LEADER JEFFRIES: “HOUSE DEMOCRATS ARE HERE ON THE CAPITOL STEPS TO REITERATE OUR STRONG OPPOSITION TO THIS SPENDING BILL”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Democrats held a press event, where they emphasized their opposition to the partisan Republican spending bill because it continues to gut the healthcare of the American people and fails to lower the high cost of living.

LEADER JEFFRIES: It's a high honor and a distinct privilege to be joined today by Whip Katherine Clark, Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, Members of House Democratic leadership and the House Democratic Caucus. House Democrats are here on the Capitol steps to reiterate our strong opposition to this spending bill because it fails to address the Republican healthcare crisis and it fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. House Democrats will continue to support our men and women in uniform. We will continue to support hardworking federal employees. We will continue to support our law enforcement personnel. House Democrats will continue to support our air traffic controllers. We will continue to support our TSA agents. We will continue to support our civil servants who have been under attack since day one of the Trump administration.

But we cannot support the Republican effort to gut the healthcare of the American people. Today, House Democrats will introduce legislation to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years to make sure that tens of millions of Americans don't experience dramatically increased premiums, copays and deductibles. We believe that working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans deserve the same level of certainty that Republicans always provide to the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected. The same level of certainty. And so we're calling upon our Republican colleagues to join us and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. And we will be working hard today, tomorrow and throughout the balance of this year to make sure that those Affordable Care Act tax credits are extended.

Now, Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. They own the mess that has been created in the United States of America. They own it. In a few hours, we will convene on the House Floor. And our message to the American people is, no matter what happens on the Floor later on today, our promise to you remains the same. House Democrats will continue to fight to make your life more affordable. House Democrats will continue the fight to address the Republican healthcare crisis. And House Democrats will fight to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. This fight is not over. We're just getting started. We're just getting started.

Now, among the many outrageous things that has been said during the Trump-Republican shutdown or done during the Trump-Republican shutdown, the longest shutdown in American history, is that Donald Trump made the stunning claim that in his mind, he holds two titles, that he has two positions. Donald Trump says that he's both the President and the Speaker of the House. That's what Donald Trump said in the midst of him shutting down the government. And what we've seen from compliant, sycophantic Republicans, corrupt House Republicans, is they continue to go along to get along. They don't function like a separate and co-equal branch of government. From the very beginning of this presidency and all the way through this Trump shutdown, Republicans in the House have continued to act like a wholly-owned subsidiary of the corrupt Trump cartel. That may be the House Republican position, but damn sure it ain't the House Democratic position, because we know, and what we say to the American people, is that we don't work for Donald Trump. We don't work for JD Vance. We don't work for your billionaire donors. We work for the American people. And that's what this fight by House Democrats, joined by our colleagues on the other side of the Capitol, has been all about. We work for the American people.

As we stand on the Capitol steps, ready to continue this battle on the House Floor, a battle that we waged week after week after week and that will continue regardless of the outcome, we say to the American people that we know you deserve better. You deserve much better than the chaos, the cruelty and the corruption that you've seen. And so as House Democrats, we're going to continue this fight to lower the high cost of living in a country where America is far too expensive. Far too many people struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, can't thrive and can barely survive. That should not be the case in the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. And so as Democrats, we're committed to addressing this affordability crisis. That's what this fight has been all about. And we'll continue to work hard to lower the high cost of living. We'll continue the fight to fix our broken healthcare system. And we'll continue the fight to stand up for Medicaid. We'll continue the fight to stand up for Medicare. We'll continue the fight to stand up for the Affordable Care Act and an extension of the tax credits. We'll continue the fight for your hospitals. We'll continue the fight for your nursing homes. We'll continue the fight for your community-based health clinics. And we'll continue the fight for the principle that in this great country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, healthcare can't simply be a privilege available only to the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected. Healthcare must be a right available to every single American. And that's the fight that House Democrats will continue to wage for the American people.

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I want to thank all of our distinguished colleagues who spoke so powerfully and eloquently about the nature of this fight that we continue to wage on behalf of the American people. And these are first-term Members of Congress, but they recognize that as Democrats, we stand on the shoulders of many who, decade after decade, century into century, have always fought to make life better for everyday Americans and to protect the healthcare and enhance the healthcare of the American people. That's the continuing and enduring legacy of the Democratic Party. FDR fought for it. Truman fought for it. JFK fought for it. LBJ fought for it. Carter fought for it. Clinton fought for it. Barack Obama fought for it. Biden fought for it. And no one fought harder in the House of Representatives than our Speaker Emerita Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi. That's in the DNA of the Democratic Party, from FDR to Nancy Pelosi to these first-term Members. And so our promise to the American people is that we are in this fight until we win this fight for all of you. Cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save healthcare. God bless you. God bless the United States of America.

Full press event can be watched here.

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