Transcript: Chairman Becerra, House Democrats Stand United As Republicans Continue Dead-End Attacks On Affordable Care Act With 63rd Repeal Vote
Press Conference
Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (CA-34), Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Joe Crowley (NY-12), and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) held a press conference today as Republicans continued their dead-end attacks on affordable healthcare with a 63rd vote to repeal the ACA -- on Groundhog Day.
Chairman Becerra: "Last week, House Democrats had an opportunity to talk about the future and how we're ready to work to get some things done. We hoped our Republican colleagues would take advantage of this year to do that. We understand that the Speaker, Paul Ryan, will be meeting with the President for lunch. We hope they enjoy their meal and come back ready to work. The President laid out an agenda in his State of the Union. We hope that there will be cooperation here in the House to work together to get some things done.
"No one should believe that the circumstances in Flint, Michigan are acceptable. No one should have to worry about the water their kids drink. While I understand there will be hearings here in Congress dealing with the pollution and toxicity that is now affecting the health of thousands of people including children in Flint, we hope that this Congress will probe deeply into what's going on and how the state and local governments allowed families, including children, to drink contaminated water for months. We're hoping that we will do our job of oversight and make sure that we get down to the bottom of this.
"Hopefully, this won't be like the Wall Street crash where no heads rolled. And, hopefully, our Republican colleagues will treat this the way they treated other less significant issues, digging very deeply and doing sometimes massive investigations, for seven of eight times, as we saw with the tragic circumstances in Benghazi. The Republicans didn't like the results the first few times and so continued to do more investigations. We hope that they will look at this with the same intensity to get us answers on how Americans could be poisoned through their drinking water and the system that was supposed to be providing Flint, Michigan residents with clean water.
"This week, we're going to take yet another vote -- the 63rd -- on dismantling or repealing the Affordable Care Act. It's as if people haven't recognized the real value of having health security now for so many Americans -- 18 million -- who now have the same health security that most of us have relied upon or taken for granted. We no longer see Americans filing for personal bankruptcy the way they did before the Affordable Care Act became law. Nearly half of the personal bankruptcies Americans faced were the result of a medical bill. That's history now. Why would we want to go back to the days when that occurred, when a child could be denied healthcare because of a pre-existing condition, when women were charged more for the same type of health care that men had? Rather than go back to what was going on in the 20th Century, let's work to build the 21st Century.
"We hope that this lunch at the White House between President Obama and Speaker Paul Ryan will result in cooperation to get some things done because that's what we need now. Not dismantle or repeal things that have helped millions upon millions of Americans. With that, I will turn it over to the Vice Chair, Joe Crowley, who will then introduce our dear colleague and a real champion for working people, Jan Schakowsky from Illinois."
Q&A
Q: Are Democrats going to work with Republicans to try to craft an AUMF, perhaps as a way of inoculating yourself against this perception that you are not as trustworthy as the Republicans to protect the country?
Chairman Becerra: "Congress has an obligation to vote on an Authorization to Use Military Force regarding the situation in Syria and Iraq. And Congress has been AWOL by not having a vote. Whether we vote and pass an authorization is another matter, but we must first fulfill our constitutional obligation to have a vote and make a decision about that. I think our Republican colleagues, who are in control of the House and the Senate, have been derelict in not having allowed the American people to know what the direction of their government is through the voice of Congress, who must speak on issues of war.
"It should be a limited authorization, not an open ended authorization to declare war and institute military action anywhere at any time for as long as anyone would want. But I am prepared to have a debate on whether we should authorize the President to use our troops and our military to try to win a way. At this stage, I'm not sure why we would want to get involved in a foreign civil war but I'm willing to have that debate. And I do believe it should be clear what the parameters of that authorization should be."
Q: Today, when President Obama and Speaker Ryan have lunch, one of the things they are going to talk about is the TPP. I am wondering how much support Democrats will be able to provide the White House in its efforts to get TPP passed?
Chairman Becerra: "We saw the vote on the Trade Promotion Authority legislation which allows the TPP, the Trans Pacific Partnership, bill to come in through an expedited process. Many of us are looking over the terms of the agreement. We've had a general sense of it and now we get to see the actual terms themselves. And if I can't conclude that this trade agreement will help us go after the cheaters - and there are a whole bunch of cheaters in the international marketplace - I can't support a deal like that. If it helps go after the cheaters with real enforcement provisions, if we have partners that really will -- outside of the confines of our country and our laws -- enforce the provisions so that we have not just free trade, but fair trade, then I will support it.
"One of my biggest concerns, and I've expressed this to the Administration over and over again, is that there are cheaters trying to take advantage of American businesses that follow the rules. If that weren't bad enough, these companies that are cheating are located in countries that are also cheating. It's tough for me to believe that a company that is cheating in a foreign land and costing us American jobs and American business is going to follow the rules under TPP if the country that is supposed to enforce those rules is cheating as well. When I say a country cheating, I'm talking about the way some countries are manipulating their currency so they can make all the goods that leave their country and are exported to places, like the U.S., look less expensive. That means American businesses and American workers can't compete. That has cost us millions of jobs over the last decade or so by allowing countries, not just companies, to cheat against American workers and American business.
"It will be a heavy lift on the Democratic side to support a trade deal unless we are going after cheaters, making sure there are really enforceable rules, and believing we have real partners who want to work with us. We will not undermine our people, our workers, and our laws, which could be in jeopardy if we aren't careful with some of these trade deals."
Q: On Puerto Rico, the negotiations are still early, so there is talk of a advisory board or control board. Do you have any specific thoughts on that or what you would like to see in terms of an advisory or control authority?
Chairman Becerra: "Let me juxtapose what's going on in Puerto Rico, where four million US citizens are essentially dangling because this Congress has been unwilling to act to allow it to resolve its own problems, without taxpayer money from the U.S. It appears that our Republican colleagues want to have a noose over the neck of the people of Puerto Rico just to give them the ability to solve their own problems. It's not as if we are seeking American tax dollars. We just need to have the latitude, the ability within the laws, to solve their own problems. They don't right now; they are constrained by US law.
"Whereas in Flint, Michigan, I see very little being done by this Congress to figure out what's going on after thousands of Americans were poisoned by the state and local government there in the State of Michigan. Why is it that Republicans in Congress seem so intent on having such a tight noose around the people that live on the Island of Puerto Rico even though it's not going to cost any taxpayer money to change the law to let them solve their own problem? Yet in Flint, Michigan, it's as if Republicans want to keep their hands off of the situation. I don't know what's going on, but it sure seems like a double standard to me."
Q: What specifically can Congress do about Flint and what would you like to see be done?
Chairman Becerra: "One of the first things we should do is have the Governor of Michigan come before us and explain why it was that he and his team allowed the people of Flint, Michigan to be told they would drink contaminated water when there was a fresh water source that was used prior to that. This is trying to do government on the cheap. It certainly appears that the Governor was trying to save little bit of money at the expense of thousands of Americans. And now we're finding that these children are having health effects as a result of this. Learning problems. It doesn't make any sense to some of us why. Why aren't we trying to figure this out? What else can we do? Certainly we can find out if there was any criminal activity on the part of anyone in the state government, from the Governor on down. And if so, let's prosecute.
"As we saw with Wall Street crash, not one head rolled, and Americans are tired. Not one person was prosecuted at the highest levels for the catastrophe that was caused that lead to many millions of Americans losing their homes and much of their livelihoods. I don't believe many Americans want to sit by and watch as some people run government to the ground. Doing government on the cheap isn't good for anyone. At least allow the people of Puerto Rico who are trying to solve their problems have the ability under the law to do it at no taxpayer expense.
Q: How should that be done? What is the Democratic policy prescription for Puerto Rico?
Chairman Becerra: "The President presented a proposal that would allow the people of Puerto Rico to deal with their fiscal crisis at no taxpayer expense. That proposal has been sitting here in the Congress for months. Our Republicans colleagues understood that this was a dire situation. That every day that goes by, American families in Puerto Rico pay the price because their credit is impacted, their ability to work is impacted, and their ability to purchase the things they need is impacted. And so every day is costing the American people of Puerto Rico more and more money.
"The proposal is very simple. It gives Puerto Rico the ability as a government to resolve their financial crises, which it can't do right now because of arcane law that governs how Puerto Rico can and cannot move in this regard. So the Administration simply said, let's give them some of the same abilities that state and local governments already have in mainland us to resolve these issues. It's unfortunate that Republicans continue to wait because the price is being paid by American families in Puerto Rico."
Source