WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) spoke with Pamela Brown on CNN this afternoon to discuss the Build Back Better Act.
Click here to watch the full interview, and find excerpts of Rep. Pocan’s remarks below.
“We have the votes. I’ve talked to a number of those folks that were concerned that we talked to a few weeks ago, and they’re very sincere, and they also acknowledge that everything they’ve been told as they’ve talked to the CBO over the last several weeks is pointing to the dollars being very close, or exactly-on in some areas, to what we were saying. You’re going to find all the Democrats, hopefully tonight, if not tomorrow, voting on this bill. These are democratic values, things like childcare and the Family and Medical Leave, and making sure that seniors are spending less on prescription drugs, and so many of the things that are in this bill are going to be easy to unite us. There certainly may be parts of the bill that different people don’t like – I think we’ll all be unified in supporting this agenda of Joe Biden’s.”
“We’ll see what Joe Manchin does. I know a lot of this bill — because of the conversations that held up the infrastructure bill thanks to the Progressive Caucus – but 95% of the bill is kind of preclearance, people have already agreed to, it’s just a few remaining things. There’s a lot that’s solid in this bill, a lot that’s going to benefit families across the country. What winds up coming back from the Senate, we’ll have a conversation at that point. Where there is unity, one of the most important provisions is this childcare provision. Everyone’s been supportive of that. That’s a huge lift for so many American families. They’re going to literally save thousands of dollars that can go towards vacations, college funds, and just things like clothing. It’s going to be a big improvement in people’s lives. All Democrats are unified on those matters.”
“We are an outlier in Western countries that don’t have [Paid Family Leave]. I would hope that we’ll keep this in the bill, and we will be able to persuade Senator Manchin and anyone else that when it comes to the Senate, these are good provisions. There’s a lot here that’s going to benefit American people. Don’t forget there’s a tax cut for 40 million American families in this bill, and I don’t think anyone’s going to want to say “no” to that many people.”
“Senator Sanders and I completely agree, we wanted to go to dental, vision, and hearing because those are all health concerns seniors have that didn’t make the original package for Medicare. That is as much health care as anything else. But we’ll hopefully see where we get when we pass it out with a big vote from the House, hopefully that sends a message to senators as well, that there’s large support to get this done. And I think more constituents will understand what’s in the bill. And that’s going to also help us get it done in the Senate.”
