Transcript of Speaker Pelosi's Remarks at Weekly Press Conference
Press Conference
Speaker Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference today in the Capitol Visitor Center. Below are the Speaker's remarks:
Speaker Pelosi. Good morning, everyone. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Pretty exciting.
Yesterday was so remarkable for us. It was historic. It was inspiring to hear President Zelenskyy give his impassioned presentation. First, as you saw, in Ukrainian, then a very explicit, heartbreaking film of what the Russians are doing to even little children in Ukraine -- and then in English, his impassioned plea.
It was all very, very powerful, and his leadership -- he's a hero. It just was remarkable to see him. And I was so pleased that so many Members -- House and Senate, Democrats and Republicans -- filled the house yesterday and filled the air with their applause, first to welcome him and then to appreciate what he had to say.
It was quite remarkable, quite historic. It was an honor to be there to see him. But the purpose of the visit was tragic and heartbreaking.
Later that morning, I had a meeting with the G7 heads of parliament. It was presided over by Germany, which heads up the G7 this -- this -- at this time. And was with the G7, the parliament -- head of the EU as well as Stefanchuk, who is the Speaker of the Ukraine -- Ukraine Parliament. Again, it, too, felt with emotion to hear the stories of what is happening there.
We put forth a proclamation, which you all should have received yesterday, talking about humanitarian, economic, military assistance, in great detail. But it also says that -- that we have to continue to isolate Russia in the global economy and society, as well as address the disinformation that Russia is putting out.
Again, last week, yesterday -- two days ago, we -- we went to the White House, and the President signed the omnibus bill. And that was quite remarkable for us, because here we've been talking about bills that are $1.7 trillion over ten years. This bill, the 1.5 -- the $1.5 trillion omnibus bill, passed in a very strong bipartisan way to meet the needs of the American people and to protect them, had very strong bipartisan support, was signed by the President.
We were very pleased that that same day, Shalanda Young was confirmed as the Director of OMB, with her history in the Congress. That's just a personal aside.
In that omnibus bill, we are defending democracy in Ukraine: $13.6 billion in emergency funding for security and humanitarian needs, making a difference for America's families, lowering the cost for education with bigger Pell grants and establishing the President's ARPA‑H, something very exciting -- it's an initiative to defeat cancer and other diseases. Unlocking billions more in federal dollars under the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill. That bill was very important, but it needed an appropriation to free up billions and billions of dollars that were in it, and now that is done. And historic bipartisan legislation reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. Establishing a new -- again, in addition to that -- establishing new cyber provisions against Russia. The bill goes on and on. It's $1.5 trillion.
This victory in that bill -- this victory for the American people builds on Democrats' actions to lower costs for families. Congress and the President have been hard at work to create jobs -- how about this President? 6.6 million new jobs were created last year -- and grow the economy, fastest rate of growth in 40 years last year. Lowest unemployment -- last year saw the biggest one‑year drop in unemployment in history, and today, unemployment [rolls] were the lowest in 50 years. Supporting small business -- last year, a record 5.4 million small businesses were created, one million more than the year before. And lower prices for Americans through strong action in the Congress. But we need to do so much more.
The kitchen table concerns of America's working families are tangible, they are ongoing, and we need to address them. Over the kitchen table, people have to decide: are they going to pay for food, for rent, for education, for credit card bills, whatever their needs are -- the same needs that keep them up at night, the decision as to what to pay for. So we must continue to lower costs, increase jobs, increase -- increase pay.
Let me see what else I was going to tell you. But -- oh, in that regard, we have to address the Putin Price Hike: gas hike. It has -- since he started amassing troops earlier this year, the price at the pump has gone up 75 cents. We're doing everything we can to minimize the Putin Price Hike at home. The White House announced the release of 90 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. We call on industry to boost production and stop hoarding profits. Oil prices are down -- oil prices are down, but the price of -- when the oil -- price of oil goes up, the price of gasoline goes up. When the price of oil goes down, the price of gasoline does not necessarily go down. This is not right, and it's not fair.
And, again, we want to say, you know, there are 6,000 permits out there where people could drill -- where industry can drill. So they don't need to be upending our initiatives to save the planet from the climate crisis. If they want to drill, they have places to drill. Use it or lose it. Let somebody else drill there.
We had passed a bill last week on banning Russian oil. That was -- that's still a work in progress, because it, in the mean -- as we were discussing that, the President issued an executive order. So the question is, what -- what needs to be done in addition -- in addition to that?
As I mentioned at the start, and as you well know, today is St. Patrick's Day. Last night, I had the privilege of sitting with the Taoiseach at a dinner, which I -- [Ireland Funds] dinner, at which I was -- had the honor of giving him an award -- an International Leadership Award on behalf of the Friends of Ireland and on behalf of our Members of Congress.
Right before I was supposed to give him the award, the Taoiseach left the table, and then I was told that the Ambassador would be accepting the award on his behalf and giving his speech. So we're very, very sad that on St. Patrick's Day, the Taoiseach has this diagnosis -- and also, the luncheon that we would be having today, we won't be able to have the benefit of the honor of his presence.
Just so you know, this is a lunch that was started by Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan when Tip was Speaker and Reagan was President. The first -- the first luncheon, this luncheon, didn't have the Taoiseach. It was just the Speaker and the President. That's what it'll be today: the Speaker and the President. We would rather, of course, have the Taoiseach.
And subsequently, the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister of Ireland, was invited. The first luncheon, Tip O'Neill invited 16 Members; 12 from Massachusetts. And it's grown since then, and we have had them -- well, perhaps you'll cover what we say in that meeting, but we'll have a wonderful turnout of Members. I don't have Irish grandparents, but I do have Irish grandchildren, and I always brag about them, as you can imagine.
I just wanted to say that, in consultation with the Office of the Attending Physician, I will continue regular testing, following CDC guidelines. Our friends of lunch -- our Friends of Ireland Lunch will proceed today without the participation of the Taoiseach, in case those of you in green had any concerns about that.
Any questions?
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Q. Madam Speaker?
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah, Chad, what do you got?
Q. Good morning. We've heard from you and heard from other Members, you know, expressing the gratitude and moved by the speech by Mr. Zelenskyy yesterday. He asked, however, for some very specific things. No‑fly zones. He came close to almost admonishing Members to say, you know, if you don't help us, you know, we're on the precipice of history here. We hear a lot of these heartfelt messages from Members saying we want to help Ukraine. But when it comes to the specific things he's asking for, Congress is not willing to do so. Can you square that, please?
Speaker Pelosi. Yes. And I'm so pleased, a substantive question from Chad. Oh, my God.
[Laughter]
Q. I always have substantive questions.
Speaker Pelosi. Usually, it's about this, that or the other thing. In any event, it's right on target, Chad. I appreciate your question.
Yes, it was a very moving speech. Yes, President Zelenskyy, once again, asked for [close the sky]. I've had that conversation with him individually, as recently at the end of last week, when he asked for the presentation that we all witnessed yesterday. We're not doing [close the sky]. You know, they -- and he did say, as did the Speaker on -- this will be my third interaction with the Ukraine Speaker. They know that's not -- "We understand your position on that. These are the things we need otherwise.'
These -- it just very, seems very clear that -- let me back up for a second and just say, President Biden has done a masterful job in managing this situation in a way that is collaborative, not condescending or dictating, but collaborative. The unity of the, of the G -- not only the G7, but the NATO alliance has been remarkable to behold. They are all unified with the -- how we go forward. And how they are unified on how we go forward is that we are not going into Ukraine. It is not an Article 5 situation.
We are, however, prepared to supply Ukraine with very sophisticated equipment, some of which was alluded to yesterday, and some of which the President already announced -- was it 11:30 yesterday? A couple hours after President Zelenskyy's presentation.
Leadership and leadership of some of the committees of jurisdiction -- Intelligence, Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Appropriations -- appropriate subcommittees and the Leadership had a briefing later in the day on what some of the possibilities are, the upside and the challenges that other requests make.
Q. Is it appropriate for him to ask for those things?
Speaker Pelosi. Of course.
Q. Even if your side is so -- even if the Congress is in a position that they're not willing to give him what he's asking for?
Speaker Pelosi. Of course it's appropriate. The fact is, is what he wants is a result. He wants a result that says we have to -- if you are not going to give us air cover with your own, your own personnel, we need air cover or we need equipment to effect air cover so that we can take out whatever the Russians are putting forth.
So I think -- I thought he was completely appropriate in saying, "This is what -- this is the impact we need. If it's not going to be effected by what I'm asking for, then this is another way we can get that done' -- and that's what people are looking into.
What you saw yesterday was history. Later, at the lunch, just -- maybe you might want to watch -- I'm going to be reading a poem written by Bono about Ukraine, which you might find interesting.
Q. Madam Speaker?
Speaker Pelosi. Yes, ma'am.
Q. Madam Speaker --
Speaker Pelosi. I'll come back to you.
Q. If we could go back to COVID. First, on the COVID funding, yesterday Chair Jeffries suggested that you have time, until September, to act on a --
Speaker Pelosi. No.
Q. -- relief package. Is that your view? Are you going to take your time with this or do you want to do something sooner rather than later? And then, just with respect to the dinner last night, can you say roughly how long you were sitting next to the Taoiseach, and do you have any concerns about your health at this point?
Speaker Pelosi. No, I don't. And I, well, I get tested almost every day anyway because -- says she immodestly -- many times I see the President, and you have to be tested to do that. And really for the safety of my colleagues with whom I come in contact.
The -- the Taoiseach had on a mask when he sat down, but then when he started to eat, he took off the mask. And then shortly, it was right during the appetizer, they took him -- called him aside. Well, he didn't know why. But then sometime later, when it was my turn to speak, they told me what, what the -- how we would proceed, that he would not be speaking. So I wasn't measuring it in minutes, but part of it was masked. Some of it while he was eating, but it was during the appetizer that they took him away.
I mean, I don't see, I don't -- I think we need all the money we can get to have the resources that we need to fight COVID. The last thing we need is another variant. The resources that we would have had in the bill, I think, need to be enhanced now because we're another week later, and we still don't have it, because -- you know the history. In the beginning, we had these therapies which were -- the vaccines which were in sub, sub, sub-zero ice temperature, ice protection with a short shelf life. And that was a fragile therapy, but it worked. Now we have pills that come in a box that can last a long time. You can take at the onset -- if you feel any symptom, it can prevent it from going forth.
What's important about that, and why we need that money, is because the -- you want to stop transmission. Transmission creates variants. Variants are different and they present -- if they are different, present different challenges. So this is nothing to mess with.
I think we need even more money than the compromise was. The Republicans did not want to spend money on COVID, and they don't like the state funding, so we took some of the state funding -- only half -- for the money. I was very disappointed, I have to be very honest with you, because we need the money to buy the pills. The pills exist. The science is there, but there's a market out there as well beyond the U.S., and we have a responsibility to other countries.
So I think we have to get on with it. I respect what the distinguished Chair said about -- well, we have time. Well, we have a little, but we need more -- the more time we have, the more money we need.
Yeah. Jake.
Q. Madam Speaker, do you -- I just wanted to dig into that a little bit more on the COVID relief.
Speaker Pelosi. This will be your third time.
Q. My third time, what, asking about COVID relief?
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah.
Q. Well, it's substantive. You like substantive questions, so I just want to --
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah. Well, while people are dying in the Ukraine and all of that, yeah. Everything --
Q. People are dying from COVID, too. The -- do you plan to offset it? How do you --
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah, we have to offset it, uh‑huh.
Q. You do have to offset it?
Speaker Pelosi. We have to offset it, and that's what we'll have to go to. And I would hope that the sensitivities of those, to any offset, would be -- the equity would be weighed as to what we need to do to save lives and livelihood and prevent the creation of a new variant. Yeah, it would be offset.
Q. And you said you're disappointed. I mean, budgetary --
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah. That it -- we don't have it right now. That we don't have it right now. We have everything else right now, but we don't have it right now.
Q. What is your message to those colleagues who nitpick kind of over that -- over that?
Speaker Pelosi. I've communicated my message to them.
[Laughter]
Q. Madam Speaker --
Speaker Pelosi. Yes, ma'am.
Q. You mentioned that you had hoped for more money in this COVID aid.
Speaker Pelosi. Yes.
Q. The President originally requested $22.5 --
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah.
Q. -- billion. Have there been conversations with you and President Biden about the disappointment last week and --
Speaker Pelosi. No. We've been -- frankly, our conversations have been about Ukraine since then. We're happy that he signed the bill. There's so much else in it that meets the needs of America's working families. But I speak regularly with the President about one subject or another, so we know we have to do more.
Now, what I've said to the Administration is we can't ask for more -- you must ask for more, because you need more, and you can't expect this turnaround like that, because the legislative process takes time. We want it to be bipartisan. We need it to be paid for, and so let's just go for a bigger chunk. I should -- I think they should be double what they ask for, because even with -- when they were asking for like 20‑some, it was only going to get us to June. It was only going to get us to June. So we need more.
And it shouldn't even be a big conversation. We need it. The science is there. The need is there. All we need is the money. And the money will be a great investment, because it will keep us safe. It will help our economy turn back, our kids to be safe and in school, our people safely at work again, the therapies that are needed.
You know, just think of this. The Taoiseach of Ireland, the Prime Minister of Ireland, visiting the United States on the -- for St. Patrick's Day. This is very important to the people of Ireland and the people of the United States.
Meeting with the President in a bilateral way, meeting with friends in Congress, accompanied by people from -- not accompanied by, but in that lunch with people and the dinner last night, people from Northern Ireland, everyone who should be in conversation on all of this, with all the protections of the Taoiseach of Ireland, he gets a positive diagnosis. Barack Obama, the former President of the United States, has a positive indication.
Q. Madam --
Speaker Pelosi. How -- what chance does a poor person with a big family living in a small apartment, with not -- you know, with, working in a situation that may or may not be safe, or with people who may or may not have a pre-existing condition or a circumstance which makes them more susceptible? This is -- not -- everything is great.
If I -- if I asked this room, how many of you think we should just go on with it -- forget about it, no mask, no this, no that, let's just get on with it -- there would be some spirit of "let's get to normal,' right? But there also will be people here who will say, "I have a child under five who's not vaccinated, I have a senior over whatever, who has a preexisting condition, I have a problem going to work under those circumstances."
So we have to deal with the reality as it is: mixed. We want to move on, but we don't want to move on and leave people behind. So we need the money. So when the other side says we don't want to do COVID, well, you know what? What's your -- unless it's paid for, let's pay for it. We'll find some money to pay for it.
I have one more question, because we have the President coming.
Q. Madam Speaker?
Speaker Pelosi. Yeah.
Q. Madam Speaker?
Speaker Pelosi. Right here. Go ahead.
Q. With everything happening in Ukraine, it being an election year, Members now open to Biden -- President Biden using more executive orders, where exactly does the domestic Democratic agenda stand right now? Can anything get done before November?
Speaker Pelosi. Plenty has been done. We passed the ARP, the American Recovery -- Rescue Plan, one year ago, and it has produced remarkable results, remarkable results. Millions of shots in the arms, money in pockets, children out of poverty, into schools, people in the workplace. The bill is remarkable -- Child Tax Credit and the rest -- without one Republican vote, without one Republican vote in the House or the Senate, unfortunately. We passed the bipartisan -- barely bipartisan, but nonetheless proudly Bipartisan Infrastructure bill to create jobs, and we unleashed some of that money yesterday -- a couple days ago -- when the President signed the bill.
So in terms of job creation: nearly seven million jobs, unemployment cut in half, people off of poverty. We've done a great job. But more needs to be done, as I said before.
Until the kitchen table concerns of America's working families are more safely under wraps, we have much more to do. And we have to take great pride in what we've done, as the President did in the State of the Union. He showed progress, but he gave hope, because he recognized -- with his empathetic heart, with his empathy -- that people still need concerns.
So we have a lot to brag about, but we are not finished yet, and we will continue to do that work. I'm very proud of the work of our Members. They are remarkable. I get a lot of compliments for the work of the House Democrats. I accept all of them on behalf of the Members, because they're the ones who have done the work and had the courage to take the vote, even when there wasn't one vote on the other side.
We'll continue to talk about this, I'm sure. We still want to get some things done that -- in our other agenda, the Build Back Better legislation. I don't know what that will be, but what it will be -- will be paid for. It will be noninflationary. It will help reduce the national debt, while it meets the needs of America's working families. Lowers costs for health care, lowers costs for child care, lowers costs for home health care. At the same time, enables children to go to school -- universal pre‑K and, again, goes a long way to save the planet For The Children. We won't get everything in the bill just yet, maybe, but whatever we get will be important and it will be paid for, and I couldn't be prouder than the work.
And, again, I'll come back to praising our President. When I was in Munich, I think I told some of you, he was so acclaimed by all the heads of state that were there -- and defense ministers, foreign ministers, and all the rest -- for how he was a unifying force.
You heard me say, John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you.' You all know that. The very next sentence, I said to the President, was about him. "The citizens -- the people of -- the countries of the world, ask not what America can do for you -- what we can do working together for the freedom of mankind.'
It's exactly what Joe Biden did -- working together, not condescendingly, but very respectfully. So I couldn't be prouder of him, and I look forward, shortly, to welcome him to the Capitol, where he will once again take pride in his Irish heritage. Again, we all take pride in the pride he takes, because the pride he takes in his heritage is the spark in him that enables him to take pride in your heritage.
Thank you.
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