Transcript of Speaker Pelosi’s Remarks at Weekly Press Conference

Contact: Speaker's Press Office,

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Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference today in the Capitol Visitor Center. Below are the Speaker's remarks:

Speaker Pelosi. Good morning. Good morning.

Not such a good morning in that, today, on the steps of the Capitol, we will be observing the one millionth death from COVID. The President is – my understanding is the President is lowering flags at half‑staff. We will have, sadly, our regular coming together in prayer and song.

A million people have died. It's such a terrible toll, and when you think of what it means in the lives of those families. So we send, of course, our condolences to the families, the children, the siblings, the friends, the colleagues, the spouses of those lost. The heartbreak continues. All the more reason why we must pass the COVID legislation so we can purchase vaccines, provide testing and treatments to prevent the outbreak from other variants that may come along and deaths.

Today, as a source of pride – well, Tuesday was a source of pride to us because that is when we passed the $40 billion legislation for our assistance in – military, humanitarian and economic assistance to the people of Ukraine.

As you know, I was there recently with a very distinguished delegation. The meeting started by the president thanking our President and the American people for the support to Ukraine as they fight for democracy in their country – and it is a fight for democracy globally.

So the President was most appreciative, but also had some other requests in terms of weapons, in terms of humanitarian and economic assistance. That's what we have largely in this legislation, which should be coming up on the Floor in the Senate any time, and we'll be able to pass the bill and send it to the President.

We think it's, as is, a very complete piece of legislation. I salute our Appropriations Committee Chair, Rosa DeLauro, for – in a bipartisan way, House and Senate, coming together on the bill. We are very pleased that we had about an 80 percent bipartisan bill on the House Floor for this. So it is bringing us together.

Then, again, in addition, as we fight – support the fight for democracy against dictatorship, we also salute the bipartisan support we've had for the Lend‑Lease bill, which the President signed, the ‘Freeze' and – the ‘Seize and Freeze' legislation, which is so important in terms of using Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine.

And again, we just had on Tuesday, also, a meeting of the Munich Security Conference – one part of it here in the Capitol – where we saw the unity of the European countries around this issue. And it really goes beyond European countries.

Next week on the Floor of the House, we will have another piece of our ‘lowering costs for the American people' legislation.

First, House Democrats, led by Congresswoman Schrier and Congresswoman Porter, introduced the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act. While families are struggling to pay higher prices at the pump, oil and gas companies are recording record profits, with the seven largest oil companies announcing buybacks that could total $41 billion this year alone. Again and again, we see gas prices rise, sometimes when the cost of oil goes – drops – oil prices drop, and price gouging needs to be stopped.

This is a major exploitation of the consumer, because this is a product the consumer must have. Again, the Putin Tax Hike at the pump is a part of this, and you would think that the oil companies would compensate for that rather than exploit the opportunity.

So in this bill, what this bill does – price gouging needs to be addressed, including new tools at the FTC to address those abuses. Our bill enables the President to issue an energy emergency declaration, making it unlawful to increase gas and home energy prices in an exploitive and excessive way, which is part of the business plan of these companies.

Right now, as we gather here, the COMPETES Act is having – the Conference Committee is having its first meeting. I think it's on Station 83 – Channel 83 for anyone who has Channel 83 in their world. And we are focused on sending this cost‑cutting legislation, ‘Make It In America,' to the President as soon as we can.

COMPETES is a cost‑lowering, anti‑inflation bill. We are so dependent on foreign products – factors of production to make – do our own manufacturing, that it increased costs.

So this has $52 billion in the COMPETES Act for chips. We've had this conversation before. One thousand chips in a car. Two thousand in an electric car. In order to continue manufacturing cars, we need to be – have more chips. We need to be self‑sufficient, independent, ‘Make It In America' with the chips.

$45 billion supply – and that's semiconductors as well – $45 billion to address supply chain issues. The less product, the higher the – the less supply, the higher the cost. So we want to increase supply in the supply chain to lower costs for the American people. And again, it bolsters research and education and strengthening apprenticeship programs and the rest. Again, strengthening America, U.S. global economic leadership.

134 industry groups, some of which have never been on the same side of us in many of these bills. Our office will tweet you the – their contact. But there's pages and pages and pages of organizations that support the bill. By and large, it is bipartisan. We do have some differences, which we will reconcile in the Conference Committee. So we're very excited about that.

As a piece of it, I talked about workforce development and the rest. Next week, we'll also have the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which more specifically goes to the point that President Biden has under his leadership – a record of 8.3 million jobs are created.

But in March, it was said that 11.5 [million] position – job positions were open. This legislation will connect workers to jobs, lower costs, increase paychecks and help small businesses in this economy.

So again, lower prices for all Americans at the pump, at the kitchen table and across the board.

It's like sadness, always, to talk about Roe v. Wade and what this draft decision is – how harmful it is, how dangerous it is for women and families across the country. Yesterday, Senate Republicans lined up in lockstep behind Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump to vote to rip away the Constitutional right to health freedom for American women across the country. Across the country.

Every day, Republicans show their intention to punish and control women – women's most personal health reproductive decisions. The GOP‑appointed Supreme Court put there for the purpose.

You know, in our country, we have always had, because of the brilliance and genius of our Constitution, an expansion of freedom. With this possible or – the suggested draft would be the first time a Court has expanded freedom and then contracted it in a very, very dangerous way.

Republicans in Congress, across the nation, are mobilizing to – around a dangerous, extremist agenda to criminalize all forms of reproductive health, including in vitro fertilization, post‑miscarriage care, contraception.

Make no mistake, once Republicans shred their long – they have shredded any commitment to precedent, despite saying that they support precedent, and privacy, which is fundamental, which is fundamental – by saying certain things are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. Well, that was the beauty of the Constitution, that it gave the opportunity to further increase our decision-making.

As Republicans seek to criminalize women's health and reproductive freedom, Democrats are fighting to defend Roe v. Wade and our fundamental Constitutional rights.

Tomorrow morning, House Democrats will gather on the steps of the Capitol across the street from the Supreme Court to shine a light on this life and death threat. And over the weekend, Americans across the country will lead days of action and marching, making their voices heard. Democrats stand with America's women in fighting for our rights and the rights of all Americans, which are on the line. This is so very, very sad.

Any questions?

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Q. Madam Speaker?

Speaker Pelosi. Yes.

Q. On the issue – Madam Speaker, on the issue of the baby formula shortage, we know President Biden is going to speak with manufacturers and retailers later today. We know Congress is expected to hold hearings. But is there anything your Caucus is specifically discussing to try to address this?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, for a long time now, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, the Chair of the Appropriations Committee, formerly the Chair – at one point the Chair of the Agriculture Subcommittee, under which much of this falls, nutrition, WIC and all of that – has been addressing this issue.

When I say ‘addressing,' that includes investigating, looking for other possibilities, because in anticipation – just to make sure that something like this would not happen. And we look forward to what the President has to say. But everybody has suggestions about – we make sure it never happens again, and that's important. But right now, the baby's crying, the baby's hungry – we need to address it right now. And I think we have good focus on it, and we'll see what the President has to say. And we'll – we have our proposals as well, that, as I say, Rosa is taking the lead on.

Yes, ma'am?

Q. Madam Speaker, some of the things that you mentioned here, if you could give us an update on the timing around COVID relief? And then secondly on abortion protection –

Speaker Pelosi. Yeah.

Q. – what left is there for Democrats to do?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, as you've heard me say before, ‘Public sentiment is everything.' Abraham Lincoln.

I think that once women understand, across the country, what this means to them – this is not a public policy debate that is isolated from the personal impact that it has on the lives of women, whether it's contraception, whether it's in vitro fertilization, whether it's post‑miscarriage care, whether it's the size and timing of a family. It is personal between a woman, her doctor, her God, her family – not the Supreme Court or the Congress of the United States.

So, again, it's about how women value their decision making, and we think they do.

The – we have passed the legislation. We've been ready for a long time. And you give me the opportunity to say this. The Senate – I hear some voices out there saying, ‘Well, why don't they just do the Republican bill?' Well – ‘And the House bill goes beyond Roe v. Wade.' No – it doesn't. What it does, it is Roe v. Wade as reaffirmed by Casey. So it's Roe v. Wade and then the further protections and clarifications of Casey. That is what we want to enshrine as law. And so that's what we have to make sure people understand. It's not enough just to pass a bill to have a compromise. It's not a compromise, because what's in the Republican bill would enable states to do very destructive things when it comes to a woman's right to choose.

And then COVID, those discussions continue. We must pass COVID. It is absolutely essential to the health and well‑being of the American people. But in the timing of things, we were ready with Ukraine. So we moved with that. Now we must be ready with COVID. And I'm optimistic that we will do that.

Q. Madam Speaker?

Speaker Pelosi. Yeah. Let me see. Who hasn't had a question lately, but who's a regular here?

Jake?

Q. Do you have a – I remember you had mentioned that you thought the cost of the COVID bill would go up because it's not been passed and the situation would become more dire.

Speaker Pelosi. Yeah.

Q. Do you have a range in mind? Because the Senate – Mitt Romney has said ten billion, put his proposal on the Floor. I just wonder where you come down on that.

Speaker Pelosi. Well, I don't come down on that. I mean, we –

Q. Meaning you're not for it?

Speaker Pelosi. The proposal was $22.5 billion – and that would enable us to meet the needs at home and have $5 billion to meet our global responsibilities. Because as we know, none of us are safe unless all of us are safe, and we have a global responsibility. So I start at that figure.

And since the ten billion was discussed, the threat has increased. As some of the Republicans Senators say, ‘Well, if the threat increases, then let's talk about it further.'

So I think that we should start with what we need. And by the way, that didn't mean it was the end of it. It just depends on the variants and what else happens. But I feel confident that we'll get something done.

Q. Madam Speaker?

Speaker Pelosi. Yes.

Q. Thank you. As you know, primary season is upon us –

Speaker Pelosi. Wait a minute. Just in terms of what we're talking about here in terms of policy, because that's what we're here about.

On policy? On policy?

Q. On coronavirus, just a follow‑up on that. When President Biden took office, there was about 400,000 COVID deaths. Now, as you noted, there's about a million. You said Democrats were committed to crushing the virus. President Biden ran on beating COVID. Looking back at this time, do you think there's anything else that you all could've done to prevent this death toll?

Speaker Pelosi. I want to salute President Biden for what he has done in the fight against COVID: made a drastic difference from the denial that our country was in before and the lack of attention that was given to it. The President is paying attention to science, science and science – and the governance necessary to deal with it. I'm very proud of what he has done. God knows how bad it would be if he had not taken the actions that he has taken.

Q. Madam Speaker, I have one on inflation. I have one on inflation.

Speaker Pelosi. Okay. This has to be last question though, because we're diverting from the –

Q. I'm wondering why you're supporting Henry Cuellar in his Texas runoff. You have long maintained that House Members should have the highest ethical standards, but he had his house, as you know, raided by the FBI just several weeks ago.

Speaker Pelosi. Well, let me just thank you for the question. I'm supporting Henry Cuellar. He's a valued Member of our Caucus. The FBI has said he is not under investigation. And so it's up to his constituents to make the decision to send him to Congress.

I thought you were going to take it to choice or something. He is not pro‑choice, but we didn't need him. We passed the bill with what we had. And by the way, this is one of the first Congresses that we have had with a Democratic President with a pro‑choice Congress. When President Obama was President, the House Democratic Caucus – we didn't have 218 pro‑choice votes.

That's why the Affordable Care Act was the fight that it was at the end, because there were those on the outside who were saying, ‘Oh, it's about, you know, Roe v. Wade and terminating a pregnancy,' which it completely was not. But our Members, even those who were not pro‑choice, understood that that was not what the health care bill was about, but there was an attempt on the outside to paint it that way.

Thank God for the nuns. Thank God for the nuns, the Catholic nuns, who supported the legislation and helped us push open that gate to pass that – to pass that legislation.

Thank you all very much.

Right now, we have nine heads of state from the ASEAN visiting. The President has called a meeting of ASEAN here in D.C., and we are welcoming them to the Capitol.

Thank you all very much.

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