LIVE: Senate Democrat and Republican Leaders Hold Weekly Press Conferences 2024-04-09 18:22

Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for coming. And thank you for Senator Stabenow and Kelly for joining us today. So we had a productive lunch. We went over many important issues facing the Senate. We talked about our accomplishments. There are many. And this week, we came back to news that we've added over 300,000 jobs last month, blowing past expectations, proving once again our economy is building back stronger than ever. Fifteen million new jobs. Fifteen million, a record. Just yesterday, as Senator Kelly will elaborate, President and Secretary Raimondo announced a deal with TSMC, $65 billion in private investment. Amazing. So let the good news ring from coast to coast. The CHIP Senate is delivering on its promise, bringing manufacturing back to America, shoring up our supply chains, increasing our national security. Just like the announcements of global foundries, Intel, and others, the announcement means new jobs, new economic activity, and there's more yet to come. Stay tuned about Micron and its $100 billion investment in upstate New York. The CHIPS and Science Act, along with the infrastructure law, the IRA, the American Rescue Plan, all show that Democrats made historic investments in manufacturing and workers. Now it's clear those investments are paying off. Though House Republicans have spent a lot of energy attacking a women's choice, calling for cuts to Social Security, and raising the retirement age, the contrast is glaring. We're creating jobs and wealth and new economy. They're talking about cutting back on women's rights, cutting Social Security, raising the retirement age. Also this week, President Biden announced executive action to relieve the burden of student debt for 30 million Americans. You want to reduce people's costs? Reduce the debt burden. It's a huge, huge anchor around the feet of so many Americans. And what President Biden did is great news for everyone, particularly borrowers in communities of color who were disproportionately impacted by the student debt crisis. For too long, the debt has held back borrowers from reaching the middle class. President Biden's giving them a chance to achieve their dream. So we're going to continue to focus on American families. We're waiting for Republicans to join us. Senator Stabenow. Thank you, Senator Schumer. The American people sent us to Washington to govern and that's exactly what Democrats have been doing and continue to do. We're rebuilding America. We're bringing jobs home. That's what essentially Senator Schumer is talking about. Jobs that were overseas coming home. And we're taking on big corporate interests to lower costs. We're growing the middle class and focusing on lowering costs. And we took on one of the biggest areas of cost for Americans. They've been talked about for years. And that's big pharma. We took on big pharma and we won. Now seniors don't pay more than $35 a month for insulin. And that's a big deal for people. Shingles and pneumonia and other vaccines are free. And drug companies can no longer rip off seniors by raising their prices faster than the rate of inflation. If you're getting a cancer treatment in a doctor's office or a hospital, this makes a huge difference. Lower prices are being negotiated for 10 drugs that treat conditions including blood clots and heart failure and cancer and arthritis. And in 2024, right now, the out-of-pocket cost totally for seniors is $3,200. Not $10,000, not $14,000, not $20,000 or more that many people pay. $3,200. And next year it permanently goes to $2,000 a year, which is a very big deal. And that's going to save nearly 19 million Americans an average of $400 every year. But big pharma continues to fight every single one of these things. And they've gone to court, in fact. They've gone to court against the Biden administration to stop negotiation. And the Republicans are right there with them. So we're going to continue to stand up to the drug companies to reduce prescription drug costs. But our work is in total contrast to the House Republican budget that was just released that where they announced all of the things I just said would be repealed. All of them. Costs would go back up. They wouldn't repeal the 40% tax cut that they gave in 2017 to the drug companies. Oh, no. But every single thing to lower costs would be repealed. They proposed significant cuts to Medicare and to health care through the Affordable Care Act. And like we heard from Donald Trump yesterday, Republicans will do nothing to give women access to the reproductive health care that we need. In fact, today, one out of three women now live in a state with extreme abortion bans. One out of three American women. And Donald Trump said he was proudly, proudly the person for being responsible for ending Roe v. Wade and causing all of this chaos. So while they rip away health care for Americans, we trust women to make our own health care decisions. And we're going to continue to take on Big Pharma, Big Pharma and other corporate interests that are ripping people off so we can lower their costs. Thank you, Senator Kelly. Thank you, Senator Schumer. Hey, before I talk about chips, I want to say a few words about the disastrous decision by the Arizona Supreme Court today to reinstate a total ban on abortion. From a law that was passed in 1864, before Arizona was a state, actually 48 years before Arizona became a state, Senator Stabenow mentioned one out of three women live in a state that have an extreme abortion abortion ban. Well, about 30 minutes ago, that number went up. This is going to criminalize doctors for doing their jobs, and it's going to have a devastating effect on the health and freedom of women in Arizona. It's going to put lives at risk. Now, this law may have been written 160 years ago, but it's only being reinstated now because of politicians who work to overturn Roe v. Wade. In fact, in the Supreme Court ruling today, it mentioned the Dobbs decision 22 times. This is devastating for women in Arizona. I've got a daughter and granddaughter in Arizona. This is not who we are as Arizonans, and I refuse to allow Arizona to become a state where doctors are going to be afraid to practice, to just do their jobs. Women deserve the right to make these decisions on their own, not politicians in Washington making them for them. So I'm going to continue to work to fix this, but I've got to stress that this is a really sad day for the state of Arizona. Now, yesterday, as Senator Schumer mentioned, the CHIPS Act grants, a grant was awarded for TSMC. TSMC is investing $65 billion of their own money in the state of Arizona. They're receiving a $6.6 billion grant from the Department of Commerce because of the CHIPS and Science Act. This means there will be tens of thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs created in the state of Arizona. These are jobs that you can actually raise a family on that don't require a four-year degree. This is also an investment in our workforce. And when these fabs, when these factories are done, we will be making the most advanced semiconductor chips in the world in the state of Arizona. So this is a win for Arizona, and it's a win for our country. It's bringing back manufacturing jobs from overseas. It's going to strengthen our economy, strengthen our supply chains, and strengthen our national security. And this, as Senator Schumer mentioned, this is only the beginning. Thank you. Senator Schumer, can you react to this? Colleagues say you're going to offer a motion to dismiss the impeachment charges on Thursday. Are you at all concerned that it's going to affect the market on Canberra? Look, we're going to try and resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements. Senator, does that mean that this is going to take a different direction? As I said, we're going to try to resolve this as quickly as possible. As I've said in the past, it's absurd, and there are no charges in the House complaint that rise to the level of impeachment. Senator, does that mean dismissing it? As I said, we're going to move forward and resolve this as quickly as possible. Once again, impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements. Senator Schumer. Yes, go ahead. Senator Schumer. Look, I'm all for the package. If there are enough votes to move it forward in the right way, yeah, we'll try to get it on the floor. But right now, we don't think they're trying to get enough votes. Yes, the sponsors are trying to see if there are enough votes. Look, it's something I support, and we're talking to our colleagues about it. Yes. Should the administration be rolling out a student loan? Absolutely. Student loans. I was around my state during the break. This is one of the most important issues to so many people, particularly people of color. Our Republican colleagues who are against this are not doing what it takes to help families get settled and to help reduce costs on the American people. Senator Schumer. Yes, go ahead. On Arizona, can you give your latest- Yeah, look, the bottom line is that Republicans have always stood for a nationwide abortion ban. And Donald Trump, in his speech yesterday, specifically bragged about appointing three MAGA justices who repealed Roe v. Wade and proudly took credit for it. The American people know where Democrats are, where Republicans are, and this will be a large, looming issue in the campaign. Thanks, everybody. Good afternoon, everyone. We're extremely pleased to have the Prime Minister of Japan here this week addressing a joint session of Congress and underscoring how important it is to our Asian allies that we defeat the Russians in Ukraine. The Japanese Prime Minister has previously said, if you want to send President Xi a message, beat Putin in Ukraine. They have supplied financial assistance as well. And I think having him this particular week further underscores that we're in a worldwide situation here against the enemies of democracy led by China, Russia, and Iran. Well, the Senate expects very shortly to receive articles of impeachment from the House of Representatives for Alejandro Mayorkas. In my view, the Senate should conduct a trial. I think it's clear that this administration, President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas have presided over the worst border crisis in American history. 7.4 million people apprehended in just three years in office. 1.8 million got away. So over 9 million people that have been come into the country illegally, and that doesn't include the unknown gotaways. And of course, we know on that list were 351 people who were on the terrorist watch list. This is an absolute debacle at the southern border. It is a national security crisis. There needs to be accountability. And the Senate needs to conduct a trial where senators have an opportunity to examine the evidence, examine the record, and come to a conclusion. The American people deserve accountability on this issue. The polls show that the majority of Americans support impeaching Secretary Mayorkas. And I believe it is fundamental to our role as United States senators to conduct a trial to get the evidence out there and to come to a conclusion one way or the other. And that is our intention as Republican senators. And we look forward to receiving the article's impeachment from the House of Representatives sometime soon. Joe Biden and his Secretary of Homeland Security, Mayorkas, have surrendered the southern border to the criminal cartels and to drug dealers. And this is a crime against America. The American people deserve accountability. So Mayorkas has now been impeached for willfully refusing to enforce the laws of the United States. And Chuck Schumer and every Democrat in the Senate is doing everything they can to bury the impeachment call. What they are actually trying to do is nuke impeachment. This is a big deal. There have only been two impeachments of Cabinet members in the history of this country. The last was 148 years ago. There is cause for the impeachment. These are serious charges, credible evidence, and the Constitution calls for a full trial. But Schumer and the Democrats, every Democrat senator doesn't want that trial because they don't want the evidence to be exposed to the American people. No, no. We have close to 10 million illegal immigrants who have come to this country since Joe Biden has been president. Democrats are culpable. They coddle the criminals. And Chuck Schumer is afraid that if this damaging evidence comes out, it's going to hurt them in November. And their major concern is job security in November, not border security or the security of our nation. Republicans are committed to a secure border and making sure the American people get the accountability that we all deserve. Well, folks, if you like your car, truck, or SUV, and it has an internal combustion engine, good luck keeping it. Joe Biden and all of his greenie friends in the White House are forcing electric vehicles on our citizens across the United States. And the reality is this is a huge boon for China and not just China, but for Russia as well. Those who are wishing to destroy America are committing atrocities against Ukrainians and enslaving children to gain access to our critical minerals. We saw this in Afghanistan with the critical minerals there. We left it for the Taliban, and the Chinese have now over 60 contracts on those minerals. We see this in Ukraine as well with their fields of critical minerals and a huge reserve of lithium. So as Biden mandates his green fantasy upon the United States, he fails to mention that he's actually going to be enriching and lining the pockets of our adversaries. So these rules that the Biden administration is forcing on us, they're way out of touch with middle America. I drive an SUV back in Iowa. I actually like it, and I love using ethanol. So of course, but it's really out of touch with folks across America, especially the folks back home in Iowa, right there in rural Montgomery County. And so I'm working with my Senate GOP colleagues and others to let Joe Biden know that his electric vehicle mandates, they are on a road to nowhere. Let's invest in America. Good afternoon. I hope everybody had a nice break. I certainly did. And one of the things I got to do over the last two weeks was we had the new NIH director, Monica Bartagnoli, came to West Virginia University to see all of the research and all of the innovation that's occurring in our medical centers there. I'm really proud to feature both what we're doing both what we're doing in terms of addressing addiction, Alzheimer's, stroke, heart, cancer. And I think what she found is what she already knew, but it was really reinforced for her that a lot of the solutions are not in Boston or San Francisco. They're in the heartland of America where the institutions have rural Americans that are coming every day to seek help both in the medical field and in the mental health field to be able to meet the devastating problems of a cancer diagnosis or Alzheimer's diagnosis. And so I just want to thank her and her team for coming and for the West Virginia University team showing what's going on all through West Virginia in terms of meeting the challenges of biomedical research. I do want to also add my voice to the chorus that Senator McConnell, Senator Thune, Senator Barrasso certainly, and I know Senator Ernst as well and Senator Daines. Don't leave anybody out. And that is to say to Senator Schumer, you have got to hold a trial on Secretary Mayorkas. The numbers are staggering. The amount of people that I talked to over the last two weeks in my home state of West Virginia, which is far removed from the southern border, talking about what this problem is to them and what it means as Americans, as folks that are ridden over and overridden by the scourge of fentanyl. This Secretary Mayorkas needs to be held accountable. He needs to answer straight questions. He needs to not just have straight questions answered. We need to hear the case that led the House of Representatives to vote for impeachment. So I think it would be a disservice to this country, a disservice to the act of impeachment to not move forward with a full trial. And I hope that that's what we see. Thank you. Well, let me join the choir. Joe Biden's border is a mess. And I agree with my colleagues that every Senate Democrat needs to join Republicans in holding the administration accountable when the impeachment articles come over from the House. Joe Biden is also working overtime to force a very radical green agenda into virtually every area of our lives. And first of all, let me say this. I don't have a problem with electric vehicles. It's an amazing technology. My problem is when the government forces us through mandates to have to drive them. I enjoy my Ford F-150. It runs on recycled dinosaurs. I enjoy that. But Biden announced—not ethanol, Senator Ernst, but recycled dinosaurs. First, Biden announced $1 billion to build EV chargers at the southern border, while completely ignoring the actual price on the border. And that's nearly 10 million illegal migrants coming across. Then, when he thought it couldn't get worse, Biden's EPA issued a rule limiting tailpipe emissions, forcing the majority of cars and light-duty trucks produced to be EVs by 2032. That's not how it really works, Mr. President. As it is, our car dealers can barely get EVs off their lots. Go talk to your Ford dealer right now. The Ford Lightnings were supposed to be the greatest thing ever to hit the market. They are massively discounting Ford Lightning pickups right now because they can't sell them. Why is that? I can tell you, Montanans don't want to be forced to drive an EV. They just don't make sense with our Montana way of life. We've got a lot of windshield time in Montana. It means we drive a lot, long distances. We have freezing temperatures. We have now—they call it range anxiety. This is a new term with the green hallucination projected by Joe Biden and the Democrats. And next, the administration issued a rule that would force semi-trucks to become electric vehicles. A diesel-powered semi's range can be up to about 2,000 miles. An EV semi, about 330 miles. Diesels can fill up in about 20 minutes at the pump. EV semi, at least three hours to charge. And by the way, the grid capacity is having a hard time supporting it. Now they're shutting down baseload power in states like Montana. Diesel semis can cost up to $150,000. Average EV semi rings it at around $300,000. Let's be clear. Truckers can't afford this. It increases costs for consumers. It makes the roads less safe. Now, I challenge anybody here, find me a trucker who wants to do a long haul from Glendive, Montana to Butte, Montana, in an electric semi in January. And to quote George Strait, I'll find you some oceanfront property in Arizona. It's time for Biden and the Democrats to abandon their climate fantasy and to get real. Leader McConnell, do you agree with the former President Trump's statement that Israel is absolutely losing the PR war? And speaking of the military operation in Gaza, you've got to get it over with and you have to get back to normalcy. My view is when you have a Democratic ally, somebody we're closely aligned with, I don't think it's appropriate for us to give them advice about whether to have an election or what their military strategy ought to be. They didn't start this war, and I'm hopeful that they'll be able to achieve their goal, which is to eliminate Hamas from being able to govern and effectively control Gaza. When you talk about this, about possibly requesting the House to delay sending over the impeachment order so you can make a better case to have a more fulsome Senate trial? I don't think we have any advice to give the Speaker about how to handle the issue on timing. We also need to get 702 done because it expires on April 17. So we've got our hands full here. Leader McConnell, the Arizona Supreme Court just moved forward with a near total ban on abortion. Given your role and the Senate Republicans' role in confirming three justices' overturned row, are you concerned about voter backlash on this issue? Well, you're asking me about an Arizona Supreme Court decision? I haven't taken a look at it yet, but I'm certain, as you are, that this whole issue will continue to unfold during the course of the campaign. Leader McConnell, do you agree with former President Trump that this issue should remain with the states and that it shouldn't be a federal ban?