care, the of that was about health care, the beat goes on. over the course of that next year and a half, working with the outside groups, and they deserve a great deal of credit and i am proud of our democratic unity in the congress of the united states and are inside manoeuvring that unity was essential to the clarity of our message and differentiation from the republicans on that subject. working together, voting together, we were able to make our case. the outside groups has 10,000 events across the country, speaking about the risks that was involved in republican policy, in terms of health care in our country. the results on medicare and the results on the benefit of the pre—existing medical condition being taken away, all of that, and so much more. the

issue about the cost of prescription drugs, all of those issues, by groups, coalitions, little lobbyists, activist groups, advocacy groups across the country, veterans, the list goes on and on a similar people who were involved in that. leading up to this being on the ballot and some of you have said to me, part of this and marriage —— emerged as the issue in the campaign? my answer is, we made our own environment, because we knew how important health care is not only to the good health of the families, but to the financial well—being of their families, health care cost being such a major salt on their economic security. —— assault. it is only put the people agenda forward, our first

priority was to lower health care costs by lowering the cost of prescription drugs. mitch mcconnell went forth and admitted that medicare and medicaid and some aspects of social security, visible at is, benefits, were on the chopping block. the president pulled his punch when it came time to lower the cost of prescription drugs by enabling the secretary to negotiate for that. so this is very important. lower health care costs for the people, bigger pay cheques by building infrastructure of america, integrity in government, by reducing the role of dark money in the political spectrum. that was our agenda, our candidates ran with it, but health care, health care, health care. but health care, health care, health ca re. every but health care, health care, health care. every hustled in america —— in every household in america, is important. o'neill has said that

politics is local. when it comes to health care, politics is personal. silicon, we made our own environment and while we were tried to distract and while we were tried to distract and divide, thorough candidates kept their focus. and and divide, thorough candidates kept theirfocus. and our and divide, thorough candidates kept their focus. and our candidates and divide, thorough candidates kept theirfocus. and our candidates are real action as well. voters delivered a resounding verdict against congressional republicans‘ attacks on medicare, medicaid and the affordable care act and people with pre—existing conditions in districts everywhere in america. they went in a new direction. now, they want a new direction, a health that will work to make progress in elias of america's families and seniors. democrats pledge a new majority for the people agenda. lower health care costs, lower perception drugs, bigger pay cheques building the infrastructure. tune of corruption to make america work for

the americans and people's interest, not special interest. yesterday's collection was not only a vote to protect america's of care —— yesterday's election, but it was a vote to restore the health of our democracy. under the constitution, vote to restore the health of our democracy. underthe constitution, i am proud that the legislative ranch ‘s article one, the first branch of government. right after that beautiful preamble stating our purpose, article one, the legislative branch. it is there as a coke equal branch of the other branches of government. american people want to put an end to unchecked control of washington, restoring the checks and balances envisioned by our founders. restoring the checks and balances envisioned by ourfounders. that restoring the checks and balances envisioned by our founders. that is a responsible see that we have when we ta ke a responsible see that we have when we take that oath to protect and defend the constitution. we, as

democrats, are here to strengthen the institution in which we serve, and not to have it be a rubber stamp for president trump. health democrats will honour our responsible teeth to the constitution. have a conscience, how we will open, how we will do things, we will open, how we will do things, we will open the converse with a real that will insist upon openness and transparency, so that the american people can see the impact of public policy on their lives. putting an end to what the republicans did with their tax scam in the dark of night and the speed of light, no hearings on a bill that would have trillions of dollars of impact on our economy. that is over. we will strive in that openness with american people, as our partners, because they will see the impact of legislation on their lives. we will try for bipartisanship. we believe that we have a reasonable itty to seek common ground. where we can,

but where we cannot, we must stand oui’ but where we cannot, we must stand ourground, but where we cannot, we must stand our ground, but we must try. so openness and transparency, accountability, bipartisanship, a very important part of how we will go forward. we believe that is the responsible at you we have on a division of our founders. in their declaration, they gave us a call for life, liberty and the proceeds of happiness. how beautiful. they also give us guidance on how to achieve that. they couldn't imagine how many we would be come or how different we would be, but they knew that we had to strive for oneness, recognising that this is the marketplace of ideas, we have different views on the role of government, and that is a healthy debate for the american people to witness and for us to have. we do so with confidence in oui’ have. we do so with confidence in our values and in our proposals, but also with humility, to listen in at

what others may have to say. that will be the kind of congress that we have, one that honours the guidance of people before us will start last night, i had a conversation with president trump about how we could work together. one of the issues that came up was for the people agenda, building the infrastructure of america, and i hope that we can achieve that. he talked about it in his campaign and didn't come through with it in his first two years in office. but that is you has not been a partisan issue in the congress of the united states. over the years, we have been able to work together, regionally, across the aisle, across the capital, and down pennsylvania, we have that we can do that, because we have that we can do that, because we wa nt we have that we can do that, because we want to create jobs from sea to shining sea. good paying jobs, whether it is about surface transportation, water systems, my

colleague was here and a champion on broadband, always high speed broadband, always high speed broadband across america, especially into rural areas as well as urban areas. schools, housing and the rest. those initiatives will create good paying jobs, but also generate other economic growth in their regions. so hopefully we can work in a bipartisan way in that way. the other issue that we can work on is lowering the cost of perception drugs. that is something that the president has talked about. we had it in ourcampaign president has talked about. we had it in our campaign six years ago when we won the hassle stop five of those six became law and the one we can get 60 votes in the senate forward is enabling the secretary to negotiate for a lower action drug prices. we hope to get that done 110w. prices. we hope to get that done now. that is a big impact on

america's families‘ budget. now. that is a big impact on america‘s families‘ budget. and the third issue for us is integrity in government, to reduce the role of dark, special—interest money. i commend all of our candidates for the commitment to the health care agenda, to the bigger pay cheque agenda, to the bigger pay cheque agenda and also to the good government agenda. they have written letters saying that they want hr one, which is our better dealfor america‘s democracy, to be something ofa america‘s democracy, to be something of a vote on. but when they come here, they will have an impact on what the legislation is. they may wa nt to what the legislation is. they may want to make some changes or additions, but nonetheless, our new congress will be part of putting together how the agenda goes forward. we look forward to that integration of the congress. i also spoke to mitch mcconnell, leader mcconnell was morning, as to how we

could work together, especially on infrastructure. i received a call of congratulations from speaker ryan, andi congratulations from speaker ryan, and i welcome that, and we discussed how it is to win and how it is not to win. the concern that he was expressing was that for some of his collea g u es expressing was that for some of his colleagues who are no longer deserving. on that point, i would like to say something, because in winning this election, not only worry winning this election, not only woi’i’y on winning this election, not only worry on the right head of history, we we re worry on the right head of history, we were on the right side of the future. this is where we have to go. but when we talk about the challenges that we face, we had to jump challenges that we face, we had to jump over mines, all over the country. so when we talk about our success , country. so when we talk about our success, it is about the grassroots operation, owning the ground, all of these groups that have care about health care, many of them out there to help elect people who share their

value about lowering health care costs, removing lifetime caps, even annual caps on insurance coverage, and certainly, restoring the benefit of pre—existing conditions, not being a barrier to coverage. most importantly, the quality of our candidates, they are spectacular, from every walk of life. some of them from a different type of walk of life. when they come, they will bring their experience and knowledge and their values to the congress. we look forward to that. this is no easy feat to win at this election. the president contributes to this that and the other thing, but when you think about how the country is, how we hope to change the country, but nonetheless, how we were able to 60 in this election, it is a tribute to the quality of our candidates, the determination of our grassroots

folks across the country, and the values that we share with the american people. in terms of working with the president, i would say that i worked very productively with president bush when we had the majority and he had the presidency. we passed one of the biggest energy bills in the history of our country. we passed one of the biggest tax bills in terms of stimulus for low income people, as well as middle income people, as well as middle income people. the list goes on, there are so many issues that we we re there are so many issues that we were together in. the point is that were together in. the point is that we worked together. the president said, i will wait for them to send me something, but we had ideas and we could send them something, but the fact is, we liked him and we worked together, so our legislation will be bipartisan, we‘re not going for the lowest common manager, we

are going for the boldest, the nominator. —— common denominator. we will welcome other ideas, while being bowled. we look forward to a new era in terms of what has happened. these past two years have seemed like a long time in terms of the past it has taken us down and i think of our founders and their courage, their vision, what they had in mind for us. when i think of the american people and how beautifully diverse we are and how newcomers to oui’ diverse we are and how newcomers to our country have constantly reinvigorated america. when i think of our beautiful planet and our own country, god ‘s gift to us, and how it has been neglected and degraded in this past couple of years. i think that there is plenty of opportunity for us to match our legislation with the rhetoric that

we are hearing. it might surprise you to know that the president i quoted the most on the campaign trail, who would you think? ronald reagan. i won‘t redo the whole quote, but i will read one paragraph. he said, this is the last speech i will make as president of the united states and i want to... it is fitting to leave one final thought on observation about a country that i love. that‘s quite a headliner, ronald reagan‘s last speech. he said, thanks to each new wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we are a nation for every young, bursting with energy and new ideas and always on the cutting edge. always leading the world to the next frontier. this quality is vital to our future as a nation. he goes on to say, if we ever close the door to new americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost. if we ever

though close the door, our leadership would soon be lost. with the respect for the vision of our founders, the diversity of our country, the beauty of our land, the values and our constitution, first and foremost, we think there is an opportunity to work together. for them to withdraw their assault on them to withdraw their assault on the pre—existing condition benefit, the pre—existing condition benefit, the republican attorney generals across the country have put forth and which this administration have said they will defined the law of the land, they willjoin the lawsuit. that is just wrong. so we think it is a sign of good faith and in keeping with what ought they are saying on the campaign trail, prove it. withdraw the lawsuit. that would be one place that we could start. next week, we look forward to welcoming our new class of freshmen. we will celebrate their diversity

and they will immediately be incorporated into our building of consensus and how we go forth in a very open, transparent, bipartisan, unifying congress. any questions? yes, sarah. inaudible how far howfarare how far are you willing to take it to get the president... inaudible. the president said it was a good day for republicans, so that that that

in perspective. we have a constitutional responsibility to have oversight. that is the balance of power. i am the appropriate, it was one of the places i was forged in the congress, as well as on the intelligence committee. both places we re intelligence committee. both places were hallmarks of bipartisanship, we could always be left to our own devices and find resolutions. that of course has changed now when the poisoned pills rained down. in appropriations and in many of the other committees, all the other committees, we have a responsibility to oversight and hopefully, in the course of asking for information, we can make the request and the information will come in. we are concerned about what is happening at epa, despite what the president said. that is only one example. i don‘t think we will have any

freelancing in terms of this, we will have a responsibility to honour oui’ will have a responsibility to honour our oversight responsibilities and thatis our oversight responsibilities and that is the path that we will go down. again, we will try to unify oui’ down. again, we will try to unify our country. in ball i‘m a big believer in the committee system. our committees will make their decisions and make the recommendations, but you can be sure of one thing. when we go down any of these path is, we will know what we are doing and we will do it right. and historic number of women in congress, with you and your leadership team at the top... inaudible i have always invites members into the leadership, they have decided they wanted to run, like many people making their mark in their committees, that is a decision they

have to make. some people have said to me and i agree should your question, some people have said, now we have more women, will be have more emphasis on things like child care, this without. we have a big emphasis on that and we need to make it stronger in the majority. but thatis it stronger in the majority. but that is across the board in our as important as it is added is vitally important to women‘s role in the workplace, i want women to not just talk about those issues, because we view every issue as a women‘s issue. we believe in the national security of our country, this is a women‘s issue. the economic security of our country, national security, economic security, issues relating to energy and the rest, they are women‘s issues. so i have always tried, with eve ryo ne issues. so i have always tried, with everyone here, is if they are

interested and tried to introduce them to be interested, is to have a security credential, whether it is on services, intelligence, or on affairs, veteran‘s affairs... the committee of government, oversight, i ,to , to have a security credential is very important, not to just be the men who‘ve been doing it all along. with all due respect to their triffid leadership, but for women to ta ke triffid leadership, but for women to take command and has standing on thoseissues take command and has standing on those issues and many new members have got standing with them already, some do and some don‘t. i do think that in times of the economy and our committees, we have a financial service, so there is already a record of high leadership on