Scalise: Our Union is Struggling Under Biden’s Far-Left Agenda
WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Republican Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Congressman Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), and other members of the Republican Conference at today’s leadership press conference to discuss how President Biden’s radical spending has raised costs for American families and undermined our workforce. Leader Scalise highlighted how House Republicans are bringing forward legislation to fight President Biden’s extremist agenda and reverse the D.C. Council’s ordinances to drop minimum penalties on criminals who commit violent crimes and allow illegal immigrants to vote in the city. Additionally, Leader Scalise called out Democrats for voting against denouncing the horrors of socialism. Leader Scalise also slammed President Biden for failing to secure our southern border as thousands of young people die from fentanyl, affecting families across the country.
Click here or on the image above to view Leader Scalise's remarks.
On the debt ceiling and Social Security:
“The state of our union is struggling under the weight of President Biden's far-left extremist agenda that [is] hurting families across this country. You can see it when people go to the gas station and pay 40 percent more to fill up their cars. It's not just at the pump. Their household electricity bills are through the roof. When they go to the grocery store, they're paying dramatically more for food because of President Biden's extremist agenda and radical spending.
“He may talk tonight about the debt ceiling and, of course, the debt ceiling is a symptom of Washington’s spending problem under [President] Biden. Trillions in new spending that he's brought up, and to do what? Hundreds of billions of dollars President Biden borrowed to pay people not to work. Now, think about paying people not to work at a time when every small business owner is looking for workers.
“It's not just bad spending policy to borrow from our children to pay people not to work. But President Biden's agenda of paying people not to work undermines Social Security because when he's borrowing money to pay people to sit at home – again, hundreds of billions of dollars he's borrowed to pay people not to work – those are people that aren't working, who would otherwise be paying into Social Security. So, President Biden's agenda has actually made Social Security less stable.
“We want to reverse that radical agenda. Republicans have already started getting to work bringing forth an agenda focused on those families, fighting for the families who are struggling, to get our economy back on track, to bring energy security again, [and] to secure America's border. In fact, we have multiple committees working on all of those items as we speak, and in the weeks ahead, you'll see bills coming to the floor to address those problems. We've already started bringing bills to the floor to address some of those problems. [In] fact, a few of them have produced bipartisan votes.”
On 100 Democrats’ refusing to denounce the horrors of socialism:
“I want to point out an interesting vote last week. [Congresswoman] Maria Elvira Salazar brought a resolution that should have been straightforward to everybody to reject socialism and the ills of socialism through the years and the decades – the millions of people who have lost their lives to atrocities from socialism. Do you know that 100 Democrats refused to reject socialism by not voting for [Congresswoman] Maria Elvira Salazar’s bill? That should tell people – and look, a lot of Democrats across this country can easily stand up and reject socialism, but I think they'd be shocked to know that Democrats in Washington, 100 of them, refuse to reject socialism.”
On the D.C. Council’s soft-on-crime legislation:
“When we bring bill after bill to fix these problems, you see so many Democrats sitting on the sideline. We're going to give them more opportunities this week to stand up for hardworking families. In fact, when you look at crime – out of control in so many communities – the District of Columbia's Council passed an ordinance that dropped mandatory minimum penalties on criminals who commit violent crimes.
“For example, carjacking. We see carjacking and other violent crimes through the roof in D.C., and yet the Council voted to get rid of those mandatory minimum sentences to let more violent criminals back out on the streets. It was so bad that the mayor of D.C. vetoed the ordinance. But the District of Columbia’s Council overrode that veto. And so now you see even more lenient sentences, no minimums for violent criminals.
“So we're bringing a resolution to reject that action by the D.C. Council. And this is a resolution that has powerful teeth because if it passes the House and passes the Senate, [it] only needs 51 votes to pass the Senate, it would go to [President] Biden's desk, and if he signed it, that council ordinance would be reversed. I'd be curious to see what the President would do if that bill was on his desk.
“All we need is two Democrat senators to stand up for people who don't want to become victims of crime and say that they would vote for that bill. And by doing that, once we pass this bill through the House, if it gets through the Senate and is signed by the President, it would overturn that ordinance.”
On the D.C. Council wanting to allow non-citizens to vote:
“There's another bill we're bringing this week, Thursday, to say that we would reverse an ordinance that the D.C. Council passed that allows illegals to vote in District of Columbia elections. In fact, the Washington Post came out against this action and said, by their estimate, 50,000 [non-citizens] would be able to vote. People at the Chinese Embassy would be able to vote in D.C. elections. How ludicrous is that? And yet that's the law of the land in D.C. unless we reverse it.
“So, we're going to bring legislation to reverse that action, as well. I'm curious to see how my Democrat colleagues in the House will vote and then, ultimately, how the Senate will vote, as well, because those bills could end up on President Biden's desk to solve real problems.”
On President Biden’s self-made border crisis:
“My guest tonight is going to be Dr. Gerry Cvitanovich. Dr. Cvitanovich is the coroner of my home parish, Jefferson Parish, [a] parish of about 430,000 people. Last year, he, unfortunately, was the one that had to diagnose and record the deaths of almost 300 young people from fentanyl – almost 300 of our young people just in my home parish. Now, for perspective, when he took office [11] years ago, the number of fentanyl deaths [was] two. Two people died [11] years ago from fentanyl deaths. Last year, almost 300 young people were taken because of this open southern border.
“This open border under President Biden has had devastating consequences for families all across America. Today alone in America, almost 200 of our young people will die because of the fentanyl coming across our open southern border because [President] Biden refuses to take action. It's why [Judiciary Committee Chairman] Jordan's committee and [Homeland Security Committee Chairman] Dr. Green's committee are taking action to bring border security legislation to the House Floor.
“But we don't need to wait for Congress to take action. [President] Biden could reverse this today by signing executive actions to protect those young people from dying, but he won't do it. Every single day – yesterday, today, tomorrow – 200 young people will die. And this President won't take any action. I wonder if he'll talk about those deaths tonight. If he'll talk about the devastation to those families in every community in America who's experiencing this.
“So, Dr. Cvitanovich will be here to talk about it. Unfortunately, he's the one that has to talk to those parents. He shouldn't have to if [President] Biden did his job.”