Lawmakers' main priority moving forwards during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic must be "jobs, jobs, jobs," Sen. Josh Hawley said Monday.
"We have got to get this economy reopened," the Missouri Republican said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "This has got to be our top focus. We have got to get people back to work. I think any future relief, any further relief that Congress passes has got to be focused on jobs, jobs, jobs."
Hawley's comments come as the Senate reconvenes on Monday, which the House will not be in session, but he said that the Senate can still move forward on taking action.
"We have 27 million people unemployed in this country," said Hawley. "The president was right last night. This is the greatest economy in the history of this country. We have got to get that back, and that means getting people back to work."
While President Donald Trump has said he wants to see a payroll tax cut moving forward, Hawley said he wants to go a step further than that and enact a payroll tax rebate that would be an advance that could help businesses cover their payroll now and give them incentives to rehire laid-off workers.
He added that he is against state and local bailouts, though, because the real focus should be on getting back to work.
He also said that the pandemic is serious, but he believes that polls showing that mainly Democrats do not yet want to reopen the country are a reflection of "media hysteria."
Hawley Monday also called for strict action, tariffs, and an investigation on China's actions concerning the virus.
"We ought to allow individuals and states to sue Beijing," said Hawley. "We should wave their sovereign immunity. That's the immunity every government gets in U.S. courts. China shouldn't get it right now."