Whip Clark: "We need a Speaker who will govern through consensus -- not conflict"

Press Release

"212. It's a New York area code. And it's our call for a Speaker of integrity, intelligence, and inclusion. 212 is our call for a Speaker who will protect our children, our veterans, our planet. 212 is our call for a Speaker who will grow the middle class, lower costs, create good-paying jobs, and make health care affordable. 212 is our call for a Speaker who will secure liberty, justice, and opportunity for everyone.

Well, the unanimous call of 212 House Democrats has been answered by our nominee for Speaker. The gentleman from Brooklyn. The Leader of our House Democratic Caucus. The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries.

Leader Jeffries has answered our call. But, the Majority's nominee is disconnected -- disconnected from the American people and their values. MAGA extremism is designed to divide, and it has broken the Republican Party. Their nominee's vision is a direct attack on the freedom and the rights of the American people. And he's got the record to prove it.

The Republican nominee has voted against health care for children, for veterans, even for 9/11 survivors. He has opposed lowering the cost of insulin -- repeatedly.

He wants to cut Social Security and Medicare. Don't take it from me. It was raised on the other side of the aisle just this week -- as a selling point to make him Speaker.

Over his 16 years in the House, the Republican nominee has never supported a Farm Bill. What does that mean? What does that mean? It means he has turned his back on farmers, on rural communities, and the 11 million children who go to bed hungry in this country.

The Republican nominee wants a national abortion ban -- with no exception for rape, incest, or the health of a mother.

We want to make our own health care decisions -- in consultation with our families, our doctors, our faith -- not with Jim Jordan.

The Republican nominee plotted to overturn the 2020 election, traffics in misinformation, and is a true threat to our democracy and our Constitution.

I have had the privilege of working here in the People's House for almost 10 years. And, I've gotten to know many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. And I know that you hear the same thing that I do: The American people expect us to work together on their behalf. It is not too late for the Majority to choose a bipartisan path forward to reopen the House. Take yes for an answer!

Every day the Majority chooses to engage in a Republican civil war that is threatening their own Members instead of engaging with us in the work of the American people is a day that weakens this institution and the standing of our country.

We need a Speaker who will govern through consensus -- not conflict.

We need a Speaker worthy of wielding that gavel -- a leader who will defend democracy, not degrade it.

More than ever, we need proven, patriotic, people-first leadership. And that is why I am proud to nominate Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker of the House."

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