of congress. from the house and senate floors to congressional hearings, party briefings, and committee meetings. c-span gives you a front■' row and decided. with no commentary, no interruptions, and completely unfiltered. c-span, your unfiltered view of government. announcer: the house approved aa nationwide ban of the vio sharing app tiktok, if it china-baseditste. more than 150 million americans use tiktok. thlegislation now goes to the senate where the associated press writes, its prospects are unclear. lawmakers contend that bytedan is beholden to the chinese government which could demand access to the data of tiktok's

consumers in the u.s. anytime it wants. -- that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering. democratic leader hakeem jeffries held a news conference with reporters, answering their questions on a variety of topics including the tiktok bill. this is about 20 minutes. mr. jeffries: good morning, everyone. house democrats will continue to work biden to create an economy that works for everyday americans to lower costs, continue our fight for better paying jobs, safer communities and of course to defend democracy and fight for reproductive freedom.

a budget was released that will lower costs for everyda that has already been done to drive down the high price of lifesaving prescription drugs for millions of americans. it will continue to from the mid the bottom up that is focused on growing the middle class and all those who aspire to be part of the middle class throughout america. perhaps most importantly, president biden and house democrats are focused on protecting and strengthening social security. what the former president down in mar-a-lago had to say is about social security

and medicare. these are not entitlement programs. social security and medicare are earned benefits that the american people work hard for throughout their entire lives and pay in to with the promise that as they become older americans, they'll have access to social security and medicare so they can live a life with dignity and respect. social security and medicare are quintessential parts of the american dream. donald trump and the extreme maga republicans want to end social security and medicare as we know it. it's not a secret. they have said it publicly over and over and over again, including and that will establish a clear contrast between president biden and house democrats who are

going to fight to protect and strengthen social security and medicare and extreme maga republicans who want to take these things away just like they ended roe v. wade and millions of americans all across america. if it can happen to roe v. wade, then of course extreme maga republicans will continue to try to detonate things states of america that we believe were untouchable and we're going to push back aggressively against it. questi >> the house just passed the tiktok bill, how do you want the senate to handle it? mr. jeffries: it has to pass the bill in a decisive and bipartisan fashion and it's now appropriate for the senate to

evaluate the merits of the legislation. i don't support a ban on tiktok. the legislation d n tiktok. it's simply a divestiture of soa platform can be owned by an american company that would protect the data and the privacy of the american consumer from malignant foreignnterests like the chinese communist party. reporter: chris consumes board cold water on the urgency of71 e senate saying it's more urgent the house passes the taiwan, ukraine, aid. any concern about the senate either trying to hold this bill hostage for that one, slowing things down so that it forces

the house to. mr. jeffries: i agree with mr. consumes that if our republican colleagues care about the broad and national security interests, the house republicans could bring the bipartisan comprehensive national security bill which would provide support for our democratic allies and israel, ukraine and the indo-pacific to counteract the chinese communist party and at the same time provide humanitarian assistance to civilians in the world who are n harm's way through no fault of their own. if my republican colleagues care about the broadest set o challes that the american people face, the most significant thing they can do is to put the bill on thf floor for an up or down vote. and we all know it would pass with substantial democratic support. reporter: do you think the

senate should ld tiktok bill hostage until the house takes care of the other bill? mr. jeffries: who am i to tell e their own agenda. they pass bills and consider it over to us for consideration and we pass bills and send it over to them. the ball is now in the court of the senators and i trust leader chuck schumer. yesterday was speaker johnson and -- [indiscernible] did speaker johnson indicate any shift in his position? mr. jeffries: speaker johnson continues to maintain he understands the importance of passing the national security bill and funding the ukrainian effort which has been brave and valiant.

we cannot allow vladimir putin to succeed in ukraine as it will undermine america's national security interests and that of the west, nato, and democratic allies throughout the world. see what happens. i think the clock is ticking, and we have to get the bipartisan national security bi line before we leave town next friday, march 22. before we leave town. it's reckless to do otherwise. reporter: some of the members felt theil the floor for tiktok. are you concerned and do you feel like the process was rushed? mr. jeffries: as i indicated in my were very principled objections raised by timing and process and i have no

reporter: thank you, mr. leader. now, byte dance is not die vest from tiktok and the app could be banned in the u.s. what is your message to american citizens whose jobs may be at risk talking heavily rely on tiktok to earn a living? mr. jeffries: i do not support a tiktok ban. reporter: i'm curious, are there any changes the democrats have discussed how it is funded and do can win bipartisan support and have the leadership discussed it between the four corners? mr. jeffries: there are ongoing conversations at the appropriations lev t can be rea. so i'm going to defer to rosa delauro who i have full faith and confidence in in terms of her ability to navigate the challenges that remain in all of the outstanding appropriations

issues and things are moving in the right direction and hopefully will get russian well indv the unrwa issues and a host of other issues before next friday. ryan: on gaza, people think the president needs to cut off military supplies to israel's war unless israel"4 opens up the spigot of humanitarian aid and allows truck to get through so we're not doing care drops. do you believe the president is obligated under the law to cut off those military weapons for israel until the aid is allowed to flow■z freely to gaza. mr. jeffries: it's the president's perspective he's going to continue as

constitutional responsibilities to take care the laws are faithfully executed and as he indicated will continue to support to defend itself. and our commitment to israel is ironclad while at the same time making sure that we can get the hostages out and surge humanitarian assistance in so that we can help the innocent civilians in gaza who are in harm's way through no fault of their own as well as civilians the country, across the world. reporter: heard from some of your members who are worried given the lobbying campaign that is perceived with this tiktok vote, young voters will believe it's a ban whether it is or wilc party for joining it in force vote for democrat selections.

is that a valid concern that there will be a backlash from young voters with this? mr. jeffries: i don't support a tiktok ban and i have every this legislation goes to the senate that tiktok will remain available to those who continue to enjoy the platform at this very moment. reporter: looking ahead to the new york presidential primary, are you concerned there's going to be a large uncommitted or blank vote in the democratic primary? mr. jeffries: no, i wasn't concerned about that in advance of president biden's state of the union address and i certainly am not concerned about it now. president biden, as they say down south, showed up and out. he gave an incredible performance, it was strong and serious and substantive and filled with energy at a beginnih

the middle and all the way through the very end. and when i've been back road, te enthusiasm that i've seen from president biden has significantly. it was high before among many base democratic voters but it has significantly in discernible ways subsequent to president biden's strong performance at the state of the union. reporter: thank you, mr. leader. back to ukraine and national security supplemental, it does seem like we're at a stand still here and i'm wondering if there's any push that you're able to make or democrats are me commissions and obviously the senate bill is an option. what else can you do as

democrats to move this knowing that the speaker is not willing at this point to engage in the discharge or engage in putting it on the floor. mr. jeffries: i would take issue politely with the notion there are dueling dischs 15 signaturer is about at 180. that's not dueling discharge petition, it's a reaffirmation the only clear path is to put the bipartisan comprehensive senate passed bill on the house floor for an up or down vote ovh democrats and republicans. that's the only path forward. and this week further validated that dynamic. we cannot allow ukraine to be

overrun by russia because what will happen american lives are likely to be on the line, unless we were to believe that if putin wins in ukraine, he stops there. when he didn't stop in georgia and he didn't in crimea. breaking news. he's not stopping in ukraine. if he's allowed to be successful. and in that neighborhood, it's filled with nato allies, including poland, which is one of why president duda was so strongly supportive of making sure we continue to support the ukrainian effort. because democracy and the free world are on the line against

democracy and tyranny. it's time for my house republican colleagues who believe that supporting ukraine is the right to do to break with the pro putin maga extremists who are ascendant in their conference and partner with us to do the right thing and support an up or down vote oncurity package that was passed by the senate. reporter: to follow-up if i could, the house republicans on theilitary committee yesterday launched a reinvestigation of the january 6 investigation and planning a series of hearings, is that something the democrats are supporting? can you talk about what you see coming from this work?ffries: to convince the american people that the january 6 insurrection was not a violent riot inspired

by the former president as part of an effort to halt the peaceful transfer of power just another extreme maga republican political stunt. at what point will my republican colleagues choose to actually focus on issues that matter? from the very beginning of this congress, house democrats have made clear we're going to find bipartisan common ground on any issue with our republican colleagues whenever and wherever possible in order to solve problems for hard-working american taxpayers. we need less chaos in washington, d.c. and more common sense. and i know why my republican colleagues continue to put political stunts ove putting people over politics and that's what house democrats will continue to do, focus on affordability, lowering costs, e

housing, addressing the challenges at the border and fixing our brokention system. these are the issues we should be focused on. the january 6 situation was a violent ire that the american people could see and watch in real time with their own eyes. this political stunt in trying to convince the american people that the violent insurrection nt visit is a joke. it's embarrassing. what's wrong with these electio. it's not working. partner with us. let's solve problems on behalf of the american people. thank you, everyone. last question, sorry. reporter: yes. thank you. i wanted to follow up on the situation in gaza. president biden said over the weekend■ an israeli invasion of

rafah would be a red line. israel reports there are rema commanders and brigades in rafah and they need to carry out an operation to eliminate them. mr. jeffries: what we have to do is make sure hamas is decisively defeated. it's a brutal terrorist organization. and unless we defeat hamas, there is no possibility for just and lasting peace. but at the same time, we have to make sure we get the hostages out and humanitarian assistance in to gaza decisively. thank you. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023] [capl

cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ >> c-span's washington journal come a live forum involving you to discuss the latest from washington dc and across the country. coming up thursday morning, a former commerce official on the concerns posed by tiktok on the latest efforts to regulate it. and data specialist and author can block talks abo his book about his hiring by the trump campaign 2020 election voter fraud claims. join washington journal by thursday morning on c-span now, c-span now, or on c-span.org.

>> here is what is ahead tonight on c-span. next, how lawmakers debate a bill that could lead to a ban of by a hearing on the role to regulate payment absent digital walle. in later, antony blinken -- and later, secretary of state antony blinken discusses a in gaza and the political situation in haiti , all coming up tonight on c-span. >> on thursday, health and human services secretary harvey becerra testifies that the president's 2025 budget requ for his department. watch the senate hearing live on c-span, c-span now our free mob app or online at c-span.org. ♪ >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government funded b these television companies and