(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) said in her press briefing on Thursday that if Congress passes President Biden’s “Build Back Better Act” for new programs and federal spending then the federal government would have “half a trillion dollars to save the planet.”
Pelosi was responding to a question from a reporter who challenged her description of a scaled-back Build Back Better Act as “transformational.”
“You and the President have called this legislation ‘transformational’– the Build Back Better Act,” said the reporter. “But, how is this transformational if you're having to cut things like paid leave…these major climate programs–and what are the plans?”
“Well, thank you so much for your question,” said Pelosi in starting her answer. “It is transformative. And it is historic. And it's the issues that it addresses. And it's not issues; these are values. And the resources that are allocated there.”
“How can I say that this is transformative? Because it is. Because it is,” Pelosi went on to say. “Because children in twelve states, families in twelve states will now have access to the Affordable Care Act. Millions of people added to that. That's very important.
“Because we'll have a half a trillion dollars to save the planet,” Pelosi continued, “and that's a jobs issue. Well, it's a health issue, first of all: clean air, clean water, addressing the asthma issues and all the rest and the environmental injustice of it all. It's a health issue. It's a jobs issue–of green, new green technologies, had America be preeminent in the world in those technologies.
“It's a national security issue, as our security experts tell us that conflict that could arise from competition for habitat and resources, because of rising sea levels and all of the other consequences of climate, the climate crisis,” said Pelosi.
“And it is a values issue: for us to be–honor our responsibility to future generations, pass this planet on in a responsible way,” she said. “And the fuse is growing shorter on the timeframe for us to do that. Matters are getting worse. And we are not going to make matters worse. We're going to pass this legislation.”
Also on Thursday, the White House released a statement explaining the “framework” that President Biden had developed to negotiate a finalized Build Back Better Act.
In part, the statement said: “Specifically, the Build Back Better Act will be: … The largest effort to combat climate change in American history. The framework will cut greenhouse gas pollution by well over one gigaton in 2030, reduce consumer energy costs, give our kids cleaner air and water, create hundreds of thousands of high-quality jobs, and advance environmental justice by investing in a 21st century clean energy economy–from buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, and agriculture to climate smart practices across our lands and waters.”
“The framework’s $555 billion investment represents the largest single investment in our clean energy economy in history, across buildings, transportation, industry, electricity, agriculture, and climate-smart practices across lands and waters,” said the White House statement.
Reporter: “Madam Speaker, you know, you have called this – as has the President – ‘transformational.’”
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “Excuse me, I'm sorry.
Reporter: “I said, you and the President have called this legislation ‘transformational’ – the Build Back Better Act. But, how is this transformational if you're having to cut things like paid leave–
Pelosi: “If you have to do what?”
Reporter: “I said, how is this transformational if you're having to cut things like paid leave, these major climate programs – and what are the plans?”
Pelosi: “Well, thank you so much for your question. It is transformative. And it is historic. And it's the issues that it addresses. And it's not issues; these are values. And the resources that are allocated there – I'm still fighting for paid leave. I, frankly, have a hard time debating it because I don't understand why we don't – wouldn't have that. But, nonetheless, let us not undermine the fact that, that we have nearly a trillion dollars in universal pre-K, child care, Child Tax Credit, home health care and the rest. So, one program – as important as it is – does not subtract from the rest of it.
“Again, we still want that. We have it. We passed it in the Department of Defense bill–a former Department of Defense bill, which has paid family–not family, just family leave, not medical–family leave for federal Department of Defense employees and the civilian workforce associated with them. So, we've already have gone down that path very nicely. In fact, Senator Manchin said some very good things when he voted for that bill, which had that in there.
“But, how can I say that this is–How can I say that this is transformative? Because it is. Because it is. Because children in twelve states, families in twelve states will now have access to the Affordable Care Act. Millions of people added to that. That's very important.
“Because we'll have a half a trillion dollars to save the planet–and that's a jobs issue. Well, it's a health issue, first of all: clean air, clean water, addressing the asthma issues and all the rest and the environmental injustice of it all. It's a health issue. It's a jobs issue. New green technologies, had America be preeminent in the world in those technologies. It's a national security issue, as our security experts tell us that conflict that could arise from competition for habitat and resources, because of rising sea levels and all of the other consequences of climate, the climate crisis. And it is a values issue: for us to be– honor our responsibility to future generations, pass this planet on in a responsible way. And the fuse is growing shorter on the timeframe for us to do that. Matters are getting worse. And we are not going to make matters worse. We're going to pass this legislation.
“And, as I say that, we have to–What this legislation will do is to help the president meet his goals, the goals of America, for how we reduce emissions and pollution and the rest. And not only how we do that–meet and beat the goals of the Paris Accord–but also how we help other countries do so. The poorest nations in the world have contributed the least to the emissions challenge that we face, and we need to share technology and other resources with them so that they can meet their goals as well.
“So, then, the third part of it. I talked about the care piece of it, the health care piece of it, and this is quite remarkable. And if you took any one piece of it, it would be transformative and historic. Taken together, it's quite a spectacular vision that President Biden has put forth. I salute him for it.
“And, when I try to, shall we say, make a case for this or that, he says, ‘You don't have to tell me. I wrote it. I know the particulars.’ And that was what was so demonstrated this morning: his meticulous attention to detail, his encyclopedic knowledge of what, everything that was in the bill. We're really blessed with his leadership. And when he goes to these meetings–with the G20 now and then to meet His Holiness the Pope and to go to Glasgow–we want them to go as strong as possible.
“When I had my meeting with His Holiness the Pope, I brought the President's greetings–and, of course, I brought the greetings of the Congress of the United States. And the climate was a very big, important issue for His Holiness, as I know it will be part–I assume it will be part of their discussion.
“But, the climate issue is not just about, as I say, health and that. It's about people in poverty, having–taking a terrible bite of this wormy apple called the climate crisis. So, it's a big values issue for us. Any time you want to ask me why I think this is transformative, I'm happy to answer that question.”