Transcript of Today's Speaker Pelosi Press Conference

WASHINGTON (Map) - WASHINGTON, June 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi held her weekly press conference in her office in the Capitol this morning. Below is a transcript of the press conference:

On House Chairmen Releasing Draft Proposal on Health Care Reform:

"Since last we met, our three chairmen of the committees of jurisdiction doing health care reform put forth a draft and we're very proud of the work that they have done. It takes us a step closer to providing what the President has called for: affordable, quality, accessible health care for all Americans. It will bring down cost, improve quality, and make America healthier."

On Vote This Week on Clean Energy Jobs Legislation:

"This week, we are continuing our work on our historic energy bill, which is important to our national security. It is important to reduce our dependence on foreign oil in the interest of protecting the American people. It's in our interest to reduce pollution in the air to protect the health of our young, of our children and all Americans. It is important for us to invest in new technologies to keep America number one in innovation and new green technologies and to create millions of new jobs in this new green economy. It is a jobs bill. "

Thursday June 25, 2009

10:55 a.m.

Speaker Pelosi. Good morning.

Since last we met, our three chairmen of the committees of jurisdiction doing health care reform put forth a draft and we're very proud of the work that they have done. It takes us a step closer to providing what the President has called for: affordable, quality, accessible health care for all Americans. It will bring down cost, improve quality, and make America healthier. I commend Chairman Rangel of the Ways and Means Committee, Chairman Miller of the Education and Labor Committee, and Chairman Waxman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

This week, we are continuing our work on our historic energy bill, which is important to our national security. It is important to reduce our dependence on foreign oil in the interest of protecting the American people. It's in our interest to reduce pollution in the air to protect the health of our young, of our children and all Americans. It is important for us to invest in new technologies to keep America number one in innovation and new green technologies and to create millions of new jobs in this new green economy. It is a jobs bill. That's why I'm proud of it. It's important and that's why I'm so glad that people of faith are working with us to preserve God's beautiful creation and our moral responsibility to pass it on to the next generation better than we found it.

So it is pretty exciting; it's a start. It is transformational, and we are working hard to bring it to the floor this week.

With that, I would be pleased to take any questions you may have.

Q: Madam Speaker, if you are ready to take the climate bill to the floor, are you going to include funding the Interior appropriations bill or the spending bill?

Speaker Pelosi. You know what, we have to go over the schedule because it just depends. We have the family event at the White House this evening, there is a funeral for one of our Members who is prominent in a discussion on the Interior bill. So we're working out the schedule.

Q: When the stimulus bill came out earlier this year, members and citizens had less than two days to review the final version that came out of the conference committee before it was voted on. Will you commit to giving Americans at least a week to review the full conference version of the health care bill before it is voted on? And also will you commit to submitting the final version to the CBO so that they can report the cost to the public?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, we will abide by the regular order -- you heard the question. It was about having the health care bill out there a week in advance. We will have the regular order in terms of the appropriate amount of time, 48 hours in advance for amendments before you file the bill, another day before you can take up the bill. But this bill is something that has been unfolding before the American people for a long time now. The areas of controversy are well known.

The issue of a public option is probably the most significant debate that we will have in the House on the legislation, as I see it now. But the bill will come forth under the regular order, and that's why the three chairmen put out the draft now. They put out some principles earlier on; the President put out his principles. We had a month before the Memorial Day break for everyone to see what was happening there to take ideas from our members.

So it was in the public domain, but not as a bill. Now they have put out this draft which has been well received, and I'm very proud of the work. It's a well managed approach to how we go forward. And when we are ready with a draft then we will put that forth, but as I say, it will be under the regular order.

Q: Madam Speaker, yesterday members of your leadership team were telling us that they think they will have the votes to pass the cap and trade bill. Have you gone from think to know?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, you never know until you take the vote, but we are making progress and I'm very pleased. It's a very healthy discussion. As I say, this is a bill with a vision. It's very visionary. It is very transformational. It's very necessary for us to go forward with this. And it has differences of opinion across the philosophical spectrum, across geographic areas. So it's a very, I think, informative conversation that we're having with each other, and right now we intend to bring it up.

Q: Madam Speaker, you called former President Gore last night to cancel his trip to the Caucus this afternoon. Could you explain to us why you did that? And is that a sign of your growing confidence in your capacity to sway folks or decreasing confidence?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, it's a question of what was energy efficient for the Vice President. We were narrowing the list of the undecideds and thought that perhaps another occasion we could call upon his time to come here and be, as I say, more energy efficient for us to coordinate our efforts from Tennessee for him and Washington, D.C. for us because we, as I say, we had a great narrowing of the undecideds yesterday.

Q: Madam Speaker, you bridge all of these geographical and philosophical differences that you talk about within the Democratic Caucus for the climate bill. Are you still satisfied that what you wound up with that's going to the floor is the best you could have done for the environment, for carbon load in the environment, and for global warming?

Speaker Pelosi. I'm very proud of the legislation that we have. It is something that we commend Mr. Waxman and Mr. Markey, the authors of the bill, Mr. Waxman being the chairman of the full Committee on Energy and Commerce, Mr. Markey the Chair of the Select Committee on Energy Security and Climate Change that was formed for this purpose. Mr. Collin Peterson, the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, was just great in how he brought the priorities of the agriculture community to bear in the conversation, and now he will have an amendment on the floor that will capture the issues that will enable America's farmers to fuel America's independence. Let me also say Mr. Rangel, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, did great service in how we go forward from the standpoint of his committee.

One of the -- I don't remember if we have it here, but what you should see is what the CBO put out about how lower income people will benefit from this bill. They will not have any increase in their cost.

So I am very proud of the bill. I think it takes us in the direction we want to go. It is in unity, and I'm so pleased that we have the strong support of the environmental community for it.

Q: With respect, Madam Speaker, you answered the question sort of in a way with Mr. Peterson and Mr. Rangel and all of the different factions that you brought together, which was sort of a House of Representatives answer. My question was an environment and more of a scientific question. Are you satisfied that...

Speaker Pelosi. Yes, yes.

Q:...with the concessions that you made the bill is the best you could have done for the environment?

Speaker Pelosi. Yes. And let me say this: it gives me another opportunity to put this in a context of which I'm very proud. You have to look at this as a piece of what we have done since we came in in January. We passed the Recovery Act, which had record investments in science and technology as related to energy, and otherwise, but as related to energy, a strong commitment to the grid. We took big steps there on the environment and the energy issue.

Same thing in our omnibus bill, it has provisions. The budget has the energy issue as one of its key pillars for turning the economy around. This is an environmental bill to reduce emissions, and it will. It is a health bill to reduce pollution, and it will. It is an economic issue -- as I said, it will create jobs. It is in our national security interest to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. As I said, it's a moral issue to preserve our planet. This bill accomplishes all of those things. And the reason it will help the environment is because it will work; it will work.

Q: Madam Speaker, what do you think the chances are this year for comprehensive immigration reform? How do you see the road map from here?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, you know there is a meeting at the White House today on immigration, and I am very pleased that the White House is focusing on that. We had been ready for a long time, and we've had our principles established of securing our border, enforcing our laws, unifying families, and having a path to legalization for people who are in this country. The plan has always been for the Senate to go first, and Senator Reid has made positive statements about the prospect for that. So I am encouraged by that, but we are ready any time.

Q: Some, like Republican Lincoln Diaz Balart, said that he believes they can get a compromise in the House to get the votes into passage, but he says the issue is, will you commit on bringing the immigration reform to the floor for a debate, would you set a date?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, I said that the Senate will go first, and that's what we have done. We are ready to have this debate. We are interested in what will happen at the White House today. We think that this is important that the President has called this meeting. It is one in another series. He had the health summit, the economic summit, the auto summit, now we're having immigration. I don't know if we'll call this a summit, but a meeting at the White House. I don't know if he called all the others a summit either. But we are ready to go. I hope that Congressman Diaz Balart -- I don't know if you were talking about Lincoln or Mario?

Q: Lincoln.

Speaker Pelosi. Lincoln will encourage many Republicans to join him in his enthusiasm for immigration.

Q: How committed are you to allowing reform to be debated on the floor?

Speaker Pelosi. I'm sorry?

Q: How committed are you to...

Speaker Pelosi. Oh, absolutely. This to me is who we are as a country. Immigration has been a constant reinvigoration of America. Every person who comes here with their aspirations for a better future for their family, that commitment of making the future better for the next generation is a very American idea. So all of them who come with their enthusiasm for the future make America more American. I'm very excited.

Q: How would you compare the effort you and the leadership team have had to go through on this big energy bill and probably even the bigger health care bill in the difficulty and the outside mobilization and the opposition you've encountered?

Speaker Pelosi. How do I compare the two?

Q: Yes.

Speaker Pelosi. Oh, the legislative process is a dynamic one and it is what we came here to do, and it is frankly what we enjoy. It is listening to people to hear what their concerns are. Everyone agrees that we must have a healthier America. Now how do we get from here to there? The efforts are approximately the same. It's about the substance, it's about the inside maneuvering, it is about the outside mobilization, it's about listening to people to hear what their concerns are. And many ideas frankly are improvements on what others may have thought and they will improve the legislation, to work closely with the White House on two of the President's top priorities.

In the budget there are three priorities, energy, education, health care, under the framework of reducing the deficit, creating jobs, and lowering taxes. As we do that we are going forward now, this month and next, on energy and health care.

Education will be in the mix as well.

So they are all challenging because we want the best possible product, but we also want the most consensus, which is essential for us not only to pass the bill, but for it to do the job that it sets out to do. Health care reform must work. Energy reform must work.

That's it. Thank you.

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