Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Co-Chair Lori Trahan (MA-03) joined House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (CA-33), House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Ted W. Lieu (CA-36), and House DPCC Chair Debbie Dingell (MI-06) for a leadership press conference where she criticized House Republicans for prioritizing messaging bills that have no chance of becoming law over legislation that will improve the lives of hardworking families.

Footage of Trahan’s remarks can be accessed by clicking HERE or the image below. A full transcript is included below.

“House Republicans have proven time and again that the only thing that can unite their fractured Republican conference is bringing messaging bills that have no chance of becoming law to the floor,” Trahan said.

Trahan slammed House Republicans for hosting “Appliance Week” earlier this month, which featured bills to protect refrigerators, stoves, and other household appliances from made-up bans. She ripped the GOP majority for politicizing Police Week with partisan resolutions that do nothing to deliver better support for local police departments. And Trahan highlighted the dangerous Republican Farm Bill that would make devastating cuts to food assistance programs like SNAP that millions of families depend on.

“House Democrats are ready to work with our colleagues across the aisle to find compromise on legislation that will improve the lives of hardworking families just as we did last Congress when we passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to rebuild our roads and bridges and create jobs, the Bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act to reinvest in American manufacturing, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to rein in gun violence, and the Bipartisan PACT Act, which as of this week, you’ve heard, has approved more than 1 million claims for assistance from veterans across our country who were exposed to burn pits and toxic chemicals during their service,” Trahan continued.

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Congresswoman Lori Trahan

Remarks as Delivered

House Democrats’ Weekly Press Conference

May 22, 2024

Thank you, Chair Dingell, and thank you Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu for hosting us.

I think my colleagues have said it already. House Republicans have proven time and again that the only thing that can unite their fractured Republican conference is bringing messaging bills that have no chance of becoming law to the floor.

Earlier this month, Speaker Johnson announced ‘Appliance Week’ where instead of passing legislation to protect women’s reproductive rights, House Republicans voted to defend stoves and refrigerators that no one tried to take away.

They followed that up by unveiling a list of bills to align with Police Week. But rather than pass legislation to increase funding for the COPS program, the most important federal program that local departments rely on, House Republicans passed toothless resolutions designed to score cheap political points.

And this week it’s more of the same: House Republicans unveiling a Farm Bill that cuts 30 billion dollars from food assistance programs, including the largest cuts to SNAP in three decades, that the most vulnerable families in our nation need to put food on their table. This is a dangerous proposal, and the fact is it has no chance of becoming law. It’s just another exercise in futility.

House Democrats are ready to work with our colleagues across the aisle to find compromise on legislation that will improve the lives of hardworking families just as we did last Congress when we passed:

• The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to rebuild our roads and bridges and create jobs;
• The Bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act to reinvest in American manufacturing;
• The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to rein in gun violence;
• And the Bipartisan PACT Act, which as of this week, you’ve heard, has approved more than 1 million claims for assistance from veterans across our country who were exposed to burn pits and toxic chemicals during their service.

We should be looking to build on that progress, but House Republicans are taking their marching orders from Donald Trump, who opposes anything that could help President Biden in an election year. That’s politics at its worst. It’s exactly what people hate about Washington. It’s why House Democrats are taking our message, our commitment to putting People Over Politics directly to voters.

We’ll do that when we’re home next week, and we’ll keep doing it every single week between now and November.

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