| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
|
unidentified
|
Attaching the disaster relief and the debt limit was seen as a tap to bipartisanship, but Democrats say that's unacceptable. | |
| So if that's not a path to a bipartisan vote on the debt limit, then what do you think would be as the next step? | ||
| Stay tuned on that. | ||
| I mean, this is one of the things we're working on. | ||
| I'm not sure there's consensus on the Republican side on that either. | ||
| It's one of the ideas that are out there. | ||
| We don't want to play games in any way. | ||
| This is not politics. | ||
| We need sound public policy, and we need states to follow common sense. | ||
| They've not done that in many respects in California, and I won't litigate all that here this morning, but there'll be a lot said about that in the days ahead. | ||
| I saw the LA Times retracted its endorsement of the mayor of Los Angeles, and they noted in their paper that, gee whiz, you know, competency actually is really important when you're electing local officials. | ||
| Welcome to reality. | ||
| You know, I think this is a conversation that a lot of Americans are going to be having, and I think they're going to demand of Congress real safeguards, real accountability when we send out disaster relief. | ||
| So we'll see where all that lands. | ||
| I'm just telling you that this is a, we're going to look at this very honestly, and it's not political. | ||
| We have to do the right thing for the people at a time when our fiscal house needs to be made back in order. | ||
| We'll get back to y'all soon. | ||
|
unidentified
|
House Democratic leadership also spoke about the California wildfires and Speaker Johnson's comments about putting conditions on aid to the state. | |
| Members also commented on the transgender athlete bill that passed the U.S. House. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| Grateful to be joined by Representatives Ansari, Olszewski, and Rivas, new members to the 119th Congress, and so pleased to have them playing leadership roles here in the Congress in the Democratic caucus, and always joined by Vice Chair, Ted Liu, as well. | ||
| And we want to start by expressing our prayers from the entire Democratic caucus to the people of Los Angeles County and Southern California for what they are going through today. | ||
| I know the Vice Chair will expand on this and whose office has been affected by the destruction. | ||
| But we are thinking about our friends and colleagues, coworkers and employees and loved ones out there. | ||
| We saw the this is going to take an unprecedented amount of rebuilding. | ||
| People have lost everything. | ||
| They've lost loved ones. | ||
| They've lost their churches. | ||
| They've lost heirlooms and wedding photos. | ||
| The depth of this is so hard to comprehend. | ||
| House Democrats are ready to be a resource that California needs to get back to a stronger position than where we were before. | ||
| And we're prepared to work around the clock in a bipartisan way to make sure that we meet the needs of the public. | ||
| Just a reminder that natural disasters and these events, they're not Republican disasters and Democratic disasters. | ||
| These are disasters that have affected the entire country. | ||
| And we will work together to ensure that we drive the resources necessary to help the rebuilding effort that Southern California needs. | ||
| This is not a time for partisanship or division. | ||
| It's a time to come together. | ||
| I'll yield to Vice Chair Ted Liu. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. | |
| And let me first say that my prayer is also with those affected by the fires. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The northern part of my district was evacuated, but the two districts that are hit the hardest are Brad Sherman's and Judy Chu's. | |
| I'm going to give you an update on the fires and talk about three things. | ||
| The first is why did these fires explode and why are they so hard to contain? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Second, what the response has been. | |
| And then third, some items to think about going forward. | ||
| So in terms of what caused these fires to spread so quickly, we had a number of factors. | ||
|
unidentified
|
There was drought-like conditions in Southern California for a number of months. | |
| We had very low humidity. | ||
| And then the Santa Ana winds, this phenomenon of high winds, hit us. | ||
| We've had Santa Ana winds in the past, but never at this scale, up to 100 miles per hour. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So I want you to think about a hurricane with fire in it. | |
| And that's what a number of these communities experience. | ||
| And these winds can blow these burning embers for miles and miles and miles that then set structures on fire. | ||
| So overall, there's a lot of wildfires happening. | ||
| There are two main ones, the Palisades fire, mostly in Brad Sherman's district, the Eden fire, mostly in GD Chu's district. | ||
|
unidentified
|
About 41,000 acres have burned. | |
| Washington, D.C. itself is about 43,000 acres per perspective. | ||
| Over 12,000 structures have been destroyed, at least 23 people confirmed dead. | ||
| The response has been overwhelming. | ||
| Over 15,000 personnel fighting these fires from multiple states and multiple countries, nearly 1,500 fire engines, over 80 aircraft, and FEMA is on site providing assistance to people who need disaster aid. | ||
| So going forward, we have to think about climate change. | ||
| It is causing more extreme weather events, not just in California, but across America. | ||
| California had these atmospheric rivers causing huge flooding last year, and now we have these wildfires. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And second, I just want to say it is outrageous for Speaker Johnson to try to tie conditions onto this disaster relief or to tie disaster aid to unrelated concepts like the debt ceiling. | |
| We should not be leveraging the pain and suffering of our fellow Americans to try to force through policy changes. | ||
| And when Mother Nature strikes, she doesn't care about party affiliation. | ||
| At the end of the day, we are all Americans. | ||
| It's now my great honor to introduce to you the freshman class president, Yasemin Ansari, from Phoenix. | ||
| Prior to this, she was a vice mayor of Phoenix, and she served on the city council of Phoenix. | ||
| And she's also the first Democratic Iranian American ever to serve the United States Congress. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you, Vice Chair Liu. | ||
| Hello, everyone. | ||
| My name is Yasimin Ansari. | ||
| I'm humbled to be Arizona's newest congresswoman. | ||
| Today, it is my honor to join colleagues here in my role as Freshman Class. | ||
| President, first, let me say my thoughts are with the Californians lost, displaced, and harmed by the devastating wildfires. | ||
| My state is no stranger to this uniquely painful natural disaster. | ||
| I feel your loss, and I extend my deepest sympathies. | ||
| Climate change is undoubtedly one of the defining issues of our generation and one that I have spent my entire professional career working on. | ||
| As the youngest woman in the 119th Congress, I intend to work with my colleagues in the caucus, especially those from California, to ensure that we are passing legislation that invests in the continued sustainable future of the Southwest. | ||
| Our region is growing faster than we can keep up with, and we need to work together to ensure our constituents have a viable future. | ||
| I worked on the Paris Climate Accords to do just that, and I'm looking forward to expanding on that work here in Congress. | ||
| Democrats are focused on getting things done as we enter the 119th Congress. | ||
| We have real policies and plans to lower prices for American families from groceries to housing to childcare. | ||
| We're listening to the people in our districts, and we know that they are struggling to make ends meet. | ||
| As freshman class president, I'm committed to working with my class to introduce and move bills that will actually make life easier for the people that we represent. | ||
| I'm so proud our class is incredibly diverse and impressive. | ||
| I'm proud to serve alongside civil rights leaders, veteran legislators, scientists, doctors, former educators, business leaders, and people whose personal stories truly reflect the American people. | ||
| We have the opportunity to create a powerful collective in Congress. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| I'm excited for many more of these, and now I will yield to Representative Olszewski. | ||
| Well, thank you, Representative Ansari, and good morning to everyone. | ||
| I'll start just by echoing the sentiments around the California wildfires and say, as a representative of the Baltimore region, how grateful I am that Congress, without hesitation, moved and acted to respond to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, which was our own tragedy of no one's causing or doing. | ||
| And so I stand by my colleagues in that work. | ||
| I'm thrilled to be here alongside our chairman, Chairman Aguilar, as well as Vice Chair Lou, exceptional leaders of the freshman class with Representatives Ansari and Rivas as we provide updates. | ||
| I'll just echo Representative Ansari's sentiments about our class. | ||
| We are not just big in size, one of the largest in history, in fact, but also we're big in ideas and we're big in energy. | ||
| We have extremely talented members that come from all walks of life, and of course we bring that experience to the work before us. | ||
| The priorities of this class are the priorities of the American people. | ||
| We want to GSD get stuff done. | ||
| And we're ready to work together with fellow Democrats to pass common sense legislation that improves the lives of our constituents, whether that's making health care more accessible and affordable, especially for women, or protecting our environment and our social safety nets. | ||
| We're also ready to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, too. | ||
| There is plenty of opportunity to find common ground. | ||
| We can compromise without compromising our values. | ||
| Unfortunately, Republican leadership has not included Democratic freshmen, or for that matter, any Democratic members, in discussions on the bills we've taken action on to date. | ||
| There have been no bill hearings, no markups, nothing to address our shared goals of lowering the cost of living, creating job opportunities, or even physical security at the border. | ||
| So I'll just end by saying this: we cannot make truly bipartisan progress by circumventing the process. | ||
| Process matters. | ||
| We have to talk to and engage with each other from start to finish. | ||
| And so, despite these initial votes, I remain cautiously optimistic that we can do just that. | ||
| The freshman class is ready to be at the table, especially now that we have our committee assignments. | ||
| We're ready to get to work together. | ||
| And now, I'm happy to turn things over to my friend, Congressman Luce Rivas, another barrier breaker in her own right, as the first Latina to represent her district in California, Representative Rivas. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| So, thank you, Chair Aguilar and Vice Chair Liu, for having me here today, along with my fellow freshmen, colleagues, Representatives Ansari and Olszewski. | ||
| As freshman leadership representative to our freshman class, my job is to ensure that our 33-person House Democratic freshman class is represented. | ||
| Our freshman class brings strength and diversity from across the nation, a diversity of work experiences, from local and state governments to physicians, to small business owners, to engineers, a diversity of backgrounds from urban, rural, red states, and blue states. | ||
| This diversity will allow us as a caucus to work on comprehensive solutions to keep living costs down and improve people's lives. | ||
| We will use our experiences to protect affordable health care, keep Medicare and Medicaid benefits intact, uphold our investments in clean energy jobs, feed our children, and make college affordable for all. | ||
| We have a duty to work together and across the aisle to make life better for the American people. | ||
| As a member that represents the city of Los Angeles, I can't start without thanking the firefighters and first responders from across the country who have been working nonstop to put out the fires in Southern California. | ||
| Our hearts go out to those who lost their lives and livelihoods, as well as those who continue to be threatened by this disaster. | ||
| The toughness and resiliency that the nation saw this past week in Los Angeles that so many of us know, and it makes us proud to be from Los Angeles. | ||
| Over the past week, I visited evacuation centers in my district and across the county, burn sites, command posts, to learn about the coordination across the state, local, and federal levels in fighting the fires. | ||
| You know, what I saw at each community members, I saw community members coming together to help their neighbors through a tough time. | ||
| I have many friends that have lost their homes, that have lost everything. | ||
| Every day I learn about someone I personally know that no longer has a home in Los Angeles. | ||
| Constituents who evacuated and were unsure if their home was still standing called my office and asked how they could help their neighbors. | ||
| And now I'm hearing accounts that shelters are full with donations, you know, showing how much those of us from Los Angeles care about our friends and family. | ||
| This is what LA is about, and it is what my California congressional delegation colleagues on both sides of the aisle know to be true. | ||
| I want to thank President Biden for issuing a major declaration disaster so that our constituents can immediately access the federal resources that they need to recover. | ||
| It's crucial that we continue to work together to make sure federal aid without any conditions and resources are delivered quickly to the people that need it the most. | ||
| This isn't about party or politics. | ||
| It's about getting our constituents the resources that they need to rebuild their lives in the wake of this disaster. | ||
| Thank you and I yield back to Chairman Aguilar. | ||
| Thanks, Louis. | ||
| Thank you, Representative Rivas. | ||
| Appreciate my colleagues joining us here today. | ||
| Questions? | ||
| Joe, appreciate you auditing this course and joining us here. | ||
|
unidentified
|
What specific conditions have Republicans asked for for you? | |
| And would you ever consider asking for conditions the next time there's a disaster in Florida or Texas or Louisiana? | ||
| Obviously, I mean, we have a pretty robust track record when it comes to disaster assistance and emergency supplementals, you know, the terms we throw around here when it comes to disasters, whether it was Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane, you know, Sandy in years past. | ||
| Democrats, even when we had United control, never asked red states or Republicans for anything. | ||
| We prioritized helping people. | ||
| We prioritized funding the disaster relief fund so people could get the assistance that they need. | ||
| We prioritized community development block grant funding for disaster recovery that was specific to those who have gone through events like this, whether that was Louisiana or Hawaii and Maui or New York or the Carolinas. | ||
| It would never cross our mind to add conditions. | ||
| And that's why it's unconscionable that Speaker Johnson would raise this issue. | ||
| But let's separate this because what Speaker Johnson is doing, he does not have the votes to raise the debt limit. | ||
| So he is trying to do everything he can so Donald Trump can have a victory, so billionaires and the largest corporations can continue to enjoy tax treatment that they want to the tune of a couple trillion dollars. | ||
| In order to do that, they have to raise the debt limit. | ||
| He does not have the votes for that. | ||
| And so that's why he is joining these two. | ||
| And we expect them to talk about a lot of issues that they could address if the debt limit was raised. | ||
| The important piece, as the Vice Chair noted, these disasters don't have red and blue ties on it when they come into our communities. | ||
| We just need to provide the aid and the insistence so people can recover and get back to some sense of normalcy. | ||
| Michael? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Mr. President. | |
| Last night, or a little after midnight, Mayor Conway released Jack Smith's report on the January 6th investigation into President-elect Trump. | ||
| The report said that had President Trump not been elected and if he wasn't coming into office next week, that he probably would, that Jack Smith was confident that he would have been convicted and that the DOJ would be able to sustain that conviction. | ||
| I wanted to get your thoughts. | ||
| Have you been able to see any of the report yet? | ||
| What are your thoughts on the fact that he may have been convicted had the election not gone the way they went? | ||
| I appreciate that this is now public. | ||
| I look forward to reading it. | ||
| I have not to date read that specific piece. | ||
| But as you know, the January 6th Committee talked about election interference. | ||
| We talked about the fake electors scam at length. | ||
| So I'm familiar with the topic and familiar with some of the testimony that they took. | ||
| Jack Smith and the Department of Justice had access to more grand jury transcripts and information than the January 6th Committee did. | ||
| But the facts remain that President Trump, President Trump intimately, was a part of the election interference, having fake electors, and trying to thwart a peaceful transfer of power. | ||
| And so that is part of the public narrative. | ||
| I mean, those are the facts. | ||
| What the January 6th Committee did is we raised those facts and put them in a report that the former president and coming president is not happy with. | ||
| But the facts are not changed. | ||
| And we saw this. | ||
| The public saw this as we reported it in real time and as we reported it after the event through our committee. | ||
| And now the public will have a more thorough report as a result of Jack Smith's documents being released. | ||
| And I think all of the documents should be released. | ||
| I've said this publicly. | ||
| Mike Pence's transcript to the grand jury should be released. | ||
| The other part of the special counsel's report should be released on the classified documents. | ||
| All of that should be released in advance of Monday. | ||
| The American public deserve to see exactly who Donald Trump is. | ||
| I respect that he was elected, but the American public deserves a higher level of visibility into his role in those events. | ||
| Scott? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Chairman, on page 112 of that report, you will see that Jack Smith emphasizes the menacing harassment and threats people get for defying Trump, for being part of the investigation. | |
| Are you concerned about retribution and safety? | ||
| Yeah, the January 6th Committee, I mean, our members, you know, it was just such an honor to be part of that group of public servants. | ||
| But that is a group that is not going to be intimidated by Donald Trump. | ||
| We know exactly who he is. | ||
| We took the testimony from folks who shared a lot of those same beliefs, being yelled at and screamed at by the former president. | ||
| The threats and the intimidation is not something that scares us. | ||
| We stand by the work product. | ||
| We stand by the work that we did. | ||
| We stand by our ability to have a fair process and open process where we gathered facts and presented them to the public and then preserved everything for the public to look at. | ||
| Footnotes and transcripts is all in the public record. | ||
| And so we stand by our important work and aren't going to be intimidated by the prior and incoming president. | ||
| Nick, and then. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I want to ask about the reporting that members of the January 6th Select Committee discussed pardons for their work. | |
| Have you sought a pardon or would you be interested in one? | ||
| And do you think staff of that select committee should receive pardons? | ||
| Have not sought a pardon. | ||
| I have not talked to anyone in the White House related to a pardon. | ||
| I stand by the work that we did. | ||
| We didn't do anything wrong. | ||
| I don't think a pardon is necessary. | ||
| We committed to do a process together to shine light on exactly what happened on January 6th and the lead up and the president's role in thwarting a peaceful transfer of power. | ||
| That's exactly what we did, and we stand by that work product. | ||
| I'm not aware of any conversations with the White House related to that. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Chairman, you touched on this about there's been no debate, there's been no debate over any bills, but yet as part of the original rules which established the House procedures, it contained the Born Alive Survivors Protection Act along with 11 other bills. | |
| Just your reaction to that, the Republicans putting that in and not allowing for any sort of compromise, any sort of debate on the issues, and with them bringing up more pro-life measures in the future. | ||
| And this is pretty standard for the House Republican conference. | ||
| We've seen them run these plays in the past. | ||
| To Representative Olszewski's main point, none of these bills that they are advancing would lower the costs for the American public. | ||
| None of these bills are going to lower grocery costs, make housing more affordable. | ||
| That's the unfortunate part. | ||
| And it's a missed opportunity because the American public has said very clearly that they want us to work together to solve problems. | ||
| And none of the bills that they are proposing would do that. | ||
| What it has done, it has allowed them to buy some time. | ||
| I saw this morning that the speaker indicated that we're going to have a rules chair now. | ||
| That is an important part of how you govern and what is necessary in order to bring bills to the floor. | ||
| This might be the latest that we've ever seen a rules chair seated. | ||
| But what those bills did that you're mentioning is it allowed them to buy a little bit of time to bring these up without a rules committee in place. | ||
| So maybe that was the goal. | ||
| But either way, the result is the same. | ||
| The American public could get no help and support from the initial 12 bills that House Republicans are bringing. | ||
| Kessey. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Mr. Chair, there's been a lot of discussion over the last several days about these proposed conditions that are a mystery as to what they might be besides raising the debt limit. | |
| But there is a question to be asked here about whether or not Democrats are ready to reject a vote on aid if they do not find those conditions palatable. | ||
| Are Democrats having that discussion? | ||
| Are they prepared to vote against it if they don't believe the conditions are, you know, something that you guys can support? | ||
| We will not support conditions to disaster assistance. | ||
| We can have a lengthy debate and discussion and use the committee process to have discussions about the steps that California has taken to protect itself, whether that's doubling the fire professionals in California to record number of resources, billions of dollars, to clearing brush in a preventative way, or as the former president talks about, you know, raking the leaves. | ||
| You know, California has put the resources in to do that work. | ||
| It's a big state. | ||
| The federal government has a responsibility between the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management as well to be thoughtful partners. | ||
| And so we are not absolved of any of this, and we have a meaningful role to place. | ||
| House Democrats are willing to roll up our sleeves and to stay here as long as possible to have the conversations. | ||
| But at the end of the day, ultimately, this will mean disaster assistance, and that needs to be free from partisan conditions. | ||
| We did not put partisan conditions on Florida or Louisiana or the Carolinas when we offered aid. | ||
| Partisan conditions are not helpful and will distract from the help and more importantly delay the help that's necessary for the American public. | ||
|
unidentified
|
May I ask the question? | |
| Sure. | ||
| And then the Vice Chair. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So just a short while ago, the Speaker walked out of here and said that this is not partisan, that this is not politics, that they want to have safeguards, making sure that this money is used the way it's supposed to be used. | |
| But then he has members going out there and telling reporters that they need to get a pound of flesh for every dollar spent in California. | ||
| So, I mean, what do you make of his claims that this isn't partisan politics when he has members out there saying that? | ||
| The Speaker's comments and some of the members of Republican Cox's comments are outrageous. | ||
|
unidentified
|
When Mother Nature strikes, she doesn't go, hey, are you a Democrat or Republican? | |
| Because if you're a Democrat, I'm going to take your home and burn it. | ||
| And if you're a Republican, I'm not. | ||
| That's not what happened. | ||
| Republicans lost homes. | ||
| So did independents. | ||
| So did people who weren't voters, all sorts of Americans lost their homes. | ||
| And think how absurd it is to say, you know, we're not going to rebuild this post office because it's used by 60% Democrats and 40% Republicans. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We never do that. | |
| So when a tornado strikes and a red state or a flood happens and a red state or hurricane affects a red state, we don't go, oh, it's a red state. | ||
| We're not going to provide disaster relief. | ||
| So what the Republicans are doing is really, really outrageous. | ||
|
unidentified
|
We are the United States of America. | |
| It's 50 states. | ||
| And by the way, California provides more in taxes to the federal government than it gets back in services. | ||
| California is subsidizing a bunch of red states. | ||
| And so if you want to just look at the actual numbers, it is even more outrageous that somehow Speaker Johnson wants to publish Americans who happen to live in Southern California, including Republicans who happen to live in Southern California. | ||
| I'll yield briefly to Representative Rivas, who was a former state legislator as well, who dealt with these issues. | ||
| Thank you, Mr. Chair. | ||
| You know, the state of California has invested in wildfire mitigation efforts for years. | ||
| You know, but this weekend, you know, Chair Aguilar and I joined Congressmember Judy Chu for the destruction that the Eaton fire did in El Tadena. | ||
| And anyone that visits that, you just want disaster aid to be there immediately. | ||
| And, you know, Speaker Johnson has not visited California. | ||
| I think the members of the districts most affected would be happy to invite him to witness this destruction. | ||
| And from once you see it, you'll know that we need to send aid immediately, right? | ||
| There's people that have lost everything in parts of Los Angeles that will take long to recover. | ||
| They're scared. | ||
| Where are they going to live? | ||
| Do they still have to pay their mortgage payments? | ||
| Do they still have to pay utilities? | ||
| It's going to take years to rebuild these communities. | ||
| People lost their churches, their schools, their stores, their businesses. | ||
| There's people that lost both their business and their home. | ||
| We have to help the people in California rebuild and recover. | ||
| Representative Rivas and I stood at an intersection in Al Tedena and saw in between two churches that had been completely burned down. | ||
| I guess my question to the Speaker is: what do you tell those congregants? | ||
| What do you tell those community members who will see delays because of politicizing the disaster assistance? | ||
| That's unfair and it's wrong. | ||
| Last question back. | ||
|
unidentified
|
With Helming's detection of the Linux Realty Sports Act, what is particularly concerning Democrats office legislation? | |
| A couple things are concerning. | ||
| First, that we talked about before is that House Republican Conference decides to bring this up before they want to address economic issues, rising grocery prices, rising costs of living that Americans are facing. | ||
| We believe fundamentally in the fairness of sports. | ||
| Members of the House Democratic Caucus, some of them played Division I sports. | ||
| Many people have been shaped by being sports parents, and we kind of view it through that prism first. | ||
| But we cannot stand and allow politicizing kids' sports to be used as a political tool. | ||
| But to your question, what is most offensive about the legislation is that it doesn't distinguish girls' sports at what age. | ||
| It doesn't distinguish whether you're an Olympic athlete, an NCAA player, a high school sports player regulated by your state, or whether you're just playing soccer as a four-year-old or five-year-old down the street. | ||
| It potentially could lead to inspections, individuals raising concerns, and how you proceed with that is something that is concerning to the House Democratic caucus. | ||
| And so that's why we felt that this is the GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act, and this puts kids at risk. | ||
| Whether you play gymnastics, whether you play football, whether you're a wrestler, this puts you at risk. | ||
| Kids as young as four could be asked for personal inspections. | ||
| There is nothing in the bill that talks about parental consent of those inspections. | ||
| There's nothing in the bill that talks about at what level an inspection is necessary. | ||
| That is concerning. | ||
| That will be abused. | ||
| And that is overwhelmingly the position of House Democrats and why we have strong reservations about the legislation. | ||
| Look, being a kid, being a teenager in this world is pretty tough. | ||
| I can't speak to a trans athlete or someone who has that lived experience, but I can imagine it's incredibly tough for them. | ||
| And to subject them to a higher level of intimidation and scrutiny is something that is just flat out bullying. | ||
| And that's nothing that we can sign up for. | ||
| That's nothing that we can support. | ||
| And so those of us who oppose the bill are speaking up against that. | ||
| Many of this is regulated by the, much of this is regulated by the NCAA or by state organizations who guide these efforts. | ||
| By our count, it was 10 athletes in the NCAA who have been affected by this. | ||
| They have found a way to work through this. | ||
| 10 athletes out of 500,000 athletes. | ||
| That's the scope of what we're dealing with. | ||
| So a House Republican Conference would choose to have this conversation rather than something that is more expansive, that truly helps lower costs or make people's lives better. | ||
| That's what they've chosen. | ||
| That's what their leadership has chosen, and that says a lot about who they are. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Sweet. Yes. | |
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| This is Leo Shane. | ||
| He's deputy editor at Military Times here to talk about the confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth today. | ||
| Good morning. | ||
| Thanks for joining us. | ||
|
unidentified
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Oh, no problem. | |
| Going to be a busy day. | ||
| What's the focus? | ||
| What do you think senators are going to be most interested in today? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, it's going to be interesting. | |
| I think there's going to be two different hearings going on this morning. | ||
| One is going to be the Democrats really attacking Pete Hegseth and the Trump administration to a certain extent. | ||
| But we've heard from Democrats over the last few days just saying that Hagseth is woefully unqualified. | ||
| And I have Lori Trahan joining us, Democrat from Massachusetts. | ||
| She's the co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee. | ||
| She's also a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. | ||
| First time joining us on this program. | ||
| Thanks for joining us. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thanks for having me. | |
| You're looking at legislation later today, specifically looking at an aspect of the athlete world. | ||
| What is that legislation? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, it's titled Protecting Girls and Women in Sports. | |
| But, you know, there's, I wish what we were talking about are the issues that so many folks in my district want me to work on, which is reducing their out-of-pocket costs, making sure that they can afford to buy a home. | ||
| You know, this is an issue that Republicans have really latched on to and put real money behind in order to make an issue. | ||
| And the instances of transgender athletes playing in sports is just so rare. | ||
| So the fact that in their second week of power, House Republicans are choosing to prioritize this issue I think is something that I can't really explain to folks at home. | ||
| Is there a credible concern of transgender athletes playing in some elite sports or competitive sports? | ||
| Yes, but we have sports governing agencies who govern fairness and safety and ensure that. | ||
| We saw that this past summer in the Paris Olympic Games where sports organizations have updated their rules in swimming and boxing and track and field and so many other sports. | ||
| So this is, I think what I'm really concerned about is the consequences of this legislation because it's essentially a federal takeover of all sports at all levels. | ||
| And the consequences are dangerous for my young daughters, right, who play sports because if any creep wanted to question whether they were in fact a female, my daughters would be subject to an invasive line of questioning or worse, you know, an inspection by a stranger, an adult. | ||
| This is alarming. | ||
| And so, you know, we'll have a debate this afternoon on the legislation, which I intend to be a part of. | ||
| You know, I'm the only woman who played Division I sports in college, and so I think that, you know, it's important that we don't overreach as a federal government. | ||
| I don't think Washington politicians should be deciding who in our country gets to play sports and who doesn't. | ||
| Just offer the act, if it were to go into law, it would amend Title IX. | ||
| That's the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in schools and education. | ||
| It would prohibit schools from allowing transgender female athletes to participate in an athletic program or activity, quote, that is designated for women or girls. | ||
| And then it would also define sex as, quote, based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth. | ||
| What's wrong with those approaches specifically? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, I think in large part, there's no distinction between any level of sport. | |
| So basically, what they're doing is they're treating a college athlete, which, mind you, there are 10 transgender college athletes out of the 510,000 who participate in intercollegiate athletics today. | ||
| So this is just a, you know, this is just a very narrow issue to focus on in your second week of Congress. | ||
| But it would treat those athletes the same as it would a 10-year-old girl who wants to play soccer on the weekends with her friends. | ||
| You know, surely we can do better. | ||
| I don't think that there's, I don't think that this is a place where Washington politicians, some of whom have never played competitive sports, and they're really using it for attention-grabbing headlines and creating fear versus the sports governing agencies, which we have on the state level, which we have on our national level, certainly international governance as well. | ||
| So, I mean, this is just one of those issues where Congress should not interfere with these agencies, these governing agencies, which, by the way, are comprised of experts. | ||
| You know, some of these rules that have been updated have been done by people who have played these sports themselves in conjunction with scientists, with athletic federations, and with human rights organizations, because they have to get it right. | ||
| And so, I think that is the path we want to continue down, not this one where we cause more damage and more harm to all girls. | ||
| Our guest with us until 9 o'clock. | ||
| And if you want to ask her questions, 202-748-8000 for Democrats, 202-748-8001 for Republicans, and Independents, 202-748-8002. | ||
| If you want to text us, you can do that at 202-748-8003. | ||
| You mentioned this, your background in college as an athlete. | ||
| Elaborate on that. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So, I played Division I volleyball at Georgetown. | |
| I was so fortunate to have that opportunity to play. | ||
| It sort of changed the trajectory of my life. | ||
| You know, I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck, and college was always a tense conversation. | ||
| But, you know, I love sports, worked hard. | ||
| You know, I grew in my high school years, which also helped. | ||
| And I was able to play the sport that I love for four years at a highly competitive level. | ||
| And I talk about sports at all a lot because we know the benefits of sports. | ||
| People learn teamwork. | ||
| You build confidence. | ||
| You learn resilience. | ||
| You develop lifelong friendships. | ||
| And so it's such an important aspect of our culture. | ||
| And it's one that I think really long and hard about, especially when it comes to fairness and safety. | ||
| I would much prefer Congress to be talking about Title IX and how we close some of the loopholes that prevent women from participating in college athletics. | ||
| I'd love for us to be talking about how women's sports has really taken off in the last 10 years. | ||
| And we've seen women starting to get compensated through their name, image, and likeness and have really nurtured an incredible following and a fan base. | ||
| That is something that has changed dramatically over my lifetime. | ||
| And it's something that my daughters get great pleasure in watching women play sports on their TV. | ||
| So I think that's the exciting part of women's sports, and that's what we should be celebrating. | ||
| Then the background, how does it inform them the arguments that you've probably heard that a male who identifies as a female shouldn't be playing in a female sport? | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, look, I am not going to invalidate the concerns of the few and the rare instances where a transgender athlete playing in college maybe transitioned after puberty, maybe has some physical advantages. | |
| That is a debate that we can have. | ||
| That is something that I know these sports governing agencies are looking at. | ||
| And they're really mindful of how to update their rules and regulations to ensure safety and fairness above all else. | ||
| What's being swept up with all of that is that this would ban all transgender athletes at all ages. | ||
| And so it is treating that college athlete the same as it would a 10-year-old who wants to play soccer with her friends on the weekends. | ||
| And I will just tell you, the more dangerous aspect of this is how they're going to implement it. | ||
| I mean, look, I have to leave my family every week and come to Washington, talk to them on FaceTime, talk to them on the phone. | ||
| Sometimes they are, you know, sort of describing to me their fears around doing these Alice drills in school in case there's a mass shooting. | ||
| I can't imagine also now having to talk to my daughter about somebody who needs to check to make sure they're in fact a girl. | ||
| Think about what we're opening ourselves up to for all parents, for all young girls to have to prove. | ||
| Anybody could lodge a complaint, an allegation. | ||
| Any creep could say, I don't believe you. | ||
| And now my 10-year-old has to endure an invasive line of questioning or worse, an inspection. | ||
| I mean, this just doesn't make sense, which is why Congress shouldn't be making decisions on this very topic. | ||
| Representative Laurie Trahan joining us for this conversation. | ||
| Let's start in Massachusetts. | ||
| This is Janet on our line for Democrats for our guests. | ||
| Janet, good morning. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
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Good morning, Pedro. | |
| Yes, I would like to point out a couple of things. | ||
| Number one is that when someone transgenders, it's the sexual component. | ||
| Of course, there's the hormonal, all of that, but they still have the bones of a man and a woman. | ||
| They still have the muscle mass. | ||
| I would love to see, this may be the solution, transgender leagues. | ||
| Let them play amongst themselves. | ||
| It's not fair for the women. | ||
| It's not fair for the men. | ||
| That's my take. | ||
| Janet of Massachusetts, thanks. | ||
|
unidentified
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Well, thank you, Janet. | |
| You know, look, I think the reason why we don't hear more about this and that people aren't coming up to me in the grocery store about acting on this issue with urgency is because it is so rare and most people don't even have an interaction or an experience, you know, with this. | ||
| And so, you know, one thing that we did see just this past summer was so many of these international sports agencies update their rules and regulation to ensure safety or to ensure, you know, fairness. | ||
| We saw that with the Paris Olympic Games. | ||
| So I do think that the work is already being done. | ||
| That's going to continue. | ||
| My argument is just let's entrust those decisions with the governing bodies that are set up and comprised of experts to continue that work, not give it to the hand, put it in the hands of politicians. | ||
| You hinted at this as a viewer off of X who asked the question, what laws already exist to protect? |