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Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference Today

September 29, 2016

Contact: Drew Hammill/Caroline Behringer, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference today. Below is a transcript of the press conference.

Leader Pelosi. Good morning, everyone. Sad this morning, this crash in Hoboken, New Jersey. Our thoughts and prayers to those who were hurt and those who were killed, and those who remain to be…

Q: Do we have a number?

Leader Pelosi. I don't know. I mean, I think they're still digging out, but just, just so sad. And we'll watch for the further details. We'll continue to pray for the families involved as they wait for word of their loved ones.

So here we are, the end of our session. Early. Not very accomplished. And actions that were taken are long overdue. Probably the most valuable commodity that any of us have to utilize is time. How do you use time? Don't underutilize it, and don't waste it. But this is a Congress of wasted and underutilized time. We had time, plenty of time, to pass the Voting Rights Act. We had time to – the list goes on and on of what we haven't done as we leave this Congress. We had plenty of time to pass gun safety legislation. No Fly, No Buy and background checks, expanding the background check legislation.

We had time to pass a legislation that recognizes that increasing the paycheck of America's workers helps to grow the economy for everyone; no minimum wage; no equal pay for equal work; no paid sick leave; none of that, on the part of this Congress. We had plenty of time to, of course, do something on immigration. Instead we have done the reverse. So sad that we could not even honor the vision of our Founders and pass a correction to what happened in the courts on voting rights as we get ready for an election. Some of the issues that we talked about, student loans. We had the Courtney bill. We have had it in the committee. They won't take it up on the floor. They won't let us call it up. They rejected our ability to do that over and over again. And that's the bank loans, student loan – emergency loan. The Courtney bill which will allow you to refinance student loans at a lower rate than available to new borrowers.

The banks have lower rates than the families with student loans. So to any subject you can name, we have a missed opportunity. We don't even have a budget. They don't even have a budget. The chair of the Budget Committee is the Speaker of the House. They don't even have a budget that they can pass. And in many ways, that's probably a good thing. Show me your budget, show me your values. The values in that budget are terrible. But the American people should see what that – and if there's one thing you need to know about the Republicans' Ryan Budget is that it removes the guarantee for Medicare. If there are two things you should know about the budget is, secondly, it removes the guarantee for Medicare. And if there are three things you should know, it's that it removes the guarantee for Medicare and makes it a voucher for seniors to go shop for their health care.

So all of these missed opportunities. Here we are, leaving. Zika. After seven months after the President made his request based on science, evidence, facts, data of what would be needed, we are – and 23,000 Americans later infected, 2,100 pregnant women, we passed a bill yesterday. Glory alleluia. But it's so long overdue. It's paid for by taking money from other priorities and falls short of the amount that the President requested. Nonetheless, we've moved down the road on that. Again, as I said, gun violence. Ninety-one Americans killed every day. Think of time. Today, 91 Americans killed every day. Think of time. A day. Seventy-eight Americans dying of opioids. And yet, we're taking the time to go home for another 40‑some day break. Even falling short of the schedule of September, we could have done some of these things.

We really have to, you know, come to some – we all agree that our responsibility is to protect the American people. We take that oath, protect and defend our Constitution, our citizens, our people in our country, our communities. We all agree that we should be securing our economy. And yet, we're not doing it. Securing our communities' safety, we could pass a gun bill. Securing our economy, we could be engaged in middle class economics that increases paychecks, injects demand into the economy with consumer confidence and creates jobs. And then secure our democracy, pass the Voting Rights Act. Let's just – I mean, everybody shows up for Selma, they show up for African American Museum, all of that. And yet they reject the values that they supposedly are showing up for by not passing that.

So we are missing opportunities to secure our economy, secure our country, and to secure our democracy. And now we're going home for the election. And that should be interesting. That should be very interesting, as we have that debate. Hopefully it will be a debate – be a debate, as Ms. Hillary Clinton has put forth, as to what it means in the lives of the American people, not what it means around here.

Just on another sad note, sad too, we're all saddened to acknowledge the passing of a really global icon, Shimon Peres. He was a founder of Israel. He was a champion for democracy. He was a friend of many in our country. I consider it a personal loss for all of us, because we all learned so much from him. And while he has left us, his leadership will inspire us for a long time to come. I have the honor of going to his funeral later today with the President.

Any questions? Yes, ma'am.

Q: This morning Whip Hoyer said that he's not yet seeing signs of a Democratic wave taking over the House on Election Day. Do you agree with that and…

Leader Pelosi. I'm sorry, you said he said we're not going to win – what did he say?

Q: No, no. He said he's not seeing signs of a Democratic wave necessary for you guys to take back the House.

Leader Pelosi. What's a wave? You make your own wave. You know what I mean? And that's what we're doing. We are – we have the candidates, we have the enthusiasm. We have outraised, in terms of resources, the Republicans over and over again. And I feel very confident that the makings of a wave are there. You don't know ‑‑ I agree with Steny. You don't know this far in advance. We didn't. Nobody thought we were going to win at this point in 2006, and it turned into a wave. It turned into a wave in 2010 much closer to the time.

So it's like saying you see a wave. We're not even at the beach. So let us take this thing down the road and then we'll see where it is. But I think that we are all in agreement, including Steny, that we're going to win very many seats, and some of it, as he said, depends on how big the margin is for Hillary Clinton. And that makes a big difference in a presidential election year. We feel good, though, I mean, really. The response we are receiving based on the difference between the two parties in terms of trickle‑down versus middle class economics, where we are on gun safety, where we are on LGBT, where we are on a woman's right to choose, where we are on protecting the environment, addressing climate change, the list goes on and on. And we feel very confident that the American people will respond to our important message as to what it means in their lives.

The other part of it is, of course, our friend, the gift that keeps on giving, on the other side, his statements are – they help register voters, they help mobilize at the grassroots level, they help raise money, they help us differentiate in messaging. So I think we're in a very good place.

Yes, ma'am.

Q: Yesterday the Majority Whip Scalise and Representative Jody Hice, they introduced the, excuse me, I'm sorry, the Free Speech Fairness Act of 2016, which would change the Johnson Amendment from 1954 to protect non‑profits' free speech. Have you heard about that or…

Leader Pelosi. No. No. Right now, what we're talking about is strengthening our economy, growing the paychecks of America's workers. We're talking about protecting a woman's right to choose, protecting Medicare. We have some really – there are a lot of big things happening. I don't have any idea what they're talking about. I'll look into it.

Q: Okay. Thank you.

Leader Pelosi. But it's, should we say, not a front burner issue in terms of jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, Medicare, Medicare Medicare, Medicare, gun safety, gun safety, gun safety, this voting rights, voting rights, voting rights. So hopefully they will turn their attention to some of the big issues facing America's working families.

Yes.

Q: Madam Leader, Congress spent weeks wrangling over a relatively simple stopgap spending bill. How does that bode for doing 11 appropriations bills in a lame duck? Is that going to be easy…

Leader Pelosi. Did you ask that question last week?

Q: No.

Leader Pelosi. One of you did. Let me say this: In terms – as an appropriator, that's my – many of us were forged in the Appropriations Committee, and we're part of that culture. And what – what's interesting about it is that it is a place where you try to come to agreement. And I have no doubt that left to their own devices, the appropriators can come to a conclusion on bipartisan legislation.

What happens is, though, that the leadership sprinkles – comes in with the poison pills afterward, and that's what messes it up. But I have plenty of confidence that working together Chairman Rogers and Congresswoman, our Ranking Member Nita Lowey, as well as right down the line, our chairs and ranking members, know what their responsibility is, and know how to get it done. So we'll just see how that goes and – but I think the bill yesterday is an example of how we can just do the bill without the poison pills, when we did the VA bill yesterday. Military construction.

Yes, Chad.

Q: Madam Leader, that said, do you go into these negotiations, and when we get to a crisis moment like the CR or something like this, knowing they're going to have trouble on the other side, your side was pretty insistent on Flint. They needed your votes to carry the CR and say: Okay. I know I've got them. We're going to go in and get what we're going to have, or they're going to have to do something onerous and pass theor shut the government down or pass it with our votes or whatever and Flint's out or what have you. I mean, what is your psychology as you go into these negotiations, because you know how the vote counts are on their side of the aisle?

Leader Pelosi. Well, we have been talking about Flint for a very long time, well over a year. And there's been no secret to any leverage that we had in our back pocket. This was front and center that the children of Flint could not be neglected any longer by this Congress. It was only about two, I'd say, two days ago right about now that it dawned on the Republicans that they would be willing to pay attention to the needs of the people of Flint. Would that revelation, would that epiphany happened if they only had 170 votes to pass the CR of their own writing? You'll have to ask them.

But this was well‑known. Really, we wanted much more. It had passed the Senate in a bipartisan way, 90‑something to 3 or something like that, in the Senate, what we were proposing. Passed the Senate [in a] bipartisan way. It was paid for, as it should be, had to be – but paid for. Passed the Senate – bipartisan. Urgent. And something that should have happened even if the Republicans had all the votes they needed for the CR. But there's no question: the fact that they did not have the votes gave us leverage, but we were prepared. We were prepared.

Yes, ma'am.

Q: Related to the Flint deal, a lot of your Members were saying before things were moving on the actual deal, that they wouldn't vote for a CR without Flint money or for an assurance that Flint was getting to the President's desk before September. They also were concerned about floods moving ahead of Flint and kicking Flint to the lame-duck but not taking floods along with it. How did you convince your Members that the deal that you guys came up with, which doesn't appropriate money, doesn't guarantee funding in the lame-duck, was an acceptable solution?

Leader Pelosi. There may have been some statements of that kind by some. And that, frankly, gave me leverage. As I say to them: Say whatever you want to say. Just, you know, raise my hand.

But the fact is, at some point, we're going to have to make the vote. So don't make any declarations of how you're going to vote until you see what the outcome is. And I think it's a very good outcome. Our colleague, Dan Kildee – this is a lion. This is a champion. This is a person who every single day in his service in Congress, his leadership in our caucus, came forward and reminded us of what was happening on a daily basis.

It's getting worse in Flint. Getting worse in Flint. Some of us visited Flint. If you ever went there, you would wonder how the Congress of the United States could turn its back on the children of Flint for this long a time.

And so in my view, it was important for him to be satisfied with what the arrangement was. And there was no one in our caucus that – stiff competition for caring about children – but nobody who knew more, cared more, or had more at stake for the children than Dan Kildee. And he's highly respected by our colleagues. Once he accepted how we would go forward, not even accepted, he helped shape it. He helped shape it. Then our Members.

Now, of course, we would have liked the money right this minute. 10 weeks in the life of a child who isn't having access to clean water, et cetera, makes a difference. But we've been going on for over a year, and that's horrible. But the certainty that – and I feel quite certain that this will happen. I trust the Speaker and the leaders in the Senate. Senator McConnell made his very strong statement on the Floor. So I don't think there's any doubt that it will happen. It's a matter of 8, 10 weeks that we'd like to shorten that time. But the fact that Members said, ‘No Flint, no CR’ was only helpful to me.

Yes, sir?

Q: Thank you. There are reports now that the train in Hoboken, the train that crashed in Hoboken…

Leader Pelosi. Right.

Q: Didn't have positive train control. And I know Congress last year voted to extend the deadline for implementation of that technology.

Leader Pelosi. Unfortunately.

Q: What do you think about that, and is that something you believe should be revisited in any way?

Leader Pelosi. Well, I don't think we should have extended the deadline. The trains were still running. If you're going to extend the deadline, then stop the trains because the risk is there. But that will go a long way to saving lives, improving safety, and restoring – having confidence in our infrastructure in terms of transportation.

So I think that was unfortunate that we couldn't stop that extension. Because we know that where it exists, safety is greatly improved. So hopefully we can revisit that or – I don't know. How much longer is that delay?

Q: December 2018.

Leader Pelosi. Yeah. So why? 2 more years? Again, it's about time. And it's about time Congress faced its responsibilities when it comes to the safety of the American people, when it comes to the security of their families in every way, economically, personally, leaving their homes and safety of the ballots that they will cast. It's about time that we took our responsibilities as seriously here as they impact the lives of the American people. So a waste of time is something almost sinful to squander when we could be making a positive difference in the lives of the American people. And this is one example.

I think we only have time for one more question, if that. Yes, ma'am.

Q: I was wondering if you would shed some light on your thoughts on the veto vote yesterday, the override. And the President called it basically a political vote and said it was, you know – doing it before an election with the families. Could you share your thinking on it and how you voted?

Leader Pelosi. We were really busy yesterday working on keeping the government open and getting our votes, et cetera, to proceed. So I don't know – I wasn't familiar with the President's statement in that regard. I know it was a disappointment, but I didn't know about that statement.

The timing on when it brought up, it was brought up, I think, really related more to 9/11. They wanted to have the bill passed was it that Friday, Thursday, the 8th, 9th, 10th, whatever it was, in time for 9/11. All of that has to happen and go to the President in the manner that it did. There was great enthusiasm on the part of the families to do so.

As I've said to you before, I go back way back with these families. I was the first one to introduce a bill to have a 9/11 Commission. We passed – it passed in committee, in the Intelligence Committee where I served. Another place I was forged. And when we went to the floor, it was resoundly rejected by the Republicans, almost accusing me of being a traitor for even bringing it up.

For the mobilization of the families, we brought it up again under the leadership of Tim Roemer, our Congressman from Indiana on the Intelligence Committee, and later the Ambassador to India, a distinguished Member of Congress. He brought it up and then it – one thing and another, we had the leverage to have it become the law. I also served as Co‑Chair – there's four Co‑Chairs of the Joint Investigation, House, Senate, Democrat, Republican. Porter Goss and I representing the House, Richard Shelby and Bob Graham in the Senate worked very closely with the families on all of that. Worked very closely with them on 9/11 health benefits and compensation to this day.

So we're all – we have a very close relationship. So for me as I weighed the equities, I appreciate the concerns which I think are very legitimate that the President put forward, I thought these families should have their day in court.

A strong vote and a large number, I think maybe like 60 Democrats voted to sustain the veto. Was a dozen or so Republicans. So it's really unfortunate. Because I do think that perhaps it could have been written in a little bit of a different way that addressed some of the concerns. The families think that they did make changes, but not to the satisfaction of the President, obviously. Therefore, he vetoed the bill. But it's a very sad situation. And, again, Members just had their own individual reasons why.

I don't think it was a political vote on the part of anybody. If you're saying the timing of when it was brought up was political, well, that I don't know. I don't know.

That was it, because the Speaker needs the room right now. Thank you all very much. Have a good – I was going to say summer. Summer. It seems like we haven't gotten enough work done to be at the end of a term. Perhaps I'll see you on the campaign trail. Otherwise, I'll see you after the election, and I know that we will be in a very positive place at that time.

Q: Is that because the Giants are going to win?

Leader Pelosi. We're still in that wild card. Got that wild card.

Q: Barely.

Leader Pelosi. That’s all it takes.

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