LEADER JEFFRIES: "THIS IS A DO-NOTHING REPUBLICAN CONGRESS OF EPIC PROPORTIONS"
Interview
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Well, this is a do-nothing Republican Congress of epic proportions.And what we've seen, is that the one set of things that they have peddled consistently: chaos, dysfunction, extremism. And they've come into this new year-- and as Democrats we've indicated, listen, we're ready to find bipartisan common ground on any issue, as long as it will improve the lives of the American people or address issues of significance, such as our national security interests abroad or border security here at home. Unfortunately, Republicans continue to put politics over people and I think, not surprisingly, have decided, that they're going to bend the knee to Donald Trump's whims, it appears as it relates to, the border security issue.
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Well, the fight between Ukraine and Russia is not just about a territorial dispute, of course. Although Russia's aggressive incursion into Ukraine is a complete violation of international law. But this is a fight between democracy and autocracy, a fight between freedom and tyranny, a fight between truth and propaganda. And Ukraine, the United States of America, the free world, should stand on the side of democracy. And that's what we have been doing in supporting the Ukrainian war effort. If we allow the Ukrainian war effort to falter, which, by the way, it's been very successful, more than 300,000 casualties inflicted on the Russian military, almost 80% of the regular Russian military has been wiped out, with not a single American life put at risk, in terms of Ukraine. And so I think if we allow Ukraine to falter because we don't continue our support, then we're likely in the fight with Russia because of our NATO Article Five obligations, because we know Putin won't stop in Ukraine, he will likely NATO ally and now American troops are in Europe. That's something that we should avoid.
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Well, about a week and a half ago, President Biden convened a meeting at the White House with all of the legislative leaders from the House and the Senate, the Appropriators, people on the Intel Committee, the leadership, as well as Foreign Affairs and Armed Services. And in that meeting, I think both of the Republican leaders and all of my Republican colleagues were very clear. They expressed before the president and all of us that they knew there was an urgent need for us to continue to support the Ukrainian war effort, because it's in America's national security interest and at the same time have been publicly complaining about the border issue for years. And there certainly is a challenge at the border that we need to address. We should do it in a comprehensive way. We should do it in a bipartisan way. We should do it in a manner that is consistent with our values, both as a nation of immigrants and a nation anchored in the rule of law. Now, the Senate Democrats have been working in good faith, along with the administration, to try to arrive at an agreement. And it's my hope that that momentum will continue. We'll have to evaluate the ultimate product. But politics should not get in the way here. This is why the American people are often disappointed in our institutions. We're going to continue to put people over politics. Hopefully our Republican colleagues will do the same.
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That's right. And, you know, that's my home state colleague as well. But, well, you know, I have full faith and confidence in Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats to figure out the right path forward. At a certain point, we are going to have to publicly call the question of our Republican colleagues in a variety of ways when it comes to doing what is right for America's national security interests and for fixing our broken immigration system. Or we're just going to make it clear that Republicans have no interest in dealing with the border issue. They'd rather try to weaponize it for political purposes. And I think, ultimately, that's something that the American people will reject.
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Well, I have to understand the context within which, you know, the President is speaking based on whatever authority he may be given. The President, of course, I believe, will always, do what he believes is in the best interest of the American people, consistent, you know, with the fact that America is a safe haven for people who are fleeing oppression and persecution. But it has to be managed in a reasonable way. And clearly, the system is being overwhelmed right now. I think people on all sides within the Democratic family and coalition acknowledge that, figuring out the path forward so that it is consistent with who we are as America, but decisively addresses the clear challenges and the fact that you have people taking dangerous, perilous journeys because they are fleeing horrific conditions. How do we improve the conditions throughout the region, in these other countries, so that people don't feel compelled to have to run for their lives, literally.
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Well, we're going to evaluate, you know, the bill once it's in the public domain, to make sure it strikes that right balance. And we're going to have to have a family conversation on our side about that issue. However, you know, we've got, you know, many, different people who have worked for a long time on the House side on this issue who want to make sure we're doing the right thing by the American people, consistent with our values. And, the fact that we're a nation anchored in the rule of law. One of the things I think that will continue to be important is for us to decisively meet the other challenges of the American people, right, to fight for lower costs and better-paying jobs and safer communities to improve their quality of life. To address these issues of making sure that the middle class has a positive way forward, doesn't move backward. And I think what President Biden has done, we continue to see that significant progress has been made on these economic issues. And he will continue to articulate a vision forward for how to build upon that progress, build upon, you know, lowering the price of insulin to $35 a month, bringing domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the United States of America through the CHIPS and Science Act, clean water in every community. I think the more that we can show the American people that we are also working on these other challenges, it will create the space to be able to address some of these other issues, like national security and the border.
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It's a great question, and I think there is widespread consensus on our side that we should be putting forward, you know, ideas to comprehensively meet the challenges in this space. The Dream and Promise Act is something that Congress's under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi have passed twice. It's gotten some bipartisan support. The Farm Worker Modernization Act is another way forward, it's gotten some bipartisan support in the House. Doing something about our TPS system is important. I think a lot of people on our side also believe that investing in technology, additional personnel, there are things that can be done that President Biden has said to Republicans we should do in terms of additional resources. And we've seen Republicans reject it. We have a broken immigration system. It should be fixed in a comprehensive, bipartisan and forward-looking way. And I do hope we can get to that conversation sooner rather than later.
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Well, it is important for us to be able to continue to articulate a forward-looking message of working hard to bring about an economy that lifts up everyday Americans, lifts up the middle class, lifts up all those who aspire to be part of the middle class and ensures that everybody in every single zip code has a fair shot at the American dream. We believe that when you work hard in America, play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself, for your family, educate your children, purchase a home, one day retire with grace and dignity. And we, I think, are deeply committed to making sure that in the next four years, we help bring that about. President Biden now has this track record of success where significant progress has been made. Wages are up, gas prices are down, the stock market is up, inflationary pressure is down, small businesses are being created at record numbers and more than 14 million good-paying jobs have been brought about during the Biden economy. That's a tremendous foundation to continue to build upon. But we know that elections are not about the past, they're about the future. So it will be important to continue to say, over the next few years, here's our vision for continuing the decisive economic progress that has been made so that it is genuinely felt by every single American.
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Well, there will be a whole host of issues that I think are going to be on the ballot in November. Certainly at the top of that list, reproductive freedom, is going to be on the ballot. The economy, of course, as we talked about on the ballot. Social Security and Medicare on the ballot. We want to strengthen and protect Social Security. My Republican colleagues want to end it as we know it. Gun safety will be on the ballot because we want to make progress on this issue, not flood our classrooms with weapons of war by doing nothing. And of course, democracy will be on the ballot. But as you pointed out, Symone, if you think about the issue of reproductive freedom, there's a clear difference between what we as Democrats believe in and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. We believe in a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive healthcare decisions. Period, full stop. It's a decision that should be between a woman, a doctor, her family, her faith, but certainly not right-wing, extreme politicians trying to intercede. Our Republican colleagues are of the view, that they want a nationwide abortion ban. They want to criminalize abortion care. They basically want to bring about a regime of government-mandated pregnancies. And so, on an issue where there's such a clear distinction- we are going to defend freedom, the other side is clearly opposed to it, and I think that's going to be a decisive issue.
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You know, I think our track record of accomplishment is incredibly important in that, it should validate that we mean what we say, we say what we mean. So when we talk about the American Rescue Plan, right? Saving the economy from a deep recession, from a once in a century pandemic, putting shots and arms, money in pockets, kids back in school, allowing the American economy to emerge as the strongest in the world. Or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, millions of good-paying jobs in every single community, urban America, rural America, suburban America, the heartland of America, small town America. Of course, the CHIPS and Science Act, bringing domestic manufacturing jobs back home to the country, not our jobs moving in the other direction and doing things to lower costs like energy costs, health care costs and certainly the high price of lifesaving prescription drugs. We should cite that track record of accomplishment, not to say to the American people reward us, but to say, trust us. We say what we mean and we mean what we say. And we're going to continue to put people over politics and decisively work to build a healthy economy. Now we have to then connect that with a forward looking vision because elections, as we talked about, are about the future, not the past and the things that we want to do. Strengthening the Child Tax Credit, which helps middle class families, working families and low-income families. Leaning in to the creation and preservation of affordable housing because housing is a big issue all across America. And certainly continuing to work on lower health care costs and not do what my Republican colleagues want to do, which is to detonate the Affordable Care Act, blow it up, which is going to eliminate protections for more than 100 million Americans with preexisting conditions and cause their health care costs to skyrocket. So I think there are specific issues that you'll see us as House Democrats, the Senate presumably and certainly President Biden articulate with precision that are designed to continue to make life better for the American people.
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Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations again on the show.
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