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Remarks by Trump, Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing, 04-09-2020
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 9, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
6:24 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everybody. I’d like to begin by saying that we just completed a meeting with the Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao on proposals regarding the airlines and the airline business.
And we’re working very closely with a lot of different people. We’ll be probably putting out a proposal and giving them some of the details — some of the very powerful details over the weekend. It’s moving along quickly. The airline business has been hit very hard, as everybody knows. And we are going to be in a position to do a lot to help them so that they keep their employees and they save their businesses.
And that’ll be taking place, I think you can say, over the weekend. We may even have discussions with some of the airlines or all of the airlines over the weekend. And I think it’s going to be a very acceptable package. It’s a very big package and a very acceptable package. It’ll be good for our country, good for the airlines, good for a lot of people.
Likewise, I just spoke with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, and we had a big talk as to oil production and OPEC and making it so that our industry does well and the oil industry does better than it’s doing right now. It’s — the numbers are so low that there’ll be layoffs all over the world. There’ll be certainly layoffs in this country. And we don’t want that to happen.
We built a great, great energy business in the United States. So we have tens of thousands of jobs. We had a very good talk; we’ll see what happens. But as you know, OPEC met today, and I would say they’re getting close to a deal. We’ll soon find out. So that was a conversation we just had, so we had a busy hour and a half.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY SCALIA: Mr. Vice President, thank you. And thanks to the task force. And, of course, thanks to the President for his leadership.
The important public health measures that have been discussed so much in these briefings in this room have had a large impact in American workplaces. We saw that again today as the Labor Department released figures showing that 6.6 million new unemployment claims were filed last week. We’re all mindful — the President mentioned this — that the American people are making difficult sacrifices. That has included being furloughed, laid off, or having — having a small-business struggle.
That said, American workers can be encouraged by how swiftly and comprehensively the President and Congress have responded. Three weeks ago, the U.S. had never had a law requiring paid sick leave at U.S. companies. But three weeks ago, the President signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which did provide paid sick leave, as well as expanded family and medical leave for employees at small businesses, with those small businesses being reimbursed dollar for dollar for having provided that leave.
Last week we at the Labor Department issued rules to implement these leave requirements of the Families First Act, and we’ve been in near constant contact with employers and employees to help them understand the law, and, in a number of cases already, to help workers get the leave that they were entitled to.
Another unprecedented benefit for workers was provided in the CARES Act less than two weeks ago. That law, as you know, includes a $600-a-week plus-up to unemployment benefits that are provided by the states. We have millions of unemployed Americans who are making a sacrifice for our national wellbeing. These bonus payments — and they’re unprecedented. The government has never provided a plus-up unemployment payment like this. These payments are intended to make those workers whole, as near we can.
This temporary benefit is available not just to employees, but also to the self-employed and gig-economy workers. Before the President signed the CARES Act, gig workers, independent contractors were not available for unemployment compensation. Today, they are.
At the Department, our team has worked day and night to enable states to make this benefit available. I’m pleased that a number of states are now making those $600 additional weekly payments. More states will follow in the coming days. How long it takes will vary by states. Some system — some state systems will take longer. But we at the Department will continue to support them. We have already dispersed half a billion dollars to states to help them with their systems and making these payments. We have another half a billion dollars that we’re ready to release.
And for workers who don’t get this benefit when it’s first due them, states will be able to catch them up later when their computer systems are able to make these payments.
Let me add that we’re also mindful at the Labor Department that many Americans remain in the workplace, including on the frontlines in our hospitals, as well as our emergency responders.
My Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration — or OSHA — has been providing guidance to employers and employees on coronavirus since the early days of this health emergency. We are fielding and responding to calls from workers worried about their health, and sometimes from workers who believe they’ve been illegally disciplined by their employer for expressing health concerns. We will not tolerate retaliation. OSHA will continue to work with workers and employers to keep workplaces safe, using all the tools available to us, including enforcement if needed.
I wanted to finish by commenting on the Paycheck Protection Program, which we heard about earlier, run by the Small Business Administration. This, of course, is loans to small businesses to enable them to meet certain costs, including utilities, rent, and, most important from my perspective, payroll.
As you know, if these companies receiving loans keep their workers on paylo- — on payroll, these loans are largely forgivable.
Here’s why that program is so important, from my perspective: We’re seeing unemployment filings right now of a like that we’ve never seen before. But these numbers aren’t the result of an underlying weakness to our economy. Our economy has been vibrant — incredibly strong just weeks ago. If — as we’ve heard again today, if we are disciplined now and adhere carefully to the guidance being provided by health authorities, we’ll get that economy back.
The President spoke at the State of the Union of the blue-collar boom we are experiencing. We want to lay the ground- — groundwork now for a blue-collar bounce back. We’ll get there in part by helping companies hold onto their workers, which is what the Pay- — Paycheck Protection Program does. Keep them on payroll so that, when businesses are ready to reopen, they have the workers they need and Americans have jobs.
We will continue — at the Department and, I know, here at the White House — to be laser focused on American workers and jobs until this is done.
So thank you very much.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Very well done, Mr. Secretary. Good job. Great. We’ll take a few questions.
{snip}
END
7:28 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Members of the Coronavirus Task Force in Press Briefing
HEALTHCARE
Issued on: April 9, 2020
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
6:24 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everybody. I’d like to begin by saying that we just completed a meeting with the Secretary of Treasury Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao on proposals regarding the airlines and the airline business.
And we’re working very closely with a lot of different people. We’ll be probably putting out a proposal and giving them some of the details — some of the very powerful details over the weekend. It’s moving along quickly. The airline business has been hit very hard, as everybody knows. And we are going to be in a position to do a lot to help them so that they keep their employees and they save their businesses.
And that’ll be taking place, I think you can say, over the weekend. We may even have discussions with some of the airlines or all of the airlines over the weekend. And I think it’s going to be a very acceptable package. It’s a very big package and a very acceptable package. It’ll be good for our country, good for the airlines, good for a lot of people.
Likewise, I just spoke with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, and we had a big talk as to oil production and OPEC and making it so that our industry does well and the oil industry does better than it’s doing right now. It’s — the numbers are so low that there’ll be layoffs all over the world. There’ll be certainly layoffs in this country. And we don’t want that to happen.
We built a great, great energy business in the United States. So we have tens of thousands of jobs. We had a very good talk; we’ll see what happens. But as you know, OPEC met today, and I would say they’re getting close to a deal. We’ll soon find out. So that was a conversation we just had, so we had a busy hour and a half.
{snip}
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Mr. Secretary.
SECRETARY SCALIA: Mr. Vice President, thank you. And thanks to the task force. And, of course, thanks to the President for his leadership.
The important public health measures that have been discussed so much in these briefings in this room have had a large impact in American workplaces. We saw that again today as the Labor Department released figures showing that 6.6 million new unemployment claims were filed last week. We’re all mindful — the President mentioned this — that the American people are making difficult sacrifices. That has included being furloughed, laid off, or having — having a small-business struggle.
That said, American workers can be encouraged by how swiftly and comprehensively the President and Congress have responded. Three weeks ago, the U.S. had never had a law requiring paid sick leave at U.S. companies. But three weeks ago, the President signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which did provide paid sick leave, as well as expanded family and medical leave for employees at small businesses, with those small businesses being reimbursed dollar for dollar for having provided that leave.
Last week we at the Labor Department issued rules to implement these leave requirements of the Families First Act, and we’ve been in near constant contact with employers and employees to help them understand the law, and, in a number of cases already, to help workers get the leave that they were entitled to.
Another unprecedented benefit for workers was provided in the CARES Act less than two weeks ago. That law, as you know, includes a $600-a-week plus-up to unemployment benefits that are provided by the states. We have millions of unemployed Americans who are making a sacrifice for our national wellbeing. These bonus payments — and they’re unprecedented. The government has never provided a plus-up unemployment payment like this. These payments are intended to make those workers whole, as near we can.
This temporary benefit is available not just to employees, but also to the self-employed and gig-economy workers. Before the President signed the CARES Act, gig workers, independent contractors were not available for unemployment compensation. Today, they are.
At the Department, our team has worked day and night to enable states to make this benefit available. I’m pleased that a number of states are now making those $600 additional weekly payments. More states will follow in the coming days. How long it takes will vary by states. Some system — some state systems will take longer. But we at the Department will continue to support them. We have already dispersed half a billion dollars to states to help them with their systems and making these payments. We have another half a billion dollars that we’re ready to release.
And for workers who don’t get this benefit when it’s first due them, states will be able to catch them up later when their computer systems are able to make these payments.
Let me add that we’re also mindful at the Labor Department that many Americans remain in the workplace, including on the frontlines in our hospitals, as well as our emergency responders.
My Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration — or OSHA — has been providing guidance to employers and employees on coronavirus since the early days of this health emergency. We are fielding and responding to calls from workers worried about their health, and sometimes from workers who believe they’ve been illegally disciplined by their employer for expressing health concerns. We will not tolerate retaliation. OSHA will continue to work with workers and employers to keep workplaces safe, using all the tools available to us, including enforcement if needed.
I wanted to finish by commenting on the Paycheck Protection Program, which we heard about earlier, run by the Small Business Administration. This, of course, is loans to small businesses to enable them to meet certain costs, including utilities, rent, and, most important from my perspective, payroll.
As you know, if these companies receiving loans keep their workers on paylo- — on payroll, these loans are largely forgivable.
Here’s why that program is so important, from my perspective: We’re seeing unemployment filings right now of a like that we’ve never seen before. But these numbers aren’t the result of an underlying weakness to our economy. Our economy has been vibrant — incredibly strong just weeks ago. If — as we’ve heard again today, if we are disciplined now and adhere carefully to the guidance being provided by health authorities, we’ll get that economy back.
The President spoke at the State of the Union of the blue-collar boom we are experiencing. We want to lay the ground- — groundwork now for a blue-collar bounce back. We’ll get there in part by helping companies hold onto their workers, which is what the Pay- — Paycheck Protection Program does. Keep them on payroll so that, when businesses are ready to reopen, they have the workers they need and Americans have jobs.
We will continue — at the Department and, I know, here at the White House — to be laser focused on American workers and jobs until this is done.
So thank you very much.
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Very well done, Mr. Secretary. Good job. Great. We’ll take a few questions.
{snip}
END
7:28 P.M. EDT