09.10.24 Weekly Press Conference

e e good morning pleased to be joined with Vice chair Ted Lou and I wanted to start out by thanking the extraordinary group of local state and federal First Responders back in my home County uh in San berardino County uh the line fire um broke out uh late last week there and uh the brave men and women uh who are First Responders are working around the clock to keep property and and people safe um and I appreciate their work I spent some time out with them at the incident command center at the emergency Operation Center as well as the local shelter uh evacuation uh shelter that has been uh stood up um and I'm thinking about them uh as we're doing our work here uh Congress is back in session uh and once again House of Republicans are leading us toward a government shutdown the so-called reasonable Republicans are nowhere to be seen as Speaker Johnson tries to jam Trump's project 2025 agenda into Government funding legislation extreme Republicans know that this bill has no chance of becoming lost and yet they want a force a vote that jeopardizes military read Readiness and Veterans Health Care we've seen How This Ends the only way to pass a government funding bill is to pass it on a bipartisan basis even their own members admit it the American people are sick and tired of the chaos the dysfunction and the extremism that they see from House Republicans and their failure to govern in a responsible way house Dem Democrats are ready to extend the hand of bipartisanship whenever possible uh and we will push back against the continued efforts of Maga extremism whenever necessary Vice chair Ted L thank you chairman agular we are back from August recess and it feels like grounds Hog's day all over again as chair Mar has said we are now facing yet another government shutdown so let's just review what's been happening ever since Republicans took control of the house last year the house has had difficulty trying to keep the lights on we started last year facing down a threat to default on our nation's debts which would have been catastrophic we then had to face multiple government shutdown attempts by the Republicans who were in control they also took out their own speaker and now we are yet facing another threat to shut down our government in this particular CR I find deeply offensive I'm a veteran there was a 12 billion dollar shortfall in this Republican CR for veterans health care and I don't see how this CR passes it's not a serious attempt to avert a government shutdown and that's why you have a number of Republicans who already publicly come publicly come out saying they are not going to vote for this CR so I urge the Republican leadership to get serious to put a serious CR on the table and then we can do what the American people need us to do which is to get rid of the chaos and dysfunction and make government run i y back questions Max one of the notable aspects of the CR is the attachment of the save act to it of course five Democrats did from the Save act ear this year have you spoken with those demat sense they might well first um today we have a rule vote um let's see how the rule vote goes and uh and if we'll have uh this vote um Katherine Clark is an amazing Whip and uh I'm sure she'll have some thoughts on uh where members are uh we're in the process of having a lot of conversations with members um on on their thoughts um but all of us agree uh we know how this ends this ends in a bipartisan bill that has Democrats and Republicans on a CR um it doesn't appear that Republicans want to do that uh right now and that house of Republicans want to do that they're isolated though they're on an island um doesn't feel like they have much support in the senate for their position um but we're going to keep uh talking to our members and our members uh want to avert a government shutdown we voted to avert a government shutdown before uh we will do so again um House Republicans are the only ones that flirt with catastrophe um on this side of the Dome and uh we expect that to continue um but it's become as the vice chair said it's become par for the course um with speaker Johnson who wants to insert elements of uh Donald Trump's project 2025 into this Government funding uh bill um that's what this is about but we shouldn't be surprised I mean this is the chief legal architect of the failed attempt um uh to overturn a free and fair election uh in speaker Johnson and this is the continuation of those efforts that's what he's proven is important to him is to um do what Donald Trump asks and that's what he's doing this week Chad good morning to off that question when you have Democrats from these swing districts who voted for the save act in July the Don davises the mar and Camp uh you know obviously Republicans are trying to put them in a box and say ah you voted here but you didn't vote there what does a Democrat do when they have voted for that say this is different how do they explain that to the voters well look I mean Standalone pieces is legislation or are different than um poison pill bills into Government funding spending I mean if if I'm those members I've been a Frontline member um there are significant Cuts as the vice chair mentioned significant cuts to Veterans healthare legislation um a significant cuts that that I'm paying attention to in the disaster relief fund uh that could be the account that helps fund some of the recovery and efforts uh for the for what I'm seeing and the F wildfires in Cali California um these are significant cuts that that members should be aware of um members are going to make their their own decisions on on where they land on these bills but I can tell you judging by the totality of what is in front of them uh this is not a serious piece of legislation and this is not a good piece of legislation we understand why this is different here you think they understand that and that they can communicate sure I mean in this in this hyperarid perspective uh our our members are focused on you know what's the how do we avert a catastrophe how do we avoid government shutdown that's what members are concerned about um primarily if you want to get into the politics of this a lot of the attack ads have already been written um and uh so um our members are concerned about you know how we avoid um government funding lapsing um uh that's the important work that we need to do uh this month that's what they are concerned about and then we're going to let the the politics uh go where they go in in October but right now this is this is the job in front of us Nick are you going to be watching tonight's presidential debate and if so what are you watching uh well um I think all of us are are going to be tuned tun in in in in some way um catching the highlights or catching it in real time I will say uh watching it on the East coast is a is a easier uh is easier for us uh as as West Coast folks um sometimes six o'clock is a little too early um we're moving around um but yeah I'll be I'll be watching it uh I think I'll be watching it with the vice chair um what the American public is going to see is a STK contrast in uh in two candidates one who's seasoned prosecutor who who was going to make her case and and one who is a felon um one who is going to talk about women's reproductive freedom and their access to abortion care as health care and the other who was going to take credit for returning roie Wade um one who is going to advocate for increased tax cuts to Millionaires and billionaires and the other who is going to talk about a tax cut for 100 million uh families um across this country um to bring housing more in reach for so many that's what they're going to see and I think that that contrast is going to be on display uh and we look forward to uh to to watching um but look I mean make no mistake Donald Trump has been on a debate stage is the most of of anybody um in modern times um he's going to do what he's going to do and he's going to speak to to his base um but we know that she's uh going to be ready and the vice president is going to be ready and Polished um I know the the vice chair has uh known her a number of years as as well um but we're excited for uh what we're going to see tonight K Harris has put in writing her plans for their future such as reducing housing costs going after corporate price gougers reduce food prices and protecting reproductive Freedom Donald Trump talks about Hannibal Lector so that's a choice we have November and it's not just the two presidental candidates what we see with the CR is the Republicans trying to jam through parts of the project 2025 insane ideas into actual governmental policy and so that's why again we urge that Republic leadership put a serious CR on CR on the floor not something that is just for messaging and certainly not something that implements Trump's radical 2025 agenda question Michael on a separate topic before the break senate pass partisan pieces of chop safety legislation Online safety act The Children online privacy protection act Chuck sh on Sunday and a dear colleag letter the Senators called on the house to pass the bills he did it again on FL yesterday I know you all don't control the FL right now but do Democrats support those two pieces of legislation that passed with big bipartisan majorities in the Senate have huge popularity in the public domain do you all support those pieces of legislation and do you think that we support bipartisan bills that keep our community safe um and those uh particular bills um are going through uh Energy and Commerce and that's where uh where where they would make their way to the floor um but you know um important reauthorizations you know as well uh those are things things that uh that we feel are going to protect our communities and worthy of discussion in this era where social media is such an important part of of of our lives and our our kids' lives uh we need to do everything we can um now um members may take issues with specific pieces of of this legislation but on balance um we need to look at at what is uh in the legislation and what it will do uh to to help our our communities uh and help Young people um navigate the world that is in front of them the most connected uh generation uh In Our Lifetime and so we look forward we always look forward to that policy debate um uh and unfortunately speaker Johnson has put a series of bills that aren't going to become law um on the house floor and we're wasting precious time um but as we've talked about that's part of the part of the chaos uh that has been the Hallmark of of his tenure and of House Republicans the past uh session one of the things we're hearing about a CR is that there's some who are arguing that it should be going until February or March because they feel that whoever wins the election should be the ones determining how the government gets funded until September do you agree with that notion or do you think a CR needs to be within this year this calendar year well you should be specific because the only people arguing that point are H Republicans and specifically Al house leadership um you're not hearing a lot of I haven't heard a lot of house appropriators on the Republican side um lean into this uh I think chairman Cole is um has been very measured in his in his comments um but I'm not hearing a lot of folks who actually have experience uh appropriating um say that that March is where they want to be in fact Susan Collins is pushed back against this so this is house Republic looking the leadership uh carrying this forward uh I think it is important for the house to do its work as soon as possible um by putting out a six-month um date uh we're not meeting the needs of the American public and we're giving up before even trying and so I think what is important is to have a shorter CR um to get our work done and to have something done uh before the end of the year uh for the the new Congress uh to begin I think that's the the most important thing thank thank you so much