big event for richie o'neill, honoring him. the irish groups from all over came to honor him. that was the very day, and that the -- andy told us the prime minister had come to an agreement. we were thrilled. they were trusting and it was an additional cause for celebration. was what wasent represented, my understanding is, in the eu treaty, which was then rolled back in the statements that were made. we will see where we go from here. i think we all understand each other. thank you. >> [indiscernible]

>> next, house minority leader kevin mccarthy discusses the republican legislative agenda. he criticizes speaker pelosi and house democrats for their response to the coronavirus pandemic. vaccinetalks about development, middle east policy, election security and absentee voting. this is just over 20 minutes. rep. mccarthy: good morning, almost good afternoon. i would like to start with continuing to keep our prayers for the two sure if deputies that were ambushed in compton, my home state. i think we should condemn that violence. that violence has got to stop. i am not sure if my hometown senator has condemned it or done

anything about it. i know she went out to california to see the fires. i hope she would stop to see the sheriffs as well. not sure if she raised money for a reward to find who did this. i know she raises money to bail out the rioters. i know 13 staff members on joe biden's campaign did as well. not sure if they are still on his campaign. i know he just had a press conference with the speaker of the house. i do not know if you asked her about the embolus at the shootings of those two sheriffs. when she was as before, she said people would do what they do. i am not sure if she changed her opinion or condemned the action as well. maybe that is a question you could ask her. this majority under the leadership of nancy pelosi has be one of the weakest congressional terms in history. they carried out the most

partisan rush impeachment in u.s. history. chris rock said focusing on the impeachment they let the pandemic coming. they support defunding our police and shrinking our military but it -- a budget and they have repeatedly delayed relief to the american people. democratic failures continue. we learned 60% of the businesses that shut down during the pandemic, nearly 100,000 businesses have closed permanently. as republicans we tried to use the emergency session back in august to help small businesses and replenish them with a successful paycheck protection program. we made that when speaker pelosi called us back for that emergency meeting on the post office prior to our departure where she said we would not leave until we had a covid relief bill. recommithe motion to

to do that. unfortunately, the democrat majority voted it down. americans still need to relief for the economic fallout of this pandemic response. congressional republicans have come to the table with a targeted proposal. democrats continue to delay relief to support an unrelated liberal agenda. we note chinese continue to spy and are actively attempting to sabotage our vaccine research. i actually produced a bill to sanction anyone after reports from the fbi that iran, russia, and trident were trying to hack into our companies, our universities to still do vaccine. they slowed the process for our vaccine down. it just so happens when we introduce the bill to recommit that day, two chinese were found to do this. the democrats had an opportunity to stop that activity. they voted it down.

, herebeing away for weeks is what the democrats decided to make a priority this week instead of doing those. renaming post offices, advocating for the pot industry, continuing to perpetuate the postal service conspiracy theory , and today they are debating a resolution condemning words they used themselves to name their own hearing. democrats called it of their own -coronavirus,n assessing the outbreak. the entire chamber is spending hours debating this issue. the few hours we have before people leave to go to the airports. i wonder about those small businesses that have closed permanently. would -- with every delay from and with every covid package that we have

produced, there has been one common denominator. i flew back on a redeye when the senate had an agreement. schumer announced it. she came into the room to slow it down for another week. when the successful ppp program went out to small businesses, so successful that they knew they would need money by the rapid response going out. the secretary requested more money. we all remember where we were at that moment she stood in front of her refrigerator with her ice cream telling the country on a late-night show that she said no . how many of those 100,000 were part of that delay? , when we need it so badly. i was majority leader. you have the ability to schedule the floor. you spent time looking at the bills, deciding what he comes forth. this is what we spent our hours on today.

the priorities are out of sync with the needs of the american people. instead of failing america, republicans stood up to make a commitment to america. he watched us on the steps this week. we made a commitment to america. on what we are doing now and what we would do in the future. we believe we can renew our way of life, defeat the virus, and keep america healthy. we do that by developing a vaccine that is safe and effective. we do that by protecting pre-existing conditions, tripling rapid covid testing, lowering prescription drugs, by making our streets safe and secure, but not -- by not defunding of the police but adding -- 500,000 body cameras. we will rebuild the greatest

economy, adding 10 million new good paying jobs. we do that by expanding ppp instead of holding it back for small businesses. we do that by expanding the child tax credit, also protecting the opportunity zone and providing more tax relief so you get more money in take-home pay. we also do that by ending our dependency on china. did we not learn through this covid experience the damage of the dependency on china as caused us? let's bring that supply chain back home, creating more u.s. jobs right here, building our own medical supplies here. plan to upgrade our infrastructure, making sure every house has internet, a five-year plan that rebuilds our

roads, bridges, airports. we also believe we can renew the american dream to make sure every child goes to an excellent school. those are the things we would spend our time on in this floor. unfortunately, that is not what we did today. there are already efforts underway to make a difference. but democrats do not want to provide helps for those hundreds of thousands of businesses permanent layout. republicans will. ause republicans introduced discharge petition to help small businesses access billions of dollars in relief. we urge all of our colleagues to sign a petition to join us in fighting for small businesses. i know there are a few democrats out there very upset with nancy pelosi. they think they can do something better. they can sign the petition. they voted for her as speaker. they allow her to continue to be

the leader. do they just say these things because it is close to an election? do they just say these things to lie to their constituents? they have an opportunity to show what they mean they say. i think americans are fed up with political posturing and empty words. they want action eddie republicans are ready to lead. with that, let me take questions. i do not pick and choose what you ask. i cannot believe you allow her to do that. trust on covid science, dr. redfield or the president? rep. mccarthy: i spent time with dr. dash, the chief scientific advisor. hry impressed with secretary --azar as well. listening to the companies that are building our vaccines as well. y is probably the

premier individual in the entire world. listen to the preparation of what we have been able to do with operation warp speed to deliver it when that time comes. if i just take the words of the cdc and the president, the president is right. mixed messages coming from this administration. you have dr. redfield saying one thing and the president undercutting him. rep. mccarthy: let me take your question. thing. redfield said one the president said the other. because of operation warp speed, things are moving so quickly that we are able to do things we have not done before by making sure we test every ability of going forward so it is safe and effective. one of those two individuals had more information than the other and that was the president.

what you should do is ask the who is ino dr. floey charge of this, the advisor to what is happening, who is working every single day with the a companies building the vaccines. let's go outside of the framework of the people you just asked. i watched the ceo of pfizer tell the public, not government he is saying things are going so well they may have it in october. i would probably go to the source. i do not blame dr. redfield. he was just not updated. >> so the vaccine will be widely available to all americans in october and november? rep. mccarthy: would we sit back and study this of how we were able to build the vaccine safe and effective, creating a dosage in the distribution center ahead

of time, you are going to have the ability for the dosage to come out to people as soon it is safe. >> are you going to bring a motion to vacate? rep. mccarthy: i do not want nancy pelosi to be speaker but i to be chairnadler or shift to be chair. 47 days from now, we will remove them. indsicernible question] are the numbers that house republicans can get behind? rep. mccarthy: what is in the bill? i know with this country needs. we do not need to start with a number. we need to start by working. it is interesting to meet when speaker pelosi sent to all of us we would not leave until we get a covid a bill but then she sent

us home and then she calls us back for an emergency on the post office. during that time the only power at the minority had was to move a motion to recommit. we spent our time on covid relief. what did they do? they voted it down. this week we come back after being gone all this time after watching speaker pelosi talk about how hard she is stopping everything. the common denominator, speaker pelosi has slowed or delayed the action. you begin to wonder why. in anuld someone do that election year? why would somebody do that when people are being hurt? why would somebody do that when the members of her own party feel that it is hurting them, their constituents. maybe it even hurts them in their election. well, sheowing her cares more about politics than she does at the people and that

is unfortunate. that is why she should not be fit for that job. agree with the trump decision that the election result may never be accurately determined? do you think it is appropriate for the president of the united doubts aboutsewing the election? rep. mccarthy: i have not read the tweet. if you want to read it again. at every election, we have concerns. this one is a little different. it is not from any basis of anything other then a person who cares about honesty and election. there is a difference between an absentee ballot and all mail ballots. i was with a friend down in texas. i have never grown up in texas. hadof my friends in texas moved from california. when i went to see him from

dinner, do you know what he handed me? an absentee ballot from california. los angeles county has been ordered by the ports to clean up their roles. think of more than 1.5 million people on it who do not live there. when you request an absentee ballot, you have to sign your name, so they check your signature based upon your voter registration. there is a check in authenticity. i just watched in l.a. county a couple of people pleaded guilty to election fraud. we started out in congress by not ceding a member who won an election because democrats were concerned there may have been harvesting of absentee ballots during now we are going to an election not just for the house but for the presidency too, something like we have not heard before where many states are giving in all mail-in ballots. we watch what happened in new

york when they tried to do that. how many thousands of ballots were rejected. i think the president as a really good point. it is a lot across america. my answer, apply for an absentee. melt your ballot in or go to the polls. when youes will have mail a ballot in that you can trace your ballot electronically. you want to make sure your vote counts. the last thing you want to see is fraud and it. i read in the paper about the concerns the fbi has that you have china outside that as problems trying to do something in elections. they have determined who they want to win. they want joe biden. when you compound that with the sophistication of ballots being thrown out everywhere instead of not knowing whether the person lives there are not or is alive or not, at raises concerns to a

lot of people. yes. beene president has nominated for two nobel peace prize's. do you think he is deserving of these awards? do. mccarthy: yet, i it was a very moving moment. not one country but two recognizing israel. and for a moment of how much the world has spent on trying to find peace in the middle east. it is not a republican or democrat issue. it is an issue for all the world to keep it safer. i think it is something we would all celebrate, regardless of who was able to achieve it. i think it was only because of president trump took new eyes and thought to it and did not try the same old way in the same old place, i would have just as the white house did opened an

invitation to so many people who care about the middle east on both sides of the aisle and at the house. do you know what speaker pelosi did? votes atd the boats -- the moment of tide that we could watch three countries that did not recognize each other before it sign a document because of the power of this administration to bring the world a little safer. and she called it what, distraction? call it adam schiff would be closed on the consulate in houston? a diversion, right? and what did adam schiff say on the floor at what we want to do stop the hackers from getting our vaccine? it is not china's responsibility to tell us about the virus. they are so out of step. can they not move politics out and put what is good for the american public first?

i guess the answer to that question i see today. are we going home? are we staying here to do covid relief? is nancy pelosi only concerned about covid relief when she is on television and says we will not leave but sent us home? she will do everything in her power to waste our time on that floor debating a nonbinding resolution. i think the answer is very clear. that is what they are going to do. yes, sir? on whetherndering you were -- you would comment on attorney general barr's remarks that the lockdowns being the greatest intrusion since slavery. >> democrats are outpacing republicans in key battleground states. are you concerned at all that republicans will lose the turnout battle?

rep. mccarthy: i would ,epublicans to vote by mail absentee. i want them to go to the polls. not do both, do one or the other. just part of campaigning. every election goes that way. we have got our work out for us. people should be able to fight for the opportunity to lead this nation. it is a privilege and we should not waste a moment. which is why it is so shocking to meet the democrats fought so hard to get the majority, and then they wasted their moment on impeachment. chris rock as a grave concern that wasted it on impeachment and the coronavirus comes to america. they just wasted every moment while 100,000 small businesses are doingently closed

a nonbinding resolution or wasted their money -- moment by making it an emergency for all of us to be concerned about a post office that had the ability to have $25 billion on hand already edwin a a covid relief bill came up they voted it down. they wasted the moment to show america we will do everything we can to keep them healthy and safe by having a vaccine that is safe and effective but stopping any nation, no matter who they are that would try to hack into our companies, but they voted that down. are they so blinded that they will harm the average it -- average american citizen each and every one of us because they want a political game? that is not what i think of when i think of people who want to lead and run. that is not what i think of what i think about the history of

people who walk these holes. that is why we have made a commitment to america. you can go to our site. you can see if this is what you want to have happen in these halls of congress, that your voice is heard and we will renew the american dream, that we will rebuild the biggest american economy on earth and we will restore our way of life. thank you. >> president trump will be in misonee, wisconsin this weekend to talk supporters about his election campaign. watch that life beginning at 9:00 on c-span, on c-span.org or listen live on the free c-span radio