LEADER JEFFRIES: "COSTS HAVEN'T GONE DOWN IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND EVERYBODY KNOWS IT"
Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference, where he emphasized that as Congress ends the legislative year, President Trump and House Republicans have failed to deliver on their promises to lower costs for everyday Americans, while House Democrats remain committed to driving down the high cost of living.
LEADER JEFFRIES: We started the year, and Donald Trump promised that this would be the golden age in America. We're ending the year, and the overwhelming majority of the American people, including many so-called Trump supporters, know that this year has been a disaster for the American people. Last night, Donald Trump once again made it clear to the American people that he apparently still believes that the affordability crisis in this country is a hoax. It is not a hoax. The affordability crisis is very real. And one of the reasons why this year has been such a disaster for everyday Americans under complete Republican control of government—they have the House, the Senate, and the presidency. They've had all year, they've had complete control of government and they've done nothing to lower the high cost of living in this country.
Now, Donald Trump and Mike Johnson and John Thune and House Republicans and Senate Republicans repeatedly promised to the American people last year that they were going to lower the high cost of living. In fact, they said that costs would go down on day one. They lied to the American people. Costs haven't gone down in the United States of America, and everybody knows it. Costs have gone up. Housing costs are out of control. Grocery costs are outta control. Electricity bills are outta control. Child care costs are outta control and healthcare costs are out of control and about to get worse because of the Republican healthcare crisis that has been devastating everyday Americans throughout this year.
Why is Mike Johnson and House Republicans leaving town when there is legislation supported by a bipartisan majority of the House that would extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years? We should pass that bill and then send it over to the Senate before the end of the year, before the Affordable Care Act tax credits expire, so that tens of millions of Americans during the holiday season are threatened with their health insurance premiums, copays and deductibles dramatically increasing, including the reality that many of these working class Americans will experience premium increases of $1,000 or $2,000 per month. That is unacceptable. That's why House Democrats successfully launched a discharge petition that secured 218 bipartisan signatures. And there's no reason why Mike Johnson can't bring that bill to the Floor immediately.
House Republicans have chosen to get out of town before sundown, and that's a shame. All they've done is reinforce the fact that their sole objective in this Congress, the sole objective of Donald Trump, the sole objective of the House Republican majority is to enact massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors while jamming their extreme right-wing ideology down the throats of the American people and doing nothing, nothing at all, zip-zero, nothing at all to make life better for the American people. It's extraordinary to us. I don't think these people want to win any more elections because they've literally done nothing to make life better for the American people. House Democrats, as we've repeatedly made clear, are in this fight until we win this fight. We're going to continue to work hard to drive down the high cost of living in this country. We're going to continue to work hard to fix our broken healthcare system. And we're going to continue to work hard to clean up corruption and deliver a country of the people, by the people and for the people.
Full press conference can be watched here.