DPCC Co-Chair Lieu: Democrats Support Strong Border Security and are Fighting For the People
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Ted Lieu, Co-Chair of the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC), appeared on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer on CNN to discuss the federal government shutdown created by the President and Democrats' priorities in the 116th Congress. Lieu highlighted that the new Democratic majority is going to focus on lowering health care costs, increasing pay, and cleaning up corruption in Washington. Below are excerpts from the interview and click here to watch the video.
"We can do both. The Constitution charges the Legislature, Article I of the Constitution, with both oversight as well as passing legislation, so we're going to pass legislation on health care, on infrastructure, on getting rid of corruption and at the same time we'll conduct our oversight responsibilities and make sure that we hold the Trump Administration accountable."
"My view of impeachment is that, like the power to declare war, it is one of the gravest responsibilities of Congress. It should never be our first option. We should wait until special counsel Mueller completes his investigation and I think all Democrats are in line with waiting until the investigation is complete before we make a decision."
"Elections have consequences. Last year, Republicans ran on building the wall. Democrats ran on health care and infrastructure and Republicans lost the popular vote in midterms by the largest margin in U.S. history. Democrats are not going to cave in on this wall demand – because the American people do not support the wall. Democrats will support border security. We can compromise and work on funding border security. I think that's what we should do."
"I would be open to a comprehensive package that deals with different elements of immigration. However, we can't do that in the context of a government shutdown. Democrats will never cave to Donald Trump's demands in a government shutdown because if we do, it's just going to incentivize him to do this again any time he doesn't get his way. So we cannot talk about wall funding in the context of a government shutdown. Once we figure out the government shutdown and fix it, then we can talk about the discussions that the President wants. That's what we need to do."
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