Pelosi Remarks at U.S. Conference of Mayors' 80th Annual Winter Meeting
Washington, D.C. - Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks today during a luncheon at the 80th Annual Winter Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM).
Leader Pelosi. "Good afternoon. Thank you very much, Mayor Villaraigosa, for your generous introduction, for your service to the city of Los Angeles, for your great leadership as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
"You know, when I come here--when we were in Baltimore last year--I said it was like coming home. I hope that the great Mayor of Baltimore is here, I don't know, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Mayor, good to see you again.
"We're very proud of our Mayors. The city I am from, Tom Cochran knows, that not only was my father the mayor of Baltimore, but my brother was mayor of Baltimore. My brother served with Tom for many years. Isn't Tom wonderful? Aren't we glad to have his service?
"It really is great to be here with all of you. This is really an important time. I want to thank Mayor Villaraigosa for his leadership in putting the ‘U.S. Metro Economies' report, which all of you worked with, to the floor. It outlines the challenges facing not only local governments, but our entire nation: the urgent need to create jobs, to strengthen the middle class and to restore fairness and growth to our economy.
"You have brought to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mr. Mayor, your advocacy on behalf of strong transportation initiatives that are part of this metro's economy and our transit systems--roads, highways, infrastructure, broadband--to put Americans to work.
"Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for honoring us in San Francisco, by being present as a friend, and as the President of the Conference of Mayors, at the inauguration of our newly elected mayor, Ed Lee. Mayor Ed Lee, the first Chinese-American mayor of San Francisco. This is quite a remarkable thing. We're very proud of him. I was just with him, so he's probably taking the longer route into this room. But at that time, and you will tell him I said this, Mayor Lee's words that day inspired all San Franciscans. And he summed up the approach of mayor's nationwide, when he spoke of ‘confronting challenges, taking risks and embracing innovation.'
"To your Vice Presidents, Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia, to Mayor Scott Smith of Mesa, Arizona, to all of the mayors gathered here today at the head table and in this room: thank you for bringing the voices of your constituents to our nation's capitol.
"Every year, when America's mayors gather in Washington, or wherever you do across the country, when you come to Washington you bring with you the hopes, the aspirations, and the priorities of the American people.
"When you speak, Congress and the President listen--because mayors confront our country's challenges at the ground level. As was mentioned, my father and my brother were mayors, I know firsthand: there is no buffer between a mayor and his or her constituents.
"Every day, you hear the stories of unemployed workers; parents struggling to make ends meet--and what they need to care for their children, pay the bills, and put food on the table.
"Every day you see the impact of policies made in the Capitol, in state governments, and in your own city halls, on the lives of working families.
"Mayors recognize that investments in our cities--in education, in job training, clean energy, infrastructure, transportation, affordable housing, community health centers--are investments in our common future.
"And you know better than anyone in our country: what's best for America's cities, large and small, is best for America.
"That's why, when I talk to people in the private sector and in the non-profit sector, these leaders say to me: what's the best way we can put our resources philanthropically to make a difference in our nations' future? I always say the same thing: talk to America's mayors. They have a vision. They have a plan. They get things done.
"The agenda of our nation's mayors, as you well know, has served for a long time as a blueprint for Democrats in Congress. That remains true today.
"Democrats made a firm promise: we are committed to reigniting the American dream. The most enduring theme in America: reigniting the American dream, people flock to cities to realize their dreams, building ladders of opportunity and removing obstacles to success for all who are willing to work hard, play by the rules and take responsibility.
"We must rebuild our nation's thriving middle class. And we can do that by rebuilding America's infrastructure.
"Right, Mr. Mayor?
Mayor Villaraigosa. "That's right.
Leader Pelosi. "We can't wait. And we have work to do.
"I know from last year, many of you wrote to me after I saw you, are involved in the infrastructure issue. I'll talk more about that in a moment.
"We in Congress, Democrats, are focused on you, on the core priorities of creating jobs, as you are focused, strengthening and expanding small businesses and growing our economy.
"Right now, that means, right now, as you gather here, right now, that means fighting to extend the payroll tax cut for the rest of the year for 160 million Americans; for extending unemployment benefits for millions of Americans who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own; and to ensure that tens of millions of seniors can see their doctors under Medicare.
"But let me just say this, because I want you to know this is all happening now. Democrats are saying Republicans have a double standard, they have resisted paying for a tax cut for the wealthiest people in our country. But they insist the tax cuts for the middle class be paid for. We're saying let's pay for that, if you want to pay for it, let's pay for it with a surcharge on the wealthiest people in our country. So 160 million Americans can have that tax cut, inject demand into the economy by spending that money and creating jobs. We've never paid for unemployment insurance benefits, for extending unemployment insurance benefits, they're saying now that we have to do that. We have to make that fight or else that surcharge is going to have to pay for that as well, because we're not going to give to the middle class with one hand and take from them with another by saying: you're going to get the tax cut but seniors are going to have to pay more for Medicare, or whatever.
"And then seniors seeing their own doctors under Medicare, this is really important, and we want to solve this issue once and for all. It's really important to doctors, to their patients, to the families of our seniors. We can do that by using the war savings to pay for it entirely and end the discussion, what we call SGR, is paid for and done.
"So that's where we are. We're saying a surcharge on the wealthy can help cover these costs. Using the war savings can remove all doubt that seniors can see their doctors. That's the fight that we are in. If the Republicans don't want the surcharge on the wealthiest people in our country which, by the way, yields $200 billion dollars, they can come up with some other things. We are happy to talk about ending subsidies to big oil, having the Secretary of Health and Human Services negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. There are things that we can talk about, but the surcharge is the easiest, the cleanest. You come at a time when that's the fight that we are in.
"The U.S. Conference of Mayors has laid out its vision and its priorities. As always, it starts with jobs. We recognize that our national recovery depends on the success of our cities. And working with you, we must pass jobs bills that put people back to work in our communities. Now, some of our people have never been to work. So we need more jobs, additional jobs, so that we're not only putting people back to work, but we have job opportunities for many more people.
"Democrats' agenda starts with the ABCs, in our view, of job creation: American-made, Make It In America--it's not to be protectionist, it's to be self-reliant--A: American-made; B: build America, build the infrastructure of America; and C: community recovery, let the recovery come from the communities and have the people in the communities create it.
"We must ‘Make It In America,' get back to our ABCs, so that our workers and our families can make it in America. We must stop the erosion of our manufacturing base, again, not to be protectionist, but to be self-reliant.
"We must support our small businesses and entrepreneurs--the engine of our economic growth--providing incentives for them to hire new workers, and ensuring that those businesses can thrive and grow.
"In recent months, Democrats, in light of the President's American Jobs Act, reached out to thousands of small business owners in our districts about the key challenges they faced and how the American Jobs Act addressed them. They want access to capital, access to a skilled workforce and access to more customers.
"Our plan addresses these concerns head-on. And I commend President Obama for his proposal to reorganize government, which focuses squarely on opening new opportunities and markets to our small businesses, the creator of jobs, the creator of capital.
"To build our middle class, again, we must rebuild the infrastructure of America with key investments in public transit systems, in high-speed rail, high-speed broadband, roads and bridges, water systems--some of our water systems are made of wood and brick, it's a health issue--and, of course, our highways.
"Mayor Villaraigosa has led the way in Los Angeles with his 30-10 initiative; America's mayors have made a plan called ‘America Fast Forward.' We follow what you do, America Fast Forward. We know that supporting these initiatives will create good-paying construction jobs now, spurring our economy today and laying the groundwork for prosperity into the future.
"Community recovery, with cities facing tough budgets, we must invest in the recovery of our local communities. We must fight to fully restore community development block grants. We must fight for critical support for housing, for economic development and job training in our neighborhoods, to the level of investment that we made when the House had the Democratic majority. So we need your help to work together for the Community Block Development Grants funding, to take it to the level. Now, we have fought and won some of the battle pushing it up, but not to where we want it to be.
"And I thank President Obama for his strong initiative to expand summer jobs for 180,000 young people in cities and communities across our country. But we must do more--for the sake of our economic growth and the next generation of our workforce.
"I congratulate you all, by the way, I wasn't here because of floor action when your awards on obesity and the health and well-being of our children were awarded, thank you for your leadership in that regard, it is very, very important. Children are our future. So we have, we have passed that legislation in Congress, worked with the First Lady on those initiatives, but thank you for your recognition.
"Again, we have pushed our proposals: Make It In America, build the infrastructure, community recovery, and some of these proposals are in President Obama's American Jobs Act. We put these ideas on the table time and time again, Americans, as the President said: can't wait any longer. We must act and we must fight. One way that I need to enlist your support again, for us to fight, is about how our politics are conducted in our country.
"Today, we must fight for fairness, equality, opportunity, not just for some, but for all Americans--to protect the voices of the Americans you represent, you represent against the power of special interests in Washington and nationwide.
"That's why we must continue our drive for clean campaigns: We must fight for a new politics free of special interest influence. We must fight for disclosure--to get unlimited secret donations out of politics. Once the bright light of disclosure is placed there, it has a healthy, wholesome impact. That's what we can do now. But when we win the election, not to get political, we must fight for reform, disclosure. Reform--to empower small donors and the grassroots to have a greater role in elections, to offset big, secret money. We must fight to amend our Constitution--to overturn the crushing Supreme Court decision that strengthened the hand of special interests and the hands of people's interests. Disclose now, reform with the majority and amend the Constitution. We must fight to remove obstacles to broader participation right now. We must protect the rights of every citizen to vote and every vote to be counted. We must hold the cornerstone and core values of our democracy, that the votes of the American people determine the outcome of our election, not the bankroll of the privileged few. This isn't about the 99 percent or the 1 percent.
"Thank you Mayor Villaraigosa, for your work on the Poverty Caucus of the mayors. It's very, very important. In everything that we do, whether it was healthcare, and we talked about that last year, Secretary Sebelius made her presentation, we always said that the most privileged person in America, benefited by the poorest person in America having access to quality healthcare. It is very important that we address the needs of all of the American people.
As Mayor Lee said in his inaugural address, that he would lead a city, not for the 99 percent, but for the 100 percent. Together, we will lead a nation for 100 percent of the American people. Didn't his speech remind you of your speech when you were sworn-in as mayor, Mr. Mayor? ‘Dream with me Los Angeles.' I could see it in your eyes while you were watching the speech, that it sounded like a new mayor.
"So, for us, working together to reignite the American dream and to preserve the rights of all Americans, we need your help, we need your leadership, partnership, advocacy and the energy of the mayors. To A: Make It In America, build our infrastructure, have community leadership in rebuilding America and having a new politics free of the special interests. Only then can we have the fairness in our society that our founders foresaw and that was part of their vision. So as we rebuild America, revitalize our business, reinvigorate our workforce, restore our prosperity--we must do that right now and for a long time.
"You know, this weekend, you mayors, I know, understand the urgency of this moment. It's a very important, critical time, that could tip one way or another, and this weekend, as we marked Martin Luther King Jr. Day, imagine this beautiful monument on the national mall with Lincoln, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Washington--Martin Luther King Jr.--pretty thrilling that he is there as a giant of America. And remember the speech that he made: ‘I Have A Dream' speech, but many of us love the part when he talked about the fierce urgency of now. It's become very popular to talk about that, but it's very urgent right now to be sensitive to it. We follow those words about the fierce urgency of now, is what I love, this powerful statement: that this is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or ‘take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.' The same could be true of the same challenges we face today.
"Arianna talked to you about the possibilities of the internet to increase communication and the rest of that. We have an expanded opportunity through science and technology and through the awareness that technology provides, for us to make a very big difference for our children, for their future, for our country.
"We owe our men and women in uniform, who are coming home now from Iraq and, hopefully soon, from Afghanistan, we owe them a future worthy of their sacrifice.
"We have the means at our disposal, we have the idealism, we have--the conference of mayors has its vision, it has its knowledge and judgment about these subjects, it has a strategic plan, and you have a connection to the American people that is unequal in politics.
"As you wrote when we gathered here five years ago: we need ‘strong cities, strong families, for a strong America.' That still rings true today. And there is no time to waste, no time.
"We must act now, to improve the state of our cities--and in doing so, strengthen the state of our nation, health and wellbeing of our children and to reignite the American dream.
"Thank you mayors, for your leadership for our cities, for our families, and for our nations' future. It's an honor to be with you, we bring greetings from the Congress of the United States to this very important meeting.
"Thank you."