Speaker Johnson: Democrats 'Are Not Afraid To Lie' About Reconciliation Bill

Forbes Breaking News

At today's House Republican leadership press briefing, Speaker Johnson touted the reconciliation bill.

Transcript

00:00Well, thank you all for being here. There's a lot going on, and we will update you on and have been this morning already.

00:08We're grateful for the opportunity to do that. We're really grateful that it's National Police Week.

00:13Republicans look forward to this. We really, truly do.

00:15And we've been welcoming families of fallen officers and law enforcement officers from around the country all week.

00:21We had a candlelight vigil last night, or a couple of those events last night that we participated in.

00:26And you can't give honor where honor is due enough, especially around this subject.

00:32People put their lives on the line every single day. The numbers are staggering.

00:36After the candlelight vigil last night, we went, as Sheriff Rutherford mentioned, Representative Rutherford mentioned,

00:42we went to the National Law Enforcement Memorial this morning, and it was misty, and the weather was sort of appropriate,

00:48because when you walk that place and you see the names of more than 24,000 officers whose names are etched in the stone there,

00:56it really moves you.

00:57We lost 345 fallen heroes this year alone at the Etchedon Memorial.

01:03So there were many officers out there, and just paying their respects, and we placed rates at some small totes.

01:08But, look, I come from a first responder family, and I know that sacrifice.

01:13I grew up at the Fire and Police Training Academy in my hometown, Shreveport, Louisiana, because my dad was a training officer.

01:18He was on the fire side of it, and he also worked the line, and I was 12 years old.

01:22He got burned in an explosion on the job, 80% of his body, 33 burns.

01:26He had a 5% chance to live, 5%.

01:28He came back miraculously and survived, but he was terribly disabled for the rest of his life.

01:33And his co-captain died in that fire during the hazmat team, and I watched the sorrow that his family, his young family,

01:41went through, the children left behind, his spouse, his wife.

01:44And I just learned that at a young age, the profound sacrifice that people make.

01:49And we have to keep that in perspective.

01:50We have to stand behind those who are willing to do that for all the rest of us.

01:54And the House Republicans will stand with God.

01:57We definitely do have their back in every way, and we're glad to show it.

02:00So thank you for your service.

02:02Thank you for your service, David.

02:03Everybody who does that.

02:04My Capitol Police team, my security team, I spend more time with them than I spend with my family, friends, and everybody.

02:11And they've become like family to us, and they do have a road job.

02:14So we're so grateful.

02:15Can't say it enough.

02:17They deserve our gratitude, and they deserve our respect.

02:21And I wish all of our House Democrats agreed with that.

02:24They showed with their actions that they don't.

02:26And we've got to talk about what happened in New Jersey.

02:28See, on Friday, as you all know, three Democrat members of Congress got into a physical altercation with our isolations.

02:35I mean, outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey, what a spectacle that was.

02:39What a horrible display for our children to see, right?

02:45Amid a long list of shameful and embarrassing episodes this year, that altercation, I think it takes the cake.

02:50I think it's a new load for congressional Democrats.

02:52Instead of condemning the action, of course, the Democrat leadership in the House sent out a statement of support.

02:58My friend Hakeem Jeffries said, quote, we will never bend the knee.

03:01To bend the knee to what?

03:02Hakeem, to ICE?

03:04Come on.

03:05The reason the Democrats were even at the detention facility is equally concerning.

03:11The purpose was.

03:11They were there demanding to shut down the detention facility.

03:15Now look, here's who's housed in the detention facility.

03:18Violent gang members, rapists, and murderers.

03:20They want to shut it down.

03:22We already know that Democrats support open borders.

03:24They support MS-13 gang members.

03:26They go and visit them in jail.

03:27They want to allow illegals to vote.

03:30But this really is a new vote.

03:33Republicans want to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens.

03:36Democrats want to come to the jails.

03:38Could you have a stronger contrast than that right there?

03:41We don't need less detention beds and facilities.

03:43We need much more.

03:45And death behavior is just unacceptable.

03:47We're grateful to U.S. Attorney Alina Hoppe in New Jersey.

03:49She's open an investigation into this matter.

03:52And that legal process will play out.

03:54We're having conversations.

03:56We had them this morning at the House Republican conference meeting this morning about appropriate

04:00action that we need to take here to address that inappropriate behavior, the wildly inappropriate

04:04behavior.

04:06And we will do that.

04:07Let me just talk about reconciliation real quick.

04:09Look, this is, the bill's coming together, as you've heard.

04:12The last three committees are reporting out today.

04:15Everybody in this room, you know, gets fixated on a few final details about all this.

04:20But I think it's important to just state one more time what we're achieving through reconciliation.

04:24This will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation ever passed by the United

04:28States Congress.

04:28It is large, it is comprehensive, and it deals with reconciling the budget in a way that will

04:33be fiscally responsible.

04:35We're going to slash taxes, including on tips, overtime, Social Security for seniors and

04:40job creators, restore American energy dominance, as you've heard, secure our border, and deport

04:44illegal aliens.

04:45We're going to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, return to peace through strength, and

04:50reduce spending all at the same time.

04:53And I put reconciliation on an aggressive timetable back in January.

04:57I said that we would try to do this as quickly as possible.

05:00We're still on target to get that Memorial Day deadline, which people balked out when we

05:04first said it.

05:05The American people are counting on us to get this done, and get it done quickly.

05:08And we're on target to do it.

05:11President Biden let virtually every area of public policy in disrepair.

05:14And it is incumbent upon Congress to fix it and pass laws that cannot be easily undone

05:18or overwritten.

05:20We're working around the clock to build our consensus, to get the 218 votes, and deliver

05:24on President Trump's on their first agenda, so the American people can really begin to

05:29feel a lot of relief.

05:30And as we're working to get this done, House Democrats are working overtime to deceive the

05:35American people about this.

05:36We've discussed it already this morning, but they're not talking about what the bill actually

05:40does.

05:41They're using talking points that are pretty stable.

05:43They're not afraid to lie about what's in it, and we're not afraid to tell the truth

05:47about what the Democrats are doing.

05:49They've already been forced to take down their advertisements because they were filled with

05:52falsehoods about what the bill supposedly was going to have in it.

05:55You probably saw last week, they're at it again.

05:57They released a CBO report, so-called, that claims that our legislation cuts many millions

06:02of Americans out of Medicaid.

06:04It's obviously demonstrably false.

06:06Other outlets have reported on this, okay?

06:10They included policies that are not even in the legislation.

06:13How could they have done that?

06:14Because they released a report before the bill text was issued, okay?

06:18And most of the media ran with it, okay?

06:20And I'm just going to say this to my friends in the media, on the Hillcrest Corps in particular,

06:23right?

06:24If you...

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