Chairman Aguilar: This is not a time for partisanship or division, it’s a time to come together
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a press conference with Freshman Leadership Representative Rep. Luz Rivas, Freshman Class President Rep. Yassamin Ansari and Freshman Representative to the Steering and Policy Committee Rep. Johnny Olszewski to discuss supporting the victims of wildfires in Southern California and the priorities of House Democrats in the 119th Congress.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Grateful to be joined by Representatives Ansari, Olszewski and Rivas, new members to the 119th Congress and so pleased to have them playing leadership roles here in the Congress and the Democratic Caucus. And always joined by Vice Chair Ted Lieu, as well.
We want to start by expressing our prayers from the entire Democratic Caucus to the people of Los Angeles County and Southern California for what they are going through today. I know the Vice Chair will expand on this and whose office has been affected by the destruction. We are thinking about our friends and colleagues, coworkers, employees and loved ones out there.
This is going to take an unprecedented amount of rebuilding. People have lost everything. They've lost loved ones. They've lost their churches. They've lost heirlooms and wedding photos. The depth of this is so hard to comprehend. House Democrats are ready to be a resource that California needs to get back to a stronger position than where we were before, and we're prepared to work around the clock in a bipartisan way to make sure that we meet the needs of the public.
Just a reminder that natural disasters and these events, they're not Republican disasters and Democratic disasters. These are disasters that have affected the entire country, and we will work together to ensure that we drive the resources necessary to help the rebuilding efforts that Southern California needs. This is not time for partisanship or division. This is a time to come together.
I'll yield to Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. Let me first say that my prayer is also with those affected by the fires.
The northern part of my district was evacuated, but the two districts that are hit the hardest are Brad Sherman’s and Judy Chu's. I'm gonna give you an update on the fires and talk about three things. The first is, why did these fires explode and why are they so hard to contain? Second, what the response has been, and then third, some items to think about going forward.
So, in terms of what caused these fires to spread so quickly, we had a number of factors. There were drought-like conditions in Southern California for a number of months. We have very low humidity. And then, the Santa Ana winds, this phenomenon of high winds, hit us. We've had Santa Ana winds in the past but never at this scale, up to 100 miles per hour. So, I want you to think about a hurricane with fire in it, and that's what a number of these communities experienced. These winds can blow these burning embers for miles and miles and miles that then set structures on fire. So, overall, there's a lot of wildfires happening. There are two main ones: the Palisades Fire, mostly in Brad Sherman's district, and the Eaton Fire, mostly in Judy Chu’s district. About 41,000 acres have burned. Washington, D.C. itself is about 43,000 acres, for perspective. Over 12,000 structures have been destroyed. At least 23 people confirmed dead. The response has been overwhelming–over 15,000 personnel fighting these fires from multiple states and multiple countries; nearly 1,500 fire engines; over 80 aircraft and FEMA on-site providing assistance to people who need disaster aid. So, going forward, we have to think about climate change. It is causing more extreme weather events, not just in California, but across America. California had these atmospheric rivers causing huge flooding last year, and now we have these wildfires.
Second, I just want to say it is outrageous for Speaker Johnson to try to tie conditions onto this disaster relief or to tie disaster aid to unrelated concepts like the debt ceiling. We should not be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans to try to force through policy changes. When Mother Nature strikes, she doesn't care about party affiliation. At the end of the day, we are all Americans.
It's now my great honor to introduce to you the Freshman Class President Yasmin Ansari from Phoenix. Prior to this, she was a Vice Mayor of Phoenix, and she served on the City Council of Phoenix, and she's also the first democratic Iranian American ever to serve in the United States Congress.
REP. ANSARI: Thank you, Vice Chair Lieu. Hello everyone. My name is Yassamin Ansari. I'm humbled to be Arizona's newest Congresswoman. Today, it is my honor to join colleagues here in my role as Freshmen Class President.
First, let me say my thoughts are with the Californians lost, displaced and harmed by the devastating wildfires. My state is no stranger to this uniquely painful natural disaster. I feel your loss and I extend my deepest sympathies. Climate change is undoubtedly one of the defining issues of our generation, and one that I have spent my entire professional career working on. As the youngest woman in the 119th Congress, I intend to work with my colleagues in the Caucus, especially those from California, to ensure that we are passing legislation that invests in the continued sustainable future of the Southwest. Our region is growing faster than we can keep up with, and we need to work together to ensure our constituents have a viable future. I worked on the Paris climate accords to do just that, and I'm looking forward to expanding on that work here in Congress.
Democrats are focused on getting things done as we enter the 119th Congress. We have real policies and plans to lower prices for American families, from groceries to housing to child care. We’re listening to the people in our districts, and we know that they are struggling to make ends meet. As Freshman Class President, I’m committed to working with my class to introduce and move bills that will actually make life easier for the people that we represent.
I’m so proud. Our class is incredibly diverse and impressive. I’m proud to serve alongside civil rights leaders, veteran legislators, scientists, doctors, former educators, business leaders and people whose personal stories truly reflect the American people. We have the opportunity to create a powerful collective in Congress. Thank you, I'm excited for many more of these. And now I will yield to Representative Olszewski.
REP. OLSZEWSKI: Well, thank you, Representative Ansari, and good morning to everyone. I'll start just by echoing the sentiments around the California wildfires, and say, as a representative of the Baltimore region, how grateful I am that Congress, without hesitation, moved and acted to respond to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, which was our own tragedy of no one's causing or doing. And so, I stand by my colleagues in that work. Thrilled to be here alongside our Chairman, Chairman Aguilar, as well as Vice Chair Lieu, exceptional leaders of the freshman class, with Representatives Ansari and Rivas as we provide updates.
I'll just echo Representative Ansari's sentiments about our class. We are not just big in size, one of the largest in history, in fact, but also, we're big in ideas and we're big in energy. We have extremely talented members that come from all walks of life, and of course, we bring that experience to the work before us. The priorities of this class are the priorities of the American people. We want to GSD: Get Stuff Done. And we're ready to work together with fellow Democrats to pass common sense legislation that improves the lives of our constituents, whether that's making health care more accessible and affordable, especially for women who are protecting our environment and our social safety nets. We're also ready to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle too. There is plenty of opportunity to find common ground. We can compromise without compromising our values.
Unfortunately, Republican leadership has not included Democratic freshmen, or, for that matter, any Democratic members in discussions on the bills we've taken action on to date. There have been no bill hearings, no markups, nothing to address our shared goals of lowering the cost of living, creating job opportunities or even physical security at the border. So, I'll just end by saying this: we cannot make truly bipartisan progress by circumventing the process. Process matters. We have to talk to and engage with each other from start to finish. And so, despite these initial votes, I remain cautiously optimistic that we can do just that. The freshman class is ready to be at the table, especially now that we have our committee assignments. We're ready to get the work together. And now, I'm happy to turn things over to my friend, Congressman Luz Rivas, another barrier breaker in her own right, as the first Latina to represent her district in California.
REP. RIVAS: Thank you, Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu, for having me here today, along with my fellow freshmen colleagues, Representatives Ansari and Olszewski.
As Freshman Leadership Representative to our freshman class, my job is to ensure that our thirty-three-person House Democratic freshman class is represented. Our freshman class brings strength and diversity from across the nation. A diversity of work experiences, from local and state governments to physicians to small business owners to engineers. A diversity of backgrounds, from urban, rural, red states and blue states. This diversity will allow us, as a Caucus, to work on comprehensive solutions to keep living costs down and improve people's lives. We will use our experiences to protect affordable health care, keep Medicare and Medicaid benefits intact, uphold our investments in clean energy jobs, feed our children and make college affordable for all. We have a duty to work together and across the aisle to make life better for the American people.
As a member that represents the City of Los Angeles, I can't start without thanking the firefighters and first responders from across the country who have been working non-stop to put out the fires in Southern California. Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives and livelihoods, as well as those who continue to be threatened by this disaster. The toughness and resiliency that the nation saw this past week in Los Angeles, that so many of us know, and it makes us proud to be from Los Angeles. Over the past week, I visited evacuation centers in my District and across the County, burn sites, command posts, to learn about the coordination across the state, local and federal levels in fighting the fires. You know, what I saw, each community member, I saw community members coming together to help their neighbors through a tough time. I have many friends that have lost their homes, that have lost everything. Every day I learn about someone I personally know that no longer has a home in Los Angeles.
Constituents who evacuated and were unsure if their home was still standing, called my office and asked how they could help their neighbors. And now, I'm hearing accounts that shelters are full with donations, you know, showing how much those of us from Los Angeles care about our friends and family. This is what LA is about, and it is what my California Congressional delegation colleagues on both sides of the aisle know to be true.
I want to thank President Biden for issuing a major disaster declaration so that our constituents can immediately access the federal resources that they need to recover. It's crucial that we continue to work together to make sure federal aid, without any conditions, and resources are delivered quickly to the people that need it the most. This isn't about party or politics. It's about getting our constituents the resources that they need to rebuild their lives in the wake of this disaster. Thank you and I yield back to Chairman Aguilar.
Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
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