Transcript of Pelosi Interview on Bloomberg’s Balance of Power with David Westin

Contact: Speaker's Press Office,

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David Westin. This is Balance of Power on Bloomberg Television and Radio. I'm David Westin. We turn now to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, she is Nancy Pelosi. So, Madam Speaker, thank you for being back with Bloomberg.

I want to start with the Justice in Policing Act. There has been an awful lot of sentiment and anger expressed in response to that brutal slaying of George Floyd, but one thing that has come about is really a lot of momentum toward reform of police. Are you going to be in a position to take advantage of the moment and have structural reform for the police?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, I thank you for the question on that very important challenge to us all. Let me just say that one of the things that contributed to some of the unease, the unrest, the anger of it all was the disparity in the coronavirus, that so many people of color had died of the coronavirus.

So, that kind of aggravated the situation, and I mention that because three months ago, on March 11th, there were 38 deaths from the coronavirus, today, there are over 113,000 deaths in America from the coronavirus. The Heroes Act we put forward goes right to the heart of the disparity in our communities of color and it is part of the answer to some of the injustice that has caused so much anger.

In terms of the Justice in Policing Act, I am very proud of the work of the Congressional Black Caucus, the Judiciary Committee. The Black Caucus has had these bills in the hopper for a long time, but, now, the public sentiment is so strong that we believe we have opportunity to get them passed. They involve no choke holds, racial profiling must end, no-knock warrant in terms of drug cases, issues like that, issues that relate to keeping the data, having a registry of first responders who have misconduct so they're not hired again in another jurisdiction. The list goes on about violations to be banned, about measures to be taken so that we know who is there.

And we all recognize that we are served by our first responders. Public safety is a requirement that we owe the American people. But the police have to police themselves too, and we look forward to working with them as we go forward.

David Westin. As we have talked about various fiscal stimulus bills that you've initiated, you have emphasized repeatedly how important it is to be bipartisan. We understand, now, that the Senate Republicans are working on their version of some police reform. There are even reports that the White House is working on maybe an Executive Order. Is this something where you want to work across the aisle and come up with a joint response on?

Speaker Pelosi. Always. It is always so much stronger if we can work in a bipartisan way.

So far, what we have seen from the Senate is weak. But, nonetheless, a recognition that there has to be some change. But I'll leave that up to the – Karen Bass, our distinguished Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, as well as the Chair of the Crime Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, working with Jerry Nadler the Chair of the full Judiciary Committee. I'll leave it up to them to have their actions with the Republicans in the House, as well as the Senate and, hopefully, with the White House.

We do have an issue that relates to qualified immunity doctrine, that protects some police officers found to be engaged in misconduct from any, shall we say, exposure from families that are affected or lawsuits. So that is one area that is – perhaps an area where we will have some differences, but, hopefully, on others we will not, and hopefully we can find common ground.

The American people deserve and expect that. They are watching. We want to show them: we have heard you, we see you, we have listened, we have learned how important is this to you and we will do something about it.

That is a question I was asked by George Floyd's brother yesterday, when he came to testify before the Judiciary Committee in the Capitol. He said, ‘Will this become law? What makes you think so and what is different now?'

Well, different is the complete public awareness of the injustice of it all and the complete public outcry for change.

David Westin. Any of us who has seen the video, not just of George Floyd, but also of other instances of police misconduct, know that there are some police we really have to correct. We have to get rid of them. We have to amend their behavior. At the same time, I'm sure you'd agree, the vast majority of police officers are doing a hard job and doing it to the best of their ability. How difficult is it to, on the one hand, to really police the police, but, on the other hand, not be seen as undermining them and being anti-police?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, I think most police officers who are conducting themselves in a way that could be viewed publicly as responsible do not want to be painted with a brush of some bad apples who might be there in the mix. And so, again, policing the police is a responsibility that they have.

But I also think that we have to recognize there is some racism that has to be addressed in our society, as well as within our law enforcement community. And when we can rid ourselves of that, we will go a long way to having justice in our policing.

David Westin. Are the police unions a help or a hindrance in the reform of policing?

Speaker Pelosi. I've had a conversation with the President of one of the police unions, and they put out a very positive statement about our legislation. We did not know what they might say but it was very, shall we say, open, to what we are proposing. Ready to have the discussion.

And, again, as you say, overwhelmingly, police officers are there to protect us. I think they see their role as guardians and not warriors. We have to hope for the best in that regard and that they can be part of the discussion.

In some places, it is different. Some union officials have been very, shall we say, more than protected – more protective than they need to be of bad conduct. But we have to make those distinctions.

David Westin. If this bill became law, would it have prevented, do you think, George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis?

Speaker Pelosi. You know, it was something that just was explosive. It was pivotal. It was an inflection point. Use any term you want. It has made a tremendous difference, but I think for people to see a person murdered, martyred right before our very eyes. Eight minutes and 46 seconds is a long time. It's not something you accidentally hit somebody, and – it was eight minutes and 46 seconds

I think when you see the numbers of people who have turned out again and again across the country for weeks and across the world, somehow or another, his death was the tipping point. His family sees it that way. Although, as you probably know, they miss him very much, and they would rather he be here.

Nonetheless, they do not want his death to be in vain. So, we have to be sure that our legislation is passed so, as they asked, other lives will be saved.

David Westin. Madam Speaker, let's talk about The Heroes Act that you have mentioned a couple of times now. We heard from Secretary of Treasury Mnuchin yesterday that he agrees some form of fiscal stimulus is needed. There has to be more done. Where are you in negotiating with Secretary Mnuchin, the White House, the Republicans on the Senate side to get moving on some version of The Heroes Act?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, we believe The Heroes Act that we put together is a very focused, disciplined and necessary set of provisions, and that everything in there is something – except for one thing, OSHA standard protection for our workers in the workplace – everything else in the bill has been something Republicans have voted on before.

As I've said to you before, when the Republicans put forth their bills, people say, ‘That is the first offer.' When I put forth my bill, they say, ‘Why isn't she doing it in a bipartisan way?' Well, we invite – ours is a first offer too – we invite their participation, but it is absolutely essential.

If we don't do it, it's going to cost more. Not only did Secretary Mnuchin say that we need additional bipartisan legislation, the Chairman of the Fed has again – he reiterated what he said before. What he said before and now is, ‘Elected officials have the power to tax and spend and to make decisions about where we, as a society, should direct our collective resources.' ‘I think it may require Congress to help' as people are losing their jobs, and as he said, many of whom will not get their jobs back.

So, whether we are talking about testing, treating – testing, tracing, treating, isolation, to end this virus so that we can open up the economy. Whether we are talking about honoring our heroes: our health care workers, our teachers, our transit workers, our first responders, our food providers, the list goes on, by helping state and local governments. Whether it's about putting money in the pockets of American people with Unemployment Insurance and direct payment, with food – with food stamps, etcetera, this is all necessary. And, all of it, voted by the Republicans before.

It's bigger now, because more is needed. But, if we do not get that testing done, we're not going to defeat this virus. And we don't have a vaccine now. We don't have a therapy. God-willing, we pray, and we have great minds at work working on it. But we do have testing, testing, testing, and the Administration should take our strategic plan to do that to open up the economy, to bring people back to work, send kids back to school and get the job done for the American people.

David Westin. What you say about testing and also by the way contact tracing may be as important as ever as we begin to get some reports from Florida, from Texas, from Arizona, from California that in fact, maybe COVID-19 is gaining steam in some locations. We've heard from Secretary Mnuchin just today saying, ‘We will not shut the economy, no matter what.'

Do you agree with him, and are we are in a position with the testing and the tracing to be able to confidently say we won't have to shut it back down?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, we have to open it up safely, because otherwise, we are just going to go back and forth on this, and people will lose their lives. The American people overwhelmingly have said they are more concerned about their health care – their good health than going back to work. Although everyone wants to go back to work or back to school, that is not even a discussion. But, how to do it safely, is a discussion.

So, to your question, where is the negotiation, well, originally, they said, ‘Never, nothing, we are not doing anything.' Then they said, ‘Well, we'll do a trillion dollars.' That's not enough. And then, ‘We do not know when we will do it, but we need something soon.' So, they have been changing their tune on it, and the American people will demand we have bipartisan support across the country for everything that we are doing.

And I will remind you that everything we are doing for state and local government to honor our heroes, to keep their jobs cost less than half of what the Republicans had in their tax scam to give the tax cuts to the wealthiest people in America, 83 percent of the benefits going to the top one percent.

This is a stimulus to the economy. Go look at Speaker.gov/HeroesAct and see what this means to you: where you live, in your state, in your county, in your township or city. Again, half of the tax cuts.

David Westin. Thank you so very much, Madam Speaker. Always a privilege to have you with us.

That is Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

Speaker Pelosi. Stay safe.