LEADER JEFFRIES: "THE RIGHT THING TO DO IS AN UP-OR-DOWN VOTE ON A COMPREHENSIVE, BIPARTISAN NATIONAL SECURITY PACKAGE"

Interview

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"There are clearly more than 300 members of the House of Representatives, the overwhelming amount of Democrats and a significant number of Republicans who would support the national security legislation, were it to receive an up or down vote on the floor of the House. It's urgently necessary that we act in America's national security to bring this bipartisan and comprehensive bill to the floor. It's important that we stand with Israel, stand with Ukraine, stand with our allies in the Indo-Pacific and certainly ensure that we can surge humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians who are in harm's way in Gaza through no fault of their own, and civilians in other theaters of war across the world.

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Well, all legislative options are on the table and that certainly includes a discharge petition. We have a leadership meeting at around 5:15, where we'll discuss the steps that we can take moving forward to ensure an up or down vote. We'll have a Steering and Policy meeting later on this evening and then tomorrow we'll gather as a Caucus family for the Democratic Caucus meeting in the morning. And then we'll have some clarity as to how we're going to proceed shortly thereafter. But it is clear, that it's time to end extreme MAGA Republican gamesmanship. It's time to end the extreme MAGA Republican brinksmanship and it's time to end the extreme MAGA Republican partisanship. This is a matter of America's national security, which we should put first and put Vladimir Putin last. The problem is, there seem to be some MAGA extremists who actually want to do the inverse.

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Well, that's certainly a question and I think will need to be fairly asked of House Republicans, traditional conservatives, who know that the right thing to do is for there to be an up-or-down vote on the comprehensive, bipartisan national security package. Now there are, Jake, Member-to-Member conversations that have been ongoing over the last several days, from Democratic Members of the Caucus to Republican Members of their Conference talking about what is possible if House Republican leaders continue to do the bidding of the former president Donald Trump, who seemingly wants to detonate the NATO alliance and America's national security interests in Europe and throughout the world. That would be unfortunate if the House Republican leaders continue to go down that road and undermine America's national security.

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Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. And if that moment is in front of us, as we did on the prior occasion, we'll have a conversation amongst the House Democratic Caucus family and figure out what's the right thing to do for our constituents, for the Congress and for the country. Right now, the question is, will House Republican leaders do the right thing by the American people? Stand with Israel, stand with Ukraine, stand with Taiwan, stand with our democratic allies all across the world and stand with civilians who are in harm's way in Gaza and in other theaters of war throughout the world and get them the humanitarian assistance that they need.

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Well, Governor Abbott is an embarrassment and a human trafficker. But besides, his political gamesmanship, I do think it's important for all of us, Democrats and Republicans, to recognize that we have a broken immigration system. We do need to address the challenges at the border, and it should be done in a manner that is comprehensive and bipartisan. That will be the only way to solve this problem. We're in a period of divided government. Common sense dictates, Jake, that we have to work together to solve the challenges that we confront at the border. The American people know this. The only question is whether Members of Congress on the other side of the aisle will recognize that their 'my way or the highway' approach is not an effective strategy at this moment. It's just designed to score political points. Now, we support a border that is strong, that is secure and that is humane. And it's important for Congress to work together in a commonsense, bipartisan way to get that done.

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Well, I certainly agree, that we all should be alarmed by the nature of the attacks that are being leveled by extreme MAGA Republicans at their political opponents. We need to take the temperature down. And the individuals that you reference on the Republican side of the aisle are unserious individuals at best. They're not in Congress in order to make life better for everyday Americans, they're in Congress to perform, often for the puppet master, the former president of the United States of America. Now, this is a time where we need to come together as Americans, recognize the power and beauty and majesty of the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, people who have come from all over the world to pursue the American dream of different races, creeds and colors. A gorgeous mosaic. That is who we are. We do have differences politically. But I think the things that connect us-- opportunity, freedom, democracy should be much stronger than the things that others are trying to use to divide us.

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Well, Tom Suozzi, is a common sense, let's fix the problem, get stuff done kind a Democrat and he's running his own race. It's a race between Tom Suozzi and an extreme MAGA Republican on the other side who wants to come join the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world in not doing the things that are necessary to solve problems for the people of Queens and Long Island. I'm confident that Tom Suozzi is in this for all the right reasons, to make life better for the people that he hopes to represent in the Third Congressional District.

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Well, the report by the special counsel was inappropriate, gratuitous, unconscionable and in many ways, un-American. The American people just simply want the truth. And the truth is that President Biden did nothing wrong and was completely and totally exonerated. Period. Full stop. The fact that the special counsel decided to personally attack President Biden reveals that his motives were unpure, and that any conclusions that he made in that report, separate and apart from the facts and the law, should be dismissed.

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Thank you, Jake."

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