June 14, 2022

CHAIRMAN JEFFRIES: “DEMOCRATS ARE WORKING TO LOWER COSTS FOR EVERYDAY AMERICANS AND CREATE AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE.”

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and Vice Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) held a leadership press conference where they outlined House Democrats’ continued efforts to lower costs for everyday Americans, strengthen the economy and crush the gun violence epidemic here in America.

CHAIRMAN JEFFRIES: Before I begin my opening remarks and yield to Pete, I just wanted to express our heartfelt prayers and condolences to our colleague Sean Casten and to the entire Casten family on the tragic loss of his 17-year-old daughter – unspeakable tragedy – we are asking everyone to respect the privacy that the family, of course, has requested but we want to make it entirely clear that his House Democratic Caucus family stands with the Casten family during this hour of greatest need. We ask that God continue to watch over Sean and the Casten family.
 
We had a very robust discussion earlier today. House Democrats have been focused like a laser beam on making sure that we can continue to create good-paying jobs. 8.7 million jobs have been created during the Biden presidency. Keep unemployment low, it remains at 3.6%. Wages have begun to increase. That is very positive and we need to keep that going. We also, of course, have to lower costs for everyday Americans and create an economy that works for the people. So consistent with that effort, this week, led by Representative Abigail Spanberger, the Lower Food and Fuel Costs Act will be on the House floor explicitly to try to lower costs in two critical areas that the American people are feeling in their pocketbooks, of course, gas prices as well as food prices.
 
We're hopeful that the effort will secure bipartisan support on the floor and that the Senate will see its way toward acting in this incredibly critical area at this particular point in time. We want to keep the aspects of the economy foundationally around unemployment and job creation going while at the same time working to lower costs for everyday Americans. That is our commitment as House Democrats. That is what we will continue to do.
 
We, of course, are also monitoring the developments in the Senate with respect to the gun violence prevention legislative agreement. We look forward to the text becoming publicly available, hopefully, sooner rather than later. But I think many of us, certainly the people I represent back at home, are heartened by the apparent breakthrough in doing something to address the gun violence crisis that we have been afflicted with here in the United States of America.
 
VICE CHAIR AGUILAR: When the January 6 Committee started, we said very clearly that we would tell the full and complete story about what happened on January 6 and the causes that led up to it. Through two hearings so far, and more ahead, we're on our way to completing that task and sharing what we learned with the American public. It is very clear that what we have laid out so far is that Donald Trump was at the center of a coordinated strategy to overturn the results of a free and fair election. We'll continue to tell the next chapter in that story on Thursday. We look forward to continuing the work of the committee, sharing the results that we have learned, and, most importantly, ensuring that this never happens again.
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Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.