Rep. Richard Neal is on Capitol Hill today to witness the start of Joe Biden’s presidency, which he anticipates will be “a welcome contrast” to the last four years.
“I think that one of the things that Joe Biden will always do — given his institutional knowledge and given the fact that he has great regard for our government institutions — it will be a message that will reassure,” Neal told Joe Mathieu on GBH's Morning Edition Wednesday. “I think it will provide some confidence. I think we all would like some relief from the constant chaos that we've all witnessed during the last four years.”
Neal, a Democrat who has represented the Massachusetts’ 1st Congressional District since 2013, was one of many members of Congress trapped in the Capitol during the insurrection on Jan. 6. He says despite Wednesday's heightened security measures, the inauguration represents an important symbolic message for the country.
“I think that this is still a very important civic moment for America to watch the transition of power from the former president to the new president,” he said.
Neal is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and the incoming administration will need his help in order to enact its economic agenda, which could include reversing the Trump tax cuts. Among other changes to the tax code, the bill Trump signed into law in 2017 dropped the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.
“We’re going to get to all those matters very quickly. We’re going to have to measure all of it against the pandemic and the recession we find ourselves in,” he said, adding that he looks forward to working with Janet Yellen, poised to be the next treasury secretary. “I await eagerly what the president-elect will have to say at noontime.”
