, local, and tribal leaders.<br \/>\n$27 billion for the development of vaccines, therapies, and other public health response efforts, including $16 billion to build up the Strategic National Stockpile with critical stockpiles.  And I\u2019m going to \u2014 we have tremendous supplies coming into the stockpile, and you\u2019ll be seeing that and hearing about it in a little bit because we\u2019re doing a news conference at 5:30 on what\u2019s happening.<br \/>\nWe\u2019ve had tremendous results on the respirators.  We\u2019ve had great results on just about everything we\u2019re talking about.  Boeing just announced that they\u2019re going to be making the plastic field shields \u2014 the actual shields, which are hard to come by, and they\u2019re going to be making them by the thousands a week.<\/p>\n<p>And the ventilators, which is probably the most difficult because it\u2019s like \u2014 it\u2019s like building a car \u2014 we will be announcing thousands of \u2014 are going to be built and we have them under contract and we have fast deliveries.  As you know, we delivered thousands to New York.  And unfortunately \u2014 they were delivered to a warehouse, which was good \u2014 unfortunately, they didn\u2019t take them, but now they\u2019re taking them.  New York is now taking them and redistributing them around the areas that they need.<\/p>\n<p>So you have also $3.5 billion to states to expand childcare benefits for healthcare workers, first responders, and others on the frontlines of this crisis, and $1 billion for securing supplies under the Defense Protection Act.  And, as you know, I\u2019ve enacted the act.  We\u2019ve used it three or four times.  I pulled it back three times because the companies came through, in the end.  They didn\u2019t need the act.  It\u2019s been great leverage.<\/p>\n<p>I have instituted it against General Electric.  We thought we had a deal for 40,000 ventilators and, all of the sudden, the 40,000 came down to 6,000.  And then they talked about a higher price than we were discussing, so I didn\u2019t like it.  So we did \u2014 we did activate it, with respect to General Motors.  And hopefully, maybe we won\u2019t even need the full activation.  We\u2019ll find out.  But we need the ventilators.<\/p>\n<p>I said hello today \u2014 I called him \u2014 a wonderful guy, Boris Johnson.  As you know, he tested positive.  And before he even said hello, he said, \u201cWe need ventilators.\u201d  I said, \u201cWow.  That\u2019s a big statement.\u201d  And hopefully, he\u2019s going to be in good shape.<\/p>\n<p>I just spoke to Angela Merkel, and she\u2019s quarantined also.  She is right now, for a period of two weeks, being forced to stay in her house.  So this is just an incredible situation.<\/p>\n<p>Last night, I spoke to President Xi.  We talked about the experience that they had in China and all of the things that have taken place.  And we learned a lot.  They\u2019ve had a very tough experience, and they\u2019re doing well and he\u2019s doing well.  President Xi is doing very well.  But we learned a lot and we have great communication together.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to be sent great data from China \u2014 things that happened that they see that \u2014 you know, they\u2019ve had a \u2014 they\u2019ve had an early experience, and we\u2019re getting all of that information.  Much of it has already been sent.  It was sent yesterday and sent to our scientists to study.  So we\u2019ll have more on that also.  We\u2019ll be discussing that at 5:30.<\/p>\n<p>I just want to thank the people behind me.  They\u2019ve been incredible friends.  They\u2019ve been warriors.  They \u2014 there\u2019s nobody tougher or smarter than the people standing alongside of me.  And I think I want to start off by asking Mitch and then Kevin to speak, and then we\u2019re going to go through a few of the folks in the room if they\u2019d like to say something.<\/p>\n<p>But, Mitch, I\u2019d like \u2014 I\u2019d love to say a few words because you \u2014 this man worked 24 hours a day for a long time.  This is the result.  It\u2019s the biggest ever \u2014 ever approved in Congress: 6.2 bill- \u2014 $6.2 trillion.  So, you know, we used to get used to the billion.  It used to be million, then it was billion, now it\u2019s trillion.  And it\u2019s going to go a long way.  It\u2019s going to make a lot of people very happy.<\/p>\n<p>Mitch McConnell, please.<\/p>\n<p>LEADER MCCONNELL:  Thank you, Mr. President.  Let me just say this is a proud moment for our country, for the President.  The Republicans and the Democrats all pulled together and passed the biggest bill in history in record time.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to thank Kevin McCarthy and our leaders on the Republican side in the House who helped speed this through to passage.  The American people needed this rescue package, they needed it quickly, and we delivered.  It\u2019s a proud moment for all of us.  Mr. President, thanks for the opportunity to be here.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  I\u2019d love to shake your hand, but Anthony would get angry at me if I did that.  (Laughter.)  So I better not do it.  I can\u2019t \u2014 it\u2019s so natural.  I just want to go back and shake his hand.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve done such an incredible job.  Kevin, please.<\/p>\n<p>LEADER MCCARTHY:  Yeah, I do want to start.  I want to thank all \u2014 the real \u2014 the real answer to America is: We\u2019re listening to you.  You do your part, and we\u2019re going to do ours, and that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happening today.<\/p>\n<p>What Leader McConnell did was amazing.  He made it bipartisan, bicameral.  Everybody was involved.  I wish we could have signed this earlier this week; maybe there wouldn\u2019t be as many people who are out of work.  But this will put people back to work.<\/p>\n<p>I also want to thank Secretary Mnuchin.  You\u2019ve done an amazing job, and we thank you for that, and all the team that\u2019s here.<\/p>\n<p>Look, as I said in my speech, the virus is here.  We didn\u2019t ask for it.  We didn\u2019t invite it.  We didn\u2019t choose it.  But we are going to defeat it together because we\u2019re going to work together, and this is the first start of it.  The hospitals will get money \u2014 the money they need.  The small businesses will be able to hire their employees back.  That is a grant; you don\u2019t have to borrow from that place.  The other businesses get a retention to keep your employees on.  This has something for everything.<\/p>\n<p>And to the task force and the Vice President, all the work that you\u2019re doing with this President, this will be the needed resources you need as well.  And thank you for that, and thank you for your leadership, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Very special.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Pence?  Mike?  Could you please say something?  You\u2019ve been working very hard, in charge of our task force.  And then I\u2019d like to ask Steve to say a few words.<\/p>\n<p>THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Mr. President.  Thanks for giving me the opportunity just to express all of our appreciation and the gratitude to the American people for the accomplishment that\u2019s reflected in the legislation that you\u2019ll sign in just a few moments.<\/p>\n<p>You told the American people that we would do whatever it takes.  You called on the Congress to step forward to make coronavirus testing free for every American, to make paid family leave available.<\/p>\n<p>The Congress, with the leaders gathered around us here, stepped forward in a bipartisan fashion and delivered.  But today, every American family, every American business, can know that help is on the way.<\/p>\n<p>And I want to thank Leader McConnell for his yeoman\u2019s work in really forging a bipartisan bill in the United States Senate.  I want to thank Leader McCarthy for his great work.  But as the President said, I also want to thank the Democrat and Republican leadership across the House and Senate.  This is an American accomplishment.  And, Mr. President, it\u2019s exactly what you asked the Congress to deliver for the American people.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much, Mike.  And Steve Mnuchin, you know how hard he\u2019s been working.  And, Steve, please say a few words.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Mr. President, thank you very much for your leadership and for the Vice President\u2019s leadership.  You made it very clear to us, last week, we should think big, that this was a war on the virus, and that we should have the resources to protect American workers and American business.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019d like to thank the Senate.  It was a great honor, Mitch, to work with you and everyone on a bipartisan basis to get this done.  This is going to be a great thing for the American workers.  And, Kevin McCarthy, thank you for all the work in the House did to pass this quickly.<\/p>\n<p>So, at Treasury, as I\u2019ve said, we are committed to move forward quickly, and we\u2019re going to get money in people\u2019s pockets quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Great job, Steve.  Gene?  Please.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA:  This is a great day for American workers, protecting American workers, American jobs.  It\u2019s been a hallmark of this presidency, and this bill today is another very important step in that direction.  It includes unprecedented support for American workers who\u2019ve lost their jobs, through no fault of their own because of this virus, and gives them, as near as we could, the same wage they would have gotten, through unemployment insurance if they\u2019d been able to keep their jobs, for up to four months.<\/p>\n<p>I think even more important, it includes $350 billion in loans for small business, but it\u2019s structured in a way to incentivize them to keep their workers on payroll so that those loans could be forgiven at the end of the period.<br \/>\nAnd it comes on top of legislation the President asked \u2014 signed last week for paid leave for workers who have to be at home because of the virus.  Paid leave reimbursed in full, dollar for dollar, to the employers.  It\u2019s the first federal paid leave law for the private sector ever.  And that also was achieved on an unprecedented, bipartisan basis.<\/p>\n<p>This is the third major bipartisan piece of legislation in three weeks \u2014 three bills, three weeks \u2014 to address this virus.<\/p>\n<p>So again, I want to thank the President for his leadership, his commitment to American workers, the Vice President as well, and Leader McConnell, and also my colleague, Secretary Mnuchin who did work so hard to help you get this done.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Gene, very much.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Fauci, you may want to just say for a minute what hit the world.  Something hit the world, and the world maybe will never be the quite same.  But we\u2019re going to make it a great place anyway.  But certainly, you could maybe say a few words about it, please.<\/p>\n<p>DR. FAUCI:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  And I want to thank everyone involved in this.  This is what America is all about: a bipartisan approach, with your leadership, to do something that\u2019s sorely needed by the American people.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Birx and I and all of our medical people here are fighting the virus directly.  But the virus has an impact on the American people, both directly by illness and death, but also indirectly, because many of the things that we have to do to suppress the virus has a negative impact because of what we\u2019re doing.  To give them relief economically is absolutely essential.<\/p>\n<p>So I feel really, really good about what\u2019s happening today.  Thank you all very much.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Tony.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Deborah, perhaps you could say a few words or so about \u2014<\/p>\n<p>DR. BIRX:  Well, thank you, Mr. President.  Dr. Fauci covered it very well.  As many of you know, I worked for him and he was my mentor 40 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>I think whenever we start with one of these very serious diseases and a pandemic, the President\u2019s first goal was ensuring the health of the American people, and that\u2019s why we put out these very strong guidance.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s been a pleasure to work with the economic team here because they understand data in the same way.  Economic data and health data is very similar in how you have to interpret it in a very granular way.  And I think recognizing that the health of the American people is first, but the economic value of the nation is also critical.<\/p>\n<p>And I just want to thank all of you for what you\u2019ve done for the American people today.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Great job you\u2019re doing too.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin, please.<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE BRADY:  So just 20 days ago, I don\u2019t know that anyone could have imagined how hard we\u2019ve been hit medically or economically.  But 20 days ago, I don\u2019t think anyone could have imagined Congress pulling together so quickly and so forcefully behind what the President identified we needed for this country.  This is a proud moment for all of us.  And it\u2019s just an example of what leadership can provide here in the White House, and then how we can respond as a Congress.<\/p>\n<p>So thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And I\u2019m just saying, as Kevin is saying that, 20 days ago \u2014 a couple of days longer than that, maybe \u2014 we had a smooth-running, beautiful machine.  We had the greatest economy in the history of our country.  We had the highest stock price we\u2019ve ever seen.  It went up, I think, 151 times during the course of the presidency.  And then we got hit by the invisible enemy, and we got hit hard.  But it wasn\u2019t just us, it was 151 countries, I think, as of the \u2014 as of this morning.<\/p>\n<p>And you call Germany and speak to Angela \u2014 she\u2019s in quarantine.  And as you know, Boris was diagnosed that he\u2019s positive.  And all of the things that are happening, it\u2019s hard to believe what\u2019s gone on just in a short period of time.<\/p>\n<p>And because of the talent behind me and lots of other talent in government, what we\u2019ve done \u2014 this is a big part of it, obviously, but not the biggest part.  Everybody has pulled together.  Our nation has pulled together.  The spirit is incredible.  The people have pulled together more than anyone and better than anybody.  And they\u2019re doing really, really well.<\/p>\n<p>But just to think how life can change where you go, 20 to 22 days ago, everything is perfect, we\u2019re looking forward.  I\u2019m saying, \u201cWhen are we going to hit 30,000?  I want 30,000.\u201d  That means more jobs and more everything.  And then, one day, we get hit with this thing that nobody ever heard of before.  Nobody ever even heard of before.  And now we\u2019re fighting a different battle.<\/p>\n<p>But I really think, in a fairly short period of time, because of what they\u2019ve done and what everyone has done, I really think we\u2019re going to be stronger than ever.  And we\u2019ll be protected from a lot of this.  A lot of the things, Anthony, that we\u2019ve done now \u2014 that we\u2019re doing now \u2014 are going to protect us in the future if this should happen again.<\/p>\n<p>DR. FAUCI:  Absolutely.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  From testing to so many other \u2014<\/p>\n<p>DR. FAUCI:  Vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Even stockpiles.  Right?<\/p>\n<p>DR. FAUCI:  And vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, the vaccines, hopefully.  And vaccines, cures, therapeutics \u2014 whatever you want to call it \u2014 it\u2019s a lot of progress.  And I think on that score, I think we\u2019re going to do a lot of progress on vaccines.  We\u2019re making, perhaps, a lot of progress on cures and therapeutics.  We\u2019ll be letting you know.<\/p>\n<p>Anybody else have anything?  Greg, please.  Go ahead, fellas.<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE WALDEN:  I would just say, I\u2019ve never seen you shy away from a challenge.  Your leadership and your policies and this great team brought America this enormous economy.  And guess what?  You get to do it again.  This bill is the next step in that, and we can build back this economy with your leadership and with the healthcare team you\u2019ve got here too.  We\u2019re doing the right thing for the American people, and they know that.  I can tell you that from the ground.  It\u2019s not easy.  It\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE WALDEN:  We don\u2019t want to shelter in place, as Americans.  We want to be out, especially northwest.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE WALDEN:  But we know we have to do this for the safety of our relatives and families and our community and our country.  So thanks for your leadership \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE WALDEN:  \u2014 and the great team you\u2019ve assembled.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Appreciate it very much.<\/p>\n<p>REPRESENTATIVE CHABOT:  On behalf of small businesses, they\u2019re the backbone of the American economy.  About half the people that work in America work for a small business, and they\u2019re hurting out there right now.  I\u2019m from Ohio.  I\u2019m the ranking member of the House Small Business Committee.  And back there, nonessential small businesses are shut down.<\/p>\n<p>Without this legislation, it\u2019s questionable whether they would reopen.  Because of this legislation, they now have a great chance of that.  And those people that work for small businesses, who are shuttered now, will be paid.  That\u2019s really important.  This wouldn\u2019t have passed without your leadership, Mr. President.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  And, you know, Eric worked so hard.  You all know Eric.  And he was at Steve\u2019s side the whole way.  And where is our man?  Do I see Larry?  Yeah, Larry.  The two of them.  How about Eric and then Larry say a couple of words and (inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>MR. UELAND:  Well, thank you very much, Mr. President.  I really appreciate it, and Mr. Vice President, as well.  So you encouraged your team to be bold, be brave, and go big.  And we certainly delivered today.  (Laughter.)  $6.2 trillion is tremendous.  So we\u2019ve made sure that we can reassure Americans that their paycheck is protected and that their earnings are protected.  We\u2019ve made sure that we can provide significant reinforcement to the American economy as a result of your leadership.<\/p>\n<p>And, finally, looking ahead to address the virus, we\u2019ve included significant resources in order to ensure that those therapies and ultimately that vaccine can come online as quickly as possible.  So, protecting the public health and protecting the economic health of America is what you\u2019ve directed us to do.  And together, with the team, we\u2019ve worked hard to deliver today.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  And Steve is going to work very hard on getting the money out quickly, and hopefully it can be distributed very quickly, especially when they have some old computer equipment that they have to use.  But you\u2019re going to work on that very hard.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  We are indeed.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Larry, please.  Larry Kudlow.<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUDLOW:  Oh, thanks, sir.  Just hats off to Mitch McConnell who did an amazing job, and House leadership as well.  And I agree with the bipartisanship.  I want to give special thanks to my friend Steven Mnuchin, who I think did an extraordinary job.  We were up there helping him out in one spot or another.  But he\u2019s indefatigable and got it done.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019ll just say this, Mr. President: A few months ago, this economy was roaring and we\u2019ve hit this \u2014 literally, this bug, this virus.  And we will deal with it.  And I think the assistance bill here, which does have growth incentives, will help lead us back to a very strong economic rebound before this year is over.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think that too.  I think we\u2019re going to have a tremendous rebound at the end of the year \u2014 toward the end of the year.  I think we\u2019re going to have a rebound like we have never seen before.  Even now it wants to rebound.  You can see it, feel it.  It wants to rebound so badly.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, we\u2019ve had those really big \u2014 I guess, the biggest-ever stock market surge two days ago.  And yesterday, it was great.  Three biggest days in the history of the stock market.  It wants to rebound so badly, but we have to get rid of the bug, we have to get rid of the virus.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I\u2019m going to sign this, and it\u2019s a great honor \u2014 $6.2 trillion.  I\u2019ve never signed anything with a \u201cT\u201d on it.  (Laughter.)  I don\u2019t know if I can handle this one, Mitch.  (Laughter.)  We can\u2019t chicken out at this point, can we?.  (Laughter.)  I don\u2019t think so, huh?<\/p>\n<p>All right.  Thank you all.<\/p>\n<p>(The CARES Act is signed.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  I wanted them to be a nice signature. (Applause.)  Come on, fellas.  Come on over here.  Elaine.  What a job she\u2019s doing with transportation.  How\u2019s transportation?  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY CHAO:  Fine.  You always talk about the supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I do.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY CHAO:  It\u2019s really important.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I do.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY CHAO:  This bill is going to help the supply chain and the workers.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Anthony?  Thank you.  Thanks, Tony, very much.  Bob Lighthizer, thank you very much.  Bob was a little less involved in this.  He\u2019s too busy making trade deals.<\/p>\n<p>Okay?  You have one?  You definitely have to have one.  Go ahead.  You\u2019re all set.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, everybody.  So we\u2019re going to have a 5:30 news conference in the same location.  Seems to be doing quite well.  And we appreciate everything.  And we really appreciate the fairness, at least from most of the press.  We really do.  Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, there was that rare moment of agreement today between you and Senator Kerry over \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>Q    \u2014 this issue with Massie.  Can you expand a bit on that?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, he made a little joke about a man named Congressman Massie.  I thought he was totally out of line \u2014 Congressman Massie.  Because of that, I guess a lot of people had to come back, and they had to go into a place, which, frankly, we\u2019re not supposed to be at, you know, in light of \u2014 of what we\u2019re doing with Deborah and Tony and all of the professionals.<\/p>\n<p>So people had to come back, and just no reason for it.  So John Kerry made a little joke out of it, and I agreed with his joke.  And I said, I never knew he had that kind of a personality.  But we actually put it up, and he was right.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, we\u2019ll see you in a couple of minutes, folks.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you all very much. This is a very important day. I\u2019ll sign the single-biggest economic relief package in American history and, I must say, or any other package, by the way. It\u2019s twice as large as any relief ever signed. It\u2019s $2.2 billion, but it actually goes up to 6.2 \u2014 potentially [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,149,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-financial","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Fullscreen-capture-3272020-101309-PM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=98246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/98247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=98246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=98246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=98246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}