CHAIRMAN JEFFRIES: “THE BUILD BACK BETTER ACT WILL RELIEVE THE PRESSURE THAT EVERYDAY AMERICANS ARE EXPERIENCING”
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 highlighted House Democrats’ work to lower costs for everyday Americans and create millions of good-paying jobs.
CHAIRMAN JEFFRIES: We had a robust Caucus meeting today, featuring presentations from the White House. Cecilia Rouse, the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Brian Deese, Senior Advisor and Director with respect to the White House Economic Council, as well as from the White House Communications Director.
I think we as Democrats understand, led by President Biden here in the House and over on the other side of the Capitol in the Senate, that the American people are struggling. Struggling with rising costs and inflationary pressures that relate to the supply chain and relate to some price gouging that is taking place by people who worship at the altar of greed in a way that is hurting consumers, hurting farmers, hurting ranchers and others. The American people are feeling the pain of these inflationary pressures and the White House is taking decisive action.
It's also why it's important for us to get the Build Back Better Act over the finish line. The Build Back Better Act will lower costs for hard-working Americans, lower child care costs, lower energy costs and lower health care costs, including the high price of life-saving prescription drugs and relieve the pressure that everyday Americans are experiencing.
It's a shame that instead of working with Democrats to try to address the issues confronting the American people with respect to inflation, they continue to fan the flames of dissension and focus on everything other than jobs, the economy and inflation. We're going to continue to get our work done For The People.
Later on this afternoon, we will take up the resolution with respect to holding the former White House chief of staff in criminal contempt for his obstruction and his indifference to the rule of law. And we will also condemn, hopefully in a bipartisan way, Islamophobia and make it clear that attacks on anyone's religion are inconsistent with who we are as a nation and the principle of freedom of religion in a pluralistic society. That is what the United States of America is all about. It's a founding principle of this great country.
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VICE CHAIR AGUILAR: As the Chairman mentioned, we're focused on the task ahead, but on behalf of the Chairman and the Democratic Caucus, we want to extend our condolences to all of those who suffered during the tornadoes. Incredibly tragic and, for those folks who are dealing with this during the holiday season, our hearts go out to them.
As the Chairman mentioned, we're dealing with some very weighty topics this week, but it's not lost on us the week that we had last week as well, dealing with the debt limit, passing the National Defense Authorization Act. This Congress continues to get things done. Yesterday, as the Chairman mentioned, the Select Committee voted to hold the former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt. Mr. Meadows has shown that he will not cooperate with the committee's work. We are now asking our colleagues on the floor to pass the same vote to hold him in contempt. He has no problem sharing details of his interactions with the former president in his book if you buy it for $25, but he does not want to come before the committee to have those same conversations.
The Chairman also mentioned that we're going to extend the full faith and credit of the United States, as well as dealing with a bill to combat Islamophobia, topics that are that are weighty and important and shows the work that we were doing on behalf of the American people as we sprint toward the end of the calendar year. We're focused on these issues because it's right for the American people and you know, we would only hope with respect to the Islamophobia bill — unfortunately, our Republican colleagues are not going to hold their Members accountable. And so, while they continue to spew hate, we're going to continue to legislate.
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Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
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