Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference Today

Contact: Drew Hammill, 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. We are up earlier today. Thank you for being here. Welcome back. I hope that you had time to recreate during the work period. I tell my Members all the time the words "recreate" and "re-create" are the same word. If you want to restore yourself, you have to enjoy life with your family and friends so that when you come back, you are all ready to go. You heard me say that yesterday, didn't you? Okay.

So here we are, renewed from our visits to our districts. For me, it's such a joy to be a Representative from San Francisco. We had so many different kinds of events, from kindergarten to college to observing the 80th birthday of Social Security, LGBT events, Women's Equality Day, the anniversary of women fighting for and winning the right to vote. Of course, our Labor Day event. Our Women's Equality Day was combined with the voting rights initiative to remove barriers of participation. So it's always so, in addition to personal relaxation, it's always refreshing to be further invigorated by the ideas of our districts.

And so Members are back and ready for what comes next. And what comes next is that we have 9 legislative days remaining before the end of the fiscal year. House Democratic leadership in June, Steny – Whip Hoyer and I, and Leader Clyburn and Chair Becerra and Vice Chair Crowley and I wrote to the Speaker and asked him to really to push forward and lead us to work together so we can avoid a government shutdown. It's clear that we are not going to vote for any legislation that is predicated on the sequestration figures. It just does not help us meet the needs of the American people. And the Senate Democrats have made it clear that none of those bills will come to the floor. We all know that we have to get rid of sequestration in order to keep our country strong so we can invest in our national security but also in our domestic initiatives to grow the economy, create jobs, increase paychecks.

So some of you came by as we invited our colleagues to come sit at the table so that we can begin a negotiation. We are preparing for a continuing resolution that certainly will take us past September 30 to the end of the fiscal year. But as we prepare for that, we have to prepare for what comes after that so that clearly we have a compromise, a negotiated settlement that takes us into the future. It's, again, the debate that we have here between Trickle-Down Economics, tax cuts for the rich – if it trickles down, that would be good; if not, so be it, that is the free market – or Middle-Class Economics, growing the economy so that we increase paychecks so the middle class can have consumer confidence, consume, inject demand into the economy, and turn the economy around. When the middle class succeeds, America succeeds. And that's the way we will grow our GDP as we go forward.

As you know, we are preparing today and tomorrow to vote in one shape or another on the Iran agreement. I am so proud of our Members. They just worked so hard, thousands of hours, hundreds of pages of statements, pronouncements, not just announcements of what their votes would be but pronouncements about why. It's just remarkable. Some of you were with us on the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday when we were there with the Gold Star moms and our veterans. And we heard our Members talk about the fact that generals and admirals as well as diplomats were supporting this initiative in large vast numbers in a nonpartisan way, that scientists and nuclear physicists of the highest order, from Nobel laureates as well as people of faith were supporting this initiative. And it was pretty exciting to see. So reflecting on the sacrifices of our vets and observing tomorrow the 14th anniversary of 9/11, it is really important for us to pass – not pass, but reject any call to reject the agreement that the President has so masterfully put together. So proud of the President, [Secretary] John Kerry, Secretary Lew, Secretary Moniz. So many people worked so hard to make this a successful agreement. It's quite remarkable, as a matter of fact.

And yesterday we heard from five ambassadors, Ambassador from the U.K., from France, from Germany, from the EU and also from Russia in solidarity and support of it. Our Members had many questions. And it was a very, very valuable conversation for us, strengthening the support that we have for the President's initiative.

With that, I'd be pleased to take any questions you have.

***

Q: Madam Leader, good morning.

Leader Pelosi. Yes, Chad.

Q: So it appears this Iran deal is going to go through because of the way the Republicans have restructured this set of measures over the next couple of days here. Number one, you must be buoyed by that. Number two, do you fear later efforts – we heard rumblings yesterday about the potential to sue, maybe try to take this past the Obama Administration to short circuit this sometime down the road. Do you fear if this goes through, there is still a threat?

Leader Pelosi. No. On September 17, unless this is rejected, it goes forward. And that's why the clock is ticking here now to get these votes done so that it can get to the President and he can act upon it. He has said that he would veto any attempt to overturn it. It's very hard to see what is going to the President from the House, though. The Senate has indicated, I am not current in the last five minutes, but they have indicated, the Senate Republicans, that they are not going down the same path as the House. So they will have the simple and clear rejection of the agreement in the Senate. And over here we have a potpourri of initiatives designed to get a vote on the rule. So that's what that is.

Q: But you don't fear anything once we get through this set of debate for a lawsuit or even after Mr. Obama leaves office?

Leader Pelosi. No. I wish that you could hear the Ambassadors. Perhaps they could – I don't know, I don't know what they are able to do in terms of all five of them being on the TV, a program, at once. But what they said is: We did this to stop Iran from getting a weapon of mass destruction. We have all paid the price in our countries, more than in the U.S., in terms of sanctions on Iran. We don't have that much trade with Iran. We have earlier gripes with Iran. But they do. And their economies have paid a price for going down this path, which they will continue to do, in order to prevent Iran from getting a weapon of mass destruction.

But this presents a plan to do that. And people say: Well, what will you do if they "cheat" is the word they use actually? A little bit here, a little bit there. They say no, we have to make sure that they don't. And it was quite a remarkable presentation by them. This is historic. This is grand. This is visionary. This is about peace. Some of our Members are saying this is the first time since I have been here I have been able to vote for peace rather than just against war. So I have confidence in it. The President has the authority to do this. The opportunity for Congress to reject it will be met with rejection. And we go forward.

Anything else? Yes, ma'am.

Q: Madam Leader, yesterday the District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that House Republicans – in their lawsuit against the implementation of the Affordable Care Act – that they have standing to continue pursuing that lawsuit. Can you comment on the court's decision and what you think that means?

Leader Pelosi. I think it means that it will be overturned. But it was an interesting decision because it was unprecedented in our entire history, that decision. The decision will be appealed, and I am confident the court will not want to become an arbiter between arguments between the executive and the legislative branches of government. We have been down that path. The Constitution does not contemplate that role for the Supreme Court. And Republicans have tried 60 ways to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I believe that this will be overturned. It's an astounding decision, actually. Never happened before in the history of our country. Yes, sir.

Q: On the question of Syrian refugees, Secretary Kerry has announced that they are going to increase the number coming to the United States to 5,000. Many people still think that's much too low. Former Governor Martin O'Malley is calling for 65,000. I am wondering if you have been in any discussions with Speaker Boehner about legislation that would increase the number, and what number you think is appropriate.

Leader Pelosi. No, I have been in conversation with the Speaker about Iran, about transportation, and about the CR. But we did not yet get to that subject. This is really important. I think 5,000 is far too low a figure. But this is a subject we have to discuss. And my colleague, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who is the ranking Democrat on the Immigration [Sub]committee, has a far more ambitious – she is finalizing some of this now – but it is a more ambitious approach where we increase the number of people coming into our country, therefore increasing the number of refugees who come into our country.

There is precedent for us receiving refugees. After the Vietnam war during the Carter Administration, Vice President Mondale went to an international meeting and said that the U.S. would be willing to accept something like 14,000 a month, a month, of Southeast Asian refugees, Hmong, different people. And when the U.S. took the lead on that, other countries followed suit. We see Germany taking the lead on this. I hope that other countries will follow suit and that we will do something more substantial. But we have to have a conversation about it. It's not just about the number; it's about the reason why and what our moral responsibility is as well. And the Pope is of course asking for countries to take in [more people].

Q: Madam Leader, as the highest ranking woman in the history of American politics, I am curious as to whether or not you think Hillary Clinton has done enough to quell this email controversy. And how do you explain the rise of Bernie Sanders, who you lavished praise on yesterday?

Leader Pelosi. Well, he was my colleague. When I lavish praise on him, I say what he is proposing is what we have been talking about, bigger paychecks, affordability in education, many of the subjects that are our reason for being here in the Congress of the United States. I have confidence in the integrity of Hillary Clinton. She has decided to take the tack she has on the emails. I have always thought that she would never have sent or received any email that would be top secret or confidential or whatever the category happened to be – classified. And so I never doubted her on that. But since it has become a fascination with the press, I think she was smart to put it behind.

And I would gladly relinquish the title of highest-ranking woman by dint of my being Speaker of the House, the third-highest position in the land, to having a woman Speaker – excuse me, a woman President of the United States. We had a woman Speaker. Woman President of the United States.

Q: Madam Leader, you mentioned that you had talks with Speaker Boehner about a CR. Can you talk a little bit more about where those talks are at this point? Are you in substance or just in timing?

Leader Pelosi. I said I spoke with him. They were not what I would describe as talks. I spoke to him about having talks. And, basically, my point is whatever we are going to do on a continuing resolution, let's do a lot of preparatory work in advance of that so that we are not starting from day one on October 1st, but that we have laid some groundwork in terms of what is the figure that we would be working under and the rest. Whether we can be there before October 1, I don't know.

Q: Is there a schedule for some conversation on that topic?

Leader Pelosi. We keep inviting them, but so far, they have not accepted. I believe that we will get to that place. I have to believe that.

Q: Leader Pelosi?

Leader Pelosi. Yes, ma'am.

Q: To follow up on Luke's question, how concerned are you about the fact that Hillary Clinton's lead in all these polls has been virtually erased because of this email controversy and how she has handled it? How big of a threat do you think Joe Biden is as a potential candidate?

Leader Pelosi. It's interesting to me that you want to spend so much time talking politics under the dome of the Capitol. We always go down the street when we want to talk politics. But we can allocate a small percentage of any meeting to that subject, and we are almost going over the line. I don't know what is going on. I am a busy person. We are trying to save the world with the Iran agreement. We are trying to get a budget. We are trying to get a transportation bill and things like that, meet the needs of our constituents. I am not following the politics, believe it or not, except as it applies to the House Democratic races.

I don't know that Hillary Clinton, the numbers in the polls reflect – or I don't stipulate to the fact that it's about the emails. Who knows what it could be? It could be about another candidate moving forward. So let me just say this. In races like this, when you are the frontrunner, the race – my daughter, she says this much better than I do – the race looks like it's going to be a referendum. How well do you hold that big lead, which is almost impossible to hold? And then the rest of it goes from a referendum on you to a comparison between candidates. And your number is always going to come down unless that other person, I think the expression goes, ‘just stood in bed'. If the person is out there campaigning, they are bound to make some progress.

So, again, I think we have capable candidates. There may be more. I am not in it. I am not in it. I may be in it, but I am not in it now. Right now we are trying to make sure that we have a good strong vote to sustain the President's veto, that we have a clear distinction as to where we're going on this budget and how we create jobs for the American people. And it's fun to follow politics, but again, I have confidence in Hillary Clinton. I think there is any number of great people in our party who could also run for President if that's your question. I think that a number of them are already in the field, Bernie, Martin O'Malley. Who else is in there?

Q: But you know Joe Biden. What about his chances?

Leader Pelosi. Yeah, I know him.

[Laughter]

He has never spoken to me about it. Isn't that interesting? And I speak to him quite a bit.

Q: Leader Pelosi, when you look back at your discussions with Democrats during the – trying to win their support for the Iran nuclear agreement, what was the chief objection you heard from your fellow Democrats and how are you able to resolve that?

Leader Pelosi. Well, just to put it in – you've heard me say this, but in case you haven't – just to put it in the framework, what I said to them from day one was: I've criticized the Republicans for saying ‘no' without reading it. I don't want you saying ‘yes' without reading it. Here's what the plan is: is for us to get as much information as possible from the – read it, read the agreement, read the annexes and read the classified information; have presentations by the Administration, State, Treasury, Energy, others so that you can have more information. Even we've had bipartisan classified briefings from the Administration, including Intelligence, in both. And then study it.

So, information and then validation. [Who] are the outside validators? The generals, the admirals, the scientists, the nuclear physicists, the diplomats – their validation is really important to Members. Hearing the diplomats yesterday was important. Clarification – so then you go through a whole long period of clarification asking questions: what does this really mean? How is this really implemented, and the rest. Information from the Administration, validation from the outside, clarification from whatever sources – from both and the above – and then you make your decision what we will all respect based on substance. And people had questions – well, and of course the last point being mobilization. You have to go home and listen to what people are saying and share your thoughts with them as well. That produces some questions in need of clarification as well.

And so, I would say in the statements – which I said to the Members yesterday – as original as every one of them was, they all had some common themes: this will stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. This agreement is the pathway to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. This agreement is not perfect. There are some themes that ran through there. But I have never – as some of you heard me say yesterday – I have never seen a perfect anything. Have you? Maybe my grandchildren.

But apart from that – so, they were to ask questions that say: what happens with the sanctions? They wanted to know what other countries would do if we walked away. They'd ask questions as to why can't we just use our banking, forget this and just use our banking system to say: we're not going to do business with any person, entity, country or company that does business with Iran? Why can't we just do that? Other people ask questions about the money – Iran's own money that is in foreign banks now that will be freed up to them – how much of that money might they use for a bad purpose? And what are we going to do to make sure we have appropriate deterrents as far as Israel is concerned in terms of increased activities they may have on the terrorist front? The terrorist front is more than about Israel. It's about Israel. But it's about more than that. We're concerned about that, as well. So those were the kinds of questions that we had.

Q: How important was the President in that sales job?

Leader Pelosi. Excuse me?

Q: How important was the President's lobbying?

Leader Pelosi. Well, the President was magnificent, because the President really understands this legislation, this agreement – let me say, it's not legislation – this agreement very well. And he could give a master class, and he has, to one, to three, or a hundred Members of Congress and take their questions very impressively. And if people had some other level of specificity, or if the President happened to be busy with the business of being President otherwise, the Secretary of Treasury, the Secretary of State – well, I should say it in this proper order: the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Energy, others were available to answer the question. So, the White House, I believe, is really responsible for the success that we will have today and tomorrow on rejecting this rejection of it, of the agreement. The President: masterful, dazzling, brilliant, knows it – knew it very well, both in terms of the specifics, but also in terms of its purpose, its goal and our role – America's role in the world.

And I tell you, it happens a lot – sometimes, almost every day – but it's a wonderful thing to be an American. It's just the greatest country in the world. And the opportunities that the American people have, and to be an American citizen is a glorious thing. And that's why, coming out of the break, when we were doing all this work on the Voting Rights Act, which [had] the anniversary on August 6th, when we were in District Work Period – it's really important for all of us to exercise that precious freedom that we have, to vote. Because when you vote, as Martin Luther King said: "The ballot, the ballot, the ballot. Legislation, legislation, legislation. Your life, your life." He said it better than that – but the connection between your vote, policy and your life.

So this is one of those examples where people have come here with knowledge and judgment and ideas – a vision about our country – but also had the humility to listen to so many people who know, technically, so many things – about nuclear physics and the rest, and how the banking system works, whatever the subject happened to be. It was a beautiful sight to behold. They had brilliance; they had humility; they had courage. And I'm so proud of them. And it just makes you so excited about our democratic process in our great country. Thank you all very much.

Q: Your Orioles or the Giants aren't going to make the playoffs.

Leader Pelosi. Wait a minute, the Giants, the Orioles. What is with the Nationals?

Q: The New York Mets, that's their problem.

Leader Pelosi. It's too bad. They are my three top teams.

Q: It's an odd year, though, right? The Giants will win next year.

Leader Pelosi. The Giants win every other year. We are on the every other year plan.

Q: The Niners aren't going to be very good this year.

Leader Pelosi. Well, you know what, think Warriors. Warriors and Giants. Two out of three, right? Thank you.

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