January 20, 2010 Republican Leadership Conference

January 20, 2010 Republican Leadership Conference

JANUARY 20, 2010

Republican Leadership Press Conference
January 20, 2010

Participants:
- Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
- Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)
- Conference Chair Mike Pence (R-IN)
- Conference Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI)

Multimedia:
 Audio

Transcript:

Conference Chair Mike Pence

It is a good morning in America for the American people, and House Republicans just concluded our weekly meeting of the House Republican Conference. I thank you all for your time. House Republicans offer their congratulations to Senator-elect Scott Brown on his election to the United States Senate. While Senator-elect Brown deserves much of the credit, we believe this election is about more than the success of one man. The American people have spoken.  After years of borrowing and spending and bailouts and government takeovers, the American people, through the people of Massachusetts, said to Washington, D.C., "enough is enough." It's time to end business as usual and House Republicans stand with the American people in this battle. We call on the president to heed the voice of the American people from Massachusetts to California, from Florida to Alaska.  We ask Speaker Pelosi to heed the voice of the American people, to end their fiscal recklessness, their big government schemes, and let's focus on creating jobs, putting America back to work, and putting our own fiscal house in order. We urge the president and this Congress to scrap their plan for a government takeover of heath care and come together with Republicans to work on incremental solutions that will lower the cost of health care, without growing the size of government.  This is a good day, but it's not so much a good day for Republicans, it is a good day for the America people. House Republicans are prepared to stand and fight for the values they fought for in Massachusetts yesterday.
 
Republican Whip Eric Cantor
 
Good morning. I too want to extend my congratulations to Scott Brown and his election to the United States Senate. The election last night in Massachusetts, for Senator-elect Brown, was much about an election that rejected arrogance. Much like David in his fight against Goliath, David won because he was able to do so and fight in his own way. The American people, the people of Massachusetts, have rejected the arrogance. They are tired of being told by Washington how to think and what to do. Much as we saw in the elections in Virginia and New Jersey, the message has been sent to the Democrats: Listen to the people; heed their priorities. So I look back a few months ago when I met with Majority Leader Hoyer, and I would guess this morning that perhaps he's thinking maybe he should have paid a bit more attention to that meeting, because in that meeting I put forth our Republican plan to affect health care reform to bring down costs. There is a way for us to work together. Republicans have proffered solutions, and I am hopeful that these elections have now sent the message and will settle in that the Democrats will begin to listen to the priorities of the American people, which is to put the economy and jobs first, as well as not to embark on a plan to spend a trillion dollars affecting a government takeover of health care, without accomplishing the goal of reducing costs.  
 
Conference Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers
 
One year ago today was President Obama's inauguration, and without a doubt, we've had change in America. But as the election yesterday highlighted, it's not necessarily all the change that America wanted. The people of Massachusetts have really joined a chorus of Americans that are saying that they are opposed to a government takeover of health care. They are opposed to the out-of-control spending in Washington, DC. And whether it's red states like Virginia, blue states like New Jersey, or now the bluest of states, Massachusetts, you see Republicans, you see Independents, and you see many Democrats, right now, that are saying "no" to this government-run health care system, they're saying "no" to trillion dollar deficits. I agree that Speaker Pelosi and Leader Reid really need to re-think their agenda. We are ready today to move forward and refocus on an agenda that would get America back to work, get our economy going, give confidence to our small business owners, because we know that they are the job creators. Republicans and Democrats, now more than ever, need to come together in a new spirit of cooperation and make 2010 a year where we get America back on track.

Rep. Candice Miller

I'm very honored to represent a district in Southeast Michigan which you could argue is probably the epicenter of what is happening with our nation's economic challenges. My beautiful state of Michigan, my heart aches when I see what is happening economically there. So a year ago, when President Obama and his solidified majority in both the Senate and the House took office, and the president started talking about how he was going to address the economic challenges facing us, I was there and I think Republicans were there and the American people were there. We all knew that we needed to do something. Washington needed to do something about our economic challenges. Instead of that, this president, I think you could argue the most partisan president that America has ever seen, and his Democratic majority rammed a so-called "economic stimulus" plan down the throats of this Congress and the American people. Unemployment went from eight points to ten points and we have lost three million jobs in the last year. And then they promptly forgot about the agenda and went on to an agenda of cap and trade and this so-called health care reform bill, forgetting what is out there and the challenges that are being faced by the American people economically. And the worst thing is that they have done it all in secret and behind closed doors. Well, the American people have been speaking. They spoke in August. Mr. President and the majority: "Can you hear us now?" The American people spoke in Virginia: "Mr. President, can you hear us now?" The American people spoke in New Jersey: "Can you hear us now?" And they certainly spoke last night in Massachusetts: "Mr. President and the Democratic majority, can you hear us now?" The Republican Conference will absolutely extend our hand again to the president and his Democratic majority and will see that we are willing to work with them to address the challenges facing our nation economically and certainly to keep our homeland secure, as well.

Republican Leader John Boehner

Well, I want to thank my colleagues for their words this morning.  For nine months, I've talked to you about the political rebellion that's been brewing in America.  It manifested itself in August at town hall meetings around the country.  We saw it manifest itself in what happened in Virginia and New Jersey back in November.  And we saw it manifest itself again last night in Massachusetts, when the people of Massachusetts stood up and said, "enough is enough."  And it's pretty clear that while the American people continue to speak, the Democrat leadership here in this House continues to ignore them and is looking for some way to continue to press this health care bill to a vote.  You've heard what the Speaker said yesterday and what the Majority Leader said, "We're going to find some way to push this over the line."  It's that kind of arrogance that has the American people about ready to pull their hair out and about ready to throw every Democrat out of here.  But we have to remember, this is not just about health care, it's about the "stimulus" plan that isn't working, it's about the cap-and-trade bill, it's about the trillion-dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see.  The American people want us to get the economy going again.  Because they continue to ask the question, "Where are the jobs?"  And what we need to do is get our economy going again and get the American people back to work.