Chairman Aguilar: We need just a handful of Republicans to join us. I'm confident that we will get this done for the American people, because failure is not an option.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a press conference about how Democrats are fighting to make America more affordable and prevent health care costs from skyrocketing. You can watch the full press conference here and read the transcript below.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning and Happy New Year. It's great to be with all of you and I’m joined with Vice Chair Lieu in welcoming you back. This is going to be a week here, but thanks to all of you for your work and for continuing your work in covering Congress.
We're here today because the American people have been clear for more than a year: they need us to lower costs, and they need us to do it now. But instead, Donald Trump has been breaking his promises to hardworking Americans who put him in office. Remember when he promised to lower costs on day one? What did he do instead? He gave pardons to 1,500 violent criminals who stormed the Capitol on January 6th. He promised to always put Americans first, but this week, he is focused more on Venezuela than he is on the United States. And that's saying something, because he is not focused on the priorities of Americans. He promised to lower health care costs, but instead, his single legislative accomplishment was cutting a trillion dollars from health care in the Big Ugly Law—the largest cut to health care in American history.
But Democrats aren't losing sight of what the American people want in this moment. We're working tirelessly to deliver real solutions to the table that will make America more affordable and prevent health care costs from going up. This week, House Republicans will have a choice: if they want to join with us and want to work with us on our mission for working people in driving down the cost of health care. Even though Speaker Johnson tried everything he could to prevent Democrats' discharge petition from extending the Affordable Care Act tax credit from getting a vote, we succeeded. Republicans may have already let these health care subsidies expire, but they have an opportunity to right the wrong of their leadership. Millions of Americans are counting on Congress in this moment. We need just a handful of Republicans to join us. I'm confident that we will get this done for the American people, because failure is not an option. Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. We are all saddened by the sudden passing of Representative Doug LaMalfa. I had the opportunity to serve with him both in the California State Legislature as well as in Congress. He represented his district extremely well. He was conscientious, he was respectful to all of his colleagues and he will be missed. My prayers are with Doug's family and his friends.
As Chairman Aguilar said, the American people want us to work on the affordability crisis. We know that health care costs are skyrocketing, food prices continue to increase, and electricity rates in a number of areas are surging. And what is Donald Trump focused on? In his words, ‘Running Venezuela.’ That is crazy. That is not what the American people want. And now, apparently, the Trump Administration is taking some of the oil from Venezuela and then using those funds to help rebuild Venezuela. Well, the administration should be focused on rebuilding America and our economy, not on Venezuela. We have an affordability crisis. And what are Republicans this week focused on? The SHOWER Act. Shower heads. Literally. They're going to be talking about shower heads when Democrats fought for and got a discharge petition passed and will be voting on extending the tax credits for the Affordable Care Act.
I also want to thank Chairman Aguilar for his great work on the January 6th commission. This week was the five-year anniversary of that horrific day. I was in my office when we got a knock on the door from a Capitol Police officer, who said, ‘You need to evacuate immediately. A bomb threat has been called to your building.’ So we went down to the tunnels, and I looked at my phone, and I realized we're being attacked. We went to the Rayburn office, and David Cicilline, then Congressmember, graciously let us in. We locked the door, watched TV and realized pretty soon afterwards that Donald Trump had incited this mob to attack the Capitol. So David Cicilline, Jamie Raskin and I wrote an article of impeachment. It passed the House on a bipartisan basis. Fifty-seven U.S. Senators, on a bipartisan basis, voted to convict—the highest in U.S. history. Capitol Police valiantly fought against this mob and protected the Capitol and protected us. That is a stain that Donald Trump will never be able to wipe away, ever. And three years from now, we're going to make sure that the truth will be even louder and that the American people understand exactly what happened.
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