Washington, D.C. – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke on the House Floor to lay out the House Democratic plan to work in a bipartisan manner when possible while pushing back on far-right extremism when necessary.

JEFFRIES: Speaker Johnson, Speaker Emerita Pelosi—it’s great to see you back in the chamber—Whip Clark, Chairman Aguilar, thank you for your kind and generous words of nomination. To my colleagues in government, new Members of Congress, families, friends, all those assembled. It’s a high honor and a distinct privilege to welcome you to the People’s House and the 119th Congress. The Bible teaches us in Ecclesiastes, the third chapter, first verse, ‘that for everything, there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven.’

It’s fair to say that in a democracy, there’s a time to campaign and a time to govern. The election is over. This is a new Congress. The American people need us as their elected representatives in this season to put down our partisan swords and pick up bipartisan plowshares. It’s time for us to come together, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to get things done for the people. In that spirit, House Democrats will work hard to find bipartisan common ground with our Republican colleagues and the incoming administration on any issue, whenever and wherever possible, in order to make life better for everyday Americans.

For far too long in this country the cost of living has gone up, but the size of the middle class has come down. Housing costs are too high, grocery costs are too high, childcare costs are too high, insurance costs are too high, utility costs are too high. America is too expensive. There are far too many people in this great country who for decades have been struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. That is not acceptable in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. We need to build an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers and we need to build it now. It’s time for us to come together and finally lower the high cost of living in the United States of America once and for all.

And we will work with anyone, of any party, to get that done. We will work with anyone to secure our borders and we will work with anyone to fix our broken immigration system in a comprehensive and bipartisan manner. At the same period of time, at the same period of time, we will push back against far-right extremism whenever necessary.

So let me be clear: Social Security and Medicare are not entitlement programs, they are earned benefits. Hardworking American taxpayers paid in to Social Security and Medicare every day, every week, every month, every year, throughout their entire adult life. They earned those benefits, worked hard for those benefits and deserve those benefits.

So as Democrats, our promise to the American people is that we will fight hard to make sure that no one in this town takes away Social Security or Medicare from the American people. Not now. Not ever. No means never.

Our position is that it is not acceptable to cut Social Security, cut Medicare, cut Medicaid, cut veterans benefits or cut nutritional assistance from children and families in order to pay for massive tax breaks for billionaires and wealthy corporations.

House Democrats will fight hard to protect working-class Americans and the things that matter to them, not the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected.

Keep your hands off Social Security and Medicare.

Over the last four years, it’s been a great honor for us to work alongside President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, whose administration rescued the economy from a once-in-a-century pandemic, delivered historic infrastructure investments, created more than 15 million good-paying jobs, enacted common sense gun safety legislation for the first time in 30 years, provided life-sustaining health insurance to veterans suffering from toxic exposure, championed the largest investment in combating the climate crisis in the history of the world—which we will defend—and brought down the high price of lifesaving prescription drugs for millions of Americans.

Thank you, President Biden and Vice President Harris for your powerful, principled and purposeful public service. Thank you.

Two months ago, the American people elected Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States of America. Thank you for that very generous applause. It’s okay. There are no election deniers on our side of the aisle.

One should love America—One should love America when you win and when you lose. That’s the patriotic thing to do and that’s the America that House Democrats will fight hard to preserve, because we love this country.

America is bigger than any one campaign, any one election or any one individual. America, the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let us never forget that our country is free, not simply because we are strong. America is strong because we are free.

That freedom is now under assault. There are some in this country who apparently believe that the freedom of economic opportunity that made them wealthy should not apply to everyone else. Our message to that crowd is simple. Democrats will never abandon the long walk toward freedom.

We will fight hard to defend the freedom of opportunity that makes the American dream possible. We will faught hard—fight hard for the freedom to vote. And to fight for a government of the people, by the people and for the people. We will fight for the freedom to organize and join a union of your choice. We will fight to defend the free enterprise system, but work hard to make sure that it actually works for working-class Americans.

And we will always defend a woman’s freedom to make her own reproductive health care decisions. America promises one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That’s the America House Democrats will fight hard to preserve.

God bless you, God bless the House of Representatives, may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Full speech can be watched here. 

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