Scalise: Stark Contrast Between Democrats Wanting Open Borders and GOP Wanting Rule of Law

WASHINGTON, D.C.—House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the Republican Congressional agenda as we head into the fall, including repealing the harmful medical device tax that drives up health care costs and passing Tax Cuts 2.0 to make the tax cuts for American families permanent. Additionally, he highlighted the contrast between the radical leftist agenda taking over the Democratic party with calls for open borders and the Republican commitment to rule of law and safe communities. Whip Scalise also stressed President Trump’s strong actions to push back against Russian aggression, in contrast to the weak policies of the Obama administration.

Click here or on the image above to watch the interview.

On the Republican’s Congressional agenda for the rest of 2018:

“The plan is to continue focusing on getting the economy moving, seeing this great economic growth, and then locking it in. We’re going to bring some more bills to cut taxes. We’re going to make the tax cuts permanent; that bill, Chairman Brady and his committee are already working on. We just did a JOBS 3.0 bill to provide more regulatory relief and do some more things that will help create more jobs and rebuild the middle class.

“It’s a stark contrast with the radical Left’s agenda in Washington right now. Pelosi is talking about raising taxes. She’s talking about abolishing ICE… That’s not the direction we need to go, so let’s keep the economy moving. We’re going to continue focusing on it. This week we’re going to bring a bill to repeal the medical device tax, push back the health insurance tax, the HIT tax, some of the things hurting health care in this country. Let’s focus on getting the economy moving.”

On Democrats’ plan to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE):

“…It shows a dramatic shift to the radical Left. That’s not where America is. America is still a center right country and you saw [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] was out there with Bernie Sanders going through the Midwest, going to Missouri. She was in Kansas City. They’re trying to push this idea of abolishing ICE of all things. Think about this, Maria. The very people who keep our country safe. ICE has been directly responsible for stopping human trafficking, saving some of these kids that are being exploited from human trafficking and they want to get rid of [ICE]. They want open borders. That’s not what this country is all about. I hope they keep going around and letting people know that’s what they would do if they were in the majority.”

On Republican led immigration reform legislation: 

“Well Maria, we’ve had two different bills we’ve brought to the floor that would do just that. As you heard Chairman Goodlatte say, we’ve had large numbers of Republicans vote for it, but not one Democrat. When you have, between the two bills, 224 Republicans voting yes to build the wall, secure the border, solve the DACA problem, end the visa lottery system, and not one Democrat could find a way to vote for any of those bills. It shows you they don’t want to solve this problem and we do. We’ll keep working on it. But let’s look at those votes to show there are serious Republican plans to secure this country’s border, and every single Democrat voted no because Nancy Pelosi bullied them and threatened them and said she didn’t want to provide Donald Trump with a win. That’s not what this country is all about. Some of the great things President Trump has done, working with us to cut taxes, to get the economy moving, to bring regulations under control, it’s actually working. They should want to join with us to keep that going. To be opposed to the things that are helping rebuild our middle class is a losing strategy for Democrats.”

On President Trump’s actions to push back against Russia: 

“Putin is a bad guy. He’s not our friend. I think what you’ve got to look at are the actions that President Trump has taken to stand up against Putin and to stand up against Russia. They’re significant, Maria. If you start with the Ukraine, they’re our friend in Eastern Europe. You saw Putin rolling through Crimea moving into Eastern Europe and Barack Obama sat on the sidelines. Those countries by the way, the Ukrainians, they didn’t say give us boots on the ground. They said, ‘Can you just sell us arms so we can push back against the Russians’ aggression and bomb their tanks?’ Obama said no, President Trump said yes and actually sold them those missiles so that they can defend their country and push Russia out of Eastern Europe. That’s happening right now. He kicked out diplomats; he increased sanctions against Russia. That’s standing up to Russia. We need to keep reminding Russia they’re not our friend. They need to get out of Syria. They need to stop allying with some of these rogue countries.” 

On the future of Tax Cuts 2.0:

“Every single Democrat should vote for Tax Cuts 2.0 because it’s worked for our economy, but they probably won’t. We’ll go forward anyway. What Chairman Brady is doing is important work. He was down at the White House just a few days ago working with President Trump to make sure that the cuts include all of the things we want to do to keep this economy growing. We’re seeing historic growth, let’s keep it going. We’ll have a bill on the floor to do just that in September and it’ll pass the House. The real question is will every Democrat vote no like they did last time now knowing how well it’s working for middle class families.”