{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://pressley.house.gov/2026/09/15/watch-pressley-blasts-treasury-secretary-over-trumps-affordability-crisis-skyrocketing-costs-for-families/", "WATCH: Pressley Blasts Treasury Secretary Over Trump\u2019s Affordability Crisis, Skyrocketing Costs for Families", "2026-09-15", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Ayanna Pressley", "P000617", "pressley.house.gov", "pressley", "https://pressley.house.gov/news/", "scraper", "Transcript: Pressley Blasts Treasury Secretary Over Trump\u2019s Affordability Crisis, Skyrocketing Costs for Families\n\nHouse Financial Services Committee\n\nSeptember 15, 2026\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Mr. Secretary, I want to continue where we left off the last time you testified before this committee. As you know, hundreds of thousands of Black workers have been pushed out of the workforce, and unemployment rates over the last year haven\u2019t been this high since the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nTo put it simply, more people are out of work now than they were before Trump took office in 2025.\n\nSecretary Bessent, in February, you testified under oath that you would analyze Black unemployment data and report back on its impacts to the financial stability of the U.S. economy. Have you begun working on this report yet?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: I will check with my staff. I have not seen it.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Can you make a commitment to honor what you said on the record under oath?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: Of course.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Okay. And when can I expect that report?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: I will check with my staff, and they will communicate to you a date certain.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Secretary Bessent, let me be frank here. Something that is having this sort of impact. At one point, there were 300,000 Black women who have been pushed out of the workforce, most of them from the federal government, devastating many black families, in that 80% of those families, Black women, are the primary breadwinner.\n\nSo this is something of great consequence.\n\nI have to also say, again being frank, that you\u2019re on thin ice with me because you sat here in the midst of the tariffs conversation, and I asked for you to be a partner in pushing for an exemption of baby products, and you told me that I had a partner in you in that advocacy, and nothing came of that.\n\nSo twice you\u2019ve come before this committee made a commitment under oath, and you\u2019ve not followed up.\n\nSEC. BESSENT: I would say watch this space after President Xi\u2019s visit.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Okay, I don\u2019t know what that means, but people are struggling. You\u2019ve made commitments. You haven\u2019t kept any of them, and it\u2019s outrageous. Moving on, I have a lot of ground to cover, and I have too much of my time.\n\n[cross talk]\n\nSecretary Bessent, when\u2014reclaiming my time. When Donald Trump launched the unnecessary and unconstitutional war with Iran, how long did he say that would last?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: I don\u2019t recall.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: I\u2019ll jog your memory. Four to five weeks. It\u2019s been six months. So he lied, and we\u2019re all paying the cost.\n\nSince the war started, gas prices are up 52 percent. Yes or no? Are you aware of that?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: Gas prices\u2014\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Gas prices are up 52 percent since the war started. Are you aware of this issue? Yes or no?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: From what to what? I think that\u2019s not a good number.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Okay, I\u2019m going to take that as a yes. You\u2019re playing like you don\u2019t know, but you know.\n\nOkay, Secretary Bessent. Working people\u2014reclaiming my time.\n\nSecretary Bessent, working people are paying more for utilities now than they were five years ago. More than 20% more. Are you aware of that?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: I am aware of that.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Okay, moving on. Secretary Bessent, people are also paying over three times more on health insurance. Have you heard about this issue? Yes or no?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: I am aware that\u2014\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Yes or no? Are you aware?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: You can ask\u2014\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Stop filibustering. And stop acting like you don\u2019t know what the facts are. Moving on.\n\nSecretary Bessent, the Joint Economic Committee found that tariffs cost families on average $1,700. Have you heard about this issue?\n\nSEC. BESSENT: I have not.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: You heard about this issue. Your boss, Donald Trump, said that he was going to give people, or he would reimburse them. He would send them a check for the cost of these tariffs, and he hasn\u2019t done that because he lies on everything.\n\nSEC. BESSENT: Well, the Democratic\u2014\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Moving on. You know about these issues, and I\u2019m questioning your integrity. You know about this.\n\n[cross talk]\n\nCHAIR: Ms. Pressley is recognized. Ms. Pressley is recognized.\n\nREP. PRESSLEY: Thank you.\n\nMr. Secretary, you know about these issues. The American people are suffering. You know better.\n\nYou go on television and you say that Trump\u2019s economic agenda is a great comeback, and that makes me question not only your integrity, but if you\u2019re operating in the same reality as the people whom you are accountable to.\n\nAnd you are enabling him, and it\u2019s shameful.\n\nSecretary Bessent, the families in my district and across this country are struggling to afford a home, buy food, raise their kids, pay these high utility bills, and they deserve a government that\u2019s going to make their life easier, not harder.\n\nBut that\u2019s exactly what is happening on your watch.\n\nAs the Secretary of Treasury, you\u2019re responsible for overseeing all of our economy. You don\u2019t have anyone else to blame but yourself and Donald Trump.\n\nAnd it is shameful that you\u2019re being an accessory to this and being complicit to this.\n\nYou are a smart man, and you know better.\n\nI yield back.\n\n\u2014\n\nLast year, following Rep. Pressley\u2019s questioning, Secretary Bessent conceded the Treasury Department would consider exempting essential baby care products from tariffs, which was later reaffirmed by President Trump.", 1, "2026-09-16T09:43:13Z", "2026-09-16T09:44:22Z"]], "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://pressley.house.gov/2026/09/15/watch-pressley-blasts-treasury-secretary-over-trumps-affordability-crisis-skyrocketing-costs-for-families/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7187528535723686, "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"}