Press Releases

WASHINGTON — The leadership of the Congressional Progressive Caucus continued their fight to protect the promise of the Build Back Better Act today, advocating that the scope of programs be maintained in the negotiations over size.

In a letter to Speaker Pelosi, the 27 House members of the Caucus Executive Board argued that in attempts to decrease the overall cost of the Build Back Better Act, legislators lower the number of years funding is allocated for each program, rather than to trim the number of programs included. In the case for “making the President’s vision a reality,” they write: “Much has been made in recent weeks about the compromises necessary to enact this transformative agenda. We have been told that we can either adequately fund a small number of investments or legislate broadly, but only make a shallow, short-term impact. We would argue that this is a false choice.”

The lawmakers highlight four arguments for their approach:

1. To make shorter, transformative investments: Making “robust investments over a shorter window [will] help make the case for our party’s ability to govern, and establish a track record of success that will pave the way for a long-term extension of benefits...We cannot pit childcare against housing, or paid leave against home- and community-based care.”

2. To touch people’s lives immediately: “Where given an option, we should err on the side of structuring legislation so that benefits flow to the American people as quickly as possible, both to assist the Biden Recovery and to demonstrate our commitment to tangibly improving the lives of the American people.”

3. To provide universal benefits to ensure lasting change: “We strongly believe that this is the moment to demonstrate to the American people that regardless of geography, race, gender, or class, Democrats believe that everyone has a right to affordable child care, pre-K, clean water, and a community college education. We can choose to strengthen the bond Americans have to one another by proposing universal social insurance benefits that broadly benefit all Americans, or we can pursue complicated methods of means testing that the wealthy and powerful will use to divide us with false narratives about ‘makers’ and ‘takers.’”

4. To keep the President’s commitment to racial equity: “[The bill] addresses needs disproportionately felt by Black and Brown Americans, like housing, and corrects inequalities in fields of work that are primarily held by people of color, like home-based and elder care [and] addresses needs of thousands of undocumented individuals, many of whom have served as essential workers during the Covid-19 pandemic who have long been vulnerable to discrimination, labor abuses and denial of equal protection under the law due to their immigration status. If we cut those programs, we reduce the broadly transformative power of this legislation, and we once again fall behind on our promises to ensure racial equity.”

“This bill offers us a chance to fundamentally transform the relationship between the American people and their government,” they conclude.

Signatories of the letter include: Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Deputy Chair Rep. Katie Porter (CA-45), Whip Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05); Chairs Emeriti Rep. Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03), Rep. Barbara Lee (Ca-13), Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02); Vice Chairs Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Rep Joe Neguse (CO-02), Rep. Marie Newman (IL-03), Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01), Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12); Deputy Whips Rep. Cori Bush (MO-01), Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-12), Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Rep. Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), Rep. Lloyd Doggett (TX-35), Rep. Andy Levin (MI-09), Rep. Mark Takano (CA-41), Rep. Adriano Espaillat; Special Order Hour Conveners Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), and Executive Board Member at Large Rep. Jan Schakowsky (IL-09).

WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued the following statement after the 96-member coalition’s meeting about the ongoing infrastructure and Build Back Better negotiations:

“We remain fully committed to passing President Biden’s entire Build Back Better agenda and delivering the transformative change that people throughout this country urgently want, need, and deserve. Moving forward without the Build Back Better Act would put long-overdue investments in child care, paid leave, health care, affordable housing, pre-k, community college, climate action, and a roadmap to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS recipients, and essential workers at risk. Our Progressive Caucus members remain clear: we will not allow this process to be dictated by special interests and corporations at the expense of women, working families, and our communities. We will not leave anyone behind.

“This agenda is not some fringe wish list: it is the President’s agenda, the Democratic agenda, and what we all promised voters when they delivered us the House, Senate, and White House. It is supported by nearly every Democrat in Congress and is overwhelmingly backed by the American people. It was committed to in a deal among Senators when they passed the infrastructure bill in that chamber — a commitment reiterated just last week. We articulated this position more than three months ago, and today it is still unchanged: progressives will vote for both bills, but a majority of our members will only vote for the infrastructure bill after the President’s visionary Build Back Better Act passes.”

In June, the Congressional Progressive Caucus shared that, “A recent poll of our 96-member Caucus showed overwhelming support for the House not passing a bipartisan infrastructure bill unless a larger reconciliation package containing our progressive priorities moved simultaneously.” In July, the Caucus reiterated that position, saying, “a small and narrow bipartisan infrastructure bill does not have a path forward in the House of Representatives unless it has a reconciliation package, with our priorities, alongside it.”

More than a month ago, the Caucus once again confirmed that, “We will work to first pass the Build Back Better reconciliation bill so we can deliver these once-in-a-generation, popular, and urgently needed investments to poor and working families, and then pass the infrastructure bill to invest in our roads, bridges, and waterways.” The chair added, “As our members have made clear for three months, the two are integrally tied together, and we will only vote for the infrastructure bill after passing the reconciliation bill.”

WASHINGTON — Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, issued the following statement on the Education and Labor Committee’s passage of its portion of the Build Back Better Act. The bill includes a universal child care policy that guarantees no family will pay more than 7 percent of its income on this critical service, funding for a Civilian Climate Corps, universal two-year community college and pre-K, school infrastructure, and steep monetary penalties against companies who violate care workers’ rights.

“The Progressive Caucus has been laser-focused on achieving transformative outcomes for working families, and I am proud that our members on the Education and Labor Committee have secured wins in this bill that will be felt by millions of families across the country. Thanks to the leadership of Progressives, in partnership with frontline members, our committee has passed legislation that is going to make a real, meaningful difference.

“We secured universal child care with the cost capped at no more than 7 percent of income for every family in America — nothing short of life-changing for our communities. This program will catalyze economic growth by creating high-quality child care jobs, and allowing parents — especially women — to return to work with their children safely looked after. It will address long-standing economic and racial disparities in child care access, so that those who need this program the most will directly receive assistance.

“Thanks to Progressives and our allies, this bill will also allow us to make real progress on aggressive climate action, with funding for a Civilian Climate Corps in impacted communities, and updates to our crumbling school infrastructure. It includes strong labor protections for the care workforce, so that the mostly women of color who serve in these critical roles will finally be treated with fairness, dignity, and as central to our economy as they are. And it will advance funding for universal pre-K and two years of community college, addressing pervasive education inequities and ensuring every child, from their first years of school to their last, is set up to succeed.

“As Speaker Pelosi said, with the Build Back Better Act, our ‘children finally have leverage’ — and the Education and Labor Committee bill represents the best of our fight on their behalf. And it serves as a clear sign to working people across this country that Congress understands what parents have endured during the pandemic, that we understand the economic realities holding them back, and that we are coming to work for them. We urge our Democratic colleagues in the House and Senate to ensure these provisions are included in the final bill, and we look forward to voting for it on the floor, sending it to the President’s desk, and delivering for the people.”

Progressive Caucus members on the Education and Labor Committee were instrumental in securing bold, progressive policies in the Build Back Better Act. They include: Committee Vice Chair Rep. Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Rep. Alma Adams (NC-12), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11), Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Rep. Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rep. Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Rep. Andy Levin (MI-09), Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Rep. Joe Morelle (NY-25), Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01), CPC Whip Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Rep. Mark Takano (CA-41), Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL-24), and Rep. John Yarmuth (KY-03). 

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus co-chairs Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-01) and Rep. Barbara Lee (CA-13), and Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) released the following statement in response to the enactment of S.B. 8, an extreme anti-abortion law in Texas: 

“This law is an all-out assault on reproductive health and rights in America ,and will have devastating and immediate consequences for patients in Texas. People have the right to make their own decisions about whether or not to seek abortion, but this law eliminates access to legal abortion after about six weeks — before many people even know they’re pregnant.

“While this law is now the most extreme abortion ban enacted in the U.S., Texas is not alone in its attempts to roll back decades of protections: nearly 600 abortion restrictions have been introduced in 2021 alone, and 90 have been enacted. In the coming months, the Supreme Court will hear a Mississippi case with the potential to gut the protections of Roe v. Wade.

“In light of the Supreme Court’s abdication of its duty to protect reproductive rights, the Pro-Choice Caucus and the Progressive Caucus call on Congress to immediately take action to enshrine the right to access abortion into federal law. The House should immediately pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Judy Chu (CA-27), to ensure that states like Texas cannot ban this critical health service, and we urge the Senate to do whatever is necessary to send it to the President' desk. Congress must also continue to strike down other restrictions on access to abortion in federal law, including bans on insurance coverage like the Hyde Amendment, as well as protecting access to medication abortion from politically motivated attacks.

"The Biden administration has emphasized its commitment to protecting the right to abortion, and now is the time to put that into action. We call on Attorney General Garland to explore whatever steps the Department of Justice can take to respond to this blatant violation of Texans' constitutional rights.

“The PCC and CPC stand with people in Texas, and throughout the country, who are fighting these draconian restrictions, and working to ensure that all people have access to the abortion care they need. We know that bans like the one in Texas harm people who already face barriers to care the most: people of color, people with low incomes, people living in rural areas.  Everyone — no matter their income, where they live, or how they’re insured — has the right to make their own decisions about their bodies and their lives, and we are committed to promoting policies that protect the reproductive freedom of all people.”