January 27, 2010 Republican Leadership Conference

January 27, 2010 Republican Leadership Conference

JANUARY 27, 2010

Republican Leadership Press Conference
January 27, 2010

Participants:
- Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
- Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)
- Conference Chair Mike Pence (R-IN)
- Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
- Rep. Tom Price (R-GA)
- Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY)

Multimedia:
 Audio

Transcript:

Conference Chair Mike Pence
 
Good morning, all. House Republicans just completed our weekly meeting of the House Republican Conference and look very much forward to welcoming the President of the United States back to the Capitol this evening and welcoming the president to the House Republican Conference retreat in Baltimore this Friday.
 
Tonight, we will hear what the president has to say. Friday we will certainly hear the president out but we also look forward to sharing with the president our better solutions for getting this economy moving again, putting our fiscal house in order, our proposals regarding health care reform, energy, will all be a part of what we are describing as a conversation between the president and House Republicans that'll take place this Friday and we look forward to that.
 
This administration and Democrats in Congress have been on a spending binge for the last year. House Republicans welcome the call for a return to fiscal discipline and a focus on creating jobs and putting America back to work. We look forward to hearing the president's proposals, in that regard, but we come to this evening, as Phil Gramm used to say, with an open mind but not an empty mind. The reality is that under this administration we've seen record deficits and debt. We see the second year in a row of more than a trillion dollar deficit.
 
The big government schemes in health care and energy of this administration are still on the table. There are pledges for more programs that could add more burden to future generations of Americans and House Republicans are saying, with a legion of Americans, enough is enough. It's time to put our fiscal house in order. It's time to make the tough decisions this year to get runaway federal spending under control and it's time to focus this administration and this Congress on policies that will put American back to work.
 
Rep. Marsha Blackburn
 
I'm Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee. You know, we have a little bit of Tennessee wisdom that is a great country song and I think it is one that understanding would serve our president well. It is this - "when you're in a hole, stop digging."
 
We hope that the president has gotten that message from the American people because that is what they've been telling him over the last many months. Stop digging. Our concern is that the proposals he will bring forth tonight are not going to be enough to backfill that hole.
 
What we are wanting to do is make certain that not only do we stop the spending, but that we begin to reduce what the federal government spends. That the federal government starts to live within its means. That's going to be a very important step. We know that taking those steps will send the right message and we will begin to see an ability to incentivize the development of jobs because the American people continue to ask us every single day ‘where are the jobs?' They are ready for the focus to be on jobs and the economy.

Republican Whip Eric Cantor
 
Good morning. As my colleagues have said, we Republicans look forward to tonight's State of the Union Address. Anytime a President comes to Capitol Hill for that, it is a historic occasion. This will be President Obama's first State of the Union Address. What we hope to hear is that the President has listened, has learned that the policies of last year have fallen short of America's expectations. We're hoping to hear a real commitment to those kitchen table issues. Families across America continue to wake up each morning gripped with anxiety about the prospects for the future.

We need to deal squarely with that. It's not about creating more Washington programs; it's not about more federal spending. It really is a turn towards tightening the belt and lifting the environment of uncertainty that is blocking our job creators from doing what we need them to do, which is to invest and create jobs.
 
Rep. Cynthia Lummis
 
Well as most of you know, and as our constituents know all too well, we're in the midst of the worst recession in 75 years.  And it is a stunning thing that the Democratic leaders of this country and the president don't understand the connection between jobs and productivity. 
 
While our drill rigs in Wyoming sit idle and the people who drill for oil and gas are sipping coffee hoping that they'll get a call to go drill for American oil and gas, and while those who were hauling wind turbines into Wyoming at unprecedented paces are slowed down because of our tough economy, the Democrats and this president proposed the largest tax increase in history on the American people so they will quit producing energy and the attendant jobs to producing that energy with the old cap and tax bill. 
 
I'm looking forward to hearing whether the president has alternatives to creating the energy we need in this country to produce jobs, revenue, and the hydrocarbons and clean energy this country needs to get back in the saddle.
 
Rep. Tom Price

Good morning. My name is Tom Price, I represent the 6th district of Georgia and am also privileged to chair the Republican Study Committee.

When I talked with constituents this past week at home, many of them said to me, "Boy, I sure hope that you tell the president one thing."  And I said "What's that one thing?"  And they said "Stop. Stop this job killing agenda that the president has been on and Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid have been on over the last year. Stop the madness as it relates to the national energy tax. Stop the madness as it relates to the government takeover of health care. Stop the madness as it relates to bailouts and more and more stimulus money that doesn't stimulate the economy. Bring about certainty within the environment of the economy and that will bring about jobs."

So the message that I hope to hear from the president this evening is that we are going to significantly change course. Respect the things that made America the greatest nation in the history of the world, and put in place the policies that will allow the job creators across this land to succeed.

Republican Leader John Boehner

Well the president is coming to Capitol Hill tonight, and I think the president has to prove to the American people that he's listening to what they're saying.  Now this isn't about a pivot in terms of his message.  I think that most Americans know that actions speak louder than words, and so I think what the American people want to see is a commitment from the president that it's not just going to be words, that he really is going to pivot to stopping the job-killing agendas that Mr. Price pointed out, and to work with Republicans in a bipartisan way as he promised during the campaign to get our economy going again and to be able to satisfy the American people's continuing question, "Where are the jobs?"

Now when the President was in Ohio last week, he talked about what happened in Massachusetts, and he referred to running into a buzzsaw of lobbyists and special interests that are holding up this health bill.  Well Mr. President, that buzzsaw wasn't lobbyists and special interests. That buzzsaw was the American people saying, "Stop, we've had enough of this!"  And as you saw in Massachusetts, it wasn't just health care, it was the increases in taxes, it was the cap and trade bill, and the fact that the president continues to insist on bringing the terrorists into the United States and providing them rights.

The President has got a lot to prove tonight.  Republicans are going to continue to offer better solutions to the American people.  We did it all last year. Each and every one of the bills that came through here Republicans offered what we thought was the better solution, and we're going to continue our work to show the American people that our solutions to their problems are solutions that are rooted in our principles and have much more common sense and practicality to them. Thank you.