LEADER JEFFRIES: "DEMOCRATS ARE READY, WILLING AND ABLE TO FIND BIPARTISAN COMMON GROUND FOR THE GOOD OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE"

Press Release

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"Good morning, great to be back with you. From the very beginning of this Congress, Democrats have maintained that we are ready, willing and able to find bipartisan common ground on any issue for the good of the American people. And we've repeatedly done just that. We've done it in the context of now avoiding two government shutdowns. We've done it in the context of securing $16 billion in disaster assistance for the American people. We've done it in the context of avoiding a catastrophic default on our nation's debt that would have crashed the economy and triggered a job-killing recession. And so this has been the pattern that House Democrats will continue to follow for the American people. We've said repeatedly we're going to put people over politics. We don't just say it. We do it. And so we were able to come together and reach this continuing resolution that did three important things: no spending cuts, no hard-right conservative policy changes, no government shutdown."

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"In my view, the most likely path forward is for the Senate to continue to do its bipartisan work and find common ground in order to fund Israel, fund Ukraine, fund our allies in the Indo-Pacific, fund the border security request that President Biden has put forward and make sure that we are funding humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians who are in harm's way in Gaza through no fault of their own and for civilians in other parts of the world. The Senate has been in negotiation with each other, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans. And it's my hope that sooner rather than later, they'll reach an agreement, they'll send it to us in the House, and we can move expeditiously to send the bill to President Biden's desk so we can get this done."

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"We certainly are concerned because our focus should be on solving problems for hardworking American taxpayers. We're going to continue to fight for things like lower costs and to grow the middle class for safer communities, fight for reproductive freedom, defend democracy, build an economy that works for everyday Americans. These are the things that we should be fighting for. Republicans are fighting each other, literally. Yesterday was another episode of Republicans Gone Wild and, unfortunately, it wasn't the season finale because we're going to continue to see it."

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"It's an incredibly important question, and it was unfortunate that we were on the verge of providing significant support to Ukraine at the end of September, and then the rug was pulled out from under the Ukrainian people when a continuing resolution was presented that cut out the bipartisan progress that had been made in the Senate and the House. So here we are, in terms of the Ukrainian people continuing to fight an important struggle. It's a struggle of democracy versus autocracy, of freedom versus, you know, tyranny, of truth versus propaganda, of good versus evil, literally. And we want to stand on the side of the Ukrainian people because it is in America's national security interest. The challenge that we have is that there is a loud and growing pro-Putin caucus in the House Republican Conference, and it is led by people like Jim Jordan and Marjorie Taylor Greene on the inside and Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson on the outside who are on the side of Vladimir Putin, not on the side of America's national security interests. And that's very challenging. That's why it's important for the Senate to act in a bipartisan way sooner rather than later, send us a bill and then I think the votes will exist in the House to get it done."

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"Well, our view on this issue is simple. Democrats support a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. And that's a clear contrast with the ideological view of the individuals on the other side of the aisle who want to criminalize abortion care and want to impose a nationwide ban. They basically want to force government-mandated pregnancies on the women of America. That's the contrast. And I believe the reason why we are seeing such success electorally in places like Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, certainly in Virginia is because the American people understand that dynamic. And no one is buying that Republicans are trying to moderate their position on this issue. Their goal is simple--a nationwide abortion ban and we're going to do everything possible to stop it."

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"Well, I've made clear that I believe from the river to the sea is a dangerous chant, because effectively, as has been echoed by Hamas, it is calling for the destruction of the state of Israel. And we're going to continue to support our close friend and ally. We have a special relationship between the United States and Israel. We have shared democratic values and shared strategic interests. But I think it's also important to make the moral case for Israel, which is the reality that, for thousands of years, Jews have been ejected from country after country, subject to pain and persecution and pogroms, antisemitic hatred, of course the Holocaust and the horrors of that crime against humanity. And I think we should all find it in our hearts to be able to make the case that in this world there can be one country the size of New Jersey as a Jewish and democratic state and as a safe haven for the Jewish people. And we want to get to a just and lasting peace where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in safety and security and prosperity, dignity for the Palestinian people, dignity and safety and security and prosperity for the Israeli people. Dignity for everyone."

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"I think that the three things that need to happen are, one, Israel has to be able to decisively defeat Hamas, this brutal terrorist organization.You can't have a ceasefire if there's no legitimate negotiating partner on the other side of the conflict. And Hamas is not a legitimate negotiating partner. So they have to be decisively defeated for the good of Israel, for the good of the Palestinian people in Gaza and throughout the region, for the good of the free world. We also have to make sure that we do everything possible to bring the hostages home safely. Third, we have to surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilians who are in harm's way through no fault of their own as a result of fog of war."

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"Thank you, Willie."

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