WASHINGTON, D.C.—At the House Leadership stakeout today Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) discussed his speech at AIPAC’s U.S.-Israel Policy Conference and America’s strong bipartisan relationship with Israel. He also discussed the boost tax reform has given to the economy and Democrats’ self-professed efforts to help the wealthy in response to tax reform changes.
Click here or on the image above to watch his full remarks.
On AIPAC:
“I was honored to start this morning by addressing AIPAC’s annual convention. And later today we’ll see thousands of people from all across the country going to offices of Members of Congress, both House and Senate, to express their strong support for Israel, but also to just reiterate this great relationship, that’s a very bipartisan relationship, and the love between the United States and Israel.
“And one of the things I shared with them is, later on today, our leadership team will be meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu.
“When I was in the hospital, literally the day I was shot, Prime Minister Netanyahu personally reached out. And it wasn’t until a few days later when I came out of the many surgeries and, kind of, was finally able to talk that I got word of that.
“And he had said when I am able to, he wants to talk to me. So we arranged a call that day. And he was just so warm in his support for me but it showed just how, not only strong the relationship is between the United States and Israel, and we do so much to support them militarily and the things they’re doing to fight terrorism, to fight Iran’s attempt to get a nuclear weapon, and how we support their ability to protect Israel and stand with them. But it shows the love between our two countries and just how strong that bond is. It’s a personal relationship built on strength and love.
“And we really look forward to meeting with the Prime Minister later today to talk further about that bipartisan bond and how we can help advance our causes.”
On Tax Reform and Democrats’ Work to Help the Wealthy:
“I know as we talk about tax reform, there’s so many success stories we keep hearing about and the stories don’t end. The list that I keep at majoritywhip.gov that started with AT&T announcing $1,000 bonuses to over 200,000 workers is now more than 400 companies listed at majoritywhip.gov, that have announced pay raises and bonuses for their workers. This means real money in the pockets of hard-working families.
“And just think about this. When we started this, when we said, ‘We’re going to actually work on a bill to reform our tax code, simplify it, but cut taxes at every level so that families that are struggling can have more money in their pockets,’ it unfortunately became a partisan fight. You saw the Democrat leadership criticizing the ability for people to get more money in their pockets. And they started talking in front of cameras about tax cuts for the rich.
“Well, just think about the headlines last week. Last week the headline in the AP said, ‘Democrats Seek to Help Wealthy In Response to Tax Changes.’ Imagine that. As they’re publicly talking and decrying the rich, our tax cuts are actually helping hard-working, middle-class families and Democrat leaders are trying to now make changes to help the wealthy in this endeavor.
“So, it just goes to show you, we focused on making sure we could rebuild our middle class. We want to put more money in the pockets of families. And look at the results. Numbers are coming out. U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level since 1969. That’s how tax cuts are working, to help families and people that had just given up on the workforce, given up on trying to find a job because the economy was so bad. Now, they’re actually getting back into the workforce and becoming part of the American Dream because of what we did.”