Station: KHOW, 630 am

Show:     Dan Caplis Show

Guests:  Gardner, Cory

Link:      https://khow.iheart.com/featured/dan-caplis/content/2020-04-09-sen-cory-gardner-r-co-on-securing-100-ventilators-for-colorado-from-feds/

Date:  April 9, 2020     

Topics: FEMA, 500 Ventilators, 100 Ventilators President Trump, Democrats, Reopening Colorado, COVID-19, Coronavirus, test kids, 7-Eleven, Western Slope, Move the BLM, Furloughs, Shutdown, Vaccine, Treatment, Payroll Protections Program

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HOST DAN CAPLIS [00:00:00] And let’s go to the VIP lines. [I am] so pleased to have Senator Cory Gardner with us. And Senator, appreciate the time. I know that your schedule is completely slammed.

U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO, CORY GARDNER [00:00:13] Well, thank you for having me.

CAPLIS [00:00:14] And Senator, I wanted to start with — and, you live long enough, you’ll see everything, right? I saw this piece in The Denver Post and it acknowledges that you were successful in personally petitioning the president of the United States for additional ventilators for Colorado. You were able to secure 100 additional ventilators. I would think that’s something everybody across party lines could be happy about. But instead, you’re under fire from the Democrats in Colorado. Can you tell people the story here and how you were able to secure these ventilators?

GARDNER [00:00:49] Well, look, I think it’s very clear what we need to do for Colorado, and that’s all I’m focused on. And if somebody else wants to focus on politics and partisanship and elections, let them do it. I’m focused on three things. I’m focused on the health emergency. I’m focused on individual relief. And I’m focused on keeping businesses surviving through this. And so this whole issue came from the need for Colorado to get ventilators. And I went to work to try to get Colorado ventilators. I talked to the governor who a couple of days ago revealed that Colorado was supposed to get 500 hundred — or had a deal for 500 ventilators –and then the company that they had to deal with apparently filled the larger contracts for FEMA. And so I had called the president to say, “Hey, you know what? Look, you know, Colorado is in need of more ventilators. Here’s what happened the other day:  the FEMA apparently got their order filled and Colorado didn’t. It was five hundred.” And so, he agreed to send 100 ventilators to Colorado. So I am grateful that we’ve got a hundred ventilators. The governor is grateful that we got a hundred ventilators. And as I told the governor, this is a good start and we’ve got more work to do. But I’m going to fight tooth and nail for Colorado. And if others want to fight for politics and their elections, let them. I’m focused on Colorado.

CAPLIS [00:01:57] Well, and great job with that. And I’m sure everybody who has to be on one of those ventilators will be very grateful to you. But this is part of a pattern, an undeniable pattern of success you have had, even as a freshman senator in being able to bring great things to Colorado — you know, whether it’s BLM on the  Western Slope, you know, whether it’s the great work you’ve done petitioning — or positioning, I should say, — Colorado to hopefully land the Space Force, other things we’ve talked about on air. This is part of a pattern of delivering, and it outrages me that the Democrats are trying to criticize it. But unless you have other thoughts on that, let’s move on to your second point, which is what you’re doing back in the Senate and where that stands right now in an effort to keep people financially afloat during this virus.

GARDNER [00:02:46] Absolutely. I hear each and every day from people who have been furloughed, laid off or their hours have been completely reduced. It is tragic, what is happening economically, as we address the health emergency. And that’s the thing, we can’t do–. You know, I mentioned the three things that I’m working on, the health emergency, individual assistance and relief, and the business economy side. Those are not things you do [from the perspective of], “Well, let’s do this first and then later on we’ll do this second and later on we’ll do this third.” No, we have to do all three simultaneously. And that’s what we’re focused on. And so everything we’re doing is through the lens of let’s find a treatment, let’s find a vaccine. Let’s get people the equipment they need, the resources they need, the testing material they need, let’s get the tests they need. While at the same time, we’ve got to get relief to people who are worried about how they’re going to pay rent, how they’re going to buy food for their family. And then, you know, making sure that businesses are able to come back into full force once this is over, because it’s hard to have a country without an economy. There are places that have tried that. it doesn’t work out too well.

CAPLIS [00:03:46] Amen. And you’ve done a great job so far with the various programs that have been approved. It’s obvious at this point that the small business program, which I think is going to yield tremendous dividends for America, especially workers in America, is so popular right now that it’s going to run out of money. Can you update people on the effort that you’re making to try to get more money into that program?

[00:04:10] Yeah, the Paycheck Protection Program, this is, as you said, the loan program that goes to small businesses. And if you use it for payroll, payroll support, mortgage interest, for rent, utilities, health care premiums, that portion of the loan is forgiven. This has been heavily subscribed. I talked to one bank today in Steamboat Springs that in a matter of four days has about 275 loans approved, totaling $30 million just in the Steamboat Springs area.

CAPLIS [00:04:37] Right.

GARDNER [00:04:39] And nationally, we’re talking about, you know, 100-plus billion dollars in this loan already approved [by] this program with hundreds of thousands of applicants. And, you know, it needs more money. And we need to move more money into it. And the goal of this fund is to keep people on [the] payroll, to not put them on unemployment insurance. Because if they’re on payroll with their employees, they can get health insurance. They can most likely have those kinds of benefits and the business wants to be able, at the other side of this, to be able to have the skilled employees that they need to continue the business operation. So this program really is critical and it needs more money. And we tried to get more money today and Senator Schumer said ‘no.’ He objected to it because he wants other programs to get money. And these other programs may very well be incredibly important. I have no doubt the states need additional funding. I have no doubts hospitals need funding. I don’t understand why Washington can’t chew gum and walk at the same time.

CAPLIS [00:05:35] Great point. Senator Cory Gardner, our guest. Are you confident that ultimately this program will receive more funds, that the state’s hospitals, et cetera, will receive the funds they need? Or are we getting to the point where there just isn’t going to be anymore?

GARDNER [00:05:51] Say that again, Dan, — I’m sorry, — that the hospitals need more funds?

CAPLIS [00:05:54] Forgive me. My question was, are you confident that no matter how much commotion there is in the process, that ultimately the Senate and the House will get to the point where there will be these additional funds available for the small business program as well as for states and hospitals? Or, Senator, are we getting to the point where there just isn’t going to be enough money available?

GARDNER [00:06:17] Yeah, that’s –. Thank you. I’m sorry, I misunderstood. Yeah, absolutely, there will be — I am confident that we will have more resources put to these programs. What bothers me is that the price sometimes of doing that is to fulfill somebody like Senator Schumer’s pet political project. And I hope they don’t try to do that. I hope they, honest to goodness, listen to the voices of anxiety and uncertainty and concern in their community, in their homes, in their neighborhoods and do the right thing. And that’s just do — put the money in it, keep the program going! So I’m confident we’ll get there. It’s just, you know, as somebody going, “I want to try to do what they did in the House, where they wanted money put on — you know, or green New Deal standards put on things. I just — solve the problem. Reach the solution. Don’t try to have your partisan way.

CAPLIS [00:07:07] And, Senator, I know you to be not only a brilliant guy, but a very positive, optimistic guy. I know this consumes you every waking moment. So in the last minute and a half we have, give people your vision for the reopening of Colorado, and America, and what that’s going to look like.

GARDNER [00:07:23] Yes, so this all comes down to testing, testing, testing, testing. And it’s got to be focused on several things. We’ve got to test, we’ve got to treat, and we’ve got to trace. So we need to have individual tests. When somebody has a cold or they go to the hospital because they’ve got a scratchy throat, they get tested for the flu and strep and COVID-19. We have bigger populations tests. We know where the hot spots across the country are, from a sort of a larger geographic standpoint. Is this a hotter thing in the southwest, or the northeast, or the Midwest? And then we have to have the serology tests that allow us to know the antibodies, the immunities, and how that affects who can come back into the workforce. What we need to know for a vaccine or additional therapies and treatments going forward. You know, that’s kind of the longer-term lookout. And by the way, ‘longer-term’ is like, July. So, this is making sure we have that in place in just a few months from now. And in the meantime, we have to ramp up every effort on tests today and get that in place so that we can get back to normal. Now, understand that ‘normal’ is going to include sitting further apart at a restaurant, sitting further apart on a baseball game or a basketball game or a football game, it’s going to be different–

CAPLIS [00:08:29] Yeah.

GARDNER [00:08:30] –until we get this vaccine, until we get this figured out to the point where our health care experts are comfortable with us going back to what life was.

CAPLIS [00:08:37] Senator, [I] appreciate your time, appreciate all that you’re doing for Colorado and beyond, and appreciate, you know, being available to us. So stay safe out there.

GARDNER [00:08:45] You, too. Dan, thank you so much.