Source: US House of Representatives – Democratic Caucus
The following text contains opinion that is not, or not necessarily, that of MIL-OSI – April 08, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu were joined by Representatives Adam Gray, Tim Kennedy and Andrea Salinas for a press conference on the reckless Republican tariffs that are crashing the economy and draining the retirement accounts of Americans.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Pleased to be joined with Representatives Gray, Kennedy and Salinas here today. On behalf of the Vice Chair and I, we also are pleased to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Washington, D.C. area. Look forward to catching a game this homestand.
Donald Trump has imposed the largest tax increase in 50 years on every single American. Republican incompetence is crashing the economy with reckless tariffs and bleeding the accounts, the retirement accounts, of Americans dry. We’re watching a global recession take hold because of the boneheaded policies of one person—which will cause hardworking people to lose their jobs, potentially lose their homes and their health care. At the same time, Republicans in Congress are preparing to cut Medicaid by $880 billion so they can give a massive tax cut to billionaires. They are telling us with a straight face—that the economic growth will pay for these tax breaks—while the economy is in a tailspin. The truth is, passing the Republican budget would be a death blow to the American economy. And the people that get caught in the crossfire of this Republican Recession will be hurt the most by Medicaid as a tool that Republicans want to chip away at. Congress needs to take away the keys of economic policies like tariffs from this incompetent Administration and restore some stability to the economy. House Democrats are going to continue to prioritize the economic needs of the American people by working to bring down costs, make health care more affordable and looking out for everyday Americans. With that, I’ll turn it over to Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. As an American and as a veteran, my heart goes out to the four U.S. soldiers who tragically died in an accident in Lithuania. The Lithuanian President did a very dignified ceremony for those four U.S. soldiers. And when those four soldiers’ caskets landed at Dover Air Force Base last Friday, at a transfer ceremony, U.S. officials greeted them, elected officials greeted them, but Donald Trump was not there. Donald Trump instead chose to go to a golf tournament, and I’m just going to read to you what one of the persons at this ceremony said. He deployed to Iraq. His name is Blythe Potter. He’s a Military Police Corps veteran. He said, ‘I have never been so embarrassed to be an American.’ President Trump should have been at that transfer ceremony for the four fallen U.S. soldiers, instead of at his golf tournament.
I now want to also echo what Chairman Aguilar said about the tariffs. They are a tax on the American consumer. As all of you know, the way tariffs work is when the foreign products come to our ports, the American company that imported those products pays the tariff, not the foreign country. And what happens when this American company pays that tariff? Well, they’re going to pass on those costs to the consumer and the prices are going to increase. And poll after poll, we see that the overwhelming majority of American people oppose tariffs. There are ways to try to make competition more fair, but let’s not do it by increasing prices on Americans.
And their estimates, it’s going to be about $3,800 per family in terms of increased costs. And then let me also now congratulate Susan Crawford for winning the Wisconsin Supreme Court race last week. What we saw there was the world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk, tried to buy the election, spending over $20 million, and the people of Wisconsin figured that out, and they overwhelmingly elected Susan Crawford. So, what was once Elon Musk’s greatest asset, his money, has now become his greatest liability because the people now understand that he’s trying to buy elections, and they overwhelmingly vote against that.
And then the Hands Off protests that we saw this past weekend were amazing. The American people are waking up, that Trump and Republicans’ policies are harming our nation. So now it is my honor to introduce my friend Adam Gray, who I had the honor of serving with in the California State Legislature. So thrilled he is now in Congress and represents the Central Valley.
REP. GRAY: Good morning, and thank you Chairman Aguilar and Vice Chair Lieu for inviting me to speak with you this morning. I represent California’s San Joaquin Valley, the world’s largest agricultural region. The President’s recent announcement of tariffs on our global trade partners poses a serious risk to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and across the country. The last time blanket tariffs went into effect under President Trump’s first administration, California farmers lost an estimated $683 million in crop revenue. The most significant losses were concentrated in tree nuts and dairy products, among others, which are top exports from the San Joaquin Valley.
In fact, the California delegation recently received a letter from ag industry leaders in California pleading with Congress to support common-sense measures that will protect fair competition for their products and defend our nation’s food supply. This group of producers represent more than 400 commodities and billions of dollars of revenue. They warn of uncertain market conditions, disrupted business operations, increased costs associated with retaliatory tariffs. This all poses a significant risk to family-owned farms, which account for over 95% of American agricultural operations. I grew up in the ag industry. My family owned and operated a dairy supply store. My grandparents grew pistachios. Like many Valley families, I know personally how tight budgets are. I know how one bad season can derail an operation for years. These aren’t just individual farmers or business owners who will lose jobs or shutter businesses. These are entire communities like mine in the Central Valley who rely on the ag industry to power their economy.
Rather than work with Congress to make precise, strategic changes to our trade policy, the President has decided to impose sloppy, blanket tariffs and stuck American farmers with the bill. I’m ready to work with anyone and everyone who is serious about rising above partisan politics to protect our ag communities from the impacts of tariffs. We must do something now. Our farmers deserve it. Our communities deserve it. With that, I’m happy to introduce my colleague, Representative Tim Kennedy.
REP. KENNEDY: Morning. First, I want to thank Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu for not only bringing us together this morning, but for their continued leadership on this issue and so many other issues. Before Trump’s tariffs plunged us and the entire world into chaos. Western New Yorkers that I represent were sounding the alarm on the President’s trade war. As a representative of a border community in Buffalo in the Niagara region and the Co-Chair of the Northern Border Caucus, families in my region know how important our ties are with our Canadian neighbors. In my district, trade with Canada supports tens of thousands of jobs, nearly 30,000 jobs, and brings in over a half a billion dollars in purchases by Canadians every year. Across the border, there’s $1.3 trillion of commerce every single year, billions of dollars a day, supporting states all across the northern border, but all across our great country. Again, in Western New York, Canadians pour over the border, whether it’s going to a Bills game or a Sabres game or shopping or using our restaurants, sleeping at our hotels, over 40 percent of the 5 million enplanements out of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport are Canadian citizens.
Our economies are reliant upon each other and benefit from the tremendous relationship that we have, economically, culturally, historically and presently. However, Trump’s tariffs are putting our hardworking families in Western New York at risk, and it’s hurting our entire national and international economy. Cross-border traffic is down by double digits from last year, robbing small businesses across the country of tourism dollars. Tariffs that are being put in place across the borders, these blanket tariffs, including on things like lumber, that are hurting homeownership, especially new homeowners. They’re also stymieing development and other industries, including steel fabrication, auto manufacturing, craft brewing, logistics. Every industry across the board is worrying about supply chain disruption, skyrocketing operating costs and keeping their employees on the payroll. Businesses are going to be hurt by these tariffs. Jobs are going to be lost in our country because of these tariffs, because our economy is so tightly intertwined with Canada’s. People in my district and across the country are being hit right in their pocketbook already. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is golfing at his own club while trillions of dollars are wiped away from American citizens and hardworking families and their retirements that they were dependent upon, as we risk this Republican Recession.
But Trump’s tariffs aren’t just robbing folks of their retirement savings and driving up the cost of housing, groceries, clothes and gas, his indiscriminate blanket tariffs are putting our allies on the same playing field as our adversaries. Trump inherited an improving economy with low unemployment, and he crashed it. He inherited the strong alliance and friendships we have with Canada, with our European allies, with our global allies, and he crushed them. Trump’s tariffs sent a message to our friends and allies that we no longer are the reliable partners that they can depend upon, and hardworking families in Western New York and across the country are paying the price. They are setting our nation down a dangerous path of chaos, stealing from American families and jeopardizing our alliances, all to justify tax cuts for the richest Americans. This is wrong, and we’re not going to stand for it. We’re not going to sit back and hang tough like the president suggests we do. We’re going to continue to use our voices and demand an end to Trump’s tariffs and get back to work creating an economy that benefits all hardworking families across this great country. With that, I yield to a wonderful Representative Salinas.
REP. SALINAS: Well, thank you, Chair Aguilar, Vice Chair Lieu and everyone for being here today. As my colleagues have already pointed out, President Trump’s tariffs have created chaos and uncertainty across the country and around the world. Many Americans have spent the last few days watching their retirement savings go up in smoke and bracing for a recession or possibly worse. But instead of doing something to stop the bleeding, Donald Trump spent the weekend, as has already been mentioned, playing golf with billionaires. In case there was any confusion about where his priorities are, he clearly is more interested in improving his golf game than improving the economy.
Trump’s reckless and harmful approach to tariffs will devastate states like Oregon, where our economy relies heavily on trade. From wine to wood products, Oregon exports billions of dollars worth of homegrown goods every year and we import billions more. All things considered, Trump’s tariffs are going to raise taxes on Oregon businesses and families to a tune of about $7.5 billion per year. So, whether you’re a hazelnut grower in the Willamette Valley or a small business owner in Salem, hardworking Americans, not foreign countries, will end up footing the bill. And those costs add up. Experts have estimated that the average family will pay about $73 more per week, or close to $4,000 more per year for everyday necessities. It’s frankly reprehensible that this President is choosing, and I want to be clear, this is a choice, to play roulette with people’s hard-earned money, and roll the dice on whether our folks can afford food, pay the rent, send their kids to college or even retire right now.
And don’t be fooled, this is not a market correction. It is a market disruption of the highest magnitude. I won’t stand for it. My colleagues will not stand for it. House Democrats are united in our opposition to Trump’s tariff tyranny, and we will continue to speak out against his attacks on working families. What we won’t do is let Republicans in Congress off the hook. They have the power to stop this, these tariffs, right now, and they’re refusing to fulfill their constitutional duty. Our message is clear: Democrats will not bow down to billionaires. We will fight back with everything we have to protect our constituents from the great Republican Rip Off. Thank you.
Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
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