Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American Libraries
TV News
Understanding 9/11tv House Democratic Leaders Hold News Conference CSPAN January 15, 2025 6:13am-6:48am EST
6:15 am
>> good morning. grateful to be joined by representative ansari, new members to the 119th congress and so pleased to have them playing leadership roles in the democratic caucus and always joined by ted lieu as well and start by expressing our prayers from the entire democratic caucus to the people of los angeles county and southern california. i know the vice chair will expand on this and whose office
6:16 am
has been affected by the destruction. but we are thinking about our friends and colleagues, co-workers and employees and loved ones out there. we saw the -- this is going to take an unprecedented amount of. they have lost loved ones, churches, heirlooms and wedding photos. the depth of this is so hard to comprehend. house democrats are ready to be a resource that california needs to get back to stlonger position than where we are before and we are prepared to work around the clock in a bipartisan way to make sure that we meet the needs of the public. just a reminder, natural disasters at these events, they are not republican disasters and
6:17 am
these are disasters that have affected the entire country and we will work together to ensure we drive the resources necessary to help the rebuilding efforts that southern california needs. this is not a time of partisanship or division but a time to come together. i yield to vice chair ted lieu. mr. lieu: my prayers are with those affected by the fires. the northern part of my district was evacuated but the two districts are brad sherman and judy chu. why did these fires explode and why are they so hard to contain. second, what the response has been and third, some items to think about. in terms of what caused these fires to spread so quickly, we had a number of factors,
6:18 am
drought-like conditions, very low humidity and santa ana winds, high winds hit us. we had santa ana winds but not to this scale at 100 miles an hour. think about a hurricane with fire in it. and these winds can blow these embers for miles and miles and miles and set structures on fire. there are a lot of wildfires. the palisades fire and eaton in judy chu's districts. washington, d.c., is about 43 akers. over 1500 fire engines and 80
6:19 am
aircraft and fema is providing assistance to those who need disaster aid. climate change is causing more extreme weather events. california had the atmospheric rivers and now these wildfires. and second, i just want to say it is outrageous for speaker johnson to try conditions on to this disaster relief or to tie disaster aid like the debt ceiling. we shouldn't be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow americans and when mother nature strikes she doesn't care about party affiliation. it is now my great honor to introduce the freshman class president from phoenix. she was a vice mayor of phoenix
6:20 am
and served on the city council of phoenix and first democratic iranian-american to serve in the united states congress. mr. ansari: i'm humbled to arizona's newest congresswoman and i join as freshman president. my thoughts are with the californians lost, displaced and devastated. my state is no stranger to this uniquely painful natural disaster. i feel your lost. climate change is undoubtedly one of the defining issues of our generation and one that i have spent my entire professional career, as the youngest woman in the 119th congress i intend to work with my colleagues in the caucus to ensure we are passing legislation that invests in the
6:21 am
continued sustainable future of the southwest. our region is growing faster than we can come up with and we need to ensure our constituents. i worked on the parris climate accords and look to expand that work here in congress. democrats are focused on getting things done. we have real policies and plans to lower prices from groceries to housing to child care and listening to the people in our district and struggling to make ends meet. i am committed to introduce a new bill that will make life easier for the people we represent. i am proud our class is diverse and i am proud to serve with civil rights leaders, scientists, doctors, former educators, business leaders and people whose personal stories reflect the american people.
6:22 am
we have the opportunity to do that. now i will yield to representative. >> thank you, ansari. and good morning. and echo sentiments and say as representative of the baltimore region, how grateful i am that congress without hesitation moved and acted to go to the francis scott key bridge. we are not just big in size, one of the largest in history but
6:23 am
big in ideas and big in energy. we have extremely talented members that come from all walks of life and bring that experience to the work before us. the priorities of this class are the priorities of the american people. we can't the g.s.e. to get stuff done and ready to get stuff done to pass commonsense legislation whether making health care or protecting our environment. we are ready to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, too. there is plenty of opportunity to find common ground. we can compromise without compromising our values. republican leadership has not included democratic freshman on the bills we have taken action. no bill hearings, no markups, nothing to address our shared
6:24 am
goals of lowering the cost of living, creating job opportunities or even physical security at the border. i will end by saying this, we cannot make true bipartisan progress by circumventing the process, process matters. we have to engage with each other from start to finish. despite these initial votes i remain optimistic we can do just that. the freshman class is ready to be at the table and get to work together. i'm happy to turn things over to another the first latino to represent her district in california. representative rivas. >> thank you. as fresh men leadership
6:25 am
representative, my job is to ensure our 33% house democratic freshman class is represented. it brings strength and diversity from across the nation and diversity of work experiences to physicians, to small business owners, to engineers, a diversity of backgrounds from red states and blue states. this diversity will allow us to work on comprehensive solution to keep living costs down and improve peoples' lives. we will protect affordable health care and uphold our investments in clean energy jobs and feed our job and make college affordable for as a member that represents the city of los angeles, i can't
6:26 am
start without thanking the firefighters and first responders from across the country who have been working nonstop to put out the fires in southern california. our hearts go out to those who lost their lives and livelihoods and those who are threatened by this disaster. the toughness and resiliency that the nation saw this past week that so many of us know and proud to be from los angeles. over the past week i visited evacuation centers in my district and across the county, burn sites and command posts to learn about the coordination across the state, local and federal levels in fighting the fire. what i saw each community members coming together to help their members through a tough time. i have many friends that have lost their homes and lost everything. every day i learn about someone
6:27 am
i know that no longer has a home in los angeles. constituents who evacuated and unher and healthers are full. showing how much of those from los angeles care about our friends and family. this is what l.a. is about and what my california congressional delegation colleagues on knows to be true. i want to thank president biden nor issuing a declaration disaster and and resources are delivered quickly to the people that need it the most. this isn't about party or politics but getting our
6:28 am
constituents the resources they need to rebuild their lives in the wake of this disaster. i yield back to chairman aguilar. mr. aguilar: questions? >> thank you for auditing this course and joining us here. >> what specific conditions democrats asked for. have you considered asking the next time there is a disaster in texas, florida and louisiana? mr. aguilar: we have disaster assistance. whether it was hurricane katrina or sandy. in years past, democrats, even when we had united never asked red states or republicans for
6:29 am
anything. we prioritize funding the disaster relief fund so people can get the assistance they need. let's separate this. what speaker johnson is doing. he does not have the votes to raise the debt limit and doing everything he can so donald trump can have a victory so billionaires and the largest corporations can continue to enjoy tax treatment that they want to the tune of a couple trillion dollars. in order to do that. they have to raise the debt
6:30 am
limit. and we expect them to talk about a lot of issues that they could address if the debt limit was raised. the important piece, these disasters don't have red and blue ties on it when they come into our communities. they need to provide the aid and assistance and people can recover and get back to a sense of normalcy. [indiscernible] chuck walla *6
6:31 am
sha tea. mr. aguilar: president trump was part of the election interference, having fake electors and trying to thwart the peaceful transfer of power. that is part of the public
6:32 am
narrative. and those are the facts. what the january 6 committee is raised those facts and the incoming president is not happy with. the facts have not changed. the public saw this as which reported it after the event and the public will have a more thorough report as a result of jack smith's documents being released and all of the documents should be released. mike pence's transcripts to the grand jury should be released and all of that should be released in advance of monday. the american public deserves to see exactly who donald trump is. i respect he was elected but the american public needs to know his role in those events.
6:33 am
sattitla. are you concerned about retribution and safety? mr. aguilar: the january 6 committee, our members, such an honor to be part of that group of public servants. but that is a group that isn't going to be intimidated by donald thrum. we took the testimony from people being yelled at and screamed at by the former president. the threats and intimidation is not something that scares us. we stand by the work product and the work we did and our ability to have a fair process and open process. what we gathered facts and presented them to the public and then preserved everything for the public to look at.
6:34 am
footnotes and transcripts are in the public record. we stand by our work and won't be intimidated. reporter: members of the january 6 committee are seeking pardons. have you south a pardon? and do you think the staff of that committee should receive pardons? mr. aguilar: i have not sought a pardon or talked to anyone in the white house. i stand by the work. i don't think a pardon is necessary. we committed to do a process together to shine light of what happened on january 6 and the leadup and the president's role in thwarting a transfer of power. that's what we did. i'm not aware of any
6:35 am
conversation with the white house related to that. reporter: there has been no debate over any bills, but yet as part of the original rules which established the house procedures that contain the survivors protection act along with 11 other bills. what is your reaction and not allowing for any sort of compromise or debate on the issues -- [indiscernible] mr. aguilar: and this is pretty standard for the house republican conference and seen them run these plays in the past. to the representative's main point, none of these bills that they are advancing would lower the costs for the american public. none of these bills are going to lower grocery costs or make
6:36 am
housing affordable. the american public has said very clearly that they want us to work together to solve problems and none of the bills that they are proposing would do that. what it has done, it has allowed them to buy some time. i saw this morning that the speaker indicated we are going to have a rules chair now. that is an important part of how you govern in order to bring bills to the floor. this might be the latest that we have ever seen a rules chair seated. but what those bills did, it allowed them to buy a little bit of time and bring these up without a rules committee in place. but other way. the american people get no support from the initial 12 bills that the house republicans are bringing.
6:37 am
[indiscernible] are democrats ready to reject a vote. are democrats having that discussion and prepared to vote against it if they don't believe the conditions are something that you guys can support? mr. aguilar: we will not support conditions to disaster assistance and have a lengthy debate and use the committee process to have discussions about the steps that california has taken to protect itself, whether that's doubling the fire professionals in california to record number of resources, billions of dollars to clearing brush in a preventive way or as the former president talks about raking the leaves. california has put the
6:38 am
resources. it's a big state and the federal government has a big responsibility between the forest service and bureau of land management to be thoughtful process. we are not absolved. house democrats are willing to roll up our sleeves and stay here as long as possible. but at the end of the day, ultimately this will mean disaster assistance and free from partisan conditions. we did not put partisan conditions on florida, louisiana or the carolinas. partisan conditions are not helpful and will distract from the helpful and will delay. reporter: a while ago, the speaker said this is not partisan and not politics.
6:39 am
and the way it is supposed to be used. and going out and showing get a pound of flesh for every dollar spent. you have the speaker staying that? >> the speaker's comments are outrageous. when mother nature strikes, she doesn't go, hay, if you are democrat or republican. that's how it happens. republicans lost so did independents and no voters. and seeing how absurdity is to say we are not going to rebuild this post office because used by 60% democrats and 40% republicans. when a tornado strikes in a red state or a flood states, it's a red state we aren't going to provide disaster relief.
6:40 am
we are the united states of america. 50 states. and california provides more in taxes to the federal government than it gets back in services. california subsidizing a bunch of red states. if you look at actual numbers, it is outrageous that americans who happen to live in southern california. mr. aguilar: representative rivas. >> thank you, mr. chair. the state of california has invested in wildfire mitigation efforts nor years. this weekend, chair aguilar and i joined congress member judy chu for the destruction that the eaton fire did in altadena and
6:41 am
anyone who visits that wants disaster aid to be there immediatey. and speaker johnson has not visited california. i think the members of the district most affected would be happy to witness this destruction. and once you see it, you'll know that we need to send aid immediately. there are's people that have lost everything in parts of los angeles that will take. they are scared, do they have to pay their mortgage payments and pay utilities. it's going to take years. people lost their churches, their schools, their stores, their businesses. there are people who have lost their business and their homes. we have to help the people in california rebuild and recover.
6:42 am
>> we stood at an intersection and saw two churches that had been completely burned down. my question is what do you tell those community members hob will see a delay because of politicizing in disaster assistance. that is unfair and that's wrong. [indiscernible] >> a couple of things are concerning. house republican conference decides to bring this up before they want to address economic issues, rising grocery prices, rising cost of living that americans are facing. we believe in the fairness of sports. members of the house democratic caucus, some of them played
6:43 am
division one sports. many people have been shaped by being sports' parents. but we cannot stand and allow politicizing kids' sports to be used as a political tool. but to your question what is most offensive about the legislation is that it doesn't distinguish girls' sports at what age? it doesn't distinguish if you are an olympic athlete, ncaa player, or in sports by your your state or a four or five-year-old down the street. it could lead to inspections and individuals raising concerns and how you proceed with that is something that is concerning to the house democratic caucus and
6:44 am
this is the g.o.p. predatory empowerment act and puts kids at risk whether you play gym, play football or a wrestler. this puts you at risk. kids as young as 4 could be asked for personal inspections. there is nothing in the bill talking about parental consent or nothing in the bill that talks about at what level the inspection is necessary. that is concerning. that will be allowed. and that is overwhelming the position of house democrats and have strong reservations about the legislation. [indiscernible] mr. aguilar: being a kid, being a teenage irin this world is pretty tough. i can't speak to a transathlete or someone who has lived that experience, but i can imagine it
6:45 am
is incredibly tough for them and subject them to a higher level of intimidation and scrutiny is something that is flat out bullying. that's nothing that we can support. those of us who oppose the bill are speaking up against that. many of this is regulated by the ncaa or by state organizations who guide these efforts. by our count 10 athletes in the ncaa. thech found a way to work through this. that's the scope of what we are dealing with. so house republican conference would choose to have this conversation rather than something that is more expansive that helps lower costs. that's what they have chosen and that says a lot about who they are. thank you so much.
6:46 am
[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org
0 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CSPAN2
Television Archive 
Television Archive News Search Service 
Uploaded by TV Archive on
