VIDEO: Rep. Andy Kim Joins MSNBC Discuss How Coronavirus has Redefined His Job

This morning, Rep. Andy Kim joined MSNBC to discuss his work in the fight against the coronavirus. He explained the urgent need for the new House relief bill and detailed how the pandemic has “fundamentally redefined” the job of a congressman. “I don’t care about politics, it’s about delivering for the people,” he said.

Key Excerpts:

ON PUTTING POLITICS ASIDE TO FIGHT THE CORONAVIRUS

Rep. Andy Kim: My job is to solve the problems here as best as I can, work with people who are really worried, right now. […] And I’m hoping that my work on this Select Committee will only give me a greater voice and a greater opportunity to be able to deliver for people in my district. So it’s really a roll up your sleeves type of moment right now. And as someone who worked as a national security official before, under both Republicans and Democrats, I don’t care about the politics. It’s about delivering for the people.

ON THE URGENT NEED TO DELIVER RELIEF

Rep Andy Kim: So I’m hoping that that will be ready to go as soon as possible so that we can vote on this so we can move forward and deliver for the American people. Because when I’m hearing from small businesses that they have only a matter of days before they have to make tough decisions about closing their doors or when I’m hearing from Americans who are food insecure or people that aren’t getting the support that they need. That is something that we need to deliver on right now. Every day people are hurting and we need to make sure we’re delivering on that immediately.

Full Transcript

Ayman Mohyeldin: With me now is Congressman Andy Kim. He is a Democrat from New Jersey who sits on the Coronavirus Select Committee as well as the Small Business Committee. Congressman it’s good to have you with us. Thanks for joining us. The new Coronavirus Committee will hold this first briefing later this afternoon. Give us if you can, a quick preview and talk to us about how your committee plans to act on the testimony you hear.

Rep. Andy Kim: Well, this is going to be our first hearing that we’re going to be having, our first briefing. The focus is going to be on testing, on contact tracing, the steps that we know that we need to be able to have to protect the American people. The committee is very focused on ensuring the health of Americans as well as rooting out abuse, waste, and fraud. We need to do this in a way that is bipartisan and show that our national security is something that we should all be rallying around to be able to support.

Ayman Mohyeldin: Let me also ask you about the $3 trillion relief package that Speaker Pelosi is proposing. And let me start by playing you this sound bite from Mitch McConnell about that. [rolls clip] Do you think this bill has any serious chance of making it in the Senate? Not necessarily even as it is, but is this the beginning of a negotiation that may at least make its way to the Senate floor?

Rep. Andy Kim: Well, this bill is something that’s rooted in what I’m hearing in my district every single day. I am getting hundreds of calls and emails from people in my district that are talking about how they aren’t able to pay the bills, they aren’t able to get the tests that they need to be able to tell if they are sick or if they are healthy. We have longterm care facilities that are overrun and need greater support. We have a state that is having big financial problems because we’ve been at the heart of this crisis. If New Jersey were a country, we will be number seven in the world right now for deaths due to Coronavirus. So we are trying to be responsive to the reality of this situation and the crisis that I hear from people in Burlington County and Ocean County and that’s what this bill tries to deliver.

Ayman Mohyeldin: Let me ask you about the speed of it. I understand there’s a sense of urgency right now in the country, but there’s no doubt that even some within your own party, like Representative Jayapal who wanted to delay the vote until next week. They say they need more time to actually look at the specifics of the legislation. Are you at all concerned that maybe the legislation is being rushed without carefully being read by every member of Congress or even studied by every member of Congress?

Rep. Andy Kim: Well, this is a bill that we’ve been working on for a number of weeks now. We’re having around the clock discussions with each other, briefing, talking through some of these details. So I’m hoping that that will be ready to go as soon as possible so that we can vote on this so we can move forward and deliver for the American people. Because when I’m hearing from small businesses that they have only a matter of days before they have to make tough decisions about closing their doors or when I’m hearing from Americans who are food insecure or people that aren’t getting the support that they need. That is something that we need to deliver on right now. Every day people are hurting and we need to make sure we’re delivering on that immediately.

Ayman Mohyeldin: Congressman, I was struck by something you told the New York Times that this pandemic has fundamentally redefined your job as a Congressman. Talk to us about what you’re hearing as you said from your constituents who are calling about all kinds of things from economic relief to getting their hands on Lysol and Clorox wipes. What has your job become as a Congressman?

Rep. Andy Kim: My job is to solve the problems here as best as I can, work with people who are really worried, right now. People who are calling my office. These are people that often have few other places to turn to and we’re hearing desperation, we’re hearing cries in their calls and this is something that we need to make sure we’re working on. So whether it is about passing this bill to be able to deliver billions of dollars to our state to be able to help with testing and contact tracing and helping our hospitals, or if it’s about trying to get sanitization supplies to our local EMS station or getting face masks to constituents, we are going to be there for them. We’re going to be working around the clock for them. And I’m hoping that my work on this Select Committee will only give me a greater voice and a greater opportunity to be able to deliver for people in my district. So it’s really a roll up your sleeves type of moment right now. And as someone who worked as a national security official before, under both Republicans and Democrats, I don’t care about the politics. It’s about delivering for the people.