LIVE: Biden Delivers Remarks at House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference 2024-02-08 21:18

[Music] hello hello thank you so much colleagues it is unquestioned that the reason house Democrats have been so successful is because of the close cooperation between our caucus and the White House specifically the work of leader jeffre and then speaker Nancy Pelosi working in close coordination with our friends at the White House this year alone we've avoided a default we prevented a shutdown and stand ready to meet the National Security needs that this country faces we are working in lock step to put people over politics and if we are going to truly finish the job we need that strong partnership and we need to be able to work in tandem with our friends at the White House to deliver for the American people and the person responsible to help guide our c cus and to instill Unity of purpose is our Democratic leader Hakeem Jeff good afternoon house Democrats the chairman agular good afternoon house Democrats so good to see all of [Music] you the chairman agular Vice chair Lou whip Clark speaker Mera Pelosi all of my amazing Democratic colleagues in the house it's a high honor and a distinct privilege to have this opportunity to present someone who really needs no introduction President Biden is a good man who's been working hard to make life better for everyday of Americans and together we will finish the job now these are challenging times and we're working together to address issues of concern to the American people related to the economy and housing affordability National Security Public Safety and of course our challenges at the border but let me be clear because of the leadership of of President Biden working with house Democrats and our colleagues in the Senate we have made real progress on behalf of the American people through the lens of how it started versus how it's going how it started versus how it's going when Joe Biden first took office he inherited a once in a century Co ID 19 pandemic that shut everything down because of the leadership of President Biden working with house Democrats we put shots in arms Money In Pockets kids back in school and now the American people have the freedom to spend time with their families without being masked up or Sheltering in place when President Biden first took office in Washington DC it had been infrastructure week every other week but nothing got done until President Biden showed up because of the leadership of President Biden working with house Democrats we are finally fixing our crumbling Bridges roads tunnels our airports our water systems our sewer systems our mass transportation systems and now highspeed internet access is available to millions of Americans for $30 less a month when President Biden first took office the American people were understandably dismayed were uncertain about the prospects of ever being able to do something about the gun violence epidemic in the United States of America because of the leadership of president Joe Biden working with house Democrats we passed gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years that will save lives and lay the foundation for us to do more how it started versus how it's going President Biden first took office there were millions of veterans who had served this country suffering from brutal exposure to burn pits toxic substances and agent orange and were without access to adequate health care because of the leadership of President Joe Biden working with house Democrats there are now more than 4 million veterans in the United States of America who have access to the health care that they need to live a life of dignity and respect how it started versus how it's going when President Joe Biden first took office the country the world being ravaged by extreme weather events like hurricanes powerful storms wildfires and floods and many Americans particularly younger ones uncertain about whether anything would ever be done to change the situation because of the leadership of President Joe Biden working with house Democrats we invested in the largest way in the history of the world in combating the climate crisis to turn the situation around and ensure there will be clean water clean air and clean energy in every single Community can I give you one more can I give you one more uh when Joe Biden first took office the cost of insulin for the average American family was $4,000 a year because of the leadership of President Joe Biden working with house Democrats the cost of insulin right now for millions of Americans is $35 a month how it started versus how it's going under the leadership of President Joe Biden we have made tremendous progress here in the United States of America Joe Biden is a compassionate public servant a skilled leader the comeback kid who is helping the American turnaround story we know that that President Joe Biden is a man with a plan to finish the job on behalf of the American people and so it is my honor to present to you the 46th president of the United States of America The Honorable Joseph robinet [Applause] [Music] Biden [Music] hello hello hello good to be with you all Stanny please thank [Music] you if I were smart I should leave now thank you all so very very much I don't see her but I see I hear my buddy Nancy py here are you here Nancy Nancy thank you I love you I love you really truly and I see stenny hoyer's here steny's been living in the western shore of Delaware for a long time good to see you steny and is Jim kber here well if Jim is here he's one of the reasons why I'm standing here I want to thank him [Music] hakee and Katherine and Pete thank you to all of you to all of you let me say a few things before I get started with our discussion first I'm not going to be very long I promise first the special Council released their findings today about their look into my handling of classified documents I was pleased to see they reached the conclusion I believed and knew all along they would that there are no charges should be brought in this case as many of you know this was an exhaustive investigation going back literally more than 40 years 40 years when I became a United States Senator I was a kid I was a kid 29 years old special Council acknowledged I cooperated completely I did not throw up any roadblocks I sought no delays in fact I was so determined to give special counsel what they needed I went forward with a 5H hour in-person interview over the two days of October the 9th 8th and 9th last year even though Israel just been attacked by Hamas on the 7th I was in the middle of handling an international crisis but I was especially pleased to see the special counil make clear the Stark differences between this case and Donald Trump as a special counsel wrote and I quote several material distinctions between Mr Trump's case and Mr Biden's are clear by the is the Republican councel most notably after given multiple chances this is the continuation of the quote he returned classified documents and avoided to avoid and avoided prosecution Mr Trump allegedly did the opposite this is Contin in quote according to the indictment he has not only refused to return documents for many months he also obstructed Justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then lie about it in contrast Mr Biden to turned in classified documents to the National Archives the Department of Justice consented to a search of multiple locations including his homes and sat for a voluntary interview and in other ways cooperated with the investigation that's the distinction among others bottom line is the special counsel in my case decided against moving forward with any charges this matter is now closed I'll continue to do what I've always done stay focused on my job like you do of my job of being president that means going to work with all of you every single day I can thank you for being great Partners just this week house Democrats showed how United you are you defeated my Orca impeachment resolution [Applause] [Music] you I had no doubt he get out of his hospital bed and Comm in a vote no I'm not joking I talked to him a little bit not after not before you defeated the is Israel only the Israeli only supplemental they weren't easy votes for you but all of you came through in a big way all this just shows that when we're united we can beat House Republicans in their cynical political [Music] games and you've been incredible partners that delivered historic results to the American people I've traveled in many of your districts I see the results on how you came through one of the toughest periods in our nation's history AE just mentioned many of those accomplishments vaccinating America rebuilding America bringing prices down delivering every day for everyday Americans recent Washington Post headline never thought I'd see this for a Democrat says falling inflation and Rising growth give United States the world's best recovery end of quote because of you no I mean it I may have some good idea but you got it done but I'd like to use my time to talk about the future you know what it means to finish the job in my perspec from my perspective we made progress making the biggest corporation begin to pay only began to pay their fair share we got we're able to keep everything in place when the Republicans kept changing the deals we made about spending and like right remember those those days well with the minimum Corp remember those 50 corporations that didn't pay a penny and tax taxes made $40 billion well guess what they paid a corporate tax of 15% we're able to keep everything paid for and still cut the deficit we help we helped pay for historic Investments and reduce the federal deficit but we're not done Trump's $2 trillion tax cut overwhelmingly benefited the super wealthy and biggest corporations and exploded the deficit and it's coming up pretty soon for a decision what we're going to do he's already said he wants to not only keep it but increase it finishing the job means getting the Trump tax cut clo gutting the Trump tax cut closing loophole for billionaire minimum tax you know we went from 750 billionaires in America before the pandemic to 1,000 now you know what the average tax they pay is in federal tax 8.3% billionaire those thousand 8.3% that's less than a teacher a firefighter I go down on the list I promised the billionaire minimum tax at 25% if we did that it would raise $440 billion 25% $440 billion could pay for child care elder care and so much more and reduce the deficit you know we're also planning for long-term effort to I think we have to deal with the tax structure in a way I mean I I no matter where I go whe I speaking the business Round Table whoever I'm speaking I said raise your hand if you think the president tax system is fair no I'm not chose think about it in Practical terms is it fair is it remotely Fair finish the job meeting beating big farm again to lower prescription cost for everybody by the way you know when my Republican friends were taking us on on that but it not only lowers you you talked about dealing with insulin 35 bucks a month save the sav the individual a lot of money but guess what it saved the taxpayers 100 $60 billion reduce a debt by $160 billion what we did what you all did Farm I mean it I mean we the things we're doing not only help people but they're reducing the deficit of good Economic Policy because Medicare doesn't have to pay those exorbitant prices we got to finish job mean it's $35 insul not just for Medicare but like we legally had and they wouldn't continue it $35 insul for every everybody everybody all Americans lower drug prices for dozens of other prescriptions we got that into the law it's coming up and getting even more Americans health insurance by protecting and expanding the Affordable Health Care Act you you guys have done this we got to finish the job means making housing more affordable more accessible means protecting and strengthening the social security system and Medicare Republicans want to put on a chopping block remember the last state of the union when I we talked about what there bless me father and finishing the job means protecting fundamental freedoms passing the John Lewis vony act finally and making r v word word the law of the land the law of the land means beating the NRA again Banning assault weapons high capacity magazines which we did before finish a job means continue fight to save the planet with the most aggressive action on climate ever in the history of the of the world with every new bridge every new Factory every new High-Speed Rail internet with every poisonous lead pipe removed I see something else happening now and in the future Pride returning when I said when I we pushed all these programs I said I'm going to be a president of everybody whether you live in a red state or Green State I know it drives some of you crazy that we a lot of these things are happening in red States but the Americans need help you know some of your more interesting colleagues uh go out and hold press conferences of the things they said was a disaster and was almost immoral what's that blond haired woman's name anyway she's talking about all that's going on in her district oh God anyway look what happened to a lot of people particularly in the in the near Midwest and the Midwest in the North West is that you know for years and years you go Bu The Factory that employed 800 1,000 1200 people mom had worked there dad had worked there Grandpa Grandma and they had pride in what they did and all of a sudden Corporate America decided and I really did over the last 10 years decided you know I'd rather take my factory move it overseas because the labor is cheaper and then import the product not not anymore not anymore guess what folks there's a provision in the law that says that I didn't even know it existed until I about eight years ago and that is when they had legislation in the 30s dealing with the issue of whether or not labor unions had a right to organize what protections they had Etc there was provision of law that even democratic presidents didn't either know about or pay much attention to and said any money you appropriate the Congress appropriates and it goes to the president the United States for public purpose that President should hire an American worker and American companies to do it really well we're investing in America that's what you're doing we're investing in America we're bringing back Pride to communities pride in our country and so I want to thank you for doing the job you're elected to do it matters to the American people and it's we're in a position to win in 2024 I think that brings me to the second point we have to make the contrast the choice crystal clear through our friends on the other side make it easy for us time and again Republicans show they're a party of chaos and disunion this is not your father's Republican party they shout about a problem but then do nothing to solve the problem the bottom line is Republicans have to decide who did they serve this I'm not this is not hyperbole who do they serve Donald Trump or the American people you had worked so hard bipartisan groups so hard for so long to deal with a border and all the other issues we have in that that appropriation and guess what Donald Trump allegedly I can't prove this I'm told called people and said if you support that I'm coming after you not his not I don't know what the exact words were but I'm coming after you are they here to solve a problem or just to weaponize for political attacks those problems I know our answer we're here to serve the American people that's not it's not like we we're here we're Democrats go that's the job serve the American people we have to make that clear if we do we win just look at 2020 we weren't supposed to do well remember we won in spite of a lot of those 2022 the Red Wave was coming and guess what it crashed up on a rock in 2023 every close race we won when voters have a choice between what we stand for and what Trump and the mega Republicans stand for we win which makes Trump and his Mega friends losers when we win we have to do the oldfashioned politics way we have to get out the vote an aggressive grassroot operation to get folks register registered and get out the vote and here's the final point I want to make I can't take anything for granted we can't in 2020 we ran I ran because I thought everything in this country stood for everything we believed in everything that made America America was at risk and I believed that and I spoke to that and I was I think people thought I was being hyperbolic at the time Joe what do you mean our democracy is a risk seriously remember I made that you may not but I've made a speech in Independence Hall the beginning what do you mean we're in a battle for the soul of America well people don't say that anymore they know the stakes are higher than ever we've made more progress in three years because of you the most presidents have in eight years but it can all be wiped out in this election so we have to stay focused on what we have to do we must we must keep the White House we must keep the Senate and we must take back the [Applause] house of all of you swor and again and AEM Jeff is your speaker of the house and when we do that we'll be able to look back and say something few Generations can say the American democracy risk and you saved it look we just have to remember who the hell we are we're the United States of America I mean it there's nothing beyond our capacity when we work together so God bless you all and thank you for all you do thank you thank you thank you [Applause] please