Weekly House Democrats Press Conference 11.17.20

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for your patience. It's great to be back here in the United States Capitol. We had our first caucus meeting this morning. We did it virtually. Subsequent to the November elections, everyone was in good spirits. We welcomed our new members. We're excited about them and the opportunity to serve with people from throughout the north, the south, the east and the west. Another incredibly diverse class that will add to the most diverse Congress in the history of the Republic. More women serving in Congress than ever before. More African-Americans, more Latinos, more Asian-Americans, more members of the LGBTQ community. Two Muslim American women, two Native American women both serving in Congress for the first time in history. And our diversity will be strengthened by the new class upon its arrival. We also buy you by the fact that our long national nightmare is about to come to an end on January 20th at noon, because the most existential threat to our democracy, our values, our American way of life has been defeated decisively. He lost the popular vote decisively. He lost the electoral college vote decisively. Joe Biden has secured more votes than any other presidential candidate in the history of the Republic. And when you look at first term presidents who have been defeated, it has been difficult to do. Joe Biden has done it and he has done it with one of the most decisive margins ever. President will remain in office for 64 days or so. We're hopeful that he'll demonstrate some leadership in that interim time period because the COVID-19 pandemic has not gone away. Wasn't it the president who said all we hear about is COVID, COVID, COVID? That was the president. But then he said it was going to go away on November 4th. What is wrong with this guy? It has not gone away. It's gotten much worse. The pain, the suffering, the death has increased exponentially over the last several days, the last several weeks. And Donald Trump is in the witness protection program. No one can find him on that. Mayor is coming to an end on January 20th. And we're thankful for Joe Biden because he's going to bring competence. He's going to bring integrity. He's going to bring leadership. He's going to bring unity to the Oval Office because we don't have Democratic problems or Republican problems. We don't have progressive problems, moderate problems, centrist problems or conservative problems. We have American problems. And Joe Biden is committed to solving them. The House Democratic majority is committed to working with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to build back better for the people. And I yield to my distinguished vice chair, the great Catherine Clark from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. And if I may just take a moment of personal privilege. Not only were we able to greet our new members and come together in this caucus call, but it was my last official caucus call as vice chair of the caucus. And I want to thank my colleagues that have just been a pleasure to serve. But a special thanks to you, Mr. Chairman, for for all your partnership, your friendship and for always taking the hard questions at this press conference first. So I am I'm deeply, deeply grateful. And I think that Hakeem has put it well. We are back in session after a historical election where President Trump has lost in an electoral college landslide and has won the popular vote. And one of the most heartening things about this is that it is a return to truth and to science. President-elect Biden has already put his task force together, and we heard today on our call from Dr. Murphy. And the numbers are not good when we have over 11 million cases of COVID-19 in this country. And we are approaching a quarter of a million Americans who have lost their lives and the untold number who then lost their livelihoods. But with President-elect Biden and the House Democratic Caucus, we know that we will have the tools and the powerful ally in the White House to be able to reduce these numbers. And this will be an end to an administration defined by chaos, misinformation and a pursuit of power that is above all else and above the well-being of the American people as we face this pandemic. In 64 days, progress is back on the table. And the House Democratic majority is eager to get to work and make this critical agenda part of what we can accomplish for the American people. Because back at home, the statistics are startling. Too many families are facing hunger and homelessness. In one of my communities in Massachusetts, the city of Revere is providing 20 percent of its population with help with food assistance. And we know that's an undercount. We are seeing businesses and schools that have remained closed as this virus continues to run rampant. And we have stood since May for making sure that we are reaching out, that we are helping, providing the relief we need through the HEROES Act. And now as we move into the final month of the 116th caucus, we are concerned not only that we have not seen a relief package from Mitch McConnell and a willingness to come to the table, but that relief is going to expire for unemployment, for pandemic unemployment assistance for gig workers, the eviction moratorium, student loan forbearance, small business debt relief. Never mind that in the HEROES Act, we had a vaccine distribution plan that remains unpassed by the Senate, unsigned by this president. So our work is before us. But we have a new president that is going to join with the House Democrats to be able to lead us forward, to get through this pandemic, to restore equality and truth and justice, and to be able to not only rebuild our economy, but make it more inclusive. And we are eager to get to work for the American people. Thank you, Catherine. It's been an honor and a blessing to serve with you, and I know we will continue to serve and work closely together. Questions? Well, I don't know the context within which she has made those remarks, but we do know that many of Donald Trump's rallies have resulted in violence. Hatred has been spewed by none other than the president himself. I personally have often referred to his rallies as Make America Hate Again rallies. I can't comment on Ilhan's remarks. I've got great respect for Ilhan, but I don't know the context in which those were said. I think Vice President-elect has done a tremendous job during the campaign, to make it clear. Looting and rioting is not peaceful protesting. We support peaceful protesting, and we condemn all forms of violence, no matter where it originates. The problem that we confront is that the hater-in-chief has not done that. He plays footsie with white supremacists, with the Proud Boys, the Boogaloo Boys, the Good Old Boys, the Jim Crow Boys, and the Out of Control Boys all the time. But again, a long national nightmare is ending on January 20th. And so we feel good about where we are at, and we will have a president who will bring us together, not one who constantly tears us apart. I'm going to yield to Catherine too, but Joe Biden has been incredibly clear. And every time I've seen him speak, he has said he is going to be the president for everyone. We've never heard the current occupant of the White House suggest anything of that nature. Never. And he's ending up his fourth year. Joe Biden has said it every single time I've heard him speak over the last few weeks. And so I think our country is going to be in good hands. But we remain committed to trying to get something over the finish line in terms of a COVID relief package that does three things. Crush the virus, provide direct relief to everyday Americans who are struggling, and revive the economy. It's our hope that we can reach that agreement over the next few weeks. That is our intention. And Speaker Pelosi is working incredibly hard in that regard. Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, the entirety of the caucus, our chairs, are working incredibly hard in that regard. We hope that we will find a partner in Mitch McConnell to do just that. Simultaneously, it's my understanding that a lot of progress has been made with respect to the need to fully fund the government in the current fiscal year. It remains to be seen whether there will be crossover negotiations. That's a question that I think is best directed to Speaker Pelosi. But let me yield to Catherine, who's also a distinguished member of the Appropriations Committee. We completed our appropriations bills back in the summer. And we are now hearing from Mitch McConnell that he, too, is willing to begin that process. They are behind. But we will continue to work with them to make sure there isn't a shutdown. And we have never left the negotiating table since May when we passed the HEROES Act. We understand what is at stake for the American people, but it cannot just be a relief package for relief's sake. We cannot leave out key territories, state and local government. We have to make sure that this is a package that will deliver the aid where we need it. But it is a negotiation. And our concern is too bold that we are addressing this pandemic that is raging. It has never been higher since it first came to this country. And so we have to make sure that we are being targeted, that we are getting this aid out, and that we are also addressing the litany of relief and aid that came through the CARES Act that is expiring at the end of December. So we remain at the table. We certainly hope that Donald Trump will turn his focus back from his loss and on to the American people. It will be a first, but this is his time to answer the needs of this country. And that we will have Mitch McConnell come to the negotiating table after an absence of months since going back to May. So we're going to keep working. We know what's at stake. We know we cannot afford to not help people who are in such crisis and hurting and have suffered such loss across this country. Well, we're working through the leadership elections that will begin to take place this week, starting with the caucus chair election by tradition, which our vice chair will preside over. And then whoever's elected caucus chair will then preside over the election for the speaker designee, Nancy Pelosi. Then, of course, Steny Hoyer for majority leader, Jim Clyburn for majority whip, and then the race for assistant speaker. We expect that those races will take place tomorrow. And then the other contested races will likely occur on Thursday, including for caucus vice chair, as well as the DPCC, the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, and the five-term and under-caucus leadership representative, where there are three dynamic newer members who are running. And so I think there's a tremendous mix of experience. Nancy Pelosi is a legendary speaker, one of the best who's ever done it, ever in the history of the republic. She certainly has my strong support. I believe she's got – she, of course, has Catherine's strong support as well. And we're looking forward to getting started in the 117th Congress because there's so much work that needs to be done. Whatever happens in the future is going to happen during the Trump era. We've just been all trying to get to tomorrow. And now we're trying to get to January 20th, and it will be a new day in America. Well, that's a question that I think Karen Bass and whoever's elected as the new CBC chair – that's my understanding those elections will take place in a few weeks – will discuss. The caucus has been very clear. We want to provide relief to everyday Americans who are struggling with all the pain, the suffering, and the death, and at the same time make sure that we are providing relief to those Americans who have been disproportionately and adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. That's the African-American community. That's the Latino community. That's Indian country. That's everyday Americans in rural America. And those are many in the immigrant communities. And so I think from the standpoint of COVID-19, our immediate concern, we want to provide relief to everyone. But, of course, the data should drive in part where the resources go because the COVID-19 pandemic is not over for any of us until it's over for all of us. With respect to the history we've been grappling with – and I'll then yield to Catherine – we've been grappling with systemic racism that has been in the soil of this country for 401 years. We have come a long way in America. We still have a long way to go. This is the greatest country in the history of the world. But we're still working through some challenges. the record speaks for itself in terms of the New Deal and the GI Bill as it relates to who was explicitly included and who was explicitly excluded. The record speaks for itself. Hopefully, we're at a different time in America. I believe we are. And we look forward to working with Democrats and Republicans to provide relief to all. I want to underscore that our focus is going to be on those kitchen table issues that affect everyday Americans. We want to work on the issues that people talk about around their kitchen tables and that they worry about when they're trying to fall asleep. Will they be able to provide for their family, have a good job, have the health care they need? Is someone going to get sick in their family from this pandemic? The basic issues are the ones that we have to deliver for the American people. And tying back to the previous questions about the negotiations and not leaving people behind, this pandemic has revealed inequities that we knew were there. But it has brought them into stark relief. And one of them is health care disparities for people of color in this country. And one of our parts of the HEROES Act was making sure that we are collecting accurate data so we can understand why there were so many more disproportionate deaths and illness in our communities of color. So that we can not only make sure that health care is a right, not a privilege, but that we are breaking down these barriers of access for people of color. And we know the disparity exists. That was taken off the table by the Republicans earlier this fall. And that is the type of issue that, as you said, we are not going to leave these communities behind. These issues are here. We are at a moment of racial and economic justice in this country. And we have to look at every single policy for its racial implications and be active anti-racist in every single thing we do for the American people. Two final questions. It's my understanding that Speaker Pelosi has talked to Mitch McConnell. But of course, those are conversations that the Speaker can discuss at the appropriate time. But based on the reports that I've received, there is a feeling that there's a pathway to getting something done. We'll need Senate-Republican partnership to do it. I think some of Mitch McConnell's public statements may actually provide a pathway toward arriving at a meaningful agreement. We're not interested in a cosmetic press release. The American people are suffering in a once-in-a-century pandemic. This requires a once-in-a-century congressional response, which means it has to be sustained, continuing, and meaningful until the pandemic is over. We passed the HEROES Act not once but twice. And hopefully, we'll find common ground with our Senate Republicans in the next few days or weeks prior to departing for the holidays. I see another hand. And so we'll take you, and then we'll end with one last question. From the standpoint of the last piece of legislation that we enacted, that was a $2.2 trillion intervention. That's our public offer as to where we're at. There were, of course, intervening negotiations that were taking place. It's my understanding that Secretary Mnuchin had come up to $1.9. I believe we had held at $2.2 because a lot of what needs to happen depends on how the money is allocated. And so, as far as I'm concerned, we passed the HEROES Act a second time on October 1st. It contained $2.2 trillion. That's our caucus-wide statement as to what we think needs to happen. But we, of course, are open to finding common ground. Well, it depends on what that anything turns out to be. The details matter. We can't give $500 billion to a slush fund that Secretary Mnuchin would be free to disseminate at his own discretion based on no evidence, no data, and no science that can be handed out as a friends-and-family plan for Donald Trump and his boys on the way out the door. Right? I mean, this is a serious situation that we're confronting. The legislative details matter, and that's what's being worked out. We have to provide another round of direct stimulus payments to the American people. Of $1,200 per adult, $500 per child. We need to provide billions of dollars in assistance for tenants who are struggling to pay their rent and homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgage. We need to provide hundreds of billions of dollars in assistance to state and local governments, blue states and red states, because of the fact that if these state budgets and these local budgets, town budgets, city budgets, village budgets, in urban America, rural America, small-town America, suburban America in terms of counties, if these budgets are cut, the people who have already suffered the most as a result of this pandemic are going to suffer even more because budget cuts result in cuts to public health, public safety, public transportation, public housing, the provision of the public good across the board. And, of course, we need to extend out the emergency unemployment insurance benefit that they allowed to be expired on August 1st and extend that out, that $600 per week emergency unemployment insurance benefit, because we're still in a recession. There are still tens of millions of Americans who have been adversely impacted from an employment standpoint one way or the other. So I think our view is that the substance matters. We recognize we're in a divided government context. We're willing to find common ground. We came down from $3.4 trillion to $2.2 trillion in their ongoing negotiations. Catherine? I would just frame it like this. We're not haggling over the price of a used car. Could we just get to the middle? The details matter. The policies matter. Who is included in these policies and who is excluded from relief matters. So the price, you know, we can work with. We've already come down by half while taking on more, like putting the airline industry back into our proposal to adjust for that. But it matters how this money is spent and that this relief will get to the American people. Well, you know, we'll cross. I understand the question, and certainly we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But hopefully we're going to be able to arrive at an agreement on the COVID-19 package. We're working hard to do that and simultaneously work to make sure that there's no government shutdown. I don't believe there will be a government shutdown, but we've got to fully fund the government and the priorities that Catherine has so eloquently articulated. Let me end on a lighter note. Because of the pandemic, we're conducting our leadership elections virtually, as I outlined in the letter to the caucus on Friday. We've worked hard to create a virtual app where members can vote on these very important leadership elections, maintaining their integrity and the secrecy of the ballot since it's new technology that we are deploying. We had a couple of test votes today. We'll probably do a test vote tomorrow. But our first test vote asked the following question. Who is the greatest musician of all time? Selena, Aretha Franklin, Bruce Springsteen, or Bono? I don't think I'm breaking any confidence to say. Bono. All right. I was just checking. I was just checking, Chad, to make sure you're paying attention. The results. I don't have the percentages, but Christie can provide them if it is of interest to anyone. The results are Selena finished a strong fourth. Bono, a close third. The boss finished second. And with more than 50 percent of the vote, the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin. And so the caucus provided R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the great queen of soul. But we salute all of those legends who are transitioning us into this new COVID era of being required to vote electronically. And we look forward to what America will do as we exit out of this period of time into the new normal so we can build back better for the people. Thank you, everyone. Sgt. Grissman is a great member of Congress, and Steve Ricchetti has worked closely with the vice president. Both of them, I believe, will be phenomenal additions to a Biden presidency and administration. Thank you, everyone. And I look forward to seeing you next time. Thank you.