Weekly Democratic Press Conference 7/29/2020

Thank you. Morning, everyone. We continue to mourn the loss of our hero, our colleague, our friend, our mentor, the legendary American, the Honorable John Lewis. And we think about his life and his legacy. We can take some comfort in the fact that he left us with a blueprint about how to proceed in the midst of turbulent moments. John Lewis made it clear to us that when we see wrong, when we see injustice, when we see things that need to change, we should find a way to get in the way we should never give up, never give in, keep the faith, keep our eyes on the prize and get into some good trouble on behalf of the American people. John Lewis left us with a blueprint for change, and we're respect to the covert 19 pandemic. Donald Trump was half right about the Republican response. The Republican coronavirus bill is not semi irrelevant. It is totally irrelevant. It is dead on arrival. It is a non starter. Half the Senate Republicans don't even seem to support the Senate Republican coronavirus bill. We're in a situation in this country where things aren't getting better. They're getting worse. More than 150,000 Americans have died. More than four million Americans infected. More than five million Americans have lost their employer based health insurance. More than 100,000 small businesses have permanently closed. More than 50 million Americans are newly unemployed. Rome is burning, and Senate Republicans, along with Donald Trump, are stumbling, fumbling and bumbling, and the American people are paying the price. In what world do they think inappropriate response to the coronavirus pandemic is to put forth a bill that sets aside almost $2 billion for a new FBI building that is currently named on behalf of J Edgar Hoover. No support for housing, no support for food assistance, no support for child care. 50 million Americans newly unemployed emergency unemployment benefits scheduled to expire in two days, and the Republicans want to cut those benefits by $400 per week. It should shock the conscience. That is not an adequate response. It's an inhumane, cruel, cold hearted response to this pandemic. We're gonna continue to make the case to the American people, as we have done for 2.5 months that the coronavirus pandemic is an extraordinary crisis and requires an extraordinary congressional intervention in the form of the Heroes Act. We have passed it 2.5 months ago, and the Senate Republicans have done nothing, and things haven't gotten better. They've gotten worse, and that's shameful. Any questions? Is there any version of liability protection that Democrats would support, as you did in the very first emergency response relating to manufactured goods? Well, there's no version of blanket liability that Democrats, in my view, could ever support because that would open up the door to bad actors conducting themselves in ways where their customers or their employers could be exposed recklessly to the deadly consequences of the coronavirus. In my view, it's always reasonable to figure out, in the midst of an extraordinary crisis, whether we can look at a framework that makes sense, that puts consumers, everyday Americans and employees first, not last, as the liability provision in the Republican bill seems to do at this moment. Well, I'm not prepared to, but that's a discussion that we haven't had yet across the broad spectrum of the House Democratic Caucus. I support the position articulated by Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer. When we have a reasonable bill put forth by Senate Republicans for us to discuss, let's have a discussion about our differences and then figure out where we can find common ground. The current version is reckless and irresponsible and, as the President said himself, irrelevant. Well, Republicans have provided no reasonable explanation as to why they need liability protection. There hasn't been a flood of lawsuits over the last six months in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, there hasn't even been a trickle. So what is this all about, Mitch? It appears to be another giveaway to multinational corporations, the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. This is what Senate Republicans do. We know that because when they had complete control of government, their top priority was to jam the reckless GOP tax scam down the throats of the American people, where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1%. They're up to their old tricks right now. In terms of negotiation, here's the difference. We passed the HEROES Act with modest Republican support on the Hill, Peter King having voted for it, and significant Republican support out in the country amongst Republican governors, county executives, mayors, town supervisors, and people at the state and local level who realize that meaningful intervention for state and local stabilization is necessary. We have a bipartisan bill that actually has passed one House of Congress. The Republicans don't even have a bill that the Senate Republican Conference uniformly supports. The president says it's semi-irrelevant. What is there to negotiate? They have put forth a fiction of a response. So that's the challenge, in my humble opinion, that we have because we don't even have a serious proposal from them. Well, in my view, the position that has previously been articulated by Speaker Pelosi, which is that we don't support a short-term extension, is the position that I currently hold until we have a broader discussion as we approach the Friday deadline about the best way to proceed. But the starting point seems to me to be the Republicans needing to put forth a reasonable proposal and show that they are serious about addressing the pain, suffering, and death that has been visited upon the American people by the coronavirus pandemic and the wildly inadequate response coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Because again, this is not a serious proposal. You know, the eviction moratorium has expired. You've got people in Columbus, Ohio, who are being evicted at an alarming rate, so much so that the mayor has been forced to open up the Columbus Convention Center as a temporary homeless shelter. This is America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and this is what's happening. And the Republicans want to cut unemployment insurance emergency benefits in this context and can't even produce a serious proposal that they support on a Senate Republican side. We haven't had a conversation about that. I would say nothing should be agreed upon or disagreed upon until we see what an entire package of relief could look like, because there are several components. But certainly, extending unemployment insurance emergency benefits is critical, in my view, at the current level that exists. Almost $1 trillion in state and local stabilization is critical, because if we allow state and local budgets to collapse, that will undermine public education, public health, public safety, public transportation, public housing and the provision of public goods provided by state and local governments. That would be a disaster on top of the existing disaster that already, um, we're being faced with here in America. So that would be, to me, a line in the sand that's important. Our bill, with great leadership from Chairwoman Maxine Waters, provides approximately $175 billion in assistance to tenants and homeowners who are struggling to pay their rent and mortgage. Seems to me that that's an important provision. We also provide an additional round of direct stimulus payments. The Republicans seem to have moved closer to our position in that regard, but they're still not where we are at, which is to provide up to $6,000 per family of five in the midst of a recession, possibly heading toward a Trump induced depression. It seems to me that we need a robust additional round of direct stimulus. So it's hard to say that will compromise on one particular area of significance without seeing the entirety of the package. Well, first and foremost, we have our oversight responsibilities. And so yesterday's hearing was important in that regard. The job of the attorney general is to serve as the people's lawyer. What was clearly demonstrated at the hearing yesterday is that Bill Barr has undermined democracy, undermined the Constitution and undermined the health, safety and well being of the American people. Bill Barr's actions have been reckless and irresponsible because he is there simply to do the political bidding of Donald Trump. We exposed that to the American people yesterday. So that was important in the context of our oversight responsibilities. Moving forward, Chairman Benny Thompson of the Homeland Security Committee, presumably working in partnership with Chairman Jerry Nadler and others, uh, will try to come together as it relates to an appropriate legislative response. But those aren't discussions that I've been part of. I support the notion that we need to make sure that the rule of law is protected because in Trump's America, traditional norms mean nothing. We've seen that repeatedly. And so values that we have taken for granted during previous administrations, be they Democratic or Republican, have been shattered by this White House, this Department of Justice and this administration. And so generally, I think a legislative response is appropriate. The specific specifics of that are unclear. That's unclear. I'm sorry. Did you have a follow up? I support the normal legislative process, the oversight process and the fact that in 97 days, the American people will have an opportunity to determine whether Donald Trump should be a one term president. I'm concerned about the irresponsible behavior of many of the Republicans who have chosen to consistently flout well established public health guidance, perhaps out of fealty to their boss, Donald Trump, who is the head of the anti mask movement in America. That's a concern. And it's my plea to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle for their own health, safety and well being for the health, safety and well being of their colleagues, their families, their neighbors and their constituents that they stop politicizing public health guidance and do the right thing because they are jeopardizing the safety and well being of others. Thank you, everyone.