At a House Democratic Women's Caucus press briefing, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) urged women to get involved politically.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Good morning.
00:12Thank you for joining us together with members of the Democratic Women's Caucus on this last
00:18and final day of the Issues Conference.
00:21As you all know, we heard incredibly sad news yesterday, and so when somebody I worked with
00:29really well, Chairman Grijalva, who was a dear friend, a fierce, fierce man whose heart
00:41and commitment to the people who needed it most was as deep as that Grand Canyon that
00:48he protected.
00:50He asked me to be chair of the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples, and together we passed
00:56dozens of bipartisan laws.
00:59He cared as deeply for the Native Americans, Latinos, those who suffered from environmental
01:05injustice as he did for this beautiful planet that we call home.
01:11And so we shed many a tear last night, because in his same commitment that he had for the
01:18people who he knew relied on the land around them, relied on the need for clean water,
01:24relied on the need for us to make sure that we cut down pollution so that children did
01:31not suffer from asthma, is the same kind of motivation and spirit that inspires the women
01:40of the Democratic Women's Caucus.
01:43Because it is this inspiration for those who need it most, it is this inspiration for those
01:49who aspire to more, that I think guides our work.
01:56And so I couldn't start today, I couldn't say anything publicly without acknowledging
02:02the inspiration of Raul Grijalva.
02:05So you know, we are here after we had left Washington, D.C., where the House Republicans
02:15passed a funding bill that was basically a partisan attack on women and children.
02:22And we consider it a partisan attack because they walked away from a funding bill that
02:30was in the process of negotiation when Trump told them no.
02:36We like the idea of this continuing resolution, which strips much of the constitutional, congressional
02:47language that directs where spending can go.
02:51And Democrats in the House understood what it would mean to women, to families, to veterans,
03:00to women's health, to children.
03:02We understood what it would mean because Musk, Doge, and Trump had already begun the process.
03:12Their attack on veterans, their attack on women who serve in the military at the highest
03:20levels, their attack on women's health research, on Medicaid, on the Department of Education
03:28where we send our children and expect them to be able to be treated fairly, expect children
03:34with disabilities to be able to get the assistance they need, expect those children in the poorest
03:42schools and communities to be able to have the opportunity to thrive.
03:48Because I think what you can understand about what women are about is about thinking about
03:56that future, about thinking about how do we make it possible for our children to actually
04:02grasp and live that American dream.
04:06And education is key.
04:08We do not rise, we do not thrive if we cannot get our children a quality education.
04:15But also health care is key.
04:20When we strip the ability of 40% of the women in the country, of their ability to have healthy
04:29babies because they got prenatal care, because they were able to give birth and then support
04:36that child with nutrition through the Women, Infants, and Children programs, when they
04:42know that those nutrition programs are going to continue so that their child will have
04:47enough food that they will not be hungry in school, nor shamed.
04:55Because some children get shamed when they apply for food, nutrition assistance in schools.
05:03So programs like in New Mexico, or last night we heard from Governor Whitmer who described
05:09they did the same thing where you provide universal school lunches for children so they
05:15are not hungry and they learn better.
05:18It is that kind of thinking about what do we need to move ahead.
05:23It is thinking for women about how Trump's policies just cost women and families too
05:29much.
05:30Let's face it, his tariffs are costing women and families too much, and women are often
05:35the ones who make the budget.
05:37We are the ones who go to the grocery stores.
05:40We are the ones who think about these costs on a daily basis.
05:44And Trump and his temper tantrum tariffs are costing women too much.
05:50He has done absolutely nothing to bring down the cost for families, but he has attacked
05:58women.
05:59He put us on that list, how dare he put us on a list of discouraged words.
06:06We are now on a list of discouraged words.
06:09Female, woman, females, because you need to make sure you get all those females.
06:13But on that list of discouraged words, is man or men on there?
06:20No.
06:21No.
06:22Only women are discouraged and attacked.
06:24So that's why when they go after research, they went and cut women's health research.
06:31And we are seeing them go after women as if we are not qualified to do the work we do
06:36when women know that when we make it, we actually have to push harder.
06:43We actually have to prove our merit beyond, because there are people like Trump and Musk
06:51and those who put women, female and females on that list of discouraged words who think
06:57we are not qualified.
07:00The opposite is actually the truth.
07:03And I'm going to turn to some of my amazingly qualified elected women of the Democratic
07:09Women's Caucus.
07:10And to say how qualified we are, we are a historic 96 women strong.
07:14We are women warriors and we are battle tested for this fight.
07:18And we are ready for it.
07:19Gwen Moore.
07:20Oh, thank you so much, Madam Chair.
07:25And I just, I could just.