July 12, 2023

Chairman Aguilar: House Democrats and the Biden-Harris Administration have built a resilient economic recovery

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Vice Chair Ted Lieu and DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene held a leadership press conference on how Bidenomics and House Democrats’ People Over Politics agenda are growing the economy and middle class.

CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Thank you for joining us. House Democrats are united and energized.

Inflation has now decreased for 12 months in a row. The unemployment rate dropped, once again, to 3.6 percent. Wages are up compared to last year. And more working-age Americans are in the workforce than at any time in the last 20 years. 

House Democrats and the Biden-Harris Administration have built a resilient economic recovery, and we’re committed to finishing the job, growing the middle class and making the American Dream available to all Americans.  Call it Bidenomics, call it People Over Politics—just call it effective. 

On the other side of the aisle: Extremism, chaos and dysfunction continues to be the realm of the day. One of the most far-right Members of this body was expelled from a group of conservative Members because she wasn’t far-right enough. And that’s why the American people will continue to understand that House Republicans are dangerous and they’re playing a game of one-upmanship: Who can restrict the most access to abortion care? Who can offer the most devastating cuts to working families and Seniors? All to win the favor of one person, one man—the former President of the United States, who the Republican Speaker of the House still refuses to endorse. MAGA Extremists continue to take hostages and are leading the country toward a Republican-led [shutdown].  

VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. And as Chairman Aguilar has stated, the economy is going great. We had some really good news this morning. Inflation is now down to three percent, which is the 12th month of straight declines. In addition, over 13 million jobs have been created. That is more than double the amount that the former president created in his first three years in office. And these jobs are now jobs well beyond pandemic job losses. All the pandemic job losses were recovered as of last July. And so, for the past last 11 months, we've seen new jobs created with real wage gains, and this is Bidenomics in action. 

So, what are Republicans focused on? Banning abortions. We saw in the dark of night, Iowa Republicans passed a six-week abortion ban at a time when many women may not even know that they are pregnant. And now in the House, House Republicans are threatening to torpedo the NDAA because they want to jam in extreme anti-abortion measures. Our hope is that the Republican Caucus will put country first and not continue to be extreme, but we shall see. 

DCCC CHAIR DELBENE: Thank you, thanks Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu. It's great to be here. And under our new leadership team, House Democrats are united. We've been united around addressing the real issues that are impacting American families. 

When I talk to people back in my home state of Washington and as I travel around the country, folks want to see us focus on creating jobs, on lowering costs and on standing up for their fundamental freedoms. And on the first point, I think we can just look at the recent job numbers. 209,000 jobs were created in June. That's over 13 million since President Biden took office, four million more than pre-pandemic. On costs, the Inflation Reduction Act is already lowering health insurance, prescription drug and energy bills for millions of Americans. Today, as Vice Chair Lieu just mentioned today, we saw annual inflation has fallen each of the last 12 months and is now down to three percent. And we know we can do more, and we have a proven plan. House Democrats are united around my proposal along with Congresswoman DeLauro and Torres to bring back monthly tax child credit payments and rebuild the middle class. 

Meanwhile, Republicans are yet again trying to pass hundreds of billions in tax handouts to the wealthy and the well-connected. This proven-to-fail trickle-down approach doesn't help everyday Americans and would blow a massive hole in the deficit. Finally, Republicans continue to chip away at reproductive rights. In nearly every Republican appropriations bill, there's a provision limiting abortion access. We're seeing this play out in the NDAA debate as well, and as leader Jeffries says so well, "They have no vision, no plan and no agenda to actually help people." 

They've wasted weeks simply trying to gain control of the extremist Members of their party, and this week already seems to be no exception. Republican chaos also puts us on a fast track to a shutdown. So, Americans want governance to work. As I've talked to folks across here, they want to see governance work. Democrats proved last Congress that it can. Meanwhile, Republicans continue to demonstrate that they can't govern. So, we're going to continue highlighting these contrasting visions, so Americans know who's working for them. 

Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.

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