Hakeem Jeffries Calls Republican Reconciliation Legislation 'The Big Ugly Bill'

At a press briefing on Monday, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke about the Republican reconciliation bill and their efforts to stop it.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon. Thank you. We've talked a lot about the numbers here and the tight margin.

00:05You're talking about Mr. Connolly right now, his health concerns, and he's out.

00:09Lost a couple of members here. What are you saying to members to say, look, you know,

00:14we know they have problems on their side of the aisle as we move forward on this big, beautiful bill

00:17trying to get all their people on board here. Having everybody here every single day,

00:22and if things follow your direction, you might be able to stop some of this on the floor and whatnot.

00:26Well, House Democrats continue to show up, as was the case, during every single vote of consequence when able.

00:37Like every single House Democrat voted against the reckless Republican budget,

00:45the big, ugly bill that they are trying to jam down the throats of the American people.

00:49In late February, as well as most recently, in late February, you had Brittany Pedersen,

00:59who because Republicans refuse to allow new members to vote remotely, even though the technology exists to do it,

01:07and it's not a partisan issue, it's not a Democratic issue or Republican issue,

01:12it's an issue that applies to everyone, but because Republicans refuse to allow Brittany Pedersen to vote remotely,

01:21even though the majority of members of the House would support that,

01:26Brittany got on a plane from Colorado, brought her infant son, Sam, with her,

01:33in order to make sure that she was present, to cast a vote against the Republican effort

01:39to decimate the health care of the American people.

01:43And at the same time, Kevin Mullen, literally,

01:48who had just had several surgeries, including complications from one related to his knee,

01:55got on a plane from Northern California,

01:58flew across the country with his wife so that she could change his IV midair on the plane

02:06in order to make it.

02:08I don't think House Democrats need any motivation beyond standing up for their constituents

02:14in the face of this reckless and dangerous and extreme Republican budget

02:20that they're trying to jam down the throats of the American people.

02:23We have showed up, will continue to show up and stand up and speak up on behalf of the American people.