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GOP Retreat Leaders News Conference CSPAN February 1, 2018 2:33pm-2:50pm EST
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that is republicans and democrats. right now, going back to the first caller, the easiest thing would be, bring the dream act to the floor. it would pass. who is not allowing that to happen is republican leadership. that is who happens to be controlling the process right now. from richardson, texas, independent caller. good morning. caller: thanks for taking my call. i want to >> washington journal is live every day at 7:00 eastern. we will take you live to the site of the republican treat -- republican retreat in west virginia to hear from mitch mcconnell and paul ryan. ryan: i want to express that our hearts and prayers are with the victims of yesterday's tragic accident. who were there,
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we were grateful for the first responders, especially our doctors and the husband and wives of those who ran out and took care of the injured. it was impressive to see how people to -- how people dropped what they were doing to take care of those in need. over the last 24 hours, we have had very productive discussions of our agenda. we finish the year strong with tax reform and in just weeks it has become a great success across the country. ups just announced a big investment in our economy. just announced bonuses for its employees. more than four point one million workers have received bonuses totaling more than $2.5 billion. today is the first day of february when folks will start to see more money in their paychecks based on these withholding tables. ,ages are going up gone up benefits are going up, consumer confidence is at a 17 year high
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while unemployment is at a 17 year low. tax reform is working. in of the reasons we are west virginia is because we want to build on the success and 2017 in 2018. we want to make sure that secretary mattis has the tools and resources he needs to rebuild our military. we need to close the skills gap and help people move from welfare to work so they can tap their true potential. there is more to do, that is why we excited about having the president here. i want to thank him and the vice president, and all the members of the administration who have joined us in west virginia. i especially want to thank senator mcconnell, we are excited about making more progress for the american people in 2018. sen. mcconnell: thank you for inviting us to join your retreat. i think the speaker is doing excellent job of outlining all the good things that are coming about as a result of the
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comprehensive tax reform bill we passed in december. i met been here a while, a good position to compare 2017 with other years. of centerfer a right america, as virtually every republican does, there was never a better year than 2017 in the time i have been here, which would cover three decades, starting with the supreme court. the13 circuit judges, but 12 we did last year were the most in the first year of any administration since the circuit 1891. were established in we used the congressional review act 15 times to try to deal with the regulatory rampage that occurred during the obama years, it had only been used once in history. finally, as the speaker outlined, the incredible success of this tax reform legislation.
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you mentioned ups, who happens to be the single biggest employer in kentucky. employees all across the country are benefiting from what we did last fall. optimism, for for growth, for opportunity to get our country growing again. of it is taking your foot off the brake and putting it on the accelerator and giving america the opportunity to reach its potential. rep. ryan: does anyone have any questions? >> how you respond to president trump's own fbi director appointee saying the memo you've read and say should be released could pose a grave danger to the country? rep. ryan: first of all, let me to you what this memo is and what this memo is not. is congressmo is doing its job in conducting legitimate oversight over a very unique law, fisa.
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if mistakes were made and individuals did something wrong, fisa our job to -- involves american civil liberties. if american civil liberties were abused, then that needs to come to light so that does not happen again. what this is not is an indictment on our institutions, on our justice system, it is not an indictment of the fbi, it -- thet impugn the molar mueller investigation or the deputy attorney general. what it is is the legitimate isrsight to ensure the fisa being used correctly and if it was not being used correctly that needs to come to light and people need to be held accountable for it. this does affect our civil liberties. chuck schumer and nancy
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pelosi have called on you to remove chairman nunes from his position on the intelligence committee. i think it is a political distraction. tax reform is working, we have isis on the run, things are going well, economic confidence is at a 17 year high, i think they would love nothing more than to play politics. helped shepherd through the foreign terrorist surveillance law, he is focused on national security. i think they're trying to sidetrack us with political games. you blurted out, you do not get called on. >> where do you stand on the cr, could you get a vote as early as tuesday? reason we are
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having these crs is because the democrats have been holding funding hostage on an unrelated issues. inwe would have the cap place, we were not have to do these crs. i think we're making progress on a cap agreement and even if we get everything figured out by tuesday, we still have to have a cr if only because we need to give the appropriators time to write out an appropriations bill. it would have to be a cr to give the appropriations committee time to write a cr. mcconnell: i might add, one tool that has been illuminated, i do not think we will see a threat of a government shutdown again, one of my favorite kentucky sayings is there is no education in the second pic of a meal. kick of a mule. tohink there'll be an effort
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solve the issues the speaker outlined. >> if your plans go forward to an immigration bill, can you tell us what that bill is going to be? saidmcconnell: what i wasay, friday a week ago, if the immigration issue was not resolved inside the global discussions that the speaker has been talking about and we have which theon, democrats have endlessly been trying to shoehorn the immigration issue and to that collection of discussions, if those are not resolved, i am perfectly happy, provided the government is still opened on february the eighth, to go to the subject and to treat it in a fair way, not to try to tilt the playing field in anybody's direction, and we will see who can get to 60 votes. any reaction to the reports
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that nunes change the memo after it was voted on? rep. ryan:. important that we scrub these memos for any info that could compromise national security. the fbi made a change to register those concerns and then they voted on releasing the memo to the white house. the process is exactly what it should have been, scrubbed to make sure there are no methods being revealed when a matter was brought to the attention of the committee, they address that matter and then they went through the committee process. republicans are traditionally the party of law and order. you have an fbi director saying please do not release this memo, it is misleading and incomplete. he was appointed by republican president.
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doesn't that give you pause? rep. ryan: what concerns me is if we are violating civil liberties. this law allows the government to go to a secret court to get a wiretap on a citizen. this is incredible power that the people of this country, through congress has given our executive branch of government. we have to make sure this power is being exercised properly. there are institutions, if there are instances or individuals who of abuse that power, it is our job in congress to shed light on that and bring transparency and accountability to the process. majority of the men and women of the fbi are doing a great job. these institutions, the department of justice, the fbi, very important institutions for the rule of law. we guardortant that people civil liberties as we
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exercise these institutions. the men and women over at the milwaukee office, at the field office in the fbi, they're the ones who keep the opioids out of our schools. these men and women are doing a fantastic job, but we also have to make sure that if there individuals that did the wrong thing, who brought by a sore cut corners or did something wrong that implicated american civil it is our job to bring people to account so it does not happen again. >> this is for senator mcconnell. have you seen the memo and you that with senator thune the senate intelligence committee should see it before it is released publicly? sen. mcconnell: no i have not and i have no suggestions to make to the speaker. speaker, do you really believe this memo has nothing to do with the special counsel's investigation?
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not ryan: people should draw lines, people should not implicate -- people should not be drawing lines and implicating independent issues. this does not implicate the mueller investigation, this is about us holding the system accountable and reviewing whether or not pfizer -- whether abuses occurred. the government has been given power over civil liberties, it is our job to make sure the process is followed properly, and if it is not followed -- the more transparency the better, so that the people of this country can see that their civil liberties are being protected, that the constitution is being followed. that is why we think transparency and accountability is the correct anecdote -- the correct anecdote for this. that is why this branch of
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government conducts oversight over the executive branch. thank you. >> we have covered several events of the republican retreat. you can find them at c-span.org. to speaker saying we have have a cr to allow the appropriators to do their work. reflected here in a headline from political -- from politico. the house could vote as early as tuesday on a stopgap bill, according to multiple gop sources. he writes that congress has until february 8 to avoid another shutdown. finding the votes in the house will not be easy for gop leaders, writing that conservatives and defense hawks
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are opposing another short-term funding bill. democrats are refusing to back stopgap measures without relief for the dreamers. president trump spoke to the group earlier, he is back again this evening. we will have coverage tonight live at 8:00 eastern. also happening in washington tonight, ruth bader ginsburg will be speaking to the editor of forward magazine talking about the intersection between law, media, and jewish rights, that is over on c-span2 beginning at 7:00 eastern. night on q&a, author bill james talks about his book "the man from the train" in which he investigates one of the deadliest serial killers in american history. >> many of the crimes happened within a hundred yards of the railroad track. helps use things that identify his crime as opposed to somebody else's is that it usually happens at the
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intersection of two railroad tracks. the intersection of two railroad tracks, presumably because he knew he had to get out of town before dawn and he did not want to be stranded there waiting for a train to come through that he could hop on. being at the intersection of multiple railroad tracks gave him more opportunities to get out of town before the crime was discovered. >> sunday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span's q&a. "afterwords,"t on a former speechwriter for george w. bush and atlantic columnist david frum on his new book. book, trumpocracy, is a
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book about the study of power. means. what the suffix it is a study of donald trump power. how does he get away with it? trumpocracy is the system of enabling. -- isthe system be queen the system between trump and the media. it is the system that involves the republican donor elite, the traditional elements of the republican party, and above all between him and that core group of his voters within the republican party who enabled him to win the republican nomination and then going to the presidency. >> watch "afterwards" sunday night on c-span twos book tv. -- on c-span2's book tv. where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created by a public service by america's cable television companies and is
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