Subject: PELOSI -- Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference Today
From: Democratic Leader <[email-masked]>
To: Undisclosed recipients:;
Date: Thu, 12 May 2016 21:29:47 +0000

<http://www.democraticleader.gov/>

    May 12, 2016

Contact: Drew Hammill/Evangeline George

202-226-7616

Transcript of Pelosi Press Conference Today

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference today.  Below is a transcript of the press conference.

Leader Pelosi.  Good morning, good morning.  I guess none of you stayed up late to watch the Golden State Warriors win again, 125 points.  High scoring game.  Nice work by Portland, 121 points, very high scoring.  But that ends that series.  I don't know, basketball that starts at 10:30 at night is getting a little late.

Some of you were with us yesterday when Members of our leadership talked about Mr. Trump's comments being a direct continuation or reflection of what Republicans in the House have been saying all along.

My question to Republicans who are shocked by what Mr. Trump has been saying with his crassness and crudeness is:  Since when?  Since when have you been surprised about this?

Mr. Trump has said Islam hates us, complete and total shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.  And the Homeland Security Chairman, Peter King, said we have, unfortunately, too many mosques in this country, this is an enemy living among us.

On the birther claims, Trump said he, meaning President Obama, doesn't have a birth certificate.  He has one, but there's something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he is a Muslim.

This is a candidate for President of the United States.  Shocking he would say that.  But that's what is said in the House by our Republican colleagues, one of them Mike Coffman, "I don't know whether Barack Obama was born in the United States of America.  I don't know that.  But I do know this, that in his heart, he's not an American.  He's just not an American."

Trump has said about immigrants, Mexican immigrants are bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists.  That's what he said about Mexican immigrants.

Steve King, no relation to Chairman Peter King, said, “For every one who's a valedictorian, there are another hundred out there who weigh 130 pounds and have calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling in 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert.”

Another shocking Trump remark:  “Women should face some form of punishment for their reproductive health decisions, and their doctors as well.”  You know, he went on to say that.

Republicans right now are putting researchers, doctors, and women in danger.  The Select Committee, a secret subpoena represents a dangerous Republican descent into anti-woman McCarthyism, a brazen campaign of intimidation.

This morning, you probably have seen it, this morning Democrats on the committee sent a letter to Speaker Ryan calling the committee's abusive conduct and blatant violations of House rules, calling for the committee to be disbanded.

That's what the Republicans have been doing.  And the Republican establishment, they are shocked at what Trump has said when it is a direct reflection of what goes on here all the time with people in power to bring their vitriol to committee, to the floor, to legislation.

Instead of addressing the needs of the American people, Republicans are dangerously obstructing action on the real crises facing our country.  This week, the House is acting on a number of good, bipartisan opioid bills, some with House Democrats as lead sponsors.  However, Republicans are refusing to provide the emergency funding that is needed to make the difference.

Just to have the statement is interesting, a conversation, but it's not effective without the resources.  The Republicans are refusing to provide the emergency funding that is needed to make a real difference in American communities facing the opioid tragedy.

Seventy eight Americans die of an opioid overdose every day.  Our Members, Democrats and Republicans, see this in their communities.  That's why they are passing these nice bills.  But it's hard to understand why they're not putting the resources for communities to deal with it.

Yesterday, Republicans voted to block Democrats' bill for $600 million in desperately needed, fully paid for – fully paid for – new resources to address the opioid crisis.  That was proposed by Congresswoman Kuster of New Hampshire, who has been working on this issue for a long time.

Then, of course, we have Zika.  Already more than 1,000 Americans, including more than 100 pregnant women, have confirmed cases of Zika.  Last month, House Republicans voted twice to block emergency funding.  And it's just a remarkable thing that this is a threat, it's going to even get worse as we get into warmer weather.

So today at 1 p.m., Democrats are holding a Steering and Policy hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the CDC, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans to talk about this.  They will discuss how essential it is for Congress to swiftly act on the $1.9 billion request of the Obama Administration to meet the Zika threat.

And as far as opioid addiction, do your job.  Zika, do your job.  Flint, Flint, challenges the conscience of our country.  Refuse to do an emergency funding bill.  Do your job, Congress.  Do your job.

Do you have any questions?  Yes, Nancy.

Q:  Leader Pelosi, there was a lot of controversy on the Republican side over Speaker Ryan's decision to withhold his support from Donald Trump, at least for now.  Do you think that that was a brave move of his, a principled move?

Leader Pelosi.  Well, I recall, as I am sure you do, that the Speaker withheld his acceptance of being Speaker until they came to terms on the Republican side.  The appearance was that Republicans had to measure up to his requirements.  The reality was that he had to live up to their requirements.  And I think that's what we're seeing again.

Brave?  No, I don't think there is anything brave about it.  But again, I don't usually go into what's happening on the Republican side.  That's up to them.  The people have spoken.  They are about to have a nominee.  It's up to them to figure it out.

But my point is that what would be courageous about it?  That the Speaker is saying he doesn't want to be associated with Donald Trump because of his comments?  I've never heard him make one comment about the comments, the outrageous, vitriolic comments made by Republicans in Congress.

Is it about disagreement on the budget, where the Ryan budget is one that would voucherize Medicare?  Is that part of the debate today?  Is it about policy?  Is it about politics?  I just don't know.  I am not in those meetings.  I would be the last to know.

But all I can say is I hope, I hope that one thing that comes out of it is a decision to lift the debate to a different place worthy of the office of President of the United States, worthy of the American people, and that would be progress.  Because right now they've taken this discussion to such a low place, it's no wonder people are frustrated with the political process and with government in general.

So, again, the success of it would be if there were a decision to say, "Let us just go out there and talk about what our vision is for America, elections are about the future, what is it that we have to say about the future?"  rather than engage in the politics of personal destruction and mistaking cruelty for wit.  They've had their fun.  Now let's get serious.

Yes, sir?

Q:  As I understand it, there are two sticking points in the Puerto Rican bill, at least two.  One involves waiving the Federal minimum wage and the overtime rules, as well as this land transfer from Vieques from the National Seashore.  Would Democrats support the bill if those provisions, as the Republicans have drafted them, remain in the bill?

Leader Pelosi.  Well, I don't know what your source is, but the debate on Puerto Rico has been a little broader than that.  We have had an issue of what will work in terms of restructuring, how the makeup and the scope of the board is in furtherance of having the restructuring work.  Issues that relate to language about pensions and minimum wage, et cetera, are also part of that discussion and relate to the makeup and the scope of the board.  And the Vieques issue is there, but that doesn't relate to the restructuring.  So it just doesn't come down to that.

But we are making progress.  We're having very constructive conversations.  I think we're going to have to pretty soon come down to something because another deadline is racing toward Puerto Rico.

But, again, these negotiations have been going on, conversations have been going on in good faith, and I am optimistic that we will either come to some agreement soon or just realize that we can't.  But I'm optimistic that we can.

Q:  So you don't expect a bill to be filed today then?

Leader Pelosi.  It could.  It could.  It could be filed.  It was supposed to be filed yesterday, they put it off to today.  It could be filed today.  I don't mean right this minute, but the day is young.

Yes, ma'am?

Q:  There are conversations on the Senate side about adding a Zika supplemental to the Military Construction VA spending bill.  Are there similar conversations on the House side?

Leader Pelosi.  What is happening on the Senate side is completely inadequate, $1.1 billion.  The administration has asked for $1.9 billion.  And so, as I said before to all of you, that's not half a loaf, that's half a shoe.  You can't get there from here.  The scientific documentation calls for $1.9 billion and that's what we need to see in an emergency supplemental or some other vehicle.

Q:  Would Democrats consider adding that as a floor amendment?

Leader Pelosi.  I'm sorry, what?

Q:  $1.9 billion.

Leader Pelosi.  Well, we do it almost every day in one form or another, the parliamentary opportunities that we have, motion to recommit or previous question and the rest.  We just keep calling upon the Speaker to address the emergency needs of the American people.

If we were talking a year ago, we wouldn't be talking about Zika, would we now?  It's an emergency.  It's an emergency and it's a very big threat.

Now, we don't want to be instilling fear.  What we're saying is there is a way to deal with this, let's get it up front instead of coming after it after it's out of the barn.

The opioids, I mean this is in the here and now.  It's actually been in the here and now for a while.  We need emergency funding.  If they say, "Well, we can take it out of something else," we have caps.  If we take it out of something else we are in a lamb-eat-lamb situation on the committee of jurisdiction there.  What, are you going to take it out of maternal and child health, which is one of the suggestions that has been made?  So we need emergency funding for that.

And Flint.  If anything would challenge the conscience of a nation, the well-being of these children by a decision that was made by the Governor of the State, we have a responsibility.  And we're even saying we'll just do matching, we'll just do matching funds there.

But to your point specifically on Zika, the 1.1 doesn't do the job, and the job needs to be done.

Yes, sir?

Q:  Can I ask you, you mentioned Flint.  The Senate has talked about providing the Flint money in the water resources development bill.  Is that something that Democrats might be open to in the House or do you really see this as something that needs to be on a spending bill?  Or where would you like to see it?

Leader Pelosi.  Well, the thing is, is that, first of all, I don't know how much money you're talking about.  Do you?

Q:  It's a couple hundred million.

Leader Pelosi.  It's a question of, is that money or is that authorization?  And that's really what the problem is.  With the opioids, we're authorizing all the time, but we're not allocating, appropriating one penny.  And so what we're talking about is the legal tender to be able to meet the needs, not just a policy that is in a bill.  So if they're talking about an appropriation, then that's one thing.  If they're talking about an authorization, that's interesting, but it doesn't do the job.

Q:  Where do you think it should go?  Do you think it should go on a spending bill?

Leader Pelosi.  I think it should be an emergency – did we know about – some people knew about Flint a year ago.  It's not in the budget agreement because the budget agreement has caps, so it has to be emergency funding.

And then we have to take a look more broadly, from an authorizing standpoint, at what our needs are nationally in terms of our infrastructure that relates to water and lead, et cetera, that our children are being exposed to.  But that's another issue, not separate, but a broader issue that relates to Flint.

But it's really sad, if you've been there to see the impact that the lead has on the children.  And there are answers, but they take some resources.

Yes, sir?

Q:  The DHS last week had some new numbers about migration at the southern border, and it reveals that in the first 6 months of the fiscal year the number of kids and families being apprehended are on par with 2014, when there was the big border crisis, much higher than they were last year.  I'm wondering if you have any sense of why that's happening, of whatever they had done last year to depress those numbers is not working this time around?  And you had a lot of criticism of how those kids were being handled.

Leader Pelosi.  Handled.  Uh huh.

Q:  And also politically, if you fear that another border surge this summer would play right into somebody like Donald Trump, who is painting this picture of a border out of control and wants to build the wall and all those other things?

Leader Pelosi.  Well, first of all, it's important to note that what we're talking about here are refugees and asylum seekers.  This is a bit of a different – I don't think that that's what somebody like Donald Trump, to use your term, is talking about.  He's talking about migration into the United States.  And actually, the migration into the United States is negative by over 150 , 160 , 170,000 more people are going into Mexico than are coming – from the U.S. into Mexico – than are coming into the United States.  So it's important to note that.

Does the situation in Central America, the Northern Triangle of countries there, of violence, of well-founded fear of violence and persecution, is that a factor with all of these people?  Well, you have to decide on a case by case basis.

But that was one of the purposes of our trip to Latin America last week, was to say: this is a regional, hemispheric challenge that we face.  We have to address the situation where it exists in the Northern Triangle, in the countries in Central America.

We spoke to the President of Mexico at some length about what can happen to prescreen people in Mexico so that they don't make the trek across Mexico to find out that they do not even make the first cut to seek asylum or to be a refugee.  Being a refugee has one of the toughest set of standards for entry into the country.

So these are two different things, and we have to handle the refugee, asylum seeker, unaccompanied children, some with their moms, in a way that is, again, regional, to work with the Mexican Government, to go to the source of the problem, and see how we can allocate resources there rather than having the challenge here in our own country, because that is really what is better for these children.  And they are all God's children.

Q:  But based on the rising numbers, do you anticipate a surge this summer like we saw in 2014?

Leader Pelosi.  Well, I was hoping that we could, as I just mentioned, in addressing how we can have assistance from other countries in the region.  We talked about it in Peru and in Chile, as well as to what the absorptive capacity could be of some of those countries for some legitimate asylum seekers and refugees, not economic, people seeking a better life.  That's a different story and that has its own legal process.  So it's really just about those in that special category that we're talking about.

It's a very dangerous crossing to cross the desert, a child, a young girl.  There are some really sad stories.  I just sent a letter to the President again, as did my colleagues, about our concerns about how we meet the needs of these people in their own countries or in transit, and even before they get here, but also when they get here.  It's a big challenge.

And, again, as the whole world is facing – not the whole world – a good part of the Northern Hemisphere is facing a refugee challenge, well known to us in Syria and Iraq, et cetera.  We have some responsibility to absorb some people, and I think we can do a little better job in how we make those transitions.

It's challenging.  Again, in recent times, and this is within the past few years, that a new situation has emerged largely because of what's happening in their countries of origin.  So we have appropriated, last year, resources to go to those countries to address some of those concerns, and we have to make sure that works.

Yes, sir?

Q:  If there is not an agreement with the Democrats and the GOP doesn't have the votes to move the Puerto Rico bill, would the Obama administration implement some executive action?

Leader Pelosi.  The President has done just about everything that he can do by executive action.  Some of this requires congressional legislation, and that's why we're engaged in this conversation.

But I would be a little more optimistic and hopeful that we can find common ground.  There are some issues that are central to the workability of the legislation and some that are not directly related, and we have to at some point make a distinction there.

But in the meantime, what we want to do is have a restructuring proposal that works, a board that is respectful of the people of Puerto Rico and enables the restructuring to work and weighs in on the pension, pay, and overtime considerations in a way that is respectful, as well as resolving the Vieques land transfer that is there.

So, again, we keep making progress, but the clock is ticking, and I don't want to even be thinking in terms of what if it doesn't happen, because a bill needs to happen and the people of Puerto Rico and the pensioners and everyone else, in my view, are better off with legislation.

Q:  Should Donald Trump release his taxes?

Leader Pelosi.  Yes.

Q:  Madam Leader, as a former Speaker and someone who may hold that job again, can you describe how you see the dilemma that Paul Ryan faces with this Presidential nominee here?  Can you talk about being torn between serving your conference and your party and what the voters want?

Leader Pelosi.  No, I don't think we ever had a situation where we had a Presidential candidate that the Members of our Caucus wanted to separate ourselves from because he was saying there had to be a complete and utter total shutdown of Muslims coming into the country, that Islam hates us, that we had a Presidential candidate who accused the President of the United States of not having a birth certificate, and if he had one it probably said that he was a Muslim.  Nothing wrong with being a Muslim, mind you, but in Donald Trump's view.  We didn't have a Presidential candidate who went on and on about women in a disrespectful way.

What we did have, and when I was Speaker and I chaired the convention, were two great candidates for President in the end: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  Barack Obama emerged as the President of the United States and we're very proud of him.  So we were never faced with something like that.

Right now we have two great candidates.  Bernie Sanders is broadening the universe of people who are paying attention to the political process, whereas before they may have been community-oriented and civic-minded, but not really paying attention to politics, mostly younger voters.  And we're very proud of what he is doing.  And we're very proud of Hillary Clinton and what she will bring to the Oval Office when she's President of the United States.

So we don't have anything that would be similar.

Q:  Is it realistic to think that Paul Ryan can separate himself from Donald Trump in any meaningful way?

Leader Pelosi.  Can he separate himself from his Members of Congress?  Let's go over that then, if you want, as I leave here.  Can he separate himself from Steve King, who said, "For every one that is a valedictorian, there are another hundred out there who weigh 130 pounds, and they've got calves the sides of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert"?  Or separate himself from his own Select Committee, anti-woman McCarthyism committee that has a brazen campaign of intimidation as we criticize Trump for his calling for women to face some form of punishment, and their doctors too, for terminating a pregnancy?  You know, the list goes on and on.

So the concern that has been expressed by the Speaker and others about their unease with Donald Trump doesn't seem to apply to their own Members.  I think many of their own Members understand Donald Trump is saying exactly what they say here.  I just hope the American people understand that, because this is bigger than this one person.

Although the Republican establishment, whatever that may be, is deciding that the inflammatory, vitriolic rhetoric of Donald Trump is something new and shocking to them, it's really the day-to-day comments that we hear here.

So, thank you very much.  Go Golden State Warriors.  Can you believe that basketball is going into June?  How did that ever happen?

Thank you all.

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