Scalise Highlights 2023 Republican Wins
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Committee on Energy and Commerce Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-Ind.) to discuss the House Republicans’ accomplishments during the first year of the 118th Congress. Leader Scalise highlighted House Republicans’ wins over 2023 including confronting crime, putting American energy first and lowering costs, passing the strongest border security legislation in history, and standing with Israel and holding those who allow antisemitism on college campuses accountable.
Click here or the image above to view Leader Scalise's full interview.
On House Republicans' year in review:
“We will be wrapping up a very busy year. At the end of this week we have a number of important votes that [Whip Emmer] just talked about: The impeachment inquiry vote that'll happen tomorrow; the NDAA will be voted on Thursday. But if you think about where we started this year, it's been an up and down year. I know for those of you in the press, there's never been a week where it was boring for you – it’s been a lot to cover."
On confronting crime in D.C.:
“We started the year confronting D.C. crime. If you go back to the beginning of the year, we brought bills to the floor to start addressing the things that we laid out when Republicans ran to get the majority and our Commitment to America. We told the country what we would do, we laid out an agenda, and we immediately started to bring those bills to the floor.
“And if you think about one of those first bills that we brought to the floor, to address crime in D.C., Joe Biden actually issued a veto threat on the bill that we brought to the floor – right before he signed the bill into law, because he realized that not only had we built momentum behind it, but the public was fed up with crime.”
On the Lower Energy Costs Act:
“We continue to stand up for those problems that have been created by the Biden administration. We put together H.R. 1, a great strong energy package, as families were paying more at the pump – 50 percent more – when they go to fill up their cars for gasoline because Joe Biden had shut off the spigots in America, while going to foreign countries and begging dictators to produce energy in their countries, making it harder for us to produce American energy, which by the way, is the cleanest energy in the world. If you want to lower carbon emissions, make your energy here in America – don't fly Air Force One to Saudi Arabia or give breaks to Venezuela or Russia or Iran.
“And so what we did is pass a bill to make it easier to produce energy in America, to lower costs for families. We passed that bill over to the Senate. They refuse to even take it up because [Senate Majority Leader] Schumer and [President] Biden want families to pay more at the pump.”
On Biden’s dangerous open border:
“We came together and recognized, for years, that there is a crisis at the border. The day Joe Biden took office, he opened up America's borders – sent the message all around the world, not just to South and Central America. And we've seen millions of people coming into our country illegally, including people on the terrorist watch list – people from over 150 different countries – and it's gotten worse. The crisis continues to escalate.
“So House Republicans came together and said, ‘Let's fix this problem.’ We invited Democrats to join with us to address this problem, as well as Democrat mayors [who] all around the country were ringing the same alarm bells, telling the President to fix this problem that he continues to ignore.
“And so we passed H.R. 2 months ago, sent that over to the Senate, and the President refuses to engage in any negotiations on fixing the border crisis. The Senate, led by Chuck Schumer, refused to even engage in this problem. And they thought that they could just continue to ignore the problem while asking for funds for other countries.
“And so when you saw Speaker Mike Johnson come into the speakership, he made it very clear: As we talk about Ukraine and other issues, we have to secure America's border first. And he laid that marker out very, very early. And Joe Biden has continued to ignore that. But more and more now, people all across the country recognize this is a crisis – Democrat mayors, again, continue to say it's a crisis – but Joe Biden will continue to refuse this problem.
“We're not going to let this go away, so we passed a strong border security bill. We passed a Parents Bill of Rights. We've had oversight hearings and committees, not just exposing the corruption that you're seeing within the Biden family.”
On combating antisemitism on college campuses:
“You talked about the hearing that we had last week – that the House Education Committee had in [Chairwoman] Foxx’s committee, where [Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik] asked a basic question. And it was a question about whether or not genocide of Jews is okay with the code of student conduct, a very simple question that every college president should have been able to answer. And yet you saw the moral bankruptcy and the failure of those college presidents to answer that basic question – got over a billion impressions globally, and I think alarmed and shocked people all across the world, not just here in America.
“We've exposed antisemitism and called it out for what it is, and we will continue to do that as well.”
On the need for the Senate and President Biden to take action:
“We're going to continue to bring legislation to address the problems that are hurting families all across this nation. But this has been a busy agenda for this House this year. Next year is going to be just as busy, regardless of what the size of the majority is. And so, while I know there's talk about how hard it's been or how small the majority might be, when you think about all the bills that we passed over to the Senate to address the problems that struggling families are facing – the Senate at some point is going to have to start taking up those bills and start taking some action.
“Joe Biden should start looking at those bills and realize the damage that Bidenomics is doing to families and the cost that it's having on them, and that there is a better way to address these problems. And House Republicans will continue to lead.”