the democrat from texas and hakeem jeffries from new york. january 6, views from the house on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more, including -- ♪ >> midco supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> now, house speaker nancy pelosi holds her weekly news conference to discuss the

party's legislative priorities. she pays tribute to richard trumka at the top of her remarks . she also touches on the july jobs report, infrastructure, and budget reconciliation bills, covid-19 vaccine mandates, and of the eviction moratorium. this is just under half an hour. rep. pelosi: good morning. it is with great sadness i begin this coming together with the tribute to richard trumka, a great hero for american working families. we got the news yesterday that as he was with his family camping, what a sad occasion,

but also a beautiful way to pass on from this version of life. richard trumka was always thinking about the workers. always thinking about the workers. what can we do to give some certainty to their lives? good paying jobs, benefits, working conditions, and the rest. he also carried his values into other areas of public policy, recognizing respect and dignity of every person. we used to say the middle class is the back and about democracy. we always have to work to strengthen it. to enable people to aspire to become part of the middle class,

and the middle class has a union label on it. many of our members have called me about naming the pro act in honor of richard trumka. that would be very, very appropriate, because it is about the rights of america's workers. sadly, i remember richard at this time, but also his legacy is something that will continue to inspire us for a very long time. i know he would be pleased that yesterday congress and the country, we were heartbroken that he was leaving us. we have 943,000 jobs created, decisive proof that the biden administration and the democrats' build back better economy is working.

under the biden-harris administration the democratic majority in congress, we have seen millions of good paying jobs. 5.4%, the lowest covid unemployment rate. the lowest unemployment rate. unemployment at a pandemic low. the economy growing at the fastest rate in over 40 years. the share of americans living in poverty set to reach the lowest level on record. now we must retain this growth, and we have other things to do. the senate is acting on some legislation. we will continue that work when they are finished with theirs. when we talk about america's working families, i want to commend the president of the united states for his courageous and informed action on extending the eviction moratorium. so that the funds can come

through, renters can be saved and landlords can be paid. tuesday was a great day of relief for families facing imminent eviction. can you imagine? families on the streets? baby cribs, personal belongings on the street while people had to find another place to live. children might have to find another school. thank you, mr. president for the courage and initiative you took to extend the moratorium. i want to commend the my members, maxine waters, who actually initiated this early on in legislation, the eviction moratorium, as well as funding for tenants and landlords. she and our colleague cori bush were urging congress to take action, and they are giving visibility to the issue, which

is very important. i am a grassroots organizer. i always say, thank you for what you are doing, thank you maxine, thank you cori. we can only do so much from a maneuvering standpoint in congress. the outside mobilization and expansion of the message is essential. it was very clear the senate was not going to take any action. we needed presidential moratorium. thank you, mr. president. now our members in the district are shining a bright light of transparency on whatever entities there are to release the funds and let people know how to reach out for the funds. what we are hearing are some people don't know they are eligible. as with most benefits you have to do outreach.

we would have $46 billion allocated to this and only $3 billion spent. some has picked up the pace in the last week, but that is what we have prepared numbers four and they are tasked to do -- prepared members for, and they are tasked to do, and they are having some success because of the public visibility. members are there to get the money out. senate members will be back as we have legislation to act upon coming over from the senate. you watch, as you do, the timing and action taken there and look forward to acting upon. what we are also doing as the senate is acting upon that, our members have been working and today will be releasing a report

on the voting rights act, the john lewis voting rights act. today, august 6, is the anniversary of president lyndon johnson signing the voting rights act. in north carolina, they will be reducing their report on the necessary hearings that were there to make sure this legislation will be constitutionally ironclad when we go forward. they will be doing the report with the message that the committees of jurisdiction will be preparing a bill for us to vote on very soon honoring john lewis. again, this is all about passing the for the people act, we call it hr one, they call it sr one

in the senate. we hope that can be done as soon as legislatively possible. we had to do that in a way that could withstand a court challenge, and that took more time on the john lewis bill, though john lewis wrote the first 300 pages of sr one. his guidance, his commitment, and much of our legislation. our work to protect our democracy continues with the select committee to investigate january 6. this week we learned it is up to five officers who defended the micro c on january 6 have died. -- defended democracy on january 6 have died. the bill we sent to the senate was passed by the senate so the president of the united states could sign it. he and the vice president spoke so beautifully and powerfully

about the debt we owe our capitol police. they are heroes to us and we are very sad about those who have lost their lives, those who have risked their lives, and those who have ongoing effects of trauma, and physically as well. again, we are very pleased to never forget brian sicknick. his mother was there. the president acknowledged his father had been the sergeant and arms at the capitol years ago. these are martyrs of democracy. they are heroes.

i want to acknowledge the heroism of the firefighters in the fires in the west and all of them. i have said of our firefighters they are our nobility. they know they are going to be in danger going to try to contain and put out these fires. it is again a very strong manifestation of the climate crisis that we are engaged in, and hopefully -- fortunately, right now in terms of the fire in california, there hasn't been any deaths. we hope that will obviously prevail for sure. we hope and pray that is the case. again, we have to face the reality of science. science tells us. if science is telling us to take a vaccine or if science is telling us to change the

behavior that is intensifying the climate crisis. it is a public health issue. the air our children breathe, the water they drink, in every way. it is an economic issue for us to be preeminent first in the world and all of the green technology. it is a defense issue, ensuring leaders and national security experts tell us the migration and other impacts of drought, famine, and the rest, rising sea levels, the encroachment of desert, the drying up of rivers, all of it has a security element to it. house, jobs, security, morality. if you believe as i that this is god's creation we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of it. even if you don't believe that

we understand our responsibility to the next generation to keep this planet safe as we pass it on to them. time is running out, and we have have action taken, which has been resisted by some in the congress and the most recent president of the united states. we have an enemy in our midst. it is called covid, and all of its variant friends. don't let me hope. i think the most eloquent voices on this subject are the ones in the public arena who are saying i resisted, i'm sorry, i urge you to get, take -- the virus, the vaccination. you see on tv they are in

hospitals on ventilator saying i resisted, i regret it, i'm sorry , i urge you to get vaccinated. again, most eloquent voices. but we all have to be a strong voice in heating the science that -- heeding the science, whether it is mask wearing or other public health recommendations. with that done i just want to say -- again, i'm going to come back to richard trumka, a dear friend of all of working people in our country. our synthes go to his family and i thank them -- our sympathies go out to his family and i think them for sharing him with us and america's workers. >> what is your reaction to representative bush's strategy,

and would you encourage members of congress to use this tactic moving forward? rep. pelosi: mobilation on the outside is important. hydrate. being the mom i am, hydrate. my disagreement was we are not calling the members back. the senate is not going to do it. we wanted our energies focused on the administration, extending the moratorium. the value of what she did, and as a grassroots organizer myself, public awareness is important. president lincoln said public sentiment is everything. with it you can accomplish almost anything, without it,

practically nothing. for public sentiment to prevail, people have to know. that was a way for people to know. i was glad for the end she came around to say we need an exception to the moratorium. there was a thought, let's go to the floor and lose. i don't go to the floor and loose. especially when the republicans on the others would resist. i was proud of the president because he had the confidence and new what he had to do, and had the courtesy of listening to other voices to find a way. that is what joe biden is all about. this is a tribute to his confidence and humility, if that is the word to use, to listen to every view, bringing the judgment he has.

people will do what they do, and about one time per week i have a call with grassroots organizers telling them thank you for your mobilizing, making the issue better known. that is part of our system, so i think her and i think -- i thank her and i thank the president of the united states. reporter: should the house be prepared to come back from recess to take up infrastructure? can you explain the reasoning of wanting to hold onto the bipartisan bill until the reconciliation package is passed to the american people who look at this and save the bipartisan bill gets through it would be a win for democrats and republicans, why not pass it right away? rep. pelosi: no. this is build back better. the president has a vision, and we share that vision. it is about building back

better. whatever you can achieve in a bipartisan way we salute it, we applaud it, we hope it will pass soon. at the same time we are not going forward with leaving people behind. that is why the physical infrastructure of our country gets a d in some places and a c- in -- in -- and a c- in others from engineers. we cannot be in the past. we have to go into the future to build back better, not only the physical infrastructure but the physical infrastructure so that you build back better with women. you have child care. and dads need childcare too, but overwhelmingly women in the workforce with home health care

workers respected so they can leave home knowing the child or person with a disability or older person is cured for. -- cared for. universal pre-k, family and medical leave. we have to cross a threshold understanding how we can participate in the economic success of our country.all we will get them done together. those on the others do not support the child tax credit, childcare, family medical leave and the rest, we will do that and have a full package at the end. >> the house could come back early to take up infrastructure? the house be called back early from recess to take up infrastructure? rep. pelosi: did you not hear what i said? >> i was just looking for an answer. rep. pelosi: you asked me if

they would be called back to pass infrastructure? >> if both are passed in the senate. rep. pelosi: let's see what happens. right now -- i don't know if i ever comment on what the senate is doing except when they say no. they said they were going to say no to the moratorium. i did say we would do this when we can do it all. reporter: house democrats have called for the capital physician to implement a vaccine or testing mandate for the staff. you previously said numbers cannot be compelled to get vaccinated because it is a matter of privacy and you cannot know who is or is not vaccinated. do you still hold that belief and you see merit in a vaccine or test mandate? rep. pelosi: what i said was we are guided and have to be guided by the guidance of the capital

physician. he has made those contentions. when weighing the equities takes us to a different place i'm sure he will tell us will stop in a matter of days or weeks, full approval will be given to the vaccines, and that i think will make a difference in terms of what we can do. sadly, one of our colleagues who is suing me for making people wear masks, which the district of columbia says we have to do inside, he sadly has been diagnosed. reporter: the polling done last week said if the midterms were now democrats would lose the house. i wonder how concerning that is and if you think that is a question of politics, messaging, or if you are not concerned at all? rep. pelosi: i have no comment

about my colleagues except to say a great chair of the dccc, sean patrick maloney of the state of new york, and again you never run from the best case scenario. there are several scenarios. that was one of them, and i think that is a safe place to run from. >> is there anything in what was presented that would change your approach or how you want your members to talk about the work they are doing? rep. pelosi: members are individuals and they run in their own districts. we do have when we won in 2018, we had a message developed by the members for the people. we will lower the cost of health care by lowering the cost of prescription drugs. we will increase paychecks by building infrastructure of america in a green way, and

we will have cleaner government by making clear it is an end to big, dark, special interest money and empowering the grassroots. lower health care costs, bigger paychecks, cleaner government. our members will develop the message. on the other hand they have their own connections to their own districts. we always want to be cautious, and i spent a good deal of time on the political side of things being the former chair of the california democratic party understanding the grassroots, understanding how that mobilization is fueled by message, by inspiration, and has to have the resources, but nothing is as important as the candidate himself or herself putting their own authenticity out there.

i am very confident we will win the house. in terms of this specific word he was zeroing in on, always run scared. >> one question if i can -- >> there is more live programming coming up with u.s. air force chief of staff general charles brown speaking at a national press club newsmakers event at 2:00 p.m. eastern online at c-span.org. listen with the free c-span radio app. the u.s. senate is not in session today to allow lawmakers to travel to wyoming for the funeral of their former colleague mike enzi.

senators spent the week working on a bipartisan infrastructure bill with many amendments getting debate and votes. the senate is set for a second consecutive weekend session beginning 11:00 a.m. eastern saturday to work on the proposed bill. as always, follow the senate live on c-span2. sunday, c-span's series january 6: views from the house continues. three more members of congress share stories of what they saw, heard, and experienced that day, including ronny jackson, who recounts what happened during those early moments on the house floor. >> i don't know how far we got into it. i feel there were five people or so who were speaking, alternating back and forth. and people oc was at the podium overseeing it all. at some point they pulled her

away and someone came in to replace her. i did not really pick up on that. sometimes that happens anyway. that didn't really catch my attention, but what did catch my attention is shortly after that capitol police coming into the chamber. what was odd is they were being very loud. we were debating and they were making a lot of commotion. the doors to the chambers are typically open and they were shutting all the doors, you could hear the doors, boom, boom, boom, you could hear them locking, click, click, click. you could hear all the doors locking. then i noticed several were standing in front of the doors with their weapons out. i was like, what is going on? >> this week you will hear from from democrats colin allred of texas and hakeem jeffries from new york. january 6, views from the house sunday 10:00 p.m. eastern on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on

the c-span radio app. ♪ >>