{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://katherineclark.house.gov/2026/09/17/whip-clark-democrats-will-put-people-first-in-the-peoples-house/", "Whip Clark: Democrats Will Put \u201cPeople First in the People\u2019s House\u201d", "2026-09-17", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Katherine M. Clark", "C001101", "katherineclark.house.gov", "clark", "https://katherineclark.house.gov/newsroom/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-5) joined Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-8) and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (CA-33) for a press availability on House Democrats\u2019 fight for an affordable America and Republicans\u2019 refusal to lower costs for working families. Below are excerpts of her remarks:\n\nOn Republicans Making Life More Expensive:\n\n\u201cWe have 47 days \u2019til we have a referendum on 47\u2019s economic failure.\n\n\u201cThere were two fundamental promises made by the Republican Party and Donald Trump: \u2018We\u2019ll bring down costs on day one\u2019 and \u2018no new wars.\u2019 Both of those promises have been broken. And what are we seeing across this country? Families who are struggling.\n\n\u201cThe metaphors I hear all the time have to do with drowning. \u2018I can\u2019t keep my head above water. We\u2019re drowning in our bills. We are treading water and not making it.\u2019 Americans can\u2019t work any harder. They need a government that is working for them. That is the promise of the Democratic Caucus.\n\n\u201cWe see your family, and we are going to fight for you. We\u2019re going to fight to lower those costs. Of groceries, of housing, of childcare and elder care. We\u2019re going to make sure that when you need a doctor, you can afford to go to one, and it can be close by to where you live.\n\n\u201cAs the Leader said, there is a cost-of-living price paid for corruption. And we are going to hold them accountable. What we have seen is a bargain that always puts the American people last.\n\n\u201cThey stripped away healthcare to the tune of $1 trillion. And then they said, \u2018Corporations and the very wealthiest people in this country, they will benefit.\u2019 And what have we seen? Healthcare costs skyrocket. In one third of all our counties, there are no OB/GYNs or a safe place to have a baby. And the cost of having a baby continues to go out of reach. The cost of having a baby in this country!\n\n\u201cAnd corporate tax revenues have fallen by 25% \u2014 that\u2019s $96 billion \u2014 while the American people are working at multiple jobs just trying to get by. That is a bargain that we are not going to stand for, and we are going to put the people first back in the People\u2019s House come January.\u201d\n\nOn the Devastating Impacts of Trump\u2019s War in Iran:\n\n\u201cJust this morning, I met with farmers. The cost of diesel fuel that is directly related to this war in Iran is going to further drive farmers out of business and grocery prices even higher.\n\n\u201cWe are seeing now, sort of, the end of oil reserves. Prices going up \u2014 $0.26 at a pump in a 24-hour period. This is so unsustainable.\n\n\u201cAnd [Republicans] are not being transparent about, not only the real costs, but what is happening in our bases and the cost of this war now and to keep it going, and the long-term costs of rebuilding what we have lost.\n\n\u201cSo, all of this ends up on people\u2019s kitchen tables. They don\u2019t have different silos they can go to to pay for different budgets. It all comes out of their paycheck, and they are not making it.\n\n\u201cThis corruption, the pay for play, the ineptitude of the Department of Defense \u2014 starting with Pete Hegseth \u2014 is all coming home to American families and creating anxiety and fear that they\u2019re simply not going to be able to provide for their children.\u201d\n\nOn the GOP\u2019s Refusal to Address AI Safety:\n\n\u201cRight now with AI, we have two things going on: We want to be the leaders in innovation in the world and take the promise of this technology to do amazing things, but we know we have to protect jobs, child safety. We have very real concerns that we have many legislative proposals [for]. But at this moment, we have an industry \u2014 OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta \u2014 all speaking with one voice [and saying] that there is a problem, that there is a true threat to a global existence. It is a true threat that we have to solve globally.\n\n\u201cAnd what we have is a Speaker of the House who says, \u2018They can work that out for themselves.\u2019\n\n\u201cThis is not a Republican or Democratic issue. This is an American issue. And it is a global issue.\n\n\u201cAs the Leader said, what we are lacking is the leadership from this president to do that. This isn\u2019t about bolstering up the corporations that he\u2019s invested in, his personal enrichment. If there is a fundamental safety issue, let\u2019s address it. Let\u2019s come together and make sure that we can harness the power of this innovation. But also address the safety issue that we are getting warnings about.\n\n\u201cThat should be a top priority that we are working on right now. And so that we can continue and work with global partners who are also developing this technology together on some fundamental guardrails to ensure safety of AI as we move forward.\n\n\u201cAnd what are we seeing instead? We\u2019re going to go home. We\u2019re going to go home and not deal with this issue. We\u2019ve seen this before. When they are pressed on issues, whether it\u2019s Epstein or a fundamental safety issue around AI, the answer is to retreat and not take it on.\n\n\u201cWe will be pushing for this answer that we need. It is not partisan. Let\u2019s meet this moment of safety for the American people who want to benefit from AI, but are worried about what it might do to their privacy, to their kids, and to future jobs.\u201d\n\nWatch the full press availability, HERE. View photos, HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-18T09:27:43Z", "2026-09-18T09:29:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://katherineclark.house.gov/2026/09/17/whip-clark-democrats-will-put-people-first-in-the-peoples-house/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.788527075201273, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}