Transcript of Pelosi, House Democrats Press Conference Calling on GOP to Pass Clean DHS Funding Measure & Drop Anti-Immigrant Positions
Leader Pelosi's Opening Remarks:
"Thank you very much, Congresswoman Sánchez, for your leadership on the Committee and in the Congress and in the country on this important issue of comprehensive immigration reform – in the form of passing the Homeland Security bill. It's my honor to be here with you, with the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, Mr. Conyers, with your colleague and ours on the Homeland Security Committee, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and hopefully, very soon, with our colleague, the distinguished Whip, Mr. Hoyer. And we're here representing all of our colleagues.
"On the floor of the House today we took up a bill which was the 56th time the Republicans have brought a bill to the floor to repeal the Affordable Care Act. They're baying at the moon. But without going into how ridiculous their legislation was, I will say that it was a waste of time. Instead, we should be bringing up a clean Homeland Security bill – a clean Homeland Security bill.
"In December, when the Omnibus bill came up, we had to have a ‘CRomnibus,' a CR to deal with Homeland Security. Because the Republicans did not want to fund it for a year. That was December. In January, all the world was alarmed at what happened in Paris, and everyone was concerned about Homeland Security in his or her own country and really throughout the world – except, as I've said, in the hermetically sealed chamber of the House of Representatives. Oblivion.
"You would think Paris would have given them some additional motivation to pass a clean Homeland Security bill, but not so. So driven are they by their anti-immigrant attitudes that they would even stand in the way of helping us uphold our oath to support and protect the American people that we take when we get sworn into office.
"So this is really malfeasance. I keep using that word because there's not [another]. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office states that the bipartisan comprehensive bill that passed the Senate last Congress would boost economic growth, bring the total GDP in the country 3.3 percent higher in 2023 and 5.4 percent higher than without it in 2033.
"So this is about boosting the economy. In terms of reducing the deficit, it would reduce the deficit according to the CBO by $158 billion in the first ten years and $700 billion in the ten years after that. We have to show the measure of a bill, its cost to the deficit and to the budget in ten and twenty year doses, and that's what it is.
"But instead of taking up common sense legislation, House Republicans, again, are undermining our national security. Congresswoman Sánchez went into the particulars of how it is harmful to the people who protect our border and our people and actually also hindering economic growth. Three former DHS secretaries – one Democratic, two Republicans – reiterated last week that it is now long passed the time to pass a clean DHS bill – to do so in the interest of the American people, and not to continue their anti-immigrant attitudes, which are contrary to what our country is about; a nation of immigrants, loving our Native American brothers and sisters, but by-and-large a nation of immigrants.
"They [have an] anti-immigrant attitude, so they want to take down the President's ability to have executive action – and I might remind: executive action that was taken by President Eisenhower, President Kennedy, President Nixon, every President – well you were not all born yet – but in the lives of many of us here. No more with President Reagan, President George Herbert Walker Bush, President Clinton, President George W. Bush.
"When this President put forth Executive Action for immigration, they're saying ‘No,' but they're not only saying ‘No,' to that – they're saying ‘No' and ‘No' to Homeland Security. It's just plain wrong. So now it is my privilege to yield to the distinguished Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, a champion on immigration, comprehensive immigration reform, Congressman Conyers."
***
Q: Madam Leader, they're voting right now as we speak in the Senate on this procedural vote on the DHS funding bill. Let's say this debate goes on for a couple of more weeks – we'll know what the deadline is here. But at the end of the day, for your side, if it comes to preserving the Executive Order that the President has put forth and at least providing a CR which I know is less funding that what was in the original bill – is that an acceptable solution at the end of the day because you preserve the Executive Order?
Leader Pelosi. What is the CR supposed to say – what would it say?
Q: Well we don't know, there's not been a CR written yet. But it doesn't shut down DHS.
Leader Pelosi. Well if it doesn't shut down DHS and it preserves the President's prerogatives, then why don't we just pass a bill in the regular order? Because those are the ingredients that you've just described. But again, to take this to a place: this is the President's prerogative. The Whip said, and others, that the President has acted within his authority and according to precedent. Again, just in recent history: President Reagan, President George Herbert Walker Bush, President Clinton, President George W. Bush, and now President Obama.
Even President Reagan acted after Congress acted. He said: ‘You did not help families enough,' so we had the Safe Families provisions in there that went further than Congress had acted. As Mr. Hoyer said, if you don't like what the President is doing, pass a bill. So what are we talking about here? That they would say, if they're honoring the president's prerogative, and they're passing a bill to fund Homeland Security, then they should just pass a bill. You're asking if I could support a CR. I don't know what the CR is. But if it preserves the President's prerogatives and funds Homeland Security, why are they going that route?
And let me just add one more thing, because this is really important to note: all of this is harmful to our economy and to our budget. All the statistics show – and they're documented – that if we pass comprehensive immigration reform, we will increase our GDP in the short term by 3.3 percent, and in the longer term over five percent additional increase to our Gross Domestic Product.
And again, from the standpoint of the budget, over $150 billion over the first 10 years; $700 billion over the next ten years – over and above that. So for every reason – whether it's the protection of our borders, the protection of our people, the respect for who we are as a nation, understanding the prerogatives of the President as we have respected them of other presidents, or whether it has an impact on our economy and on our reduction of the deficit – there is every case to be made for them acting in a responsible way and not wasting any more time.
As I said before you came here, they kicked the can down the road in December, saying, "Oh, we'll do it in January." The whole world – the whole world – rallied after what happened in Paris, except the Republicans in the House of Representatives. They're still engaged in what Mr. Hoyer talked about, what's going on on the floor – 56 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, baying at the moon instead of honoring their responsibilities to protect and defend the American people.
Whip Hoyer. I agree with everything the Leader has said, but I would like to add simply this: the American people need to know that the bill that is being held hostage for our homeland security, the protection of our borders, and the protection of our people is a bill that was passed through the Republican Appropriations Committee, approved by the Senate Republican appropriators and the Democratic House appropriators, and could be passed with a bipartisan vote today, this minute. So, as the Leader said, to what end? This bill has been agreed to as a bipartisan bill. We ought to let the Department of Homeland Security do its job.
Congresswoman Sánchez. Any other questions out there?
Q: Leader Pelosi, are you ruling out any tweaks whatsoever to the President's immigration policies? Is it essentially a clean bill or nothing?
Leader Pelosi. I'm sorry – am I ruling out any tweaks?
Q: …Accepting any tweaks?
Leader Pelosi. What is a tweak? It just depends. One person's tweak is another person's very definite policy disagreement. And so, I think what the President has put forth is, with his understanding, what was again legally in his jurisdiction to do, and in keeping with the precedent set forth by other presidents before him. What would be the purpose of a tweak?
Q: If there were to be negotiations with the Senate…
Leader Pelosi. Well, as Mr. Hoyer said, everybody has passed this bill. The Republican former Homeland Security Secretaries have said: pass the legislation. Time is an important factor. And in terms of protecting the American people, what are we putting up with this for? It's ridiculous. And you know what the sad part of it is? That it's not about the President. It's about some of their attitudes towards immigrants coming to our country. I just saw one where they said they brought measles. "They brought measles."
I mean, what is this? Let us grow up and get our job done for the American people, and let Homeland Security do its job for the American people, instead of tolerating the silliness that is going on here. I have to excuse myself, because we're going to honor our First Special Service Force in Emancipation Hall now. So thank you all for coming. I yield back. On Homeland Security and on Armed Services, Loretta Sánchez is there to protect the American people. On Judiciary and Homeland Security, another two for protecting people and their rights – as well as physical protection – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is there. I'm honored to be with you.
Congresswoman Sánchez. Thank you leader. Any other questions?
Congresswoman Jackson Lee. If I could just say one thing, in closing, really to answer your question on tweaks: I want to get to just the basics of the President's Executive Actions, and indicate that there are two focal points that really don't go beyond his basic constitutional and jurisdictional responsibility. One is prosecutorial discretion. I know we've heard it over and over again. He has that right. And all he's said is: "I'm going to have priorities in enforcement." It baffles me as to what Republicans are concerned about. And the other is something that can be done on a humanitarian basis, which is, you're a DACA child, you have the ability to see whether or not your parent is eligible to stay in the country.
So when you talk about us negotiating to save the Department of Homeland Security funding, it is almost like we're negotiating without reality. And frankly, I go back, in conclusion, to what started all of this. And I'm reminded all the time, as a Member of the Homeland Security Committee – 9/11. What a different mindset we had in 9/11. What a sense of responsibility, and, in some sense, overcoming fear. And now today, in 2015 – and with the backdrop, as the Leader has said, of Paris and other franchise terrorism – we think we have the liberty to ignore the full funding of DHS, and to skew the responsibilities of the Secretary and management against those field officers of not doing collaborative work.
Let me also say, I want to thank Congresswoman Sánchez for her leadership, and Congressman Luis Gutiérrez, who as she indicated, was called away – who we've been working with in a bipartisan manner, with a number of task forces to talk about comprehensive immigration reform. And not one of them has been able to come to the final results of putting a comprehensive bill on the floor. What does that say? Political football. And I don't think we can afford to yield to political football in protecting the nation. Thank you, Congresswoman.
Congresswoman Sánchez. Thank you so much, everybody.