By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Northern Missouri Congressman Sam Graves says Congress acted correctly in approving the $2.2 trillion emergency relief package in wake of the impact COVID-19 has had on the economy.
Graves says restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus have hit small businesses hard.
“You name it. Whether it’s restaurants or service-related businesses or, I can’t get my hair cut,” Graves jokes with host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline.
Graves says while Congress can provide some relief, the real solution is in re-opening the economy for business.
“Literally, billions and billions of dollars are being affected now so we have to figure out how to deal with it and how to recover from it and that’s going to be the biggest thing is the recovery,” according to Graves.
Graves says demand has been incredible for the small business loan program within the emergency package. He says an effort to add another $250 billion to that program has been blocked by politics.
National health officials have revised their estimates on the number of Americans who might die from COVID-19 downward.
Initially, experts pegged the death toll at anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 in the United States. Now, it has been lowered to an estimated 60,000.
Graves says that is good news, up to a point.
“It doesn’t look like it’s going to be as bad as originally predicted, but having said that too, the flip side is we still have to be cautious,” Graves says. “We have to be very, very cautious.”
Graves also says Congress has to be cautious in providing money to help Americans get through the economic downturn COVID-19 restrictions have brought. He says unemployment compensation cannot be so generous that it provides a disincentive for workers to return to their jobs.
“You just can’t do that,” Graves says. “You just absolutely can’t do that. When it becomes more lucrative for somebody to stay at home than to go back to work, then you have a serious problem and you have a breakdown.”
Graves says the discussion now needs to turn toward lifting restrictions and allowing business to return to normal, even though the coronavirus will likely still be active.
“As quickly as possible and that’s the key,” Graves says. “How do we move forward and how do we get things open just as quickly as possible and try to start our climb out of this? I think the sooner the better and it’s hard to understand too just exactly when that point is.”