On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, D-AL, hosted a media call to update members of the press Alabama press on actions his office has taken over the past few weeks.

Jones started the call by reviewing recent undertakings, including his trip to the Middle East alongside colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee and meetings with disaster victims in Lee County and the Wiregrass.

After returning to Washington, Jones said he “hit the ground running” and has again taken to calling on members of Congress and the Trump Administration to come to an agreement on a disaster relief package.

“This should be a bipartisan issue,” Jones said. “All Americans are suffering.”

Jones recalled his conversation with President Donald Trump regarding disaster aid, during which the president refused to offer any further disaster relief funding to Puerto Rico, an issue at the center of lawmakers’ stalemate over passing the relief package.

“I’m continuing to do what I can to get a disaster relief package over the finish line,” Jones said. “I’m going to keep looking for policies to make our state safer.”

For his part, Jones is optimistic that the funding will be approved soon.

“I think that what we are seeing now is that there have been some breaks on both sides,” Jones said. “I feel very good that it’s going to happen. I’m hoping everybody now is seeing and feeling the urgency.”

Jones has been inspired by recent conversations with U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, and said that many Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are keying in on an opportunity to free up disaster relief funds that were previously appropriated but are being held up by the Office of Management and Budget.

Despite the ongoing need in Lee County and the Wiregrass, where cotton and timber farmers are still reeling from Hurricane Michael, Jones sees progress in both areas.

Jones also celebrated the recent announcement that changes are coming to Alabama’s Medicaid reimbursement rate, which is currently the lowest in the nation and continues to “keep Alabama at the bottom of the heap.”

Jones said that he is still waiting on firm numbers on what exactly the adjustment will look like, but he is confident the change will be a win for the people of Alabama.

“We’re still looking to see exactly how that will play out,” Jones said. “It may or not be as significant as we would like for it to be, but I can tell you it’s going to be meaningful. I think this is going to be very significant for us. The increases are going to be very important.”

Despite his excitement over the planned change, Jones believes more should be done.

“This alone is not a panacea,” Jones said. “This is a huge step and a real positive for Alabama, but I still maintain that we need a one-two punch.”

That “one-two punch,” Jones said, includes expanding Medicaid in the state, a move he believes would not only benefit hospitals, doctors and patients in the state, but also Alabama’s businesses and economy.

Jones deflected a question regarding his apparent support for former Vice President Joe Biden, who is one of more than a dozen Democrats seeking the party’s 2020 presidential nomination, only stating that he and Biden are old friends.

Similarly, when asked about the Alabama House’s passage of one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bans in the nation, Jones had little to say, only stating that such decisions “should not be made by the state or the federal government” and that he hates that the issue has become so politicized over the years.

Jones also voiced disappointment over U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s handling of the report released by Special Counsel Robert Mueller regarding Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, stating that he fears the Attorney General lacks independence and has become “a partisan for the administration.”