LEADER JEFFRIES: "DEMOCRATS ARE BUILDING AN ECONOMY FROM THE MIDDLE OUT AND THE GROUND UP"

Press Conference

Good morning everyone. At the beginning of this Congress, as House Democrats, we made clear that we would extend the hand of partnership to the other side of the aisle whenever and wherever possible in order to find common ground to get things done for the American people while, at the same time, being prepared to push back against Republican extremism whenever necessary. That was our commitment to the American people, and we continue to do just that.

Earlier this morning on the floor of the House of Representatives, Democrats and Republicans came together to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration in a bipartisan way, once again illustrating that there is the opportunity to find common ground in the best interest of the American people. The bill does not contain the type of poison pill items that are designed to jam the extreme right-wing ideology of many Republicans down the throats of the American people.

At the same time, when Republicans take a bipartisan piece of legislation like the National Defense Authorization Act, attack the women of America, attack reproductive freedom, attack the LGBTQ community, attack diverse communities all across the country and undermine our national security and the ability of our military to recruit from every corner of America, we're going to oppose that type of extremism. And that will be our approach as we continue. And so next week, we'll have an opportunity perhaps to vote on a few of the appropriations bills, which are not going in the right direction because, again, the Republicans have chosen to try and jam their extreme right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people and take us toward the nationwide ban on abortion care, bully the transgender community, undermine equal opportunity in every single zip code in a diverse country. And if they continue down this path, we will oppose their extreme efforts.

At the same time, Democrats are going to continue to focus on building an economy from the middle out and the ground up, not the top down. This is a very different vision for America than the extreme MAGA Republicans have at this moment in time. It's an approach on the Democratic side that is working. More than 13 million good-paying jobs have been created during the Biden administration. That is a record. Unemployment at 50-year lows. Wages are increasing. Inflation and gas prices coming down. And the ability for the American economy to recover has been more robust than any other developed economy in the world, in terms of emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Democratic approach to the economy is to build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up. The Republican approach to the economy is the top, down. Here's the Republican economic philosophy: tax cuts for the rich, deregulation for wealthy corporations and wage stagnation for everyone else. As compared to the Democratic approach of growing the middle class and building an economy that works for everyday Americans. And it's working.

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