WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued the following statement after a meeting with President Biden regarding negotiations around the Build Back Better Act:
“I want to thank President Biden for his leadership and for continuing to fight for his visionary, transformative, and popular Build Back Better Act. We had a very productive and necessary conversation about the urgent need to deliver the full Build Back Better agenda. We feel progress is being made toward an agreement that will make transformational investments in the five priorities that the CPC laid out months ago, specifically the care economy — including child care, pre-K, paid leave, and home and community based care; housing; health care; climate action; and a roadmap to citizenship for immigrants. We also appreciate the President fighting for progress on all of these key priorities, even if it is for a shorter period of time, as the CPC had articulated weeks ago is our preferred option to bring down the overall price tag.
“We agree with the President that now is the time for all Democrats to come to the table, join together, and negotiate in good faith so that we can pass the entirety of the Build Back Better agenda as quickly as possible, so that we do not leave anyone behind. We emphasized our commitment to the principles that we believe should guide these ongoing negotiations: delivering transformative investments that can be immediately felt by the American people, and doing so through universal programs that keep the President’s commitment to racial equity.
“We look forward to moving this process forward with our colleagues in the House and Senate, Congressional leadership, and the White House so we can send the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act to President Biden’s desk.”
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The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is made up of nearly 100 members standing up for progressive ideals in Washington and throughout the country. Since 1991, the CPC has advocated for progressive policies that prioritize working Americans over corporate interests, fight economic and social inequality, and advance civil liberties. The CPC champions progressive policy solutions like comprehensive immigration reform, good-paying jobs, fair trade, universal health care, debt-free college, climate action, and a just foreign policy. The caucus has been the leading voice calling for bold and sweeping solutions to the urgent crises facing this nation, including ending America’s broken for-profit health care system, raising the minimum wage, eliminating political corruption, bolstering labor protections for working families, and taking swift action to stop the warming of our planet.
