Speaker 1: Citizen Chef is a production of I Heart Radio. You know,
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time talking to members of Congress,
Speaker 1: and I really believe there are a lot of people
Speaker 1: there that that are there for the right reasons. They're
Speaker 1: there to help people. And to me, this was democracy
Speaker 1: in action. This was a problem. You had people that
Speaker 1: got together. They effectively lobby, and that's not a bad word,
Speaker 1: lobby government for help. And it worked. And so for me,
Speaker 1: this is this is watching democracy really work and and
Speaker 1: and it all happened because of democracy in Georgia as well.
Speaker 1: Don't give away my punchline. Hello and welcome to season
Speaker 1: two of Citizen Chef. I'm your host, Tom Polikio. You
Speaker 1: may know me from Top Chefs or my restaurants are
Speaker 1: I'm hoping for this podcast. Since we last spoke, however,
Speaker 1: the role has been most near and dear in my heart.
Speaker 1: What I've been playing for the last year is lobbyist. Yes,
Speaker 1: I know, lobbyists can sometimes be considered a dirty word,
Speaker 1: frequently associated with sort of industries occurring for ever in Washington,
Speaker 1: I get it. But for me, years ago, I was
Speaker 1: a co founder of Food Policy Action. We published a
Speaker 1: scorecard and we grated a Congress on how he voted
Speaker 1: around food issues, which brought me frequently to the hill
Speaker 1: UM and I was lobbying them, But I was lobbying
Speaker 1: on behalf of people who were in need of food.
Speaker 1: I was lobbying around issues around accessibility and affordability of
Speaker 1: of food and other other farming issues as well. I
Speaker 1: was unpaid registered lobbyist UM and still am. But over
Speaker 1: the last year I have been working with the Independent
Speaker 1: Restaurant Coalition to lobby our government for directed relief for restaurants.
Speaker 1: As you all know, restaurants were probably the most affected
Speaker 1: by the COVID pandemic. The only thing I was going
Speaker 1: to help and that it wasn't a go funding page,
Speaker 1: and it certainly wasn't bake sales. And we needed the
Speaker 1: federal government to never want to understand the scope and
Speaker 1: scale of the problem and and then to understand that
Speaker 1: we needed direct relief, which we did. We got it.
Speaker 1: It took a year's worth of work, and it took
Speaker 1: a bunch of people, chefs and restaurant hers across the
Speaker 1: country that that banned together and just were relentless in
Speaker 1: making sure that government understood our needs. Chefs that had
Speaker 1: never called on a member of Congress. What they were relentless,
Speaker 1: not only calling members of Congress in their district or
Speaker 1: their state, but anyone else they can get in touch with.
Speaker 1: It was it was great to see. Really, I mean,
Speaker 1: for me, it was really democracy in action. It was
Speaker 1: a fight. And there were other organizations without naming them
Speaker 1: that sometimes gotten. The way is it was tough. All
Speaker 1: bloom Nowers a Member of Commerce from Portland area in Oregon,
Speaker 1: and he wrote the bill in the House right away,
Speaker 1: and he was actually already working on this. Who was
Speaker 1: some local restaurants in Portland. One of our members from Mississippi,
Speaker 1: Robert st. John, who ended up writing the bill for
Speaker 1: the Senate, and that was also supported heavily by Kirsty
Speaker 1: Cinema from Arizona, as well as so many other people.
Speaker 1: Hory Booker supported, Christian Jillys, Jim McGovern, Rose at DO, Laura,
Speaker 1: Shelly Pingry. These are all people who I've worked with
Speaker 1: in the past on food policy um. But they were
Speaker 1: all very supportive, as well as about two hundred plus
Speaker 1: House members and over fifty members in the Senates. This
Speaker 1: was truly bipartisan, and of course Speaker Pelosi had her
Speaker 1: hand in this. Um, the Lasquas who runs the Small
Speaker 1: Business Association. Uh, so many people really put an instrumental role.
Speaker 1: But when things looked really bad. Um, you know, when
Speaker 1: when President Biden was elected, we were not included in
Speaker 1: his stimulus package. The night of the Georgia election, when
Speaker 1: Senator Schumer became the leader of the Senate, we reached
Speaker 1: out to very quickly and he made promises that we
Speaker 1: would be included in that package. And he kept his promise.
Speaker 1: We received some funding twenty point six billion dollars. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's a lot of money. It's a little short of
Speaker 1: what we're asking for. As of today, I believe the
Speaker 1: sp A has already processed well over hundred thousand applications.
Speaker 1: And also restaurants that do fewer than five thousand dollars
Speaker 1: fee than a half million dollars. There's a separate fund
Speaker 1: for them of five billion dollars. So we're taking care
Speaker 1: of a lot of people here. Um. Senator Schumer kept
Speaker 1: his promise. So without further ado, I just want to
Speaker 1: say thank you Senator Schumer, and welcome to Citizen Chef.
Speaker 1: How are you good? Number one? Thanks for for agreeing
Speaker 1: to appear on Citizen chef. This is our our second season.
Speaker 1: This this episode is really focusing on restaurant Acts, Restaurant
Speaker 1: Revitization Act. Uh, it's such an important role that you
Speaker 1: played in getting this past and and part of the
Speaker 1: stimulus package. Um. Our listeners may or may not know. Um,
Speaker 1: the Restaurant Act was not part of President Biden's original
Speaker 1: stimulus package. I've said this publicly before. But you made
Speaker 1: a promise to me that it was going to be
Speaker 1: in there, and you kept your promise. And as I
Speaker 1: was a majority leader, I was going to do it,
Speaker 1: and so you did. It's in there, and so far
Speaker 1: it's been it's been a huge success. Um. What do
Speaker 1: you think would have happened if we didn't take Georgia?
Speaker 1: We didn't take Georgia that you know, here was the problem.
Speaker 1: As you know, Tom, restaurants had unique problems, more problems
Speaker 1: than any other small business because that's where people with
Speaker 1: the buness is that had the worst trouble in COVID
Speaker 1: where people gathered together, and so many restaurants were closed,
Speaker 1: so many restaurants, even when they were open, they could
Speaker 1: only have twenty five or ten percent of capacity. And
Speaker 1: then of course for New York when it was winter,
Speaker 1: people didn't want to eat outside very much. Though restaurants
Speaker 1: suffered more than anyone else. And you and I have
Speaker 1: to give you and the groups you put together real credit.
Speaker 1: You guys came to me and said we are unique.
Speaker 1: And I said to Tom, you gotta put together a
Speaker 1: whole national network, which you did, and there were restauranturs
Speaker 1: all over the country who got involved. And I promised,
Speaker 1: if I became majority leader, we would do this special
Speaker 1: assistance for restaurants. And the program is really much better
Speaker 1: than the p p P some some of the issues
Speaker 1: you're actually some of the issues with p p P.
Speaker 1: P PP was fine if you were a business, a
Speaker 1: small business that maybe saw impact on your bottom line.
Speaker 1: Maybe you laid off a handful of workers, so you
Speaker 1: were able to bring those workers back, pay them through
Speaker 1: p p P, pay your rent and then essentially uh
Speaker 1: lower your cost and so you did okay. But if
Speaker 1: you were shuttered, if you were closed, like well restaurants were,
Speaker 1: it really didn't help at all. Right, so this is
Speaker 1: a much more generous program. Um you just do you
Speaker 1: calculate your revenues you lost between right, it's the difference
Speaker 1: between revenue and twenties revenue UH minus any p p
Speaker 1: p UM. A restaurant can get up to two million dollars,
Speaker 1: but restaurant groups are kept at ten million. You don't
Speaker 1: have to deduct if you got an IDOL grant, you
Speaker 1: don't have to deduct it. The earned at tax credit
Speaker 1: you know where you get paid that didn't get deducted.
Speaker 1: And here's first, we made it sure that it wasn't
Speaker 1: just a restaurant per se, but it went to caterers
Speaker 1: and brew pubs and tap rooms and tasting rooms, all okay.
Speaker 1: And we also made it very broad. The p p
Speaker 1: P was very limited in what you could do, and
Speaker 1: if you didn't, if you had a higher rent, you
Speaker 1: were because the first BPP said the only fifty percent
Speaker 1: of your costs could go to UH employees and rents
Speaker 1: were so okay. So now it just as very broad.
Speaker 1: And I'll give I'm gonna list all the things here
Speaker 1: I have it. Not only it can include rent, utilities, mortgage,
Speaker 1: maintenance supplies, equipment, cleaning materials, food, operational expenses, supplier costs,
Speaker 1: um um. All of that can be included. You know what,
Speaker 1: when when we when we we made sure that that
Speaker 1: was there for a reason when we made the claim
Speaker 1: of how big of a problem uh, having restaurants closed
Speaker 1: the impact that it wasn't just the impact of the
Speaker 1: people who worked in restaurants, but it was the entire ecosystem.
Speaker 1: It was all the suppliers. And so without having that
Speaker 1: money flow through to pay for suppliers, you weren't. You
Speaker 1: can keep that that that that that eco ecosystem intact,
Speaker 1: more New Yorkers lost jobs who worked in restaurants than
Speaker 1: any other category. So first it's just unemployed people left.
Speaker 1: And second, all the suppliers and everybody else would told
Speaker 1: we stuck back all the way to the agricultural eco system.
Speaker 1: And third, and this is what you know. Restaurants provide
Speaker 1: us not just in New York but everywhere, but especially
Speaker 1: in New York. We have the best restaurants. In my
Speaker 1: humble looking, you identify you want to live in a
Speaker 1: neighborhood because of restaurants. You identify with communities. Because of restaurants.
Speaker 1: People have made their friends, their partners, their plans. It's
Speaker 1: a sense of community, it's a common bond over shared food. Listen.
Speaker 1: Senator Schumer was such a great ally for this bill
Speaker 1: because he really understands that this isn't a ballout. This
Speaker 1: is a heartfelt effort to preserve one of our vital ecosystems. Uh.
Speaker 1: This is about people's livelihoods. It's it's about preserving the
Speaker 1: true source of joy for a lot of people, and
Speaker 1: it's really about keeping communities together and safe. We'll be
Speaker 1: back with more. Citizen Chef Tom Colochio and I'm talking
Speaker 1: with Sender Schubert are about a path ahead as the
Speaker 1: restaurant industry attempts to fall back the losses from the pandemic.
Speaker 1: I care about small business people, as you know, Tom,
Speaker 1: I'll tell your listeners my dad had the opposite of
Speaker 1: a restaurant. Restaurants bring things to life. We'll use an
Speaker 1: exterminator terrible business, so we need him in restaurants. Yes,
Speaker 1: and that's well, that's another part of the ecosystem. That's exactly.
Speaker 1: But I saw how small business people struggle. So you
Speaker 1: add the fact that small business. Restaurant is a small business,
Speaker 1: but then it's a special place for the community. And
Speaker 1: then it's organic itself. You know, a restaurants not just
Speaker 1: seven people or twenty two people working together. It's a
Speaker 1: team and there's a chef and a Sioux chef, and
Speaker 1: there's a major d and there's waiters and the waitresses,
Speaker 1: and and you don't want to lose all that. You
Speaker 1: lose it, you lose something spiritual almost. So I made
Speaker 1: it a pledge that we were going to get this
Speaker 1: done if I became majority leader. Let me give you
Speaker 1: some good news here today. This is um. The SBA
Speaker 1: today informed us that the first wave of restaurant applications
Speaker 1: have been approved. Sixteen thousand awards worth two billion dollars
Speaker 1: has been given out and the funds are going to
Speaker 1: arrive as soon as today for those who have been approved.
Speaker 1: And I say to your listeners, you don't have to
Speaker 1: go through a bank. You can just call up the
Speaker 1: SPA and they will help you. And if you need help,
Speaker 1: you can call Tom's group, you can call my office.
Speaker 1: I have this huge smile on my face. It's you
Speaker 1: can't see this. You can, but the listeners won won't
Speaker 1: be able to see this because this is is the
Speaker 1: coination of a year's worth of work that the Independent
Speaker 1: Restaurant Coalition did. And we were celebrating when the s
Speaker 1: b A actually opened up the program for applications. The
Speaker 1: idea that money is going out today is something that
Speaker 1: I'm sure all of my colleagues that fought so hard
Speaker 1: for this program, they're just gonna be just just over
Speaker 1: the moon. Yes, Um, you know what happened in the
Speaker 1: first bill when Trump was around, and frankly the Republicans,
Speaker 1: they let all the big chains scoop up all the money.
Speaker 1: They can't get it any more. It was originally twenty
Speaker 1: five billion, and then I upped it. I you know,
Speaker 1: was not in the House bill, it was not in
Speaker 1: the President's bill. But my love for restaurants and my
Speaker 1: love for my caring about the struggles of small businesses
Speaker 1: combined said, um, this was a must do. I put it.
Speaker 1: I said, I'm not going to put a bill on
Speaker 1: the floor that doesn't have the Restaurants Act in it.
Speaker 1: And I got to get your independent restaurant group such
Speaker 1: credit you were you were, I don't know what how
Speaker 1: you say the word indefatigable whatever. We must have talked
Speaker 1: Hi and he is as a chef too. If we
Speaker 1: didn't have the grass roots, we couldn't have got this
Speaker 1: for giving me a lot of credit. And then there's
Speaker 1: there was so many chefs restaurateurs across the country who
Speaker 1: who had never reached out to elected officials, and it
Speaker 1: was just great to watch body stuck. He was a
Speaker 1: restaurantur in Colorado. He just was NonStop, would call everyone
Speaker 1: um and just you know. They found that some of
Speaker 1: the qualities that you have running a restaurant, especially in
Speaker 1: the front of the house where you're making relationships. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you're that that that really paid off because they
Speaker 1: understood how to how to figure out what people wanted,
Speaker 1: what they needed. And so we had to tell a story.
Speaker 1: Number one. We had a picture coverress understood the issues
Speaker 1: that restaurants had, and we also had to get it
Speaker 1: out there to the public. And we also, I gotta
Speaker 1: say the press. They were also really instrumental because they
Speaker 1: were allowing us to tell our stories. Right. And by
Speaker 1: the way, that's another thing we did to him. We
Speaker 1: made it nonpartisan. We didn't want it to so that
Speaker 1: it actually the first amendment I put on the floor
Speaker 1: of the Senate the power of the Majority Leader. One
Speaker 1: of them is you determine what goes on the floor
Speaker 1: of the Senate was a bye part is in bill
Speaker 1: your bill. The Bypartisan Bill Restaurants Act passed by the
Speaker 1: sponsors were cinema. She's a Democrat of Arizona, and Wicker
Speaker 1: he's a Republican of Mississippi. And that was the first
Speaker 1: bill we put on the floor, and it passed in
Speaker 1: a big bipartisan vote, overwhelming. So that means if we
Speaker 1: run out twenty eight billion in there will have a
Speaker 1: very good chance and I will fight hard to get
Speaker 1: it new. So let me that's where I wanted ahead
Speaker 1: with this, because there's a good chance that it will
Speaker 1: run out twenty eight point six billions. It's a it's
Speaker 1: a big number, but we were asking for a hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty billion, I believe the number for all restaurants.
Speaker 1: So if you factor out some of the chains, I
Speaker 1: think the number was about two hundred billion that we
Speaker 1: were affecting. Our revenue was affected, but if you factor
Speaker 1: out some of the big ones, it probably isn't about
Speaker 1: a hundred and twenty billion. Um. We're sure of that. UM.
Speaker 1: So we're pretty sure this is gonna going to run out.
Speaker 1: We've done a bunch of town halls just to let
Speaker 1: people know. I mean, we have members of our group
Speaker 1: walking into restaurants in their community saying, do you know
Speaker 1: about this? Apply and so, so what is the process
Speaker 1: that we have to go through now to get the
Speaker 1: revitalization fund plussed up? Well, when we get a little
Speaker 1: when we get a little closer, I gave it a
Speaker 1: few more weeks. Um, you should go do the same
Speaker 1: thing you did before. I go to the Senator's Democrat
Speaker 1: Republican from every corner of the country and say, there
Speaker 1: are still many more restaurants that have applied that may
Speaker 1: not get it if we don't knew it, and it
Speaker 1: since it had such pularity, I think it has a
Speaker 1: damn good chance. Again, is this a standalone vote, Well,
Speaker 1: we'll have to design. You know, stand alone votes in
Speaker 1: the Senator take a long time. So often get an
Speaker 1: amendment to something we could hope, you know, I it's
Speaker 1: too early to tell right now, when and what bill
Speaker 1: we detach it to God one way or another. I'll
Speaker 1: do everything I can to get it renewed, and we
Speaker 1: don't have to make so far. And I don't know
Speaker 1: what you've heard, Tom, but I've you know, I go
Speaker 1: to restaurants all the time, and I've heard from the
Speaker 1: people who are applying that's relatively easy. They're not making
Speaker 1: them jump through hoops. So if restaurants who are listening
Speaker 1: to this podcast haven't applied, please do So's any chefs
Speaker 1: and restauranturs out there that haven't applied yet, you should
Speaker 1: go to SPA dot gov and click on the Restaurant
Speaker 1: and Vitalization Fund under COVID nineteen relief options. Also, if
Speaker 1: you don't own a restaurant um you can't help putting
Speaker 1: a call into your representatives, members of Congress, Senators and
Speaker 1: let them know that you want to see the Restaurant
Speaker 1: Vitalization Act plused up if the funding runs out, you
Speaker 1: want to see more money in their applications. In the
Speaker 1: first three days, came in from fifty states, fifty different states,
Speaker 1: includes all the Blue ones and all the Red ones
Speaker 1: and five territories as well. A lot of people out
Speaker 1: there need help. We'll be back with more citizen chef
Speaker 1: We're back. Independent Restaurant Coalition worked with the SPA to
Speaker 1: actually stand up the program. Early on, you had to
Speaker 1: have a SAM number and the d n B number.
Speaker 1: They dropped that. That was really tumblings. My my director
Speaker 1: of finance, who's uh you know a c p A
Speaker 1: has been with me for twenty years. It took him
Speaker 1: four hours to get those numbers and so they dropped
Speaker 1: that um and and they made it easy. They really
Speaker 1: listened to us, and so it was really great to
Speaker 1: see government agency working with restaurants. Being Administrator Guzman, so
Speaker 1: she's very open to suggestions onto how to make it easier. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they were great to work with the processes is. It
Speaker 1: was much easier than even P P P. So we
Speaker 1: also renew the e r TC, the Revenue Tax Credit,
Speaker 1: and that means that if you you can pay up
Speaker 1: to seven you get a tax credit of up to
Speaker 1: seventy percent of the first forty thousand of people's salary
Speaker 1: who you didn't who you normally wouldn't be able to
Speaker 1: keep on because of your lost revenues. So people should
Speaker 1: look into that. That's in addition to the Restaurants Act.
Speaker 1: You can do both. Yeah, that notice it has been
Speaker 1: hard finding staff. And I'm not one of those who
Speaker 1: believe that it's because they're more comfortable with unemployment. I
Speaker 1: think a lot of a lot in our industry. I
Speaker 1: think a lot of people left the industry. We had
Speaker 1: a lot of career changes in our industry, and I
Speaker 1: think they went back to their their careers. Also, a
Speaker 1: lot of people started their own businesses. You know, they
Speaker 1: had to make the pivot during COVID and they started
Speaker 1: baking out of their homes and setting up small businesses.
Speaker 1: And I think they've just decided that they'd rather work
Speaker 1: for themselves, and so there are uh My understanding is
Speaker 1: that there's a ton of new businesses that have been
Speaker 1: started over the last year, UM, and that trend will continue. UM. Also,
Speaker 1: a lot of restaurant workers are afraid of coming back
Speaker 1: because they're afraid they're only going to get one or
Speaker 1: two shifts, and so they're not willing to give up
Speaker 1: unemployment only to to to work, you know, one or
Speaker 1: two shifts. Once we come back, fully many more people. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I I believe that's the point. You know, once it's
Speaker 1: clear that you know, the vast majority of us are vaccinated,
Speaker 1: there are some people who don't want to come back
Speaker 1: because they're worried about the COVID and that's understanding that
Speaker 1: they are they are that's going to change over the
Speaker 1: next few months, I think, right. And I think the
Speaker 1: other important thing for people understand is there are a
Speaker 1: lot of women in the industry that their kids are
Speaker 1: home still and they can't go back to work because
Speaker 1: they're they're taking care of their children. You know, we're
Speaker 1: seeing all the tweets go out by the Republicans that
Speaker 1: did not vote for for the stimulus package, and yet
Speaker 1: they're sending tweets out saying, you know, if your restaurants
Speaker 1: in my district, you know, go apply. We we got
Speaker 1: to this program and we want you to take advantage
Speaker 1: of it. And so that's all only good. And I've
Speaker 1: seen that a lot of people are going after them
Speaker 1: for taking credit. But I think now now they're on
Speaker 1: record of saying that they did this, they they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to plus this up. Let's I think they. I
Speaker 1: think they paint themselves into a corner. And the big
Speaker 1: problem will not be getting votes on this proposal, but
Speaker 1: if it's on a must pass bill, because it's hard
Speaker 1: to do it alone, that they don't vote against the
Speaker 1: must pass bill, and they see I voted for this,
Speaker 1: but the must build. You gotta vote for both teams.
Speaker 1: You gotta get the you know, Fauci said something very smart.
Speaker 1: He said, just having the vaccines on the shelf does
Speaker 1: no good. You gotta getting people on. Just having the
Speaker 1: money on the government shelves does no good. You gotta
Speaker 1: get it into the restaurant tours hands right. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm wondering, is this is this something where um this
Speaker 1: revitalization fund? Is this a fund that could be used
Speaker 1: for localized disasters where let's just say, like we saw
Speaker 1: the storm in Texas where these restaurants are forced to
Speaker 1: close for a period of time, that can be used
Speaker 1: specifically for for targeting disasters as well. Well, it's for
Speaker 1: this year, yes, but later. But here's something else. Your governors,
Speaker 1: your state, your county leaders, mayors, all the local people
Speaker 1: got money. And one of the specific fick uses of
Speaker 1: the money is for disasters or particularly hard hit areas.
Speaker 1: Let's let's say you know the street your restaurant is on.
Speaker 1: The Restaurant Act will help your restaurant, but the street
Speaker 1: needs to be revitalized, or you need to do advertising.
Speaker 1: Come back to Elm Street. It's alive, it's happening. They
Speaker 1: can use this money for that. So I would recommend
Speaker 1: people talk to their local officials because there's money in
Speaker 1: addition to encourage people to get back out to the restaurants.
Speaker 1: They could even advertise come to all the restaurants on
Speaker 1: main Street. These seven are open, right. Well, I listen,
Speaker 1: things are changing. When you were in the restaurant last week,
Speaker 1: it was pretty busy. Um, New York. Last month things
Speaker 1: have been dramatically increased. And we love the Latta thank
Speaker 1: you what it meant and I forgot it's a thank you.
Speaker 1: So Lata is the town that my my father's family
Speaker 1: is from. That's what I uh. It's about forty five
Speaker 1: minutes northeast of Naples. It's an avellino um in Campanda.
Speaker 1: But there, as it was in your restaurant. You know,
Speaker 1: I've never been, my my brother's been. I've never been
Speaker 1: south of Rome, so I need I need to get there.
Speaker 1: But um, you've never been to Naples. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: I've been. I've been to Sicily, but I've never been
Speaker 1: to Naples. Yeah. I've noticed that I'm going out to
Speaker 1: tables and everyone's seen. Everyone that's coming in seems to
Speaker 1: be vaccinated. Um, we've got great news. I think today
Speaker 1: that now children twelve to twelve to sixte get vaccinated,
Speaker 1: and right now in New York and most states, but
Speaker 1: certainly in New York, if you are now twelve or older,
Speaker 1: you can just line up and get the vaccine. You
Speaker 1: don't have to make an appointment. That a hundred questions
Speaker 1: did you have diabetes? For sixteen and over? That's already
Speaker 1: done and now it will go to twelve. Well, Senator Suar,
Speaker 1: I just want to say thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 1: I know this was again a year long process, starting
Speaker 1: with a few phone calls the I r C was formed. Uh,
Speaker 1: luckily we had people like a Blue Ban who wrote
Speaker 1: the bill in the House and Senator Wicker in the Senate.
Speaker 1: But um, I have to say the heavy lifting done
Speaker 1: by you and your team because I know the conversations
Speaker 1: that we had with with a lot of your team members. Um,
Speaker 1: I have a great Stan gets a lot of credit
Speaker 1: on John John does. I had some harsh words from
Speaker 1: one afternoon with him on a call and uh not
Speaker 1: not harsh, but you know we were we were, I
Speaker 1: mean I was starting to feel desperate. It was a
Speaker 1: day after we won Georgia and I was I was
Speaker 1: just like, okay, we have this now, let's just tell
Speaker 1: me what I want to hear. And he did. And
Speaker 1: again you kept your promise, and so did you. Tom.
Speaker 1: A lot of done without I r C and you,
Speaker 1: so thank you, thank you, and we're a great team
Speaker 1: and we'll keep working for our restaurants. And I'll tell
Speaker 1: you one thing. You know, one of these great satisfactions
Speaker 1: and this is where you to public officials and you beings.
Speaker 1: I walked into a little restaurant, very small, in my
Speaker 1: neighborhood in Brooklyn, and the proprietor said to me, Without you,
Speaker 1: I would have closed. Thank you. Yeah. Well that's her,
Speaker 1: and that's the four or five people who work for her,
Speaker 1: and that's the neighborhood. The feeling, there's no better feeling
Speaker 1: and satisfaction when you're ready to actually help somebody. Yeah, well, thanks,
Speaker 1: thanks for putting online and like they say, thanks for
Speaker 1: being in the arena. Um, I'd love to talk to
Speaker 1: you again some aside from food about what we're gonna
Speaker 1: do to keep the Senate and the strategy behind that,
Speaker 1: because I think it's gonna be fascinating. Um. I know
Speaker 1: that's it's so important to do that because we want
Speaker 1: to keep what we have going. That's important to me too.
Speaker 1: All right, good talking to you again. Yeah, take my
Speaker 1: bye bye. Okay, thanks again to Senator Schumer for taking
Speaker 1: the time to talk to us today. And um, now
Speaker 1: I want to know what you're dreamy about once you
Speaker 1: get your vaccination. For me, uh, live music was it. Um.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to get to see a show. Obviously.
Speaker 1: For me, seeing a full restaurant is something. I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to. A restaurant where that's noisy and bustling and
Speaker 1: people seem just less trade, really looking forward to that. Also,
Speaker 1: keep in mind, yes, the money is going to restaurant
Speaker 1: urs to keep their doors open. But uh, you know
Speaker 1: when you think about where you go to celebrate a graduation,
Speaker 1: or you go on a first date, our anniversary or birthday,
Speaker 1: um a place to go relax in the wine with
Speaker 1: your friends and family, it's restaurants. You know. Restaurants are
Speaker 1: the cornerstones of our communities. Also because we're opening late
Speaker 1: and lights around, we keep communities and neighborhoods safe. Often
Speaker 1: someone's first job is at a restaurant. If you are
Speaker 1: recently released from being incarcerated, restaurants will typically hire you.
Speaker 1: It's one place you can get a second chance. This
Speaker 1: in our industry is UH is here for so many reasons,
Speaker 1: and so this this is why this bill is important.
Speaker 1: If you don't own a restaurant and you think that
Speaker 1: the funding should be there, um, you can make sure
Speaker 1: that you are part of the solution by calling your
Speaker 1: member of Congress and let them know how important the
Speaker 1: Restaurant Revitalization Act is and that you want to see
Speaker 1: it plused up so it can continue to help people.
Speaker 1: So please join us next week as we continue our
Speaker 1: conversation about the intersection of food and politics and policy.
Speaker 1: This time we're looking beyond the pandemic to the many,
Speaker 1: many branches of the U. S d A with our guest,
Speaker 1: Kathleen Merrigan. Citizen Chef was executive produced by Christopher Haciotas
Speaker 1: and produced by Gariel Collins. Our researcher and writer is
Speaker 1: Lillian Holman and is always a very special thank you
Speaker 1: to a place at the table. Citizen Chef is a
Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more podcast my Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app. Apple podcasts are anywhere
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. Assssssssssssssssssssssssssssss