The House Democratic Women's Caucus holds a press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning.
00:15Thank you for joining us together with members of the Democratic Women's Caucus on this
00:20last and final day of the Issues Conference.
00:24As you all know, we heard incredibly sad news yesterday, and so one – somebody I
00:31worked with really well, Chairman Grijalva, who was a dear friend, a fierce, fierce man
00:41who heart and commitment to the people who needed it most was as deep as that Grand Canyon
00:50that he protected.
00:53He asked me to be chair of the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples, and together we passed
00:58dozens of bipartisan laws.
01:01He cared as deeply for the Native Americans, Latinos, those who suffered from environmental
01:08injustice as he did for this beautiful planet that we call home.
01:14And so we shed many a tear last night, because in his same commitment that he had for the
01:21people who he knew relied on the land around them, relied on the need for clean water,
01:27relied on the need for us to make sure that we cut down pollution so that children did
01:34not suffer from asthma, is the same kind of motivation and spirit that inspires the women
01:43of the Democratic Women's Caucus.
01:46Because it is this inspiration for those who need it most, it is this inspiration for
01:52those who aspire to more that I think guides our work.
01:59And so I couldn't start today, I couldn't say anything publicly without acknowledging
02:04the inspiration of Raul Grijalva.
02:08So we're here after we had left Washington, DC, where the House Republicans passed a funding
02:19bill that was basically a partisan attack on women and children.
02:25And we consider it a partisan attack because they walked away from a funding bill that
02:33was in the process of negotiation when Trump told them no.
02:39We like the idea of this continuing resolution, which strips much of the constitutional, congressional
02:49language that directs where spending can go.
02:54And Democrats in the House understood what it would mean to women, to families, to veterans,
03:02to women's health, to children.
03:05We understood what it would mean because Musk, Doge, and Trump had already begun the process.
03:14Their attack on veterans, their attack on women who serve in the military at the highest
03:23levels, their attack on women's health research, on Medicaid, on the Department of Education
03:30where we send our children and expect them to be able to be treated fairly, expect children
03:37with disabilities to be able to get the assistance they need, expect those children in the poorest
03:44schools and communities to be able to have the opportunity to thrive.
03:51Because I think what you can understand about what women are about is about thinking about
03:59that future, about thinking about how do we make it possible for our children to actually
04:05grasp and live that American dream.
04:08And education is key.
04:11We do not rise, we do not thrive if we cannot get our children a quality education.
04:17But also, health care is key.
04:23When we strip the ability of 40% of the women in the country, of their ability to have healthy
04:32babies because they got prenatal care, because they were able to give birth and then support
04:38that child with nutrition through the Women, Infants, and Children programs, when they
04:45know that those nutrition programs are going to continue so that their child will have
04:50a food, that they will not be hungry in school, nor shamed.
04:57Because some children get shamed when they apply for food, nutrition assistance in schools.
05:06So programs like in New Mexico, or last night we heard from Governor Whitmer who described
05:12they did the same thing, where you provide universal school lunches for children so they
05:18are not hungry and they learn better.
05:21It is that kind of thinking about what do we need to move ahead.
05:25It is thinking for women about how Trump's policies just cost women and families too
05:32much.
05:33Let's face it, his tariffs are costing women and families too much, and women are often
05:38the ones who make the budget, we are the ones who go to the grocery stores, we are the ones
05:43who think about these costs on a daily basis.
05:47And Trump and his temper tantrum tariffs are costing women too much.
05:53He has done absolutely nothing to bring down the cost for families, but he has attacked
06:01women.
06:02He put us on that list, how dare he put us on a list of discouraged words.
06:09We are now on a list of discouraged words, female, woman, females, because you need to
06:14make sure you get all those females, but on that list of discouraged words, is man or
06:21men on there?
06:23No.
06:24No.
06:25Only women are discouraged and attacked.
06:27So that's why when they go after research, they bring in women's health research, right?
06:33And we are seeing them go after women as if though we are not qualified to do the work
06:38we do, but when women know that when we make it, we actually have to push harder.
06:46We actually have to prove our merit beyond, because there are people like Trump and Musk
06:54and those who put women, female and females on that list of discouraged words, who think
07:00we are not qualified.
07:03The opposite is actually the truth.
07:06And I'm going to turn to some of my amazingly qualified elected women of the Democratic
07:11Women's Caucus, and to say how qualified we are, we are historic 96 women strong.
07:17We are women warriors, and we are battle-tested for this fight, and we are ready for it.
07:22Gwen Moore.
07:23Oh, thank you so much, Madam Chair, and I could just listen to you for another 10 minutes,
07:32because you have really laid the ground.
07:35You know, as long as we're talking about ridding the country of DEI, women are on the
07:42top, the head of that chopping block, because we bring more diversity to our country than
07:51anybody else.
07:52But we certainly don't have the equity with regard to this misguided resolution that they
08:01have passed.
08:02You know, some of you are very young, as I look around, so I realize you may not have
08:06seen the movie Gaslight.
08:07And if you saw the movie Gaslight, no, I figured you didn't, but, you know, it was a movie
08:15in maybe the 40s or 50s that showed a man wanted to make the woman think she was going
08:25crazy by turning the gaslights up and down in a way that she would not realize whether
08:33it was day or night or whatever.
08:35Well, that's what's happening here.
08:38We're being gaslit.
08:39You know, one of the things that upsets me more than anything when it comes to talking
08:43about Medicaid, and that's my mission here today, is to talk about Medicaid and what
08:48impact that would have on women, is to see my colleagues say, well, you know, the word
08:55Medicaid doesn't appear anywhere in the resolution.
09:00We're not going to, to hear Donald Trump, and, you know, we're not going to cut Medicaid.
09:05Well, when I look at their budget instructions from the Energy and Commerce Committee, they're
09:11told that they must cut $880 billion.
09:14And I just ask you, is it a coincidence that the federal share of Medicaid is $880 billion?
09:25And even if you think that that just happens to be a coincidence, literally, when you look
09:33at the jurisdiction, consumer protection, energy, numbers of other things that are under
09:42the jurisdictions of Energy and Commerce, if they cut everything else out, just zero
09:51out everything else in the budget, and stood up to their promise of not messing with Medicaid,
09:57that would also include the Children's Health Insurance Program, which is Medicaid, wouldn't
10:01touch Medicaid, there would only be $135 billion left.
10:07The math don't work, y'all.
10:09I realize I come from the ghetto, but I did take arithmetic, and the arithmetic does not
10:15work.
10:17They are either lying, they have Stockholm Syndrome, or they're just straight up trying
10:25to gaslight us.
10:27The reason that women, women have a disproportionate need for Medicaid, and here's why.
10:36About 60% of all Americans have health care provided through their employers, 60% of Americans.
10:44But when you disaggregate that number, you realize that only 38% of women on their own
10:53have health insurance.
10:57That means that they are receiving health insurance benefits through their husbands,
11:03who is carrying them and their kids on their health insurance plan.
11:07So that gap, doing a little arithmetic again, means that women and children, especially
11:15women who are heads of households or single parents, are particularly at risk.
11:22Children who may not be in a household headed by a man are particularly at risk.
11:29And it's not just about abortion care.
11:32There's a lot of care that women need as women.
11:38And places like Planned Parenthood and clinics that use Medicaid funds that catch breast
11:45cancer early, and it says women need health care to stay healthy.
11:51All of that is at risk.
11:55Now there are a variety of ways that they could make these cuts, and they've threatened
12:00to do it.
12:02One thing they say, all we're going to do is get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse.
12:07We're going to make people work in order to receive Medicaid.
12:15Well let me just say this, about 60% of the adults who receive Medicaid already work.
12:23They already work.
12:24So if they're not working, it's because they are women who have other sort of demands on
12:32their lives.
12:33They've got elderly parents or a spouse that needs care.
12:39They have children that they have to attend to.
12:44They have other demands.
12:45They themselves have some sort of disability or health care needs, which is why they're
12:51applying for Medicaid.
12:53And they calculate that by requiring that people go to work, that that is going to save
13:01them money.
13:02Well, it's not going to save them $880 billion, y'all.
13:06Our calculation is, at best, that would be about $100 billion, just to simply deny people
13:15the benefit.
13:17And so we're here today, House Democrats, and women of the House Democratic Caucus are
13:24here to say, you know, you're a damn lie with regard to your intention not to cut Medicaid.
13:32And we don't care how you dice it, slice it.
13:35We don't care if you work requirements are block granted, or you prevent states from
13:44using and assessing private providers so that they can draw down more money for the federal
13:51government.
13:52However you do it, $880 billion out of the Energy and Commerce Committee is impossible
14:00to do without zeroing out or severely restricting Medicaid, a vital resource for women and children.
14:11I'm so happy.
14:12I could go on and on and on to talk about how this CR hurts women, but I have so many
14:18other of my sisters here with me that can talk about the damage this is doing.
14:25And I think it's really important now to talk about education, as this administration seems
14:33bound and determined to destroy the Department of Education.
14:37And so I was hoping that Representative Stansberry, oh, well, what are you talking about, Ms.
14:46Stansberry?
14:47Veterans and workforce.
14:48Labor.
14:49We'll talk about education.
14:50No, you don't have to.
14:51Ms. Bonamici will talk about that.
14:52But we have to talk about all of this, because these are women's issues, and Ms. Stansberry
15:04is going to talk about labor issues and veterans' issues.
15:10You couldn't have paid me this time, a couple of years ago, to take a bet that Republicans
15:19would cut veterans' healthcare.
15:22You couldn't have paid me to believe that.
15:26And so I want to hear more about that from Representative Stansberry, and I yield to
15:31you now.
15:32All right.
15:33All right, well, good morning, everyone.
15:36I'm Congresswoman Melanie Stansberry, and we stand here today 14 and a half hours before
15:41a government shutdown.
15:43And I think it's very obvious that the Republicans and the Donald Trump and Elon Musk administration
15:50are ready to drive America off a cliff.
15:53They're ready to drive us off a fiscal cliff.
15:56They're ready to drive us off a financial cliff.
15:59And they are ready to tank our economy and our federal government.
16:02If we do not comply with their social engineering of the federal government.
16:06And the women of the Democratic caucus are fighting back.
16:10It's important to understand that this is the largest number of Democratic women to
16:16ever represent this country in American history.
16:20We represent the diverse fabric of this country, and we stand on the shoulders of the women
16:26who came before us, who raised us to be strong leaders ourselves.
16:30And I would not be standing here today if it was not for my mother, who in her own humble
16:35way was a leader in the labor movement as a seamstress who was fired from her factory
16:41sewing job and organized a labor union and became a leader in our community.
16:48And I've been thinking about her a lot this week in this fight as we're facing a government
16:52shutdown and we're on the brink of this dismantling of our federal government.
16:57Because my mother was not a politician.
17:00She was just a humble seamstress.
17:02And this week would have been her birthday, her 76th birthday, but she passed away last week.
17:09I mean, last year, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
17:18She worked at a Levi's factory.
17:22And she sewed 79,000 pockets on Levi's jeans.
17:27And they were being paid at a piecemeal rate, and she could barely support her family.
17:34And so she and a number of her fellow seamstresses tried to organize a labor union in the 1970s,
17:41and she was fired for trying to organize.
17:43And when she came back to try to fight back and held up a sign outside of the Levi's factory
17:53after she lost her job, she stood alone.
17:56And she ultimately took her case to the National Labor Relations Board, of course, which Donald
18:02Trump is trying to dismantle right now, and she prevailed.
18:07She was never able to get a job there at that factory again, but she was able to get a job
18:13at another union.
18:14And my mother became one of the first women machine operators in the state of New Mexico.
18:20And what my mother taught me is that sometimes when you stand on the right side of history,
18:24you stand alone.
18:27But right now, we do not stand alone.
18:30We stand as the largest, strongest, most diverse, and proud group of women to ever serve this
18:36nation in the Democratic caucus.
18:38And we are standing not only on the shoulders of our mothers and our grandmothers, but with
18:43the American people behind us, because the American people have been clear that they
18:47do not support what Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing.
18:52They are dismantling our federal agencies, firing thousands of federal workers.
18:57They are data mining your data.
18:59They are taking agencies that provide essential care and services to our communities and dismantling
19:06them piece by piece.
19:08And they are in the process setting us up for a collision course to get this CR passed
19:15in just a few short hours so that they can get on with the real agenda that they have,
19:22which is to dismantle the fundamental programs that have made it possible since the Great
19:27Depression for families like mine to survive.
19:31Because I would not be standing here as your congresswoman had it not only been for my
19:36mother, but for the food assistance and housing assistance and fundamental protections of
19:42our workers that made it possible for working-class families in this country to survive, thrive,
19:48and put forward leaders for the next generation.
19:52So our fight is that fight.
19:54Our fight is the fight for America.
19:56Our fight is for the workers of America.
19:58Our fight is for the veterans of America.
20:01Our fight is for the military workers in America.
20:04And our fight is for the women of America.
20:07So I want to share with all of you that 43% of our federal workforce is women.
20:14And we have seen tens of thousands of women fired over the last several weeks, but yesterday
20:20we got some good news.
20:22Because a federal court judge in California said that not only had Donald Trump and Elon
20:27Musk lied to the American people, but they broke the law when they fired thousands of
20:33probationary workers across this country.
20:36And so we know that not only are we fighting back in the courts and in Congress and in
20:42our communities, but we are winning.
20:45And so the Women's Caucus stands strong with the Democratic leadership of the House in
20:49fighting back and in opposing the dangerous continuing resolution that will give Elon
20:56Musk a continued carte blanche to dismantle our federal government.
21:02We stand against the cuts to the PACT Act funding that has made it possible for millions
21:09of veterans to access health care because of the harms that they endured over the course
21:14of their duty.
21:15And I say this as a partner of a proud Marine.
21:19We do not leave our veterans on the battlefield, and we will not leave them behind in this
21:24country.
21:25We will continue to fight back.
21:28So it's critical at this moment that we continue to stand strong with our shoulders
21:34back and continue to fight for the American people, and the Women's Caucus is united
21:39in that fight.
21:40And with that, I turn it to my wonderful and amazing colleague who leads on so many issues
21:46in the sciences and education, Suzanne Bonamici.
21:51Thank you, Representative Stansbury.
21:52Thank you, everyone, for being here today.
21:54I'm going to talk about education, which is an issue that does not just affect women.
21:59It affects women, children, families, and the economy.
22:03Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who probably never set foot in a public school or a public classroom,
22:11they're waging a war, a cruel war, on public education in this country.
22:17I'm Suzanne Bonamici.
22:18I represent the 1st Congressional District of Oregon, and before I came to Congress,
22:21I fought for education issues for public education in the state legislature, and I
22:26spent years as a public school parent.
22:29I'm a public school graduate myself.
22:31I spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours in public schools volunteering and advocating
22:37for a strong system of public education, because it is the path to a better future for everyone.
22:44Public schools do not discriminate.
22:46They are there for every single student.
22:50And I tell you, the public is not with Donald Trump and Elon Musk on this.
22:53They appreciate their public schools.
22:56I just had five town hall meetings in Oregon two weeks ago.
22:59Each one of them was at a school, four in high schools and one in a community college,
23:04and parents, educators, people kept coming up to me and saying, what is happening?
23:08What will happen to my child?
23:09I have two children with disabilities, one mom told me.
23:12A principal just told me, if we don't have the federal funding, we won't be able to run
23:17our before and after school programs.
23:18We'll have less support for our students, particularly the students at risk.
23:24So why are they doing this?
23:26Why does the Trump administration want to close the Department of Education, cut education
23:31funding, and privatize education?
23:33Well, they say it's because education is up to the states, and much of it is.
23:39Much of the funding is, and definitely the curriculum is.
23:43The Trump administration and my Republican colleagues say they don't want woke curriculum,
23:47which, of course, they cannot define.
23:50That's not a federal issue.
23:51That is up to their local school boards and their states.
23:55So why are they doing this?
23:56Well, the federal dollars are so critical.
24:00Title I, for example, that is the funding that helps support schools with high populations
24:06of low-income students.
24:07IDEA, now, unlike our education secretary, I know that that means the Individuals with
24:13Disabilities Education Act.
24:15That means that every student, whether they have a disability or a special learning need,
24:19they will have the support they need in our public schools.
24:23But it's also higher education.
24:25I would not be standing here today without the Pell Grant and the work study that I got
24:30to get myself through college, first community college, then college, then law school.
24:35And I did that because I had that federal support.
24:39There's also the non-discrimination, the civil rights that are so important to schools today.
24:44Now, the Republicans and the Trump administration, they want to privatize public education and
24:49send public dollars to private schools, including religious private schools.
24:54We say no.
24:56Public dollars are for public schools.
24:59And also, I represent not only Portland, which is urban, but a lot of rural communities.
25:05You can't tell a rural community where the public school is the heart of their community.
25:11We're taking away some of your public dollars.
25:13But here's a voucher so your kid can go to private school.
25:16There are no private schools.
25:19So we need to do everything we can to fight these cuts, to fight the elimination of the
25:23Department of Education, and to fight privatization.
25:26Because you know what the result will be?
25:28Larger class sizes, fewer supports for students, more discrimination, and a widening gap between
25:35the students who are already doing well and the students who are struggling.
25:39So we're there for this fight.
25:40I know the Democratic Women's Caucus stands with me.
25:44And we will indeed fight.
25:45And we will not back down.
25:47Because public education is there to provide a path to a better future for every student.
25:55And I also want to add, in addition to the court decision that Representative Stansbury
26:01mentioned that happened yesterday in California, last night there was also a federal judge
26:06in Maryland who came up with the same conclusion.
26:10These indiscriminate firings of probationary employees, it's wrong.
26:15And they need to be brought back to work in every agency.
26:19So the courts are on our side.
26:21We're going to keep fighting.
26:22We're going to legislate when we can, litigate when we need to, and we're going to keep up
26:26the fight.
26:27And we won't back down.
26:28Public education is too important to our future.
26:32And now it is my honor to turn it over to my amazing colleague from North Carolina,
26:36Representative Deborah Ross.
26:38All right.
26:39Well, thank you, Suzanne.
26:42And let me just tell you, I represent one of the fastest growing districts in the country.
26:47And ever since Donald Trump was elected, they have fired teachers on federal grants in my
26:56district.
26:58And let me tell you this, we will have no more of that.
27:04As my colleagues before me have stated, Trump's agenda will be especially devastating to women
27:11and children.
27:12This administration should be able to ensure that every child in this country has a healthy
27:19breakfast, lunch, and positive learning environment.
27:24Instead, they are working to illegally shutter the Department of Education.
27:32They could support millions of women and veterans who have courageously fought for
27:39our country.
27:40Instead, Trump and his congressional allies are trying to slash funding for veterans'
27:46health care at an extraordinary rate.
27:50North Carolina is one of the most military-friendly states in this district, in this country.
27:57And the amount of money that will be lost for people who have been exposed to toxic
28:02chemicals, burn pits, is an absolute sin.
28:08They could expand access to health insurance.
28:11But instead, Trump and his buddies in Congress are trying to cut funding for Medicaid, as
28:16you've heard, and the Children's Health Insurance Program.
28:20This threatens life-saving care for families and children.
28:25But I want to focus today on threats to child care.
28:30Elon Musk, who seems to think that child care is bringing your kid to the Oval Office, is
28:36dismantling essential programs that ensure families across the country can access affordable
28:43child care, including Head Start and the Office of Child Care.
28:49And we know he will not stop there.
28:53At the direction of an unelected billionaire, these offices have lost nearly 25 percent
29:00of their staff through Doge-Math firings.
29:04Thousands of families and young children will feel the consequences of these firings across
29:09the country, and the effects trickle down to local and state child care programs.
29:16My mother was an early education teacher who taught me how important quality child care
29:23is at those early stages of development.
29:28I visit child care centers in my district frequently to talk to them about the challenges.
29:35And the number one issue I hear is they don't have enough funding to stay afloat because
29:41they cannot hire enough workers.
29:46In my home state of North Carolina alone, more than 13,000 children use Head Start for
29:53preschool.
29:55Why on earth would we gut funding for child care when local programs are already facing
30:02federal shortfalls and millions of families can't make ends meet?
30:07And we are not hearing a peep out of this administration about the child tax credit,
30:14which lifted millions of children out of poverty and saved our child care facilities.
30:22They want to give tax credits to billionaires, to oil companies, but not to working families.
30:29Again, a sin.
30:31So that's why the Democratic Women's Caucus is fighting back.
30:35We've demanded answers from his administration about threats to child care, and we will not
30:41be silent while Trump and Musk try to destroy the lifelines that millions of women and families
30:48depend on.
30:50The women across this country are anxious about the future, but we're getting mad
30:55too.
30:57And please know that the Democratic Women's Caucus will not back down.
31:02We will fight for you.
31:05Tell us your stories.
31:07We will tell the American public.
31:09On the floor of the House, with the media, in our communities.
31:14We aren't afraid to show up for town halls.
31:17We aren't afraid to look you in the eye.
31:21So now I will turn it back to our amazing Democratic Women's Caucus chair, Teresa
31:26Leger-Fernandez, to close us out.
31:29Wow.
31:30You know, and I think what you heard today was just where the priorities lie and who
31:35is standing with who.
31:37When we heard about the fact that Democrats are standing with the programs that help educate
31:43our children, that make sure that our workers are protected, that make sure we get veterans
31:48care, that health care, early childhood education care, so mothers can go to work.
31:58Contrast that.
31:59Contrast that with what the Republicans are doing and what Trump and Musk is doing.
32:04We see this as investments in families.
32:11They want to take those investments away and send them to billionaires.
32:17They want to take the idea of public education away and put it into private hands.
32:24They want to replace diversity, equity, and inclusion with discrimination, corruption,
32:37and injustice.
32:38And we're not going to stand for that because we are going to call out.
32:42When you start discriminating against women, it is not okay.
32:48That is more than half of the American population.
32:55When you start saying it is okay to have injustice, so let's close the programs.
33:02Let's close the programs that investigate discrimination, that make sure that we create
33:07justice.
33:08When did justice become a bad word?
33:11I just don't get that.
33:12I don't get like when equity, the idea of bringing everybody together.
33:17Equity means justice.
33:20When did that become a bad word?
33:23And the thing is Americans, they believe in justice, right?
33:27We love justice.
33:30It is our rallying cry of who we are.
33:33Freedom is a rallying cry of who we are.
33:37But they want to get rid of that.
33:38They want to destroy the federal government and the programs that are necessary for our
33:47families, for our safety, and for our security.
33:50Now we all agree we can make things better, but you don't burn the house down because
33:57you need to fix the problem with a leaky faucet.
34:01I mean really, that's what they are doing.
34:03They are, as Sandsbury said, driving us over the cliff.
34:07We heard somebody say they don't know which one is Louise and which one is Thelma, but
34:11Trump and Musk are going over that cliff last night.
34:14Was that Governor Beshear?
34:16And it is true.
34:17It's like they are driving us over a cliff.
34:20And our job is to make sure that we constantly tell those stories.
34:28And as we heard today, listen to our constituents.
34:32And our constituents are sharing with us heartbreaking stories.
34:37And we are putting those stories up on our individual websites, on the Democratic Women's
34:42Caucus website, because we need to uplift them.
34:47And we are telling the American people, we are with you because we are you.
34:53The women of this caucus come from a wide range of backgrounds.
34:58We have suffered the things that the American women suffer.
35:03There are those of us who have almost died on the operating table from pregnancy complications.
35:09There are those of us who have our children through IVF or may have chosen to have an
35:15abortion.
35:16There are those of us who have been fired because we were women and had to take maybe
35:21some leave to deal with a child who was sick.
35:25We have a range of women.
35:29We come from women who have lost family to addiction, whose mother might have been addicted
35:38herself.
35:40We know what the struggles are like.
35:43And so we listen to your stories because those are stories we have lived.
35:51And I'm telling the American people and the American women, we will rise up and we ain't
35:57going to take this because it is wrong what they are doing to your future and your possibility.
36:05It is wrong how they are destroying your ability to pay for health care, to pay for groceries,
36:12to send your child to school.
36:15We will not stop speaking on your behalf.
36:20So we ask you to keep speaking up as well, to show up everywhere at our town halls and
36:28at all the other ones too, whether they're having them or not, call your own.
36:32So with that, we'll open it up for questions.
36:38And then here, there.
36:39One, two, three.
36:41Thank you for doing this.
36:43Several women around the country are looking to get involved.
36:46I know public service isn't for everyone, but what's your message to women out there
36:50who look at the growth of the Democratic Women's Caucus, look at the impact that you all are
36:55trying to make and say, I can see myself in elected office, but I'm afraid of the attacks,
37:00the misogyny, a lot of what you all have dealt with.
37:03What's your message to the women out there who may see public office as an option for
37:08them in this fight that you all are describing?
37:10So I call service, whether you're serving in the military as a first responder or as
37:15an elected office, is really an act of love.
37:19It's an act of love that comes from a commitment to your community.
37:23And if you feel that love and that passion and that calling, do it.
37:27Because when women run, they win, at least in the Democratic Party side.
37:32If you'll notice, there are fewer Republican women this year.
37:38But we do, and we can't talk about it.
37:40Oh, yeah, we can talk about it here.
37:42Yeah.
37:43I was going to say, yeah, because it is.
37:46Yeah, we can.
37:47Yeah, we can talk about it here.
37:49Elect Democratic women.
37:50I'm going to turn it over to some of the people who helped one.
37:54Elect Democratic women and women lead.
37:56Oh, OK.
37:58Well, I was actually going to be very nonpartisan about this.
38:01In North Carolina, we have so many candidate training programs that train both Democrats
38:08and Republicans together, Institute for Political Leadership, many different ways of doing this.
38:16And I actually advise people not just to go to the Democratic places to learn about how
38:24to run for office and how to speak in public, because you need to hear what the other side
38:28is saying, too.
38:29And you need to meet people across the aisle.
38:32So I would just advise women who might be thinking about doing that to find in their
38:36area different kinds of training programs, no risk.
38:40And they may learn how to raise money, talk to people across the aisle, speak to a TV
38:46camera, all those different things.
38:48And so many people who have come out of those programs have gone on to successfully run
38:53for public office.
38:55And we can talk about some of the things within the caucus, too.
38:58Well, I just want to note that after the first Trump administration, thousands, if not millions
39:03of women across the country rose up, marched, and a lot of them ran for office.
39:07For example, when I was elected to the first congressional district of Oregon in a special
39:12election in the beginning of 2012, there were no women in the Oregon delegation.
39:17We now have five of the six as women.
39:21So women are running, they're stepping up, and they know we have their back.
39:26And it really does make a difference to have diverse voices around the table, including
39:30lots of women.
39:31Yeah, very briefly.
39:33I think your question is really apropos.
39:37Women have a view of themselves that is socially conditioned to not step forward and to lead.
39:50But I think one way to encourage women to run is to demonstrate to them and tell them
39:56that you already are an expert at the very things that are taking up as policy things
40:04in Congress.
40:05For example, consumer protection.
40:07I mean, who was it that figured out that the pajamas caught on fire and really did some
40:16consumer protection to make sure that those pajamas were no longer disallowed?
40:22I remember Jan Schakowsky, who's a congresswoman from Evanston, Illinois, before she was ever
40:28a member of Congress, she joined, I think about her every time I go to the grocery store.
40:33She joined a group of ladies, and they forced folks to put expiration dates labels on food
40:41as a consumer protection.
40:43Who's your first teacher?
40:45Your mother.
40:46And if things don't work out on the ground level with teaching, kids really get behind.
40:52Who shops for the house in the right school district to make sure the kids get a good
40:58education?
40:59Who's your first nurse?
41:00Who is it that stays up all night and takes your temperature and knows the difference
41:06between a little bitty cold and something that you need to be rushed to the emergency
41:10room?
41:11And so we need to encourage women.
41:13People say, well, Gwen, how are you going to do this hard job of being a congresswoman?
41:18I said, it couldn't be as hard as the job I've already done.
41:22You know, who is it?
41:24I know in my household that cleans the refrigerator out and keeps people from dying from all the
41:32stuff that's growing in the refrigerator.
41:35And so we have to convince women of their own agency and tell them, look, just when
41:45you run, you win.
41:48So I'm going to go here and there.
41:50New Mexico, by the way, majority women in the legislature.
41:56You were next.
41:57Thank you all for doing this.
41:59Does the Democratic Women's Caucus or House Democrats in general have a response to Senate
42:03Republicans who say that they're going to support the GOP spending bill that you all
42:06have announced here?
42:08Yeah.
42:09The leadership sent out a response last night, and they pointed out that House Democrats
42:17understood the ramifications of what the Republicans are calling a continuing resolution and that
42:26we are standing with the veterans, we are standing with the women, we are standing with
42:31the families who will be hurt if Musk and Doge and Trump are able to continue their
42:37rampage over the federal government and the spending and the programs that they are already
42:45cutting.
42:46And in many ways, what I tweeted out was yesterday we heard from General Milley, and just in
42:56general, he was talking about the fact that we send soldiers, servicemen and women, and
43:04they take an oath, and they take an oath to the Constitution and not to a man.
43:11And he said, they are willing to die for our Constitution, and we must really be willing
43:20to live and stand by the Constitution.
43:24And I think that House Democrats understood that we need to make sure that we retain our
43:31constitutional power and authority to say where the money should be spent and how the
43:37money should be spent.
43:39Because the founders gave us that right, because they know we have to go out and get elected
43:44every two years.
43:45We go out and do those town hearings.
43:47We hear from the people about what they want.
43:51And that's our job to say where and how the money gets spent.
43:57And there has never been a year-long continuing resolution.
44:03It has always ended up as an appropriations bill that has directions from Congress as
44:08what to get spent.
44:09And we stand ready.
44:11There is an alternative.
44:13It is a 30-day extension so they can get back to the table because they were really close
44:19until Trump said, no, no, no, no.
44:22I like this idea of sending me something without any guardrails.
44:30Remember, this is the second CR.
44:32They didn't do their job the last Congress.
44:35They haven't done their job this Congress.
44:38And the American people are suffering for it.
44:42Last question.
44:43We are going to go with, actually, you.
44:46I said you, right?
44:47Yeah.
44:48Thank you for doing this.
44:49And I'll try to make it a twofer, thankfully.
44:52To follow up on his question, I wanted to ask if you think that new leadership is needed
44:57in the Senate in order for Democrats to have a unified message to the public across those
45:02chambers?
45:03And then if I may, ask more about what the governor said last night, mentioning a couple
45:07of their comments, but I'm curious about their general leadership.
45:11Well, we're House members, and we know that new leadership is going to be speaker,
45:17Hakeem Jeffries.
45:18Hakeem Jeffries.
45:19We absolutely know there needs to be new leadership in the House, and it's Hakeem Jeffries.
45:23And, you know, I just, I think we're trying to, you know, I did slip Bashir's comments,
45:31and I think we'll just say, but I'll just say, and other people can do, what I think
45:37is that we were inspired.
45:38They said they had hope.
45:40Yeah.
45:41We were inspired by all three governors and the amazing work they have done, and the fact
45:48that they are always focused on the fact that Democrats have delivered in their communities,
45:56that they've made sure that, you know, roads were built, and that, you know, orphan gas
46:04wells, which was one of my bills, I loved it when they talked about one of my bills,
46:09you know, were created, you know, created jobs, addressed the environment, those kinds
46:15of things, and they shared with us what the drastic results would be with the Medicaid
46:24cuts, with the kinds of cuts that the Republicans were proposing.
46:28Do you want to?
46:29Yeah.
46:30I'll just do a rapid-fire kind of wrap-up that hopefully catches several of these things
46:35at once.
46:37My message to Senate Democrats is there's still time.
46:40There's three and a half hours until this cloture vote, and the American people literally
46:46are shouting from the rooftops that this is a five-alarm emergency, and that we cannot
46:52hand the keys of the kingdom of this big, beautiful democracy that we love over to somebody
46:58who has total disregard not only for the rule of law, but for American lives.
47:04And House Democrats and the Women's Caucus are 100 percent united behind the leadership
47:09of the House that has stood strong and stood tall and said we're going to be on the side
47:13of the American people in this fight.
47:15So any of my colleagues in the Senate who are considering voting on cloture, the American
47:20people are shouting, please do not hand the keys over to Elon Musk.
47:26With regards to women who may be thinking of running, I want to just add my two cents.
47:33I'm really glad that you asked that question.
47:35If you are thinking of running for office right now in America, answer the call and
47:40run because your country and your communities need you.
47:43I ran for office in 2018 because that was my protest against what I saw as the dangerous
47:51administration of the first Trump administration.
47:53I never intended to run for office.
47:56And like so many women who are literally standing behind us, we answered the call because we
48:01knew that our communities needed us.
48:03And in 2018, I flipped a seat that not only had never had a Democrat representing it,
48:09I flipped it by seven points and became the first woman and the first Democrat to represent
48:14a state house district.
48:16And it wasn't because I had any experience or because I knew what I was doing, but because
48:21I believed in the people and the communities that I represented.
48:24I had a voice inside of me that said, you need to do something, just like Kamala Harris
48:29asked us to do something.
48:30Michelle Obama asked us to do something for our country.
48:33And so if you are thinking of running, answer the call.
48:36And I'll say this and wrap up to that.
48:392016 was the largest wave of women that we saw run for office, the year that Hillary
48:45Clinton ran for president.
48:47And EMILY's List, which is an organization that was created to help women understand
48:52how to raise money and network, told me when I ran for office in 2018 that the largest
48:58number of women that had ever asked them for help was 900 women in the 2016 cycle.
49:03In 2018, 42,000 women ran for office.
49:07Many of them are standing here today because something happened in 2018 that shook America
49:13awake.
49:14And we're living through that same tidal wave right now.
49:18So when you imagine what's going to happen in 2026, when you imagine all of the women,
49:23all of the people of color, all of the LGBTQ+, all the working class people who are being
49:28shaken awake right now and realize that they have to do something, I say answer the call.
49:34Run for office.
49:35Save our country.
49:36We need your voices.
49:37Don't be afraid because we've got your back and your country needs you.
49:42Thanks, everybody.