Scalise Questions the Intent of Democrats' $1.9 Trillion Partisan Wish List
WASHINGTON, D.C.—House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Fox News Channel's Fox News at Night with Shannon Bream to discuss Democrats' so-called COVID relief bill filled with liberal wish-list items that have nothing to do with COVID relief. Whip Scalise blasted Democrats for pursuing this partisan legislation instead of providing immediate relief to help struggling families and small businesses and to get students safely back in the classroom. He also slammed the idea of a partisan January 6th commission, rather than one based on the bipartisan model of the 9/11 commission, and criticized the hypocrisy of keeping walls up around the Capitol but taking them down at the southern border.
Click here or on the image above to watch the interview.
On ensuring the U.S. Capitol remains a beacon of democracy:
"Shannon, I haven't been aware of [immediate threats to the Capitol]. But look, if law enforcement is aware, there's ways that they can go find out who those people are that are making those threats, and they need to prosecute them at the full extent of the law. The idea that you've got barricaded barbed wire fences around the Capitol for extended periods of time - look, this is the People's House and this has got to be a place where people can come and petition their government in a safe and effective way. If there's a need to bring in National Guard, that's been discussed before, and have a process where they can be deployed quickly, but don't shut the entire Capitol complex down, where the American people aren't even able to come and see government work. There's a way to do this properly. Again, if they have a direct threat, make that threat known to us. I haven't seen it, but make sure you have an ability to protect the ability for us to function as a governing democracy without shutting out the ability for the American people to come see democracy work in person."
On Speaker Pelosi's partisan January 6 commission:
"Look, all of us who were very alarmed by what happened on January 6th and want to get to the bottom of it, also makes sure, really, that we're focusing on how to prevent that from happening again. If you're going to call it an actual 9/11 Commission, then set it up like the 9/11 Commission, as you said. It was an equally Republican and Democrat split commission, not a partisan commission, as Speaker Pelosi is proposing. So, this idea that she's referring to it as a 9/11 commission, but then saying she's going to have a heavily Democratic slanted partisan viewpoint on it, that's not what the American people want. They want something that's looking at this not as a partisan exercise, but as a way to ensure that we can secure American democracy.
"And, by the way, people are finding it very interesting that while Speaker Pelosi wants to keep walls up around the Capitol, they're taking walls down on our southern border. So, either walls work or they don't. And walls were working at our southern border to protect America. But they took those walls down and put the walls up at the doorstep of American democracy here at the Capitol. Let's be consistent about it. Let's be bipartisan about it. Don't have some sham exercise, go to what 9/11 was – that was an equally Republican-Democrat, equally split commission, where they actually got to the bottom of what happened at 9/11 and how to prevent it from happening again."
On President Biden's nearly $2 trillion liberal wish-list:
"My response is [to President Biden asking what can be cut from the bill], first, President Biden, how much time do you have? Less than 9% of this bill that he's brought before Congress has to do with public health. In fact, if you look at the bill, the first thing I would say is, let's help families, let's help small businesses who are struggling, and let's make sure we get kids back in school.
"Do you know, Shannon, that in this bill that President Biden is bringing, 95% of this money will not even be spent this year for reopening schools? So, it begs the question, what are you doing with all of that money? They're giving $41 billion to the State of California in this bill when Governor Newsom just announced last week they have a $10 billion surplus, 10 billion, [but] we're going to borrow money from our kids and grandkids that's going to set them back for a long, long time to give [California] money and they've already got a $10 billion surplus.
"We ought to be focusing on opening up schools. They rejected an amendment that would have said all of this money that goes to schools has to be tied to reopening schools. It begs the question again, what are they doing with the money if they're not using it to help families, small businesses, reopening schools? They even rejected an amendment that would have said, let's double the number of vaccines. Shouldn't we be focused on putting vaccines in the arms of people? They were against that. They were against Governor Cuomo being required to disclose the number of nursing home deaths in New York before New York gets tens of billions of dollars in this bill. I think people are figuring out this bill is a pork-laden, liberal wish list. It has nothing to do with COVID relief."