Congressman Smith Says Phased-In Reopening of House Makes Most Sense

May 7, 2020, 1:55 p.m. ·

Adrian Smith poses for a photo.
Congressman Adrian Smith poses for a photo. He's running for a ninth straight term this election cycle. (Photo courtesy Rep. Adrian Smith)

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Members of the House are still awaiting direction from Speaker Nancy Pelosi on when they’ll reconvene amid the coronavirus pandemic. Congressman Adrian Smith, who represents Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, has been at home in Gering, but says he’s ready to get back to work. NET’s Jack Williams spoke with Smith about what’s ahead and how lawmakers should proceed in uncertain times.


NET News: Congressman, the House has been in recess for a while because of the coronavirus. The Senate is back. When is the right time for the House to get back to work and do you think Speaker Pelosi is closer to making that call?

Congressman Adrian Smith: I think a phased-in (approach) would be appropriate. Certainly the Senate operates differently than the House. You're talking about the House having more members obviously. We need to be mindful of that but I think a phased-in would be appropriate. I just hope that we don't see politics in any of this. These are serious subject matters and we need to address things that need to be addressed and also adhere to the precautions that are recommended and appropriate.

NET News: What should the focus be on right now? Is it all coronavirus or are there other things that are bubbling up that lawmakers should shift their focus to?

Congressman Adrian Smith: There are a lot of things we need to address, I certainly am concerned about what seems to be the next vote that would be is a highly partisan vote that Nancy Pelosi wants to force through the house that is unlikely to be taken up by the Senate. So I would hope that the Speaker will back up a little bit and realize that bipartisan matters are so important right now. And you know what has taken place to address coronavirus so far has been bipartisan, and that makes so much more sense certainly in times like this. And we need to be mindful of fiscal matters, a lot of things. And also, you know, broadly speaking, infrastructure, for example, that is a topic that I think is even more important. Now I would say it was important even before the coronavirus but even more important now, and can be a tool to help get our economy back on track. And so I hope that we can address that moving forward.

NET News: There have been several coronavirus stimulus and rescue bills that have been quite costly, but necessary, to help businesses and unemployed workers stay afloat during the shutdown. Do you think more is needed before the economy starts back up?

Congressman Adrian Smith: I would hesitate to say yes, I think we need to really examine how things are going right now. I don't think we need to rush to yet another piece of legislation that has been done already. I think there have been some positive things about these measures, but I don't see the need to rush to spend another trillion dollars as has been proposed.

NET News: Will the coronavirus be a part of the upcoming National Defense Authorization Bill, and how do you think that will look? It's kind of a new reality isn't it?

Congressman Adrian Smith: I think it is a new reality and I think certainly our military will need to take this into consideration. And I'm hoping now that we can see a good vaccine on its way, time will tell on that, but obviously the military does need to, you know our national defense in general, needs to be mindful of virus and especially the coronavirus.

NET News: Congressman, it's fairly clear political fault lines have developed as the coronavirus pandemic has progressed, one side saying we need to slow down the reopening, the other side saying we have to get our country going again. Is there, in your opinion, a middle ground here somewhere on how the reopening should go?

Congressman Adrian Smith: Yes, I mean, This won't be easy, but I think that if we have decisions driven by data, I think that is helpful. You know, America is a big country, and there are different parts of our country that have been affected in different ways. We need to be mindful of that. I think it's very important that we in Nebraska help supply our nation and our world's food supply. You know, we need to make sure that we've got adequate supply chains that are moving. But I think overall there's a new appreciation though for what movement means in the economy, and whether that's the local barber shop or salon or, you know, other retail outlets and there's so much to our economy that, you know, everyone taken quite a hit.

NET News: Is it counterproductive for the administration to continue to blame China for the virus and should the focus be on recovery and not placing the blame for this on China or any other government? Or is it fair game and important to hold China accountable, even though we're not sure where the virus originated? What's the administration's end game here?

Congressman Adrian Smith: I think there's a lot of agreement that at minimum, China did not share the information or give access, like they should have. It could saved a lot of lives. We can't trust China, and certainly need to undertake what research we can to try to find out where this originated, so that we can do something about it.

NET News: Congressman Adrian Smith represents Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District. Thanks for your time today.

Congressman Adrian Smith: Thank you.