JUST IN: House Dem Leadership Hold A Press Briefing After Senate Dismissed Mayorkas Impeachment

for months America's national security interests have been put on hold and undermined by a group of extreme protin Republicans who are determined to stop us from standing with our allies across the world and in particular the Ukrainian people who have fought bravely and valiantly in defense of principles like democracy freedom and Truth the time has come for the House of Representatives to act and act decisively in America's national security interest this is a Churchill or Chamberlain moment we can either conf front Russian aggression in defense of democracy or we can allow the protin extreme magga Republicans to appease it as events have shown in modern world history appeasement of aggression gets you nowhere when this was tried at the beginning of the events that precipitated World War II it led to nothing but more than a 100 million people losing their lives are being seriously injured as a result of the events of the second world war we cannot repeat that mistake we have to make sure that we stand with our Democratic allies in Ukraine in Israel in the Indo Pacific and surge humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians who are In Harm's Way in Gaza through no fault of their own and civilians who are in war zones all across the world and that's our intention to get that done over the next few days a yield to democratic whip Katherine Clark thank you Mr leader and thank you for putting this moment in the historical context that it deserves we are here to make or break moment for Ukraine but also for the standing of the United States are we an ally that will come to defense of another Sovereign democracy are we going to stand up at this moment and say that we stand together with Ukraine and against the AG aggression of Putin and we know the forces across Russia but also across the aisle here in the House of Representatives that want to see Putin be successful that have been holding up this vital National Security funding for months and moving the ball as they do it moving the goalpost so today the day and we stand ready as house Democrats to vote for our national security to vote to stand with our allies across the world and send the message that we stand behind our word we stand with our allies and we stand firmly for democracy that is how we are going to continue to evaluate this package and that is how we will vote on this package when it comes before us and with that I am proud to yield to our caucus chair Pete agular thank you whip Clark and leader jeffre America must maintain its role as a leader in the Free World house democrats for months have been asking to vote on this National Security Supplemental key Aid to Israel Ukraine humanitarian assistance and indopacific priorities it is so important that we support those efforts speaker Johnson has to tune out the extremism on his side and give us an opportunity to vote for these National Security imperatives with that I'll yield back to leader questions Mr Jeff if this bill makes its way to the floor uh the speaker has been threatened with a motion to vacate if it does make it to the floor will house Democrats work to protect his speakership uh we're in the process right now of evaluating the substantive legislation that will be before the house uh we have a Caucus meeting uh that is scheduled for tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. we'll have a conversation about the substance we'll be able to go through the various bills that are going to be before the house once we've made a caucus wide decision about the substance then we'll be able to talk about the process and what may lie ahead but we don't want to put the cart before the horse Mr pending what is said in that Caucus meeting are you prepared to allow Democrats to vote on the rule on the house floor but also potentially in the rules committee given that speaker Johnson's struggling to to get those votes we haven't had that conversation as a caucus and so we're going to have to have a discussion about the substance uh our national security priorities we've made clear as both Katherine and Pete have said uh that we're committed to standing with our Democratic allies and doing what's necessary to support America's national security interest that's what what's at issue because on the other side of these conflicts that we've talked about whether it's the Chinese Communist Party whether it's Iran whether it is Russia these are enemies of democracy freedom and Truth the these These are individuals these are countries whose values are anchored in autocracy in tyranny and in propaganda and so I think this is a heavy moment went for the Congress for the country and for the Free World and so we're going to evaluate whatever process hurdles are going to be in front of us through the lens of that heavy moment and the recognition that America has to always stand on the side of values like democracy freedom and Truth I'll go back to this side yes have you been in touch with uh President Biden or the White House about um uh speaker Johnson's uh We've Spoken uh regularly with President Biden and the white house uh over the last several weeks the last several months and the last several days of course you all know that President Biden convened I think a very important conversation with the four legislative leaders on Sunday to discuss a possible path forward and we'll continue to be in conversation with the bid Administration moving forward is it correct that Democrats have blocked liquified natural gas Provisions from being in and so why uh you can evaluate uh the legislation in the same way that we can evaluate the legislation we've been clear uh that the issue that is in front of us relates to America's national security and standing with our Democratic allies and extraneous matters have no place in anything that we consider over the next few days do you have reaction today's impeachment trial I think the and I want to yield to Pete and Katherine on this uh as well uh but what's taking place in the Senate right now is nothing more than a political stunt that has nothing to do with lowering costs for everyday Americans growing the middle class making sure that we promote safe communities all across the land defending democracy fighting for Reproductive Freedom what's going on in the Senate is a charade there's no justification no Foundation no basis for pursuing the impeachment of secretary my orcus this is all part of the margorie Taylor green show and it's unfortunate that she's driving the agenda on so many issues as it relates to the extreme magga Republicans in the house Katherine yeah I I would add to that that what we're seeing in the impeachment that is now in the Senate is directly related to the House GOP and as the leader said they are operating under the direction of Marjorie Taylor green and the most extreme factions of their conference how do we know this because when the president came together and that was told that they needed immigration reform to be tough and on Border secur in order to pass this National Security package the president did just that and forged an agreement with Republicans a bipartisan agreement in the Senate that was rejected by the House GOP before they even saw the final text they have said the quiet part out loud when it comes to immigration when it comes to fixing our broken system when it comes to making sure we're stopping the flow of Fentanyl and that we have order at our border they're not interested in solutions they are interested in continuing this as a divisive political issue full stop they've shown us their hand they've been clear and what we're seeing in the Senate is an extension of that policy I'm good okay yeah have you spoken to speaker Johnson in the past 48 Hours about this plan forward and has he asked for Democratic support to asked the Ukraine the National Security he has not asked for Democratic support we are in regular communication as is always the case every week uh that we're in session about the legislative agenda and you know we're working through the substance we have made clear that until we are able to evaluate the substance of the legislation that's going to be before the house we're not in a position to determine how exactly we're going to proceed President Biden said he supports this bill ranking member deloro has said she supports the bill what are you still sort of waiting to figure out waiting to work through that you're sort of not willing to say your position on it yet a conversation with the house Democratic caucus because you have the leadership of the house Democratic caucus and we don't get ahead of our members because on all issues particularly ones of great significance the we may have a perspective we want to have that conversation as a caucus as a family as a team so that we can continue to emerge unified as we've been throughout the entirety of the8th Congress I know you have to speak to your caucus but do you see an instance in when you in one that you could let this bill fail these bills fail do you see an instance in that happening with Biden supporting it with supporting it we are not going to to allow America's national security interests to be undermined so figuring out the precise Contours of the path forward remain in front of us but our Topline commitment is Ironclad we are going to make sure that we stand by our Democratic allies in Ukraine in Israel in the indopacific and make sure that we secure the humanitarian assistance necessary to Surge into Gaza and other theaters of War throughout the globe do you have a reaction to the speaker bringing a border Bill along with all of us I don't thank you everyone

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Length: 12min 49sec (769 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 17 2024