REPLAY: House Democratic Caucus Holds Weekly Press Conference

Yeah. Thank you, Chair Magular, and let me first say that my prayers 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 Bradsherman and Judy Chews. I'm going to give you an update on the fires about three things. The first is why did these fires explode? Why are they so hard to tank? Second, what the response has been? And third, some items to keep us going forward. So in terms of what caused these fires to spread so quickly, we've had a number of factors. There was drought-like conditions in Southern California for a number of months. We've had very low humidity. And then the Santa Ana winds, this phenomenon of high winds that hit us. We've had Santa Ana winds in the past, whenever at this scale, up to 100 miles per hour. But when you think about a hurricane with fire, that's what a number of these communities experience. These winds can blow these burning embers wild, wild, wild, against that structure of fire. So overall, there's a lot of wildfires happening. There are two main ones, the Palisades fire, both in the Bradsherman district, and the Union fire, both in the Chews district. About 41,000 acres of embers. We're watching these heats up. We have a record of 12,000 structures in the story. At least 20 acres of embers. The response has been overwhelming. We have 15,000 personnel fighting these fires. We have 15,000 fighters in the air, in the ground, and FEMA on-site fighting these fires. So going forward, we have to think about finding ways to protect the forests and rainforests that are in California and across America. California has had an absolute crisis for at least the first half year, and now it's the second. The second is the Palisades fire. So the Palisades fire is a huge problem. It's a crisis in the past. In addition to the Mount Union fire, it's a crisis in the past for the state. We're going to have to try to adapt to the new situation. We're going to have to wait a couple of months for a new capstone. We're going to have to come up with a new way to construct. We're going to have to get some repairs. We're going to have to get some policy changes. There's a lot of other things that we're doing. We're going to have to stay in the state of California for a while. We have to get into the state of California. It's now my great honor to introduce to you the freshman class president, Yasmina Sarayevich. Prior to this, she was a professor at the University of California, and now she's a professor at the University of California, and she's also a professor at the University of California, and she's going to tell us a little bit about herself. Thank you. Hello, everyone. My name is Yasmina Sarayevich. I'm going to come in today and it's my honor to be here in my role as president. President, first let me say my thoughts are with the Californians lost, displaced, and harmed by devastating wildfires. My state is no stranger to this completely painful natural disaster. I feel your loss and I send 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 Western United States Congress, I intend to work with my colleagues in the caucus, especially those in California, to ensure that we are passing legislation that at best continues to save the future of the Southwest. Our region is growing faster than the rest of the Southwest and we need to work together to ensure our consumers have a viable future. I worked on the Paris Climate Accords to do just that and I look forward to expanding on that work here in Congress. Democrats are focused on getting things done as we enter the Western United States Congress. We have real policies and plans to lower prices for American families, for groceries, health care, and child care. We're listening to the people in our districts and we know that they are struggling with the same issues. As President's class president, I am very supportive of my class and we know that we'll actually make life easier for our constituents. I'm so proud of our class and we have an incredibly diverse and impressive approach alongside civil rights leaders, legislators, scientists, doctors, former educators, business leaders, and so forth, whose personal stories we reflect here. We have the opportunity to bring a powerful perspective to Congress. Thank you and I'm excited to work with you right now as President. Thank you, sorry, and good morning to everyone. I'll start by echoing the words of President Donald Trump and all of his followers. Today is the representation of all of you. How grateful I am that Congress has found the patience to meet the challenges of our country and that's why I'm so proud of President Trump and all of his friends and family. I'm thrilled to be here alongside our Chairman, Chairman Aguilar, and both vice chairmen, exceptional leaders of the President's office with representatives from three different parts of the country. I'll just echo the words of the President, we are not the biggest size or the largest, it is pretty vast, but also big ideas, big initiatives. We have extremely talented members that come from all walks of life and of course, that is very important. The priorities of this class are the priorities of the American people. We want the GSD to get stuff done. We're ready to work together with fellow Democrats to improve the lives of our citizens. Whether that makes health care more accessible or more affordable, especially for women, or protecting our environment. We're also ready to work with our colleagues in the private sector. There is plenty of opportunity in the private sector and online without a doubt. Unfortunately, Republican leadership has not approved the Democratic threat, or for that matter, any Democratic threat. Discussion of the bill is exceptional. There have been no bill hearings, no markups, nothing to address our shared goal of lowering the cost of living, creating job opportunities for youth and children, I'll just end by saying that we cannot make truly bipartisan progress without a certain set of processes. Processes that we have to talk to and engage with each other from the start to the end. Despite being opposed, I remain cautiously optimistic that we can do just that. The freshmen class is ready to be at the table. We have our committee assignments. We're ready to get to work together. And now, I'm happy to turn things over to my friend, Congressman Lou Rivas, another very great Republican friend and the first Latina to represent us. Thank you. Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Liu for having me here today along with my fellow freshmen colleagues, Representative Ansari and Olszewski. As freshman leadership representative to our freshman class, my job is to ensure that our 33% 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 healthcare, 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 nonstop 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. What I saw at each community members, 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. Now I'm hearing accounts that shelters are full with donations, 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 declaration disaster 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. Thank you Representative Rivas. I appreciate my colleagues joining us here today. Questions? Jeff, I appreciate you automating this. Honestly, I mean we have a pretty robust track record and that's good. I think that the has a good track record on what we're doing and what we're doing and I don't think we're going to die in this way a pretty good job seem that we're doing You The You We will not support this kind of thing. We can have a right to say, especially if you think you've lost it, that you have a special kind of step in our community. But we will not support that. I said this before, but it's not worth the price to hold people back. We're not going to let you. We're not going to let you talk to us about it. We're not going to let you tell us about it. We're not going to let you say, hey, that's not even what you're ever going to be doing. No, that's not what's happening. That's not what this is all about. You've got a plan. You've got a whole story. I was born in America. It's absurd. You know, we're not going to rebuild the home. That's what you and I think of as a democratic freedom. That's it. So when these tornadoes strike, and the rest of the nation floods down the street, and the people of the country are facing some of the most devastating disasters in history, the question is, how are we going to do this? How are we going to get these people to be safe? How are we going to get these guys to be prepared? By the way, how many of my friends have been taken out over somebody's property? We walk to protect them. Even if we fall and break their legs, we still never forget that it was us who died and that it was The state of California has invested in wildfire mitigation efforts for years, but this weekend Chair Aguilar and I joined Congressmember Judy Chu for the destruction that the Eaton Fire did in Altadena. Anyone that visits that, you just want disaster aid to be there immediately. Speaker Johnson has not visited California. I think the members of the district most affected would be happy to invite him to witness this destruction. Once you see it, you'll know that we need to send aid immediately. People have lost everything in parts of Los Angeles that will take long to recover. They're scared. Where are they going to live? Do they still have to pay their mortgage payments? Do they still have to pay utility? It's going to take years to rebuild these communities. People lost their churches, their schools, their stores, their businesses. There's people that lost both their business and their homes. We have to help the people in California rebuild and recover. Thank you. a