Pelosi Remarks at Press Conference Following Tour of Children’s National Medical Center

Contact: Ashley Etienne/Caroline Behringer, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi joined Representatives John Yarmuth, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Jamie Raskin, John Sarbanes, Pramila Jayapal and patients and their families for a press conference after touring the Children's National Medical Center. Below are the Leader's Remarks:

Leader Pelosi. Thank you very much Representative [Pramila] Jayapal. It's an honor to be here with you and Ranking Member on the Budget Committee Mr. [John] Yarmuth, with our hosts who are in Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton's district, with [Representative] John Sarbanes of Maryland, and we met some constituents inside who presented our challenges, and Congressman [Jamie] Raskin. But I know they would all agree that the VIPs at this presentation are Jaime [Davis Smith] and Marta [Conner].

Thank you, thank you Claire [Davis Smith]! One thing we know about Claire, she has spirit and she has her independence and that's what we want her to have. Thank you, Marta, for sharing Caroline [Conner]'s story. Nothing is more eloquent. No words about policy could express more clearly the need for us to reject the Bill that will be in front of the Senate perhaps tomorrow or the next day.

Thank you for caring. These children are all of America's children. We all have a responsibility to them and all of the children in our country and we thank you for the beautiful care that you take of Caroline and we hope that we can be your partners in caring for her as we reject this bill.

And to Jaime, thank you to your whole family, and I know this is a family affair when a child with complex challenges is born into your lives. On Sundays, in Mass, when they have the special prayers and they ask ‘does anyone have a name that they want to shout out?', I always shout out the name of Jacqueline, a very close family friend's daughter who is challenged in many ways as well and her family takes beautiful care of her. But again, as with Claire and as with Caroline, without Medicaid, it would not be possible.

My colleagues that saluted the leadership here at Children's National, today is a day of celebration because they have been acknowledged to be in the top ten in one category, number one in another, so I thank Dr. [Kurt] Newman for his leadership the CEO, Dr. [Denice Cora-] Bramble, Dr. [Mark] Weissman, Dr. [Karen] Fratantoni, for their leadership and all of the staff at Children's National and congratulations on the honor you are receiving!

So as a matter of policy, you wonder, how can our Republican colleagues look into the eyes of Claire's family? Look into Jamie's eyes and her parents who are here as well as Claire's siblings? How can they look into the eyes of Marta and her family? How can they look at these children and say, ‘we instead want to give a tax break to the wealthiest people in our country, we don't feel any sense of community or any sense of responsibility to America's children.'? How can they look at you and say that?

That's why they have to hear your voices very strongly. How can they look at themselves in the mirror and say, ‘today, I cut off health care for many of America's children.' In fact, twenty-two million of the American people. But a child, a sick child, even if your child has a cold, you're concerned, but a child with these complex challenges, they are our responsibility. It would be shameful, and I know that my colleagues are people of faith, they tell us that all the time.

So this is God's creation, we have a moral responsibility to it. To minister to the needs of God's creation is an act of worship. To ignore those needs is to dishonor the God who made us; they are ignoring those needs. So from our faith, from our sense of responsibility and community in our country, to acknowledging that we are all one family in our country.

It is very important that our colleagues not only read the bill, but examine their consciences and look into their hearts and maybe look into the eyes of these families and make a decision in favor of what is right. What is right in terms of doing God's work, which in this hundredth anniversary of President Kennedy, I'll say this in honor of Claire's grandfather, who reminded me of that, at the end of his inaugural address, said, "God's work must truly be our own." This is our responsibility.

So right now as we are here, our colleagues are telling stories, getting stories, having them in the social media, and every way reaching out so that people can hear the individual stories that are out there because nothing is more eloquent than that. Is that not correct?

And our colleagues are standing here now, but they have stood strong on this issue all along. So again we salute all of those who really have taken the responsibility to do the best possible job, to get the best possible results for all of America's children.

And we wish that our colleagues would cooperate. One letter that one of my colleagues, [Representative] Rosa DeLauro, read today said – my colleague referenced Medicaid and she said, ‘Medicaid has been my co-partner in caring for my child.'

I'll just close by reading one statement. It's from Dr. Bruce Segal, he's the head of America's Essential Hospitals, he said this, ‘there has never been a rollback of basic services to Americans like this ever in history, in U.S. history. Let us not mince words, this bill will close hospitals, it will hammer rural hospitals, it will close nursing homes, it will lead to disabled children not getting services. People will die.'

That is an accurate depiction of what our colleagues think they are going to vote for tomorrow. We can't let it happen. Thank you all for helping us spread the word and thank you to Children's National.

[Applause]

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