Two distinguished cochairs of our policy and communications committee. Clark. As katherine we had a very robust discussion at the caucus this morning on a few different topics. There will be a resolution of ruleproval related to a that has been proffered by the department of education and secretary of Education Betsy Devos that would restrict the ability of individual americans who have been defrauded as it relates to their pursuit for. Igher education there is 1. 5 trillion of student debt in this nation, it around ther aspirations, hopes, dreams, and abilities of younger americans who want to start a family, purchase a home and live the american dream. We will take action this week as it relates to that proposed rule by secretary devos. We had a discussion about that. We also had a discussion about what is taking place in puerto rico in terms of the malpractice of the administration. People of puerto rico, american citizens who have died in war after war on behalf of our great country, but right now have suffered through the intensity of a devastating hurricane, and now earthquakes and aftershocks. Children are unable to go to school. Hospitals are not necessarily receiving patients. Andpeople are in distress the administration refuses to spend a dime in congressionally allocated money to help out american citizens in puerto rico. Shame on this administration. It is an absolute disgrace, and we will escalate pressure on them to do the right thing. We had a discussion led by Speaker Pelosi along with chairman nadler and chairman shift about the next steps chairman schiff about the next steps of the impeachment proceeding. Speaker proceeded with the full consent of the caucus that those articles of impeachment, 1 abuse of power, 2 obstruction of congress will be transmitted to the senate at some point tomorrow. The speaker indicated at some point between the moment we are in now, and the resolution being thated on the floor individual impeachment managers will be named. We will keep the focus on the stunning corrupt abuse of power , whoed in by donald trump pressured a Foreign Government to target an american citizen for political gain, at the same time withheld without justification 391 million in military aid to a vulnerable as part of a geopolitical shakedown scheme. That is why donald trump has been impeach, because he abused his power and obstructed a constitutionally inspired impeachment inquiry. In america, no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States of america. The next step is simple. The senate should conduct a fair trial. A fair trial involves witnesses and documents. What is the president hiding from the American People . Donald trump said it was a perfect call. If it was in fact a perfect call, we should hear from Mick Mulvaney about that call. And the actions that preceded it and followed. We should hear from john bolton ,bout that july 25 phone call and the geopolitical shakedown engagedhe president was in to advance his personal and political gain. The American People deserve a fair trial in the senate. At the same time, we will continue a relentless focus to get things done on behalf of Everyday Americans. Focus to drive down the high cost of lifesaving Prescription Drugs, a relentless focus to protect more than 100 million americans with preexisting conditions against the president s efforts, notwithstanding his lies about health care. We will continue our relentless focus to strengthen the Affordable Care act to reenact and infrastructure plan and defend democracy. Let me yield to our vice chair, katherine clark. Thank you chairman jefferies. Good morning. The articles of impeachment boiled down to this president putting his own political gain over that of the interests of the American People. What we see in the bills that are sitting on Mitch Mcconnells that. S an extension of these are not talking points, they are policies that directly andct American Families could save american lives. Every day that Mitch Mcconnell holds up background check legislation, we lose 100 americans to gun violence. Every day Mitch Mcconnell holds up expanding health care and court case to undo the aca, 82 million americans with preexisting conditions worry about their ability to protect their families. Every day that Mitch Mcconnell stonewalls the dream and promise act, 700,000 dreamers are left with their future in limbo. Every day Mitch Mcconnell delays the raise the wage act, 33 million americans, including 20 million women, are denied a raise. Every minute Mitch Mcconnell obstructs the violence against women act, nearly 20 people are physically abused by an intimate partner. With every denial, delay, and obstruction, his allegiance to donald trump and special interests becomes clearer and clearer. This week, House Democrats will once again stand with the American People passing legislation to protect Older Americans from discrimination and to stop our students from being defrauded. Our message to the American People is that we will never stop working for you. Our message to Mitch Mcconnell is no one is fooled about where your allegiances lie. It is my privilege to be able to our cochairs, and i will hand it over to matt cartwright. Clark. K you vice chair and chairman jefferies. Gentlemen, the current House Majority was won because we promised to work for the regularfor ordinary working American People. That is who we promise to stick up for. This is a promise we have been keeping. We promised to clean up government, hr 1 takes bold steps in that direction. We promise to bring down the skyrocketing costs of pharmaceutical medications. We have done that. We promised to fight the current administrations efforts to dismantle health care for people conditions. Sting it was astonishing when we thened last spring that attorney general the United States, william barr, decided to throw the full wave of our American Justice Department behind an effort to invalidate the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act. I was astonished to learn that, and when i asked him myself what happens if you win the lawsuit, what is your plan . He said, that is not our department. Vice chair clark is right, we are talking upwards of 80 million americans. I have heard as high as 130 million americans with preexisting conditions who are left on hooks while we wait for the fifth circuit and the District Court in that case to sort things out. The Justice Department is pushing to take their protections away. It is astonishing. With no plan to replace it. We have done these things and work for the kitchen table, pocketbook issues for ordinary americans. We have passed for the first time in 10 years a raise in the minimum wage. The ontalk all day about implement rate, but what you want to know about is if people can clothe, feed and shelter their families and what they make. What we know is they have to do it on more than one job unless we raise the minimum wage. We have done that. We have passed the fair act which helps people in employment situations protect their rights to go to court by invalidating forced arbitration clauses in employment agreements. Harassment in the workplace issues, wage theft issues, and a range of other people who have had their rights to go to court taken away, the fair act, the bill we passed remedies that situation. We passed the usmca after a year of tireless efforts to meet with the mexicans and canadians and strengthen what was given to us by the administration, take out a completely superfluous and unnecessary provision that unnaturally jacks up pharmaceutical prices. Canada and mexico did not ask for that. Who asked for that . Big pharma asks for that, and we took it out. A bill that helps American Workers and american farmers, we did that, the democratic house. I am here to say we have done these things, these are just 275 bipartisan bills that we passed and that sit unattended on the desk of senator Mitch Mcconnell, who has vowed to not even look at these things, let alone pass them or take them up or negotiate them. It is a sin what he is doing, and he is doing it with a view to forwarding a false narrative that this is a donothing house. It is a donothing Senate Majority leader, that is what we have, and he is proud of it. I am here to say i am proud to have advanced what we promised to do for the people, and i urge senator mcconnell do your job. I want to turn it over to my cochair, ted lieu of california. You congressman cartwright, chairman jefferies, vice chair clark for having us here today. Like millions of americans, i have a preexisting condition. I get my health care through obamacare. The administration is suing to eliminate Health Coverage for americans with the existing conditions, and as congressman cartwright said, if that lawsuit succeeds, they have no plan. Millions of americans will lose their health care, including those who rely on it for their preexisting conditions. The Affordable Care act does more, it applies to people who have employerbased health care, and strengthens those plans. Before the Affordable Care act, you could go bankrupt if you had a cancer diagnosis, because Insurance Companies could put in maximum coverage benefits and pull your base healthcare plans. The aca eliminated that. As a result, everyone is covered regardless of what kind of Health Symptoms or diseases. If that goes away, it puts millions of lives at stake and could force them into bankruptcy. Republicans are also holding up bills that would help lower Prescription Drug prices and generic drug prices. Last year the house of representatives passed on a bipartisan basis a large number of bills to lower drug prices, and then to lower prescription job prices. They are sitting on senator mcconnells desk. I will conclude with veterans bills. We also passed 25 partisan veteran bills that help them combat suicide, get jobs and transition easier. Some of them have republican sponsors. Some of them are republican bills. Many have republican counterparts in the senate. They are sitting on Mitch Mcconnells desk. We are asking the senate to do their job and put these bills up for a vote and move the American Family forward. Thank you for having me here. Questions . I will start with puerto rico, what can you do . What are you considering, and what are the options . We will have a series of conversations led by the speaker, steny hoyer, with substantial leadership and involvement from congressman darren soto, and congressman velasquez, who spoke with great passion about the crisis confronting the people in puerto rico. We will use an all hands on deck approach. Refusal to spend a dime on these american is aens who are in peril stunning abdication of his responsibility. It is unacceptable, unamerican, and unconscionable. We will make those points loudly and clearly to the American People. We will also explore legal well as the options we have available as a separate and coequal branch of government. Equals as itst relates to our placement in article one, and the origination clause which gives congress and the house sole power of the purse. The president is once again behaving like an authoritarian dictator. It is shameful. Add aboutwanted to puerto rico, we have 3. 5 million americans waiting for this government, for their u. S. Government to respond to their needs. We had a hearing on appropriations back in the fall where we had the Trump Administration come in after they missed their legal requirement to release aid that had been appropriated by september to begin the process of putting aid into the hands of puerto ricans. Why thisno answer for was not being done. As the chairman said, we will also explore our Legal Options on ways to force this administration to abide by the law, by what congress has appropriated, and to do right by the americans who live in puerto rico. Does the house have any plans to subpoena john bolton . How does that have any impact on impeachment . Very importanto questions. There has been no decision made as how it relates to the house johnders subpoenaing bolton. Nothing has been ruled in or out, but the ball is in the senates court. As was detailed in extra ordinary fashion by ted lieu and mattrtwright cartwright, what is the senate doing that they do not have time on the calendar to hear from we have sent over 400 bills, 275 of which are bipartisan in nature. We sent over bills to protect people with preexisting conditions, strengthen the Affordable Care act, drive down the high cost of lifesaving Prescription Drugs, address the gun violence epidemic, reauthorize the violence against women act, end Voter Suppression defend the d. R. E. A. M. E. R. S. And create a pathway to citizenship, increase pay for Everyday Americans, confronting the climate crisis, defend our democracy, and the era of Voter Suppression once and for all. The senate isnt taking up any of those bills. What are they doing such that they do not halftime apparently to hear from john bolton they do not have time apparently to hear from john bolton or Mick Mulvaney or review documents . Its part of a coverup because moscow mitch and the Senate Republicans cannot defend President Trumps stunning abuse of power and his shakedown scheme in pressuring a foreign target american citizens. We are going to look at the most recent revelation as it relates to russias cyberattack on burisma and entities within a sovereign ukraine. But as the speaker has indicated on several occasions all roads , seem to lead to putin. As it relates to this administration. And Vladimir Putin seems to be at it again, as it relates to potentially manufacturing evidence to interfere in our election in 2020 to help his buddy donald trump, again, the artificially placed in 1600 pennsylvania avenue. That would be a disgrace. Brooklyn is always in the house. Im from queens. [laughter] reporter republican leader mccarthy [indiscernible] jeffries who said that . Reporter mccarthy. Do you think there is a fair way to do this across the board, the dnc and the Democratic Party, one would say, how do we handle this as a party so that each of these candidates get the fair i am going to yield to my colleagues. Well continue, hopefully as a party, to affirmatively talk about creating prosperity in every single zip code for every single american. Thats what the Democratic Party is all about. We will not take political advice from kevin mccarthy. I yield to my colleagues. Me neither. Reporter is there a concern about th being fair to the candidates . Ms. Clark i think that the senators who are running for president are perfectly clear. Unlike the republican senators , where their oath of office is. Its to the constitution. They will be there. They will do what they are supposed to do and they will take that oath of impartiality with a clear confidence. With a clear conscience. Mr. Cicilline at the time we i think the House Democrats have provided a great model for this, because at the time we engaged in our impeachment inquiry and our final impeachment vote, all throughout that, we also had one of the most successful and productive house sessions in modern history , passing over pieces of 400 legislation, 275 bipartisan bills that address the urgent priorities of the American People. So i think we can have the same confidence that our Senate Colleagues will do both things, to continue to deliver on the the americano people, as well as for the president accountable. Mr. Jeffries go back to the front row. I want to be fair. Reporter mr. Jeffries, we reported yesterday that the administration is preparing to transfer another 7 billion for border wall construction out of military construction and counterdrug. Whats your reaction to that . What are the houses options at this point and should you guys have fought harder to include language prevented him from transferring money in the recent appropriations legislation . Mr. Jeffries well continue to evaluate our options as it relates to dealing with Donald Trumps relentless and reckless effort to build an unnecessary and medieval border wall. Clearly, what we see is this is another example of donald trump trying to fulfill a Campaign Promise which he made throughout the campaign in 2016, which has nothing to do with the safety and security of the American People. It was an issue that was briefly discussed in the caucus meeting today. Those discussions will certainly continue. Reporter one question on impeachment. One not on impeachment. Not on impeachment. Whats your response to this idea now that not only with were officials not notified about an imminent attack on the u. S. Embassy, but also President Trump saying that it doesnt matter anymore if it was imminent or not. As far as impeachment, can you talk about the importance of the role about the impeachment managers and the high stakes they have in terms of trying to make their case in the senate , and whether you think you can do the job . Mr. Jeffries i have no expectations. I will serve as an impeachment manager. I have a day job. I will continue in that day job as chair of the House Democratic caucus to continue to advance the for the people agenda, of course cleaning up corruption in , washington. Anybody else want to respond to that particular question . Reporter the importance of the role of the impeachment managers and the highstakes mr. Jeffries we have a tremendous, tremendous number of very capable individuals, particularly who serve on the Intel Committee and the Judiciary Committee led by chairman adam schiff as well as chairman jerry nadler. It is my expectation, although it is the speakers call, and we have complete confidence in her that chairman schiff and chairman nadler will play a prominent role in carrying the message over in the senate in the context of a trial. There are also two very distinguished members of the Judiciary Committee who are here today who i would expect or certainly would be tremendous impeachment managers. But again, that is a question to be addressed by Speaker Pelosi. Well get to one. Mr. Cartwright the question about consulting with congress. Its a disappointment to me that the administration feels the need to bend over backwards, not to consult with the congress. I dont know why they do that. There are at least with the gang of 8 you think about the breadth of experience and the wisdom and knowledge that these people could add to the discussion. For the administration to have shown that they will oppose whatever the administration leans towards is a fallacy. Its wrong. Its shortsighted. And its a disappointment that they do that. Mr. Lieu so both the attorney general and the president said suggested that imminence isnt required. I urge both of them to read the United States constitution. Because the way it works is, only congress has power to declare war. So before the president can engage in warlike actions, he has to get an authorization for the use of force. Theres only two that congress has passed. 2001 aumf, 2002 aumf. One applies to iraq, and the other applies to terrorists connected to 9 11, none of which would have authorized the use of force by donald trump. As a result, the only other way the president can use force is for selfdefense under article 2 of the constitution. That requires imminence. So if the president and attorney general say thats no longer required, they are saying they are engaging in unconstitutional and illegal actions and thats unfortunate, and i think the American People understand it for what it is. Ms. Clark i just wanted to add that we talked about in caucus today that the Founding Fathers foresaw that we may have a rogue president , which we do. But what they didnt foresee is that congress would also be rogue. And what we are seeing is an abdication by my colleagues across the aisle to our role in asserting in a democracy under the way our constitution framework works is that we are the ones who can declare war. We have the power of appropriations and the purse. And we have to stick up for that. And we have to assert that role and protect it because it is vital to protecting the American People. And it is a system that works together, but you have to remember that we pledge allegiance to a republic and not to a specific president. Mr. Cicilline part of the reason congressional approval and consultation is required is because you Want Congress to ask the tough questions. Will this action make the american be all safer . Will it strengthen American National security around the world . The absence of those tough questions is what invites mistakes or a failure to understand the broader implications of an action. I think that is what we are seeing. So this is not just about congressional authority. Its really about making certain that when you make such a solemn decision to use military force to begin a war, that it be done after careful deliberation with all the hard questions asked. That did not happen in this case. Mr. Jeffries to wrap this up. Congress is a separate and coequal branch of government. We dont work for this president or any president. We work for the American People. We have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on a potentially outofcontrol executive branch. Thats the formula that the framers of the constitution came up with. Because they didnt want a monarch. They didnt want a dictator. They didnt want a king. They wanted a democratic republic. There is nothing more important than issues of war and peace. That is why article 1 of the constitution makes clear that congress has the Sole Authority to declare war. As my colleagues have indicated, the only exception to that in the absence of an authorization for the use of military force is an imminent threat to the safety and wellbeing of americans. The president has now proclaimed , that doesnt matter. He essentially has indicated hes a king, hes a dictator, hes a monarch, and he can start a war if he wants it without consultation or the approval of the American People. That is a stunningly constitutional admission that he has made to the American People. And people of good will, democrats, republicans, and independents should be shocked by the behavior that were seeing from this president and the fact that hes willing to lie apparently about the alleged nature of the threat that prompted him to strike general soleimani. No one that ive spoken to have seen any evidence apparently including the secretary of the department of defense that there were four specific embassies that were under imminent threat. Reporter the speaker indicated that she was withholding articles of impeachment in order get Mitch Mcconnell to commit to witnesses and documents. He hasnt done that. To make herchanged want to send articles over now . Mr. Jeffries well, the speaker never indicated that her objective was to get Mitch Mcconnell to change his behavior. She made it clear that part of our objective collectively as House Democrats was to make sure there was a fair trial in the senate. Theres a distinction. Because as it relates to the trial proceedings, unlike Mitch Mcconnells ability essentially to block all of the bills that we have passed in the house on behalf of Everyday Americans to make life better for them, he has that singular ability in the senate. Mitch mcconnell does not have that singular ability in the context of the impeachment and removal trial. Because effectively, it will take 51 senators to make a decision as to what the trial would look like. And so the speakers decision has created space for individuals like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski and most recently, mitt romney, to publicly and expressly say individuals like john bolton should testify if the senate is going to conduct a fair trial. So we are 3 4 of the way to seeing a fair and comprehensive trial in the senate as it relates to Donald Trumps abuse of power. That alone was a tremendous objective that had been accomplished because what Mitch Mcconnell apparently wanted to do was move immediately to dismiss any impeachment articles we sent over. Reporter [indiscernible] jeffries we will see. Reporter do you think you will get one . Mr. Jeffries hope springs eternal. Well see what happens in the senate. I think there has been substantial movement. Thats a good thing. We still need to hear from individuals like martha mcsally, joni ernst as well as cory gardner, of course, amongst several others, lamar alexander. There are an any number of individuals who hopefully, decency will prevail. Reporter Michael Bloomberg told us that he might spend 1 billion of his own dollars even if hes not nominee to help the party win the political campaign. Tell us what you feel about that much money from an individual . Is there a limit . How much do you have to spend, becaus before someone to comes as you say, become a king, dictator, monarch . Mr. Jeffries well, obviously, i think Michael Bloombergs entry into the race, personally as a new yorker, and i yield to all of my colleagues, has been an important step in a broad field to articulate part of the democratic perspective amongst the ideologically gorgeous mosaic that we have from the center to the left. And the American People deserve a robust discussion because were in a very challenging moment about how we move the country forward. And Michael Bloomberg will have a lot to say in that regard. The way the Current Campaign finance laws are written hes got the First Amendment right to spend his resources in a manner that he deems appropriate and thats a right that hes chosen to exercise. On behalf of his candidacy and potentially on behalf of the effort to make sure that we move as a country in a different direction beyond donald trump, i support that effort to the extent that i support the fact that the country needs to move beyond this current presidency that we have right now. Anyone else . Reporter is there a limit to how much one individual what do you get for 1 billion . Mr. Cicilline i would add to the chairmans comments that mayor bloomberg is also investing substantially in Voter Registration efforts in key battleground states. I think his commitment to spend what hes earned in his lifetime is a recognition of his assessment of the danger of a second term of donald trump. And i think to the extent hes willing to commit resources to make certain the democratic nominee, whoever it is, prevails. Im grateful for that. I think mayor bloomberg has a long record of investing. I was a founding layer of mayors against illegal guns with mayor bloomberg. He has a long record in investing in environmental efforts to respond to climate change. So i think this is an unusual moment in the history of our country. I think devoting resources to ensuring that the democratic nominee for president wins is essential. Mr. Lieu so the house passed h. R. 1, Campaign Finance reform, because we saw the money in politics. But until folks really get upset about sheldon adelson, the koch brothers, corporate super , republican super pacs spending vast amounts of money, then i strongly reject a question. Mr. Jeffries question. Reporter [indiscernible] can you update us on the status of onu still talking to the potential to . Mr. Cicilline so the investigation i hope will conclude in the First Quarter of this year with the expectation that we will have a final report and a set of recommendations early enough to be able to move forward with the introduction of legislation. We have a field hearing in colorado. We probably will have at least one or two more hearings. Maybe one additional roundtable. What has been very exciting is this has been a bipartisan effort and the expectation is while we may not agree on every solution that well have a set of proposals that enjoy bipartisan support. And as ive said throughout the investigation, its hard for me to imagine we would complete this investigation without hearing from some of the key c. E. O. s of the Major Technology companies. They have all pledged to cooperate and they have been in terms of document productions and other things. So its my expectation that some set of c. E. O. s will be heard from before the investigation is completely concluded. Mr. Jeffries House Democrats, we are going to continue to fight for working families, middleclass folks and senior citizens. Well continue to fight for the poor, the sick, and the afflicted. We will continue to fight for the sick, the lost, and the leftbehind. Well continue to defend our democracy. Well continue to fight for the people. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy, visit ncicap. Org] the house votes tomorrow on impeachment managers and it will send articles against President Trump on of use of power and obstruction of congress to the senate for trial. One of the first actions by house managers will be walking the articles from the house to the senate. Of the week,d Supreme Court chief Justice John Roberts is expected to be sworn in as the presiding officer for the trial. Senators will take and both as jurors. Senator mccroskey of maryland a she tookt the o during the 1999 clinton impeachment trial. Should use it has a jury of 100 or render impartial justice. The chief justice of the Supreme Court presided as the chief judge at this time by will administer the oath to all senators in the chamber. And the Senate Impeachment rules. To be sure that no vote would you take about three times to render impartial justice. One as a group, then as an individual miss makowski. Booken third, you sign a where are hereby, arbor murkowski, u. S. Senator from maryland, to pledge to render do partial justice on the matter of impeachment. Your handshakes with that kind of historical and immediate commitment. The impeachment of President Trump. Tomorrow, the house votes on impeachment managers, sending the articles of impeachment to congress. 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