JUST IN: Hakeem Jeffries Holds Press Briefing After Biden Announces Border Security Executive Order
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) holds a press briefing following President Biden's newly-announced border security executive order.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Sorry for the delay.
00:04You know, from the very beginning of this Congress as House Democrats, we
00:08have repeatedly made clear that we are ready. We are willing. We are able to
00:14find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues on any issue
00:22whenever and wherever possible in order to solve problems for hardworking
00:27American taxpayers and deliver real results for everyday Americans.
00:33Throughout this Congress, we have repeatedly done just that
00:38same period of time. We've made clear that we will push back against
00:44MAGA extremism whenever necessary.
00:50We will push back against MAGA extremism with respect to their efforts
00:55to criminalize
00:57abortion care. House Democrats
01:02will always defend a woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care
01:06decisions, and that includes birth control
01:11and IVF.
01:13House Democrats will push back against Republican
01:17extremism when it comes to their efforts
01:20to end Social Security and Medicare as we know it.
01:25We believe in protecting and strengthening
01:29Social Security and Medicare.
01:33House Democrats will continue to push back against
01:36the extreme MAGA Republican effort
01:40to decimate the progress that we made
01:44in combating the climate crisis
01:46through the Inflation
01:49Reduction Act.
01:50But we are ready, we are willing, we are able
01:54at all times
01:57to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues. We are
02:00prepared to do that
02:02with respect to reaching a spending agreement
02:07under the same terms that were agreed upon in connection with the bipartisan
02:12Fiscal Responsibility Act. That means a top-line spending number
02:17of 1681, not a penny less.
02:22We are prepared
02:24to move forward with
02:26an enlightened Farm Bill.
02:29But that of course requires extreme MAGA Republicans to walk away from their
02:33effort to cut nutritional assistance for children and veterans by 30 billion
02:40dollars.
02:42The largest farm bill in the history of the United States.
02:47Proposed cut
02:49in three decades.
02:52We are prepared
02:54to find common ground in a bipartisan way
02:59with respect to the National Defense Authorization Act, but that will require
03:03extreme MAGA Republicans to walk away from any effort
03:07that they may try to inject
03:10into what is now a bipartisan agreement that came out of the Armed Services
03:16Committee.
03:17By a vote of 57 to 1
03:21and should be kept bipartisan.
03:24And if that in fact is the case, we can move on this legislation
03:28in a bipartisan way and get it out of the house
03:32in the next week or two.
03:35Our concern is that the extreme MAGA Republicans may try to jam their
03:40reckless right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people.
03:44Criminalize abortion care
03:47or restrict the ability of women in uniform
03:50to make their own reproductive health care decisions. If they go down that
03:53road again,
03:56that will be a futile exercise
03:59when it comes to actually a legislative
04:03result.
04:05So there's some items that are in front of us that we are prepared to work
04:08through in partnership with our Republican colleagues, but it requires
04:12traditional Republicans
04:15to walk away from the Marjorie Taylor Greene's of the world
04:20and get serious about doing the business of the American people.
04:24Questions.
04:24Yeah.
04:41We have a broken immigration system and clear challenges at the border.
04:45President Biden has taken decisive action
04:49to try in a good faith manner
04:52to address
04:54the challenges at the border
04:57in a manner consistent
04:59with
05:01our country's heritage
05:04as a nation anchored in the rule of law at the same time.
05:08There is broad consensus within the caucus
05:12that
05:13it will be important for additional steps to be taken
05:18preferably through legislation
05:23that addresses
05:25issues connected to dreamers, addresses
05:28issues connected to farm workers,
05:31and addresses issues connected to protecting
05:34immigrant families.
05:38Second round.
05:54I do not think that
06:04ranking member Meeks
06:06has indicated there was an actual bipartisan agreement.
06:11There were certainly bipartisan conversations that were serious in
06:15nature
06:16to try to get to a place
06:18where
06:19with one voice Democrats and Republicans
06:23can
06:24confront
06:26what
06:28most of us believe
06:30was a wrong-headed
06:33decision
06:35by the ICC
06:37with respect to the state of Israel.
06:41And there's still an opportunity
06:44to try to find bipartisan common ground and actually legislate
06:50as opposed to
06:52moving a partisan bill
06:54through the House that we all know
06:57is dead on arrival in the United States Senate.
07:01Senator Cardin who's a well-respected
07:04voice and champion
07:06of the special relationship between the United States and
07:08Israel
07:10has legislation
07:13with respect to the ICC
07:15that I think could draw bipartisan support.
07:19That's one of several options that we can continue to pursue
07:24we are
07:26ready to engage in a continued bipartisan
07:31exploration
07:33of how to
07:35address what many of us believe is a runaway
07:39ICC
07:40in a manner consistent with the
07:43views of the Biden administration
07:46that also protect our efforts
07:49at diplomacy
07:51throughout the world particularly
07:53with our Western
07:55allies in Europe.
08:01The version that will be before the House of Representatives
08:03is not a version that I can support.
08:06So actually
08:07Mike Johnson laid out his plan to go after
08:10the DOJ what he calls weaponization of the DOJ against
08:14President Trump and he wants to use everything from oversight
08:18and appropriations to even legislative bills to go after
08:21the DOJ.
08:22Your thoughts on that and should Congress
08:25should the speaker be playing that role for Congress?
08:31Well, the speaker has a role to play with respect to his
08:33extreme MAGA Republican Conference.
08:37Let me speak to the general issue as it relates to the
08:40effort
08:41to
08:43create a political advantage
08:47for the extreme MAGA Republicans
08:50by trying to raise this
08:53issue of so-called weaponization.
08:55They have a select committee on weaponization.
08:58It has been a complete and spectacular failure.
09:04And so there's no reason for any of us on the Democratic
09:06side to believe
09:09that based on the fact
09:12that the former president
09:14who went through
09:16a judicial process just like any other American
09:22and at the end of that process
09:25what's lasted for five weeks.
09:27You had 12
09:30jurors come to a unanimous conclusion
09:35that the former president was guilty
09:38of 34 felonies and that that somehow
09:43somehow
09:45is indication of
09:47weaponization
09:50when that was a state prosecution that had nothing to
09:52do with President Biden
09:55or the Department of Justice.
09:58The American people understand
10:02that we need more common sense and less chaos in Washington
10:04DC.
10:07House Democrats are the common sense
10:09caucus
10:11House Republicans are the chaos caucus.
10:14President Joe Biden is a common sense leader.
10:19Donald Trump is a chaos agent.
10:25Anything that Donald Trump touches
10:28turns into chaos.
10:32Four years
10:35of chaos in Washington DC with Donald Trump as president.
10:39A lifetime of chaos in New York City with Donald Trump as a
10:43resident.
10:46Atlantic City
10:49turned into chaos who can bankrupt
10:52a casino.
10:53I thought the house always wins
10:55chaos
10:58in Atlantic City.
11:00Chaos on the Supreme Court.
11:04Donald Trump makes three appointments
11:07and Roe v.
11:08Wade Falls after 49 years.
11:13A woman's freedom to make her own reproductive health care
11:16decisions gone.
11:17Donald Trump touches the Supreme Court.
11:20Nothing but chaos.
11:23And of course when it comes
11:25to Trump University
11:27chaos
11:29hard-working Americans
11:32robbed of their hard-earned money.
11:36Joe Biden is a common sense leader.
11:40Donald Trump is a chaos agent.
11:42Everything he touches results in chaos.
11:46So as far as I can tell that's the big lesson
11:49that comes out of
11:52the jury's decision
11:54to find Donald Trump guilty
11:57on 34 felony counts.
12:01Side is pretty quiet here.
12:02I usually try to alternate.
12:04Okay.
12:04All right.
12:18Well, as you understand,
12:20I'm sure that
12:23any invitation to a
12:26foreign leader
12:29emanates as a result of an agreement
12:32between the Speaker of the House
12:36and the majority in the House
12:39and the Senate Majority Leader and the majority in the Senate.
12:43And so that process took place
12:46in the context of the invitation
12:49to the head of state
12:50of the state of Israel a Democratic ally
12:53and that process was consistent with everything that took place
12:57throughout the 118th Congress
13:00in prior instances
13:02related to the head of state
13:04for India,
13:06the head of state for
13:08Japan
13:09and the head of state for South Korea and all of those instances
13:13once there was agreement
13:15between
13:16the House majority
13:18and the Senate majority
13:20the two minority leaders
13:22signed on to that letter of invitation.
13:24And that's the process that unfolded in this particular instance.
13:31Okay.
13:34Senator Schumer and I had nothing to do
13:38with the June 13th date.
13:41It was news to us and we found out the same way
13:44that everyone in this room found out and by the way,
13:48as someone who represents
13:50a broad cross-section
13:52of the Jewish community in Brooklyn, and I'm very proud of that fact.
13:58I would have known better than to extend an invitation
14:01on a Jewish holiday
14:04to the prime minister
14:05of the state of Israel.
14:11Yeah,
14:12so second first of all, first of all,
14:17on the president Biden's executive order for today
14:20president have acted
14:22sooner,
14:24you know, taking this action sooner.
14:25The
14:30seems to me that president Biden
14:32wanted to give the legislative process every opportunity
14:38to succeed or fall
14:41and give
14:42the Republicans
14:44in the house and in the Senate the benefit of the doubt
14:47they have repeatedly claimed
14:49and in fact held up critical aid
14:52to our Democratic ally in Ukraine, which was facing an existential threat as a
14:58result of Russian aggression and held that aid up
15:02for months
15:03because extreme Maga Republicans claimed
15:06that there was an urgent challenge that we needed to address at the border and
15:09then they walked away from their own bipartisan legislative resolution
15:16that would have helped to address
15:18the challenges at the border.
15:20President Biden has given them every opportunity to try to legislate with us
15:27on this issue Democrats recognize
15:29across the spectrum
15:31that we have a broken immigration system
15:33and that we have challenges at the border
15:37and we need a border that is
15:39strong.
15:40It is safe that is secure and that is also humane.
15:46And so
15:48I think
15:49it seems to me that the Biden administration finally got to a point
15:52where they recognize
15:55that the extreme Maga Republicans have zero interest
15:59in addressing
16:01the challenges at the border and solving the issue legislatively
16:06because the extreme Bank of Republicans want to try to weaponize the issue
16:12politically.
16:14That's the weaponization
16:16party
16:17by the way,
16:18this is the group
16:20the extreme Maga Republicans who have weaponized the Supreme Court against
16:24the women of America
16:27when it comes to taking away a woman's freedom
16:30to make her own reproductive health care decisions
16:34and have taken that
16:35decision
16:37weaponized it
16:40and are now throughout the country including in every single state in the
16:44Deep South criminalized abortion care
16:48as part of their March
16:51toward a nationwide ban.
17:00Like every single joint address to Congress
17:05I plan
17:07to attend and participate that relates to every single joint address
17:12that has taken place during the 118th Congress
17:16and at every moment where I've been a member of House Democratic Leadership,
17:20but at the same time
17:22all of us recognize
17:24that every individual member has to make that decision to participate
17:31on their own
17:32based on what they believe is consistent
17:36with the district
17:37that they represent.
17:39New York question for you.
17:41We just saw former Senator Monique Jones
17:44endorse against you.
17:55Well, it hasn't changed
17:56the endorsement that
17:58has been made by the entirety of House Democratic Leadership and we're in
18:02ongoing conversations with the
18:04woman campaign as it relates to their strategy over the next few weeks.
18:09All right, I think, okay, I'm sorry.
18:23My views of the special relationship
18:26between the United States
18:28and Israel have been clear
18:30and my views as it relates to
18:32what needs to happen moving forward
18:35to bring about a just and fair
18:37about a just and lasting peace
18:40between
18:41Israel
18:43and the
18:44Palestinian people are clear
18:46which involves
18:48decisively defeating Hamas
18:50bringing all the hostages home
18:53surging humanitarian assistance
18:56into Gaza immediately and consistently
19:01and having a comprehensive plan
19:04to reconstruct Gaza
19:06and surge
19:09economic development assistance
19:11into the West Bank
19:13as part of an effort
19:14to get to a better place for everyone
19:18in the region centered
19:21around
19:22the relationship
19:24between Israel
19:25and the Palestinian people.
19:30Last two questions.
19:36I have not seen that specific memo, but
20:04I've been very clear in my public observations that
20:08Tom Swasey
20:09is a get stuff done
20:12kind of member
20:14who ran on a clear vision for fixing
20:18the problems that the American people
20:21are confronting
20:23including
20:25decisively addressing the challenges
20:28at the border.
20:31Tom Swasey won decisively
20:34in a district
20:36that
20:38had experienced a string of Republican successes
20:42and so
20:44that decisive victory and the manner in which he chose to engage
20:50and lean into
20:52trying to find a bipartisan path forward
20:56with respect to fixing our broken immigration system and doing it in a
20:59manner consistent with our values as a nation of immigrants, which was an
21:03important part
21:04of how Tom Swasey addressed the issue
21:08having come
21:10from an immigrant family himself,
21:13which he leaned into repeatedly
21:16that certainly provides
21:19an enlightened playbook
21:22for how
21:24we should not simply conduct ourselves responsibly on the campaign trail, but
21:28more importantly
21:29try to actually solve the problem
21:32as policymakers here in the United States Congress.
21:35Last question.
21:35Thank you.
21:45I haven't had a full opportunity to look at the particulars in that regard or
21:49hear from immigration experts with respect to how they think it could
21:53impact the asylum process,
21:55though,
21:56of course, the asylum
21:59application process is an important part of who we are as Americans
22:04as a
22:05nation anchored in both the rule of law
22:10and as a nation of immigrants
22:11and I think as we evaluate what the legislative opportunities will be
22:16moving forward,
22:17those are two values that we should continue
22:20to hold close to
22:23as part of our effort
22:25to reach a bipartisan agreement at some point
22:27when our traditional Republicans decide to stop politicizing the issue
22:32and join with us to solve the issue for the American people.
22:36Thank you everyone.