CARES Act Funding with Newhouse Pt 2
I’m Bob Larson. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has some big decisions to make in the coming days as to which commodities will get CARES Act relief funding and how much.
U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse is leading a Congressional group stressing why specialty crop producers should be included in the mix, but says while it is a lot of money, it’s only $9.5-billion dollars …
NEWHOUSE … “I’m not sure that there’s enough money in the country to respond in a way that will keep everybody whole, depending on how long of a period we’re looking at. That’s why I think it’s important that we do everything we can to get the economy back up and running as soon as possible. That’s the best way, the only way that we’re really going to find relief.”
Newhouse says we just can’t afford to prop up every single industry in the country indefinitely …
NEWHOUSE … “One of the things that has to happen, and I think we’re seeing good results in this is some of the social distancing and some of the hygiene practices that are being put into place, we’re really seeing results of that, and I think those kinds of efforts, if every single citizen recognizes they have a responsibility in making sure that this pandemic is as short as possible and I think that’s where we’re going to find the best relief to where we are able to get the country back open again.”
Newhouse says if people can get back engaged in the economy and return to some kind of normalcy, agriculture will not require the kind of relief a long-term shutdown would necessitate.
