Representative Kevin Hern
US
Inactive
House of Representatives for the 1st District of Oklahoma
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After Friday's CARES Act vote, I was able to spend about an hour on Facebook answering as many questions as I could. While I was able to answer a number of specific questions, I didn't have enough time to spend on the process that lead to my yes vote on the bill so I wanted to take some time this afternoon to explain how we got to where we are today.
The main factor to keep in mind is that the CARES Act was the result of a lot of work from a lot of people, but the end result came about because of President Donald J. Trump's leadership.
After the Senate came to a strong bipartisan agreement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi held up the whole show with a last-minute laundry list of demands, including funding for Planned Parenthood, wind and solar tax credits, $35 million for upkeep of the Kennedy Center, forced emission reductions, forced unionization measures, government control over private businesses, full mail voting, and many more.
Like many in Congress, I was strongly opposed to Pelosi’s unnecessary demands. There was no reason to waste precious time on controversial pet projects when millions of Americans are losing their income due to coronavirus shutdowns. President Trump showed true leadership in his negotiations with Pelosi, understanding that the American people needed help yesterday. They didn’t have time to wait for a battle of egos. Pelosi, it would seem, didn’t care.
President Trump made the best deal he could to get this aid to the American people as quickly as possible. I do not fault him for ceding the Kennedy Center funding because the end result was successful. A vast majority of the unrelated poison pills were removed from the final bill.
I want to be clear – this bill is not a bailout. Government caused these issues by forcing businesses to close, forbidding people from going to work. It’s the government’s responsibility to pay back what they’ve taken. When the government takes away your livelihood, the government must provide a solution. The CARES Act is that solution.
President Trump personally asked us in the House to support this deal even though it included some less-than-pleasant line items. It's one thing to say you support the President when things are going well, it's another to stand with him during one of his most consequential moments. I chose to support the President and give him the resources that he asked for.
I trust President Trump, and I know that he wouldn’t have pushed us to support this legislation unless it was the only way to get this aid to the public as quickly as possible.
The President and his team led Republican negotiations for this bill. We sent the "Art of the Deal" negotiator to the White House to make deals on behalf of the American people. So far, his record has proven that the voters' decision has paid off. I hate the wasteful spending provisions Democrats forced into this package as much as anyone, but I trust, along with millions of Americans who sent President Trump to the Washington, that he got every conservative priority that we could possibly get in this bill. That's why we elected him President.
Pelosi has shown her true colors time and again. After ramming a bill riddled with errors through Congress in the middle of the night, she left town for 2 weeks before coming back at the last minute to tank the Senate’s deal. She was never concerned with passing anything in the name of urgency, she is only concerned with herself and maintaining control over her far-left majority.
I urge all my constituents to pay attention to Pelosi’s actions in the coming days and months. She will not look out for your best interest; she will continue to prove her self-serving nature.
I am thankful for the leadership of President Trump in these unprecedented times. He has assured me that once we come out on the other side of the coronavirus scare, he will do everything in his power to curb government spending and help us find a way to pay for these unexpected costs.
You can wear the red hat all you want, but if you don't stand by him in the worst of times, you don’t truly support our President. I chose to make the tough call and support him with this vote in this crucial moment to do right by the American people.
I will be hosting multiple virtual town hall meetings for different groups and the general public over the next several days and weeks to help our community access the resources available to them in the CARES Act. Stay tuned for more information.
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