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Speaker Johnson Press Conference Following House Passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act
Speaker Johnson Press Conference Following House Passage of the Ratepayer Protection Act
Speaker Mike Johnson
4.9K views • 171 likes
1 month ago • 24:46 min
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Transcript
[06:27]
Well, hey everybody. Good evening. We
[06:29]
just finished voting on on several bills
[06:31]
that are really of critical importance
[06:32]
to the American people. We just voted on
[06:34]
the one of them was the rateayer
[06:36]
protection act and that ensures of
[06:38]
course that Americans will not fit foot
[06:40]
the bill for the buildout of data
[06:43]
centers or AI infrastructure anywhere in
[06:45]
their communities. And um you notice how
[06:47]
quiet Democrats are now that Republicans
[06:50]
are taking action on all this. We also
[06:51]
passed the Lindsey Graham sanctioning
[06:53]
Russia and Iran act. This strengthens
[06:56]
economic sanctions against Russia to put
[06:59]
maximum pressure on Vladimir Putin's war
[07:01]
machine. It's the most significant
[07:03]
international action taken so far to
[07:06]
bring the unjust war to an end over
[07:08]
there. The House has passed uh over 70
[07:11]
bills this week alone. That adds to our
[07:13]
our total large total over 900 bills
[07:16]
passed through the House so far this
[07:18]
Congress. Uh about 700 of them are are
[07:21]
parked in awaiting action in the Senate
[07:23]
right now. [snorts] And so the House is
[07:26]
uh done its job here. Uh we're on a 48
[07:28]
hour notice to return as necessary. So
[07:31]
we're very hopeful that our colleagues
[07:33]
in the Senate can send us uh bills of
[07:35]
substance over here so that we can
[07:37]
continue to to move that along through
[07:38]
the process and get bills to the
[07:40]
president's desk. Uh we're awaiting uh
[07:42]
that action. So, House Republicans are
[07:44]
going now back to our districts. Uh
[07:46]
we're going to make the case to the
[07:48]
American people on what we have
[07:49]
delivered on their behalf. The media uh
[07:51]
certainly doesn't do this for us. So,
[07:53]
we've got to go tell them the truth. And
[07:54]
that truth is is
[07:56]
>> [snorts]
[07:56]
>> uh has a huge impact when it's the
[07:58]
people are reminded of what we've done.
[08:00]
Just a quick summary, we gave the the
[08:02]
largest middle and working-class tax cut
[08:04]
in US history. We established Trump
[08:06]
accounts so that every American child
[08:09]
has a financial stake in the future of
[08:10]
this country. We implemented powerful
[08:12]
new incentives to build and hire
[08:14]
American.
[08:16]
That's the American first agenda. The
[08:18]
biggest boost to American businesses in
[08:19]
decades. And we're talking about
[08:21]
shipyards and plants and factories all
[08:24]
coming back home. They're bringing tens
[08:26]
of thousands of good paying jobs with
[08:27]
them. We restored safety and order to
[08:30]
our cities. violent crime, the the
[08:33]
murder rate, for example, has plummeted
[08:35]
to a 126-year low. We have far fewer
[08:38]
Americans dying from the scourge of
[08:40]
fentanel in our communities that had
[08:41]
flooded over the border under the Biden
[08:43]
Harris years and and onto our college
[08:45]
campuses and the streets of every
[08:47]
[snorts] so many towns in this country.
[08:49]
Last but not least, we closed the
[08:50]
border. Illegal crossings are at zero,
[08:53]
and they have been for over 15 months.
[08:55]
Cartels and criminals are going to jail
[08:57]
where they belong after four years of
[09:00]
absolute anarchy under Joe Biden's open
[09:02]
border policy. That is Republican's
[09:04]
proven agenda of results. And there's so
[09:06]
much more. And by the way, every
[09:08]
Democrat voted against everything I just
[09:10]
recounted for you. By contrast to all
[09:13]
this, the Democrat agenda is is very
[09:15]
simple. It is pure grievance politics.
[09:17]
political witch hunts and retribution.
[09:20]
Reversing the tax cuts, amnesty for
[09:23]
illegal aliens, reopening the borders,
[09:26]
and restoring taxpayer funded healthc
[09:28]
care for illegal aliens. That's their
[09:31]
entire agenda. And you don't have to
[09:33]
take our word for it. Just just look at
[09:35]
what they're doing. There's a preview.
[09:37]
You got a little of that this week. One
[09:40]
Democrat has already filed art articles
[09:41]
of impeachment and 146 Democrats voted
[09:44]
to proceed with it. Democrats are
[09:47]
running the most radical class of
[09:49]
candidates in the history of their
[09:50]
party. And as RFK Jr., as Bobby Kennedy
[09:54]
said at the uh Republican convention in
[09:56]
Dallas uh just last week, this is not
[09:59]
his father and his uncle JFK's Democrat
[10:02]
party anymore. It's a radical group.
[10:05]
This is the most radical class of
[10:06]
candidates ever. You've got Abdul Alied.
[10:08]
You've got Dory Liza Aila Shioalier. You
[10:12]
got William Lawrence and Mat Kirros.
[10:14]
just a small cross-section of the
[10:17]
cultural arsonists that Democrats have
[10:20]
nominated to serve in the US Congress.
[10:22]
They want to don't again don't take my
[10:24]
word for it. Look at what they published
[10:26]
in their platform. They want to abolish
[10:28]
the border. They want to abolish
[10:29]
prisons. They want to abolish the
[10:31]
Senate, destroy the Supreme Court,
[10:33]
destroy the nuclear family that they
[10:35]
have disdain for and embrace an ideology
[10:37]
that has been responsible for the deaths
[10:39]
of tens of millions of innocent people
[10:42]
in the 20th century alone.
[10:44]
If Democrats are successful in electing
[10:46]
all these radicals,
[10:48]
I'm going to be administering the oath
[10:50]
to actually to to people who actually
[10:53]
are vowed as communists in January when
[10:55]
we begin the new Congress. Be the first
[10:57]
time in US history that we've
[10:58]
administered an oath to people who want
[11:00]
to shred the US Constitution. Be a very
[11:03]
interesting time for our country in a in
[11:04]
a in a very scary time. And that should
[11:07]
frighten every American who loves this
[11:08]
country. I think it does. I've been on
[11:10]
the campaign trail non-stop and we've
[11:11]
seen that when we highlight the contrast
[11:14]
that is in this election between common
[11:16]
sense and crazy people get it. Uh
[11:19]
Republicans are fighting to fend all of
[11:21]
this off. If there are any sane
[11:24]
Democrats left, they've lost complete
[11:26]
control of their party. And you can see
[11:27]
that dynamic all around the country. The
[11:29]
energy, the excitement, the money, the
[11:31]
grassroots, that dynamic is on the side
[11:33]
of the insurgent left. And it's a very
[11:35]
dangerous thing for the future of this
[11:36]
country. So, we'll continue to draw this
[11:38]
contrast every waking moment until
[11:40]
November. Uh, we are very comfortable in
[11:42]
running on our record. This is a record
[11:44]
over rhetoric. Uh, [snorts] we have
[11:46]
better candidates. We have we have a a
[11:49]
great story to tell and to remind people
[11:52]
that what's best for you and your family
[11:54]
and your aging parents and your young
[11:57]
children and the future of liberty and
[11:59]
opportunity security is the party that
[12:01]
has been delivering on all those things.
[12:03]
You cannot put the far-left in charge of
[12:06]
the of the American government [snorts]
[12:08]
uh in this very pivotal and historic
[12:10]
moment on the 250th anniversary of the
[12:12]
greatest nation in the history of the
[12:13]
world. Um wanted to bring up a a a very
[12:16]
good friend and trusted colleague uh
[12:18]
Congressman Gabe Evans who serves in
[12:20]
Colorado's 8th district and he wanted to
[12:22]
speak to you just a little bit about one
[12:24]
of these very important bills that we
[12:25]
just passed. Gabe, thank you.
[12:28]
>> Thank you, Speaker. Thank you all so
[12:29]
much for coming today. And speaker, you
[12:31]
said it. we're we're not afraid to talk
[12:32]
about our record and one of the bills
[12:34]
that we passed tonight uh the rateayer
[12:36]
protection act uh is a bill that I I led
[12:38]
that piece of legislation. Um but it
[12:40]
originated with Republican ideas. This
[12:42]
originated with the president's rateayer
[12:44]
protection pledge. And so we took those
[12:46]
concepts, we turned it into a bill uh
[12:48]
and it does three very simple things.
[12:50]
First and foremost, we know that local
[12:52]
communities and states must have a say
[12:54]
in the sighting of uh data centers. We
[12:57]
know that local communities and states
[12:59]
know what's best for them. And so that's
[13:01]
the first thing that the rateayer
[13:02]
protection pledge does is it requires uh
[13:05]
states if they have not already
[13:06]
considered the issue they have to
[13:08]
consider the issue of state specific uh
[13:11]
requirements and and standards around
[13:13]
data centers. If a state chooses they
[13:16]
look at the issue and they choose uh not
[13:18]
right for us there are still two
[13:20]
requirements in the bill. Uh first at
[13:22]
the federal level, the bill requires
[13:24]
that if a data center is going to be
[13:25]
built, the company or entity that's
[13:27]
building it has to show that they're
[13:29]
financially secure enough to where we at
[13:30]
least have a high degree of confidence
[13:32]
that they're not going to go out of
[13:34]
business or downsize halfway through
[13:35]
construction and leave partially
[13:37]
finished projects and stranded
[13:39]
infrastructure for somebody else to pay
[13:40]
for. Uh and then uh second and most
[13:42]
important is the requirement under
[13:45]
federal law that unless a state has a
[13:47]
similar standard at the state level.
[13:49]
Under federal law, data centers or other
[13:52]
large load tech companies uh are not
[13:54]
allowed to pass the costs on to any
[13:56]
consumers in the local um the local grid
[13:59]
area. Those costs cannot be passed on to
[14:01]
consumers or rateayers. Data centers
[14:04]
must pay for any of the additional
[14:06]
generation, transmission or distribution
[14:08]
uh that is needed. Uh and so a clear uh
[14:11]
clearly a common sense idea passed out
[14:14]
of the energy and commerce committee
[14:15]
unanimously 52 to zero. Uh and tonight
[14:18]
we just saw it pass off the floor of the
[14:20]
United States House of Representatives
[14:22]
417-3.
[14:24]
So again, Mr. Speaker, uh
[14:25]
[clears throat] we as Republicans, we
[14:27]
are not afraid to run our on our record.
[14:29]
We are not afraid to put forth our ideas
[14:31]
to the American people because as we saw
[14:33]
tonight uh this idea garers garers
[14:35]
almost unanimous support from the House
[14:37]
of Representatives because it's going to
[14:39]
protect our neighbors. It's going to
[14:41]
protect rateayers and it's going to make
[14:42]
sure that we have a pathway forward to
[14:44]
build out critical infrastructure
[14:46]
necessary to protect Americans data from
[14:49]
foreign influence. But it's also going
[14:51]
to protect our neighbors pocketbooks and
[14:53]
it's going to keep their electric rates
[14:55]
low. Thank you so much.
[14:56]
>> Thank you. Gabe Evans did great work on
[14:58]
that legislation and so much of what he
[14:59]
does representing Colorado's 8th
[15:01]
district so well. Uh he deserves to come
[15:03]
back and he will be reelected. We're
[15:05]
delighted to grow this Republican
[15:06]
majority. I'll take a question. Mr.
[15:08]
>> Speaker, the CBO put out numbers
[15:10]
yesterday saying that Ron War's costs
[15:12]
will has been about $40 billion since
[15:15]
August and inflation will increase
[15:17]
through the first quarter of next year
[15:20]
at least. I'm wondering, are you okay
[15:22]
with vulnerable members like Congressman
[15:24]
Evans run on the Iran war and all the
[15:27]
costs that have happened to the American
[15:29]
public?
[15:29]
>> Well, our candidates around talking
[15:30]
about the record of achievement and
[15:32]
success in the economy with the cost of
[15:34]
living. And by the way, on the economy,
[15:37]
since you brought it up, I just saw that
[15:39]
I believe I read the Atlanta Fed is
[15:40]
projecting 5.1% economic growth for the
[15:43]
third quarter. So, there's a combination
[15:45]
of of cutting wasteful government
[15:47]
spending, cracking down on fraud, waste,
[15:49]
and abuse. Remember, we cut $1.6
[15:51]
trillion in in wasteful government
[15:53]
spending just in the big beautiful bill
[15:54]
alone, the working tax cut. Let me
[15:56]
finish. Let me finish. Let me finish.
[15:58]
And so, we're we're we're cutting uh in
[16:00]
reducing the size and scope of
[16:01]
government. And we're engaging and and
[16:04]
uh in in enacting the policies to bring
[16:06]
about economic growth. Those are good
[16:08]
things for hardworking families. Now,
[16:09]
the Iran war, we've talked about many
[16:11]
times and talked about it this morning
[16:13]
uh with many of you. Uh we had to make
[16:15]
sure that the largest state sponsor of
[16:17]
terrorism does not have a nuclear
[16:18]
weapon. And remember that has been the
[16:20]
objective of every administration and
[16:22]
every president for the last half
[16:23]
century. Uh Iran got dangerously close
[16:26]
to having a nuclear weapon. And so this
[16:28]
president had to take the action that
[16:30]
arguably other presidents should have
[16:32]
already done. Uh we removed that threat
[16:35]
and now we're in the process of winding
[16:36]
it down. Now that ongoing conflict
[16:38]
obviously has had an effect on gas
[16:40]
prices for example because the
[16:41]
straightfor is not completely open
[16:44]
safely for commerce yet and um the Red
[16:47]
Sea's affected as well. So, we're in the
[16:49]
process and the president, the
[16:50]
administration, all of us are working
[16:52]
every day around the clock to try to
[16:53]
bring that to a resolution that serves
[16:56]
the American people's interest and
[16:58]
ensures the largest state sponsored
[16:59]
terrorism does not have a nuclear
[17:01]
program. Again, we should and I believe
[17:03]
will be relying upon in the days ahead
[17:05]
are our other allied nations and friends
[17:07]
around the world who have the same exact
[17:09]
objective and interest. um our allied
[17:11]
nations in NATO for example, many of the
[17:13]
Arab states in that region have an even
[17:16]
larger interest in the trader of Hermuz
[17:18]
being open for commerce than we do
[17:19]
because they rely upon it so much for uh
[17:22]
their fuel needs and oil and all the
[17:24]
rest. So uh I think we'll be entering a
[17:26]
new phase. What our candidates are doing
[17:28]
is they are on the the the ground in
[17:31]
their districts talking to the people
[17:33]
[snorts]
[17:33]
with authenticity and and frankness. Of
[17:36]
course, gas prices are too high. When we
[17:38]
get that thing resolved and the trader
[17:40]
moves that will have a direct effect on
[17:42]
that and it will help to bring down
[17:44]
grocery cost because those are affected
[17:46]
as well by the transport cost of getting
[17:47]
goods to market right so all those
[17:49]
things will be working together our
[17:50]
candidates are addressing that and they
[17:52]
are again reminding the American people
[17:54]
of the extraordinary record of success
[17:56]
that we have done just the working
[17:58]
families tax cuts alone put more money
[18:00]
in Americ's pockets I shared the
[18:02]
statistics this morning in my state of
[18:03]
Louisiana Colorado is the same in
[18:05]
Louisiana gave [snorts] the average
[18:06]
Louisianaian has2 $2,915
[18:09]
more in their pocket that they did not
[18:10]
have to send to Washington because of
[18:12]
the tax cuts we brought about. The
[18:14]
average uh uh household in Louisiana has
[18:16]
between well roughly about $8,000 an
[18:20]
average more in take-home pay because of
[18:22]
what we did with our policy. We also
[18:25]
doubled the child tax credit and we
[18:27]
increased the standard deduction to
[18:28]
$31,500. These this is real money for
[18:31]
real people and we infused all of our
[18:34]
legislation with progrowth policies. The
[18:36]
reason that economic growth number is so
[18:38]
high, what's anticipated is because of
[18:40]
the policies that Republicans have
[18:42]
enacted. We uh we we spurred on job
[18:44]
growth and economic activity by allowing
[18:47]
small business owners and job creators
[18:48]
to write off their expenditures for
[18:50]
capital expenditures for expanding uh
[18:53]
operations for creating new
[18:54]
manufacturing facilities and and all the
[18:56]
rest R&D and all the other things. So
[18:58]
look, the combination of those policies
[19:00]
is having the desired effect. We we
[19:02]
still have the challenge of the Iran
[19:04]
conflict not being fully resolved, but I
[19:06]
believe we're on path to do that and
[19:08]
that will make the final difference. The
[19:10]
question that every American has to ask
[19:11]
and what our candidates are saying on
[19:13]
the campaign trail right now is they're
[19:14]
asking their constituents to ask
[19:16]
themselves that question. Which which
[19:19]
party's policies are better for me?
[19:21]
You're not voting on just personalities
[19:24]
or personnel. You're voting on policy.
[19:26]
Remember that. If you elect someone,
[19:28]
they're going to carry their party's
[19:29]
policies forward. The Republican uh
[19:32]
party's policies are for lower taxes,
[19:35]
less government intervention in your
[19:37]
life, more freedom, and greater
[19:38]
security. [snorts] And Democrats are for
[19:40]
the opposite of all that. Increasingly,
[19:41]
they want to grow government and take
[19:43]
away your freedom. That's what communism
[19:45]
and socialism leads to every single
[19:47]
time. So, look, our candidates are very
[19:49]
comfortable making these arguments on
[19:50]
the campaign trail, and it resonates.
[19:51]
And when we say contrast between common
[19:53]
sense and crazy, everybody nods their
[19:54]
heads because they see that that's
[19:55]
what's happening. Yes, ma'am.
[19:57]
Johnson. Um, you know, this week we saw
[19:59]
two Republicans join Democrats on the
[20:01]
powers presition. Uh, we saw Congressman
[20:03]
Andy Har push for a vote on suspending
[20:07]
the gas tax and you know, you guys just
[20:09]
passed the fair protection act. Are
[20:11]
these not signs that Republicans are
[20:13]
nervous about the midterms and
[20:14]
affordability specifically and those
[20:15]
things?
[20:16]
>> No, we're not nervous about it because
[20:18]
we actually have the answers we're
[20:19]
providing and there are a lot of
[20:20]
creative ideas even this week. The
[20:22]
Republicans are the ideas party and
[20:24]
we're constantly coming up with new and
[20:25]
innovative things to continue to work to
[20:28]
bring down the cost of living and and uh
[20:30]
work on the affordability issue. Uh but
[20:33]
we have the solutions over and over to
[20:35]
ensure that that happens and continue on
[20:36]
the path. Remember remember I would say
[20:38]
this again and I said it in press
[20:40]
conference uh two days ago. Remember
[20:42]
what we inherited when when when Joe
[20:45]
Biden and Kla Harris took over at the
[20:47]
end of the first Trump administration,
[20:49]
inflation was 1.4%.
[20:51]
They brought it to a 40-year high, 9.1%.
[20:54]
Now, we took over after that, and it
[20:56]
takes a long time to bring record high
[20:58]
inflation back down to earth. We were
[21:00]
doing that. Remember Scott Bessant, the
[21:02]
Treasury Treasury Secretary said 2025
[21:04]
was like setting the table. The feast in
[21:06]
the bank went in the economy be 2026. In
[21:09]
the first quarter, we began to take off
[21:10]
like a rocket and then we had to take
[21:12]
care of this Iran problem. Now, that has
[21:15]
u been a disturbance in that uh that
[21:17]
trend that we're working on, but it's
[21:19]
coming back and we're coming up with new
[21:20]
and more ideas every day. We when we win
[21:24]
the majority, when we keep the majority
[21:25]
in Congress in the next two years,
[21:27]
you're going to see a continued trend of
[21:29]
working to bring down the cost of
[21:31]
living, make affordability better for
[21:34]
every American, and give them more jobs
[21:35]
and opportunity, and broadening the
[21:38]
pathway out of poverty for more and more
[21:39]
people. That's what our policies bring
[21:40]
about, and you'll see more and creative
[21:42]
ideas every day. Yes. question. Thank
[21:43]
you, Mr. Speaker. On a number of
[21:45]
occasions, you said that this Congress
[21:46]
is the most productive in history, but
[21:48]
the House today is leaving two weeks
[21:50]
early and is going to be out of session
[21:52]
for multiple weeks until after election
[21:53]
day. How do you square those two?
[21:55]
>> I said it's one of the most productive
[21:56]
in history. And this house, as I
[21:58]
mentioned, the stats, we passed over 900
[22:00]
bills, over 700 of them are parked in
[22:04]
the Senate right now. Okay? So if the
[22:06]
other chamber, if the Democrats in the
[22:08]
Senate will do anything meaningful and
[22:11]
contribute any votes at all for
[22:13]
bipartisan wins for the country like we
[22:15]
just did with the Rape Payer protection
[22:17]
act, um if they will process those bills
[22:19]
and send them over, the House can do
[22:21]
meaningful work. In the meantime, it
[22:22]
feels very much like we're spinning our
[22:24]
wheels. our uh our incumbents here who
[22:27]
are now candidates need to be in their
[22:30]
districts working with their
[22:31]
constituents right now working on the
[22:33]
issues that matter to them and telling
[22:34]
the story about how productive we have
[22:36]
been. Now, I said we're on a we're on a
[22:38]
a 48 hour notice of return. If the
[22:40]
Senate moves any of this big legislation
[22:42]
that we have parked in the hopper over
[22:44]
there, we will I will gleefully bring
[22:46]
everybody right back here and we'll
[22:47]
start passing those bills and getting
[22:49]
them to the president's desk. Um I hope
[22:51]
that that happens. I certainly do. And
[22:53]
uh I met with leader Thun today and we
[22:54]
talked about that our our collected
[22:56]
optimism about uh the future and going
[22:59]
into this election cycle. And if the
[23:00]
Senate uh if the Senate Democrats will
[23:03]
do what's right for America, they'll
[23:05]
move some of that really really
[23:06]
important legislation that includes
[23:08]
legislation to reduce the cost of living
[23:11]
in increase uh uh national security,
[23:14]
increase the economy. There's so many
[23:16]
things that we've sent over there and
[23:17]
take care of our farmers and troops and
[23:19]
everything else. you you guys know the
[23:20]
legislation that's parked. Um, that's
[23:22]
what we're referring to. So, the House
[23:24]
has done its job and we'll return here
[23:26]
on a moment's notice if the Senate sends
[23:28]
us things to continue to work on. In the
[23:30]
meantime, we're going to go home and
[23:31]
tell our constituents the truth about
[23:33]
all this because, as Ronald Reagan used
[23:35]
to say, you can trust the American
[23:36]
people. When given the facts, they will
[23:38]
make the right decision. And I'm
[23:39]
absolutely confident that's going to
[23:41]
happen. And we're walking out here with
[23:42]
our heads high because I believe we're
[23:44]
going to defy the historic trend and
[23:45]
keep and grow the House Republican
[23:47]
majority for the Republican party. I
[23:49]
believe we're going to have the majority
[23:50]
in the Senate as well and we'll be able
[23:51]
to keep this this uh record of
[23:53]
achievement for the people going. That's
[23:54]
what we're dedicated to. Appreciate you
[23:56]
all. Have a have a good one. [snorts]
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