DPCC Co-Chair Cicilline: Democrats Are Focused on Addressing the Urgent Priorities of the American People
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman David Cicilline, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on CNN Newsroom with Poppy Harlow to discuss President Trump and Washington Republicans' failure to get results for the American people. Cicilline emphasized that House Democrats are united by, and committed to, a core set of values: lowering people's health care costs, increasing family incomes and cleaning up corruption in Washington. Below are excerpts from the interview. Click here to watch the video.
"Well, I feel very optimistic and cautiously confident. I've been traveling the country campaigning with our candidates. We have the best candidates we have ever had running for Congress. They're speaking about the urgent priorities of the American people: driving down health care costs, raising family incomes and taking on the serious corrupting influence of money in our political system in Washington. And, I think they're speaking to the issues that matter to folks, and, I think, the President is trying in every way he can in these final days in this desperate attempt to change the subject to talk about something else. And, I think, that's also part of the failure of the Republicans to actually get anything done for the American people. If you control the House, the Senate and the White House, this should be your closing argument. It should be ‘here's all the things we've gotten done for you.'"
"Well, look, I think our party by and large is made up of people who are committed to a core set of values: protecting people's access to health care, improving family incomes, getting money out of politics."
"Look, I think we ought to all be civil to each other. I try to always conduct myself in a civil way. And, people are passionate, and sometimes they go overboard, but the reality is what this election is about is not crazy people. It's about who's going to work for the American people and focus on the issues that are important in our lives."
"No, because I think, as I said yesterday, you know, unemployment rate is very low. We should all be happy about that, but when you dig below the numbers a little bit, what you see is there are too many Americans working two and three jobs just to get by. They are seeing their health insurance go up because of this effort to sabotage the Affordable Care Act. They see Republicans in court trying to take away coverage for pre-existing conditions. And, they see the corrupting influence of money in our politics, and the President now has a record to run on. You know, when he tried this fearmongering in the last campaign, he didn't have a record to run on, and it worked. I think it's not going to work this time because now he has a record that he has to account for. The tax cut went to the richest people in this country, not middle class families. So, I do think the unemployment rate is good, but for too many Americans, they're still haven't seen their incomes go up."
"Well, there have been a number of us in Congress who have been pressing for a very long time to stop the military assistance to the Saudis in Yemen. This is an unauthorized military engagement by the U.S. The murder of Mr. Khashoggi has brought attention to Yemen. And, I'm grateful for that attention. We have been trying to raise this issue for a very long time. It really is evidence of a larger problem with the Saudis, where there's been a very serious retreat on human rights. A real crackdown on dissidents. There are real problems under their current leadership in Saudi Arabia. And, I think it's an occasion for us to not only cut off military assistance [and] to impose sanctions but also review in a complete and thorough way all of our security relationships with the Saudis and all of our other relationships with the intention of really punishing them for their behavior. But, I'm happy that we're now talking about Yemen, but this has been a serious humanitarian crisis for a very long time."