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October 14, 2009 Republican Leadership Press Conference

October 14, 2009 Republican Leadership Press Conference

OCTOBER 14, 2009

Republican Leadership Press Conference
October 14, 2009

Participants:
- Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH)
- Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)
- Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN)
- Republican Conference Vice Chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)
- Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC)

Multimedia:

Audio  |  Photos

Transcript:

Conference Chairman Pence:
 
Good morning.  We just completed our weekly meeting of the House Republican Conference. There's a lot of talk these days about unprecedented consensus. This weekend the president said that there was "unprecedented consensus" forming around health care reform. Well as I've traveled around the state of Indiana, as I've traveled a little bit around the country, I see an unprecedented consensus, but it's not like the president describes.  What I see is that the American people want to see this Congress start to make their priorities its priorities. I think the American people want to see this Congress begin to focus on policies that will create economic growth and opportunities for working families, small businesses and family farms.  And what I see is the American people don't want a government takeover of health care paid for with hundreds of billions of dollars in higher taxes and mandates that will cause millions of Americans to lose their insurance and could cause millions of Americans to lose their jobs.
 
In this fight, House Republicans are on the side of the American people.  We get the message.  We understand that this nation wants to see Congress take action that will lower the cost of health insurance and lower the cost of health care in the long term.  But the American people are tired of runaway federal spending, of borrowing and bailouts and takeovers. Republican solutions are going to be built on the fundamental strength of our free market economy, and are going to put putting this economy back in motion first and foremost on our agenda.
 
Republican Whip Cantor:

Good morning. Well the Baucus bill has passed. We've got groups this morning, Members on both sides of the aisle in the other body, groups such as the unions running full-page ads against the bill. Warning Americans that this bill will add to their health care costs. The 84 percent or so of Americans that have insurance will experience a significant increase in cost in their health care if this Baucus bill were to pass and be signed into law. Employers who provide so many Americans with coverage will also be struck with increased costs and penalties and taxes under the Baucus bill. This, ultimately, will mean less money to the bottom line for our small businesses which means lower wages for Americans.
 
While we in Washington continue to talk about health care, the rest of this country is focused on the economy. There was a poll out last week by a gentleman named Darren that indicated 81 percent of Americans - that's eight in ten - 81 percent of Americans feel that the Obama Administration needs to do more about the unemployment affecting everyone in this country. That 81 percent of Americans feel it is about jobs.
 
That's why this week I will be reconvening the Economic Recovery Working Group, that the Leader has appointed, and we will be looking at, number one, responding to the White House indirect communications to us that they intend to embark upon another stimulus effort. Folks in the Administration have floated the idea of a job creation tax credit. We don't think that's the right way to go about putting small businesses back into the game of investing and creating jobs. We will come up with alternatives, as we have since January, in terms of how we best believe we can put Americans back to work. We look forward to having a full and open discussion with the White House and our colleagues across the aisle so that we can get America back to work.
 
Conference Vice Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers:
 
On Monday, we held a town hall in Spokane. And we had between 800 and 900 people there. They shared their concerns about a government takeover of health care. But a larger concern for them really was the economy and the spending that's taking place here in Washington DC. And I wish more here had the chance to actually hear their points and beyond their points, see the fear in their eyes as far as where the government is currently headed. And it makes me think that Washington D.C., and the Administration and Congress really need to re-examine our priorities. We've been talking about reforming health care, reforming our energy, reforming our schools.  Let's talk about reforming our priorities and really focusing on jobs. We're all aware that our unemployment is at 9.8 percent and rising.
 
We're going to see a report later today that is talking about the stimulus package and about the jobs that have been created or saved through the stimulus package. The majority of them are government jobs. The Democrats have had this $787 billion slush fund, and they have basically wasted it. The jobs that have been created are government jobs. And we are asking, as Republicans, that we go back, we look at those priorities that we laid out at the beginning of the year that would really help create jobs. And it's tax relief and policies that will help our small businesses, our job creators in this country. And we stand ready to work with the Democrats to really get this economy going.
 
Rep. Virginia Foxx:

An interesting point I've heard nobody in the press mention is when the Democrats starting talking about reforming health care, there were 47 million Americans who needed health insurance. Then the president said 30 million. We know from the Baucus bill that at least 29 million are not going to be covered. Therefore, we're talking about total government control of the health care system to take care of 1 million people. The numbers just don't add up. Something is wrong and nobody is asking the question as to what has happened suddenly to the effort to cover those people who are uninsured.
 
But I agree with my colleagues, that the big issue is the economy.  And if you go out and talk to the American people, what they'll tell you is we have too much government and the government needs to get out of the way of the American people and let them help solve their problems but let them solve them without an additional burden from the federal government.
 
Republican Leader Boehner:
 
While Washington continues to focus in on this big government plan, this health care debate, the American people are wondering "where are the jobs?" American families and small businesses are struggling. They have seen this economic stimulus package pass but they're asking the question "where are the jobs?"
 
Last week, the Leadership and I sent a letter to the president outlining some of our ideas about how to help small businesses get this economy moving again. We got a rather dismissive reply, and I would say quickly, from the White House. They're going to ‘review' some of our ideas. I think it's time for Members of Congress to start working together to help small businesses and to help American families get our economy going again. The only way we're going to is to slow down on the government spending and allow American families and small businesses to keep more of what they earn.