House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had a stark warning for Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Russian military buildup near the Ukraine region showed no signs of slowing on Sunday.
"The fact is that we think that an assault on Ukraine is an assault on democracy," Pelosi told George Stephanopoulos during an exclusive interview on ABC's "This Week." "We understand that the loss of life, the damage, the collateral damage to civilians, to military and the rest are severe."
"And the president's made it very clear: There's a big price to pay for Russia to go there. So if Russia doesn't invade, it's not that he never intended to, it's just that the sanctions worked," Pelosi said. On the domestic front, Pelosi defended passing historically massive spending bills to address the coronavirus and infrastructure, which some say has contributed to rising costs across the U.S.She noted that legislation the House passed recently to better compete with China, as well as the long-stalled Build Back Better Act, would help with supply chain issues and improve the economy in the long run.
"The BBB is a deficit reduction bill," Pelosi added. "The [Joint Committee on Taxation] says that BBB will reduce the national debt by $100 billion in the first 10 years and a trillion dollars in the second 10 years." Stephanopoulos also pressed Pelosi on the rate of rising crime in America and noted the differing opinions among some members of Congress as to how to address the issue. Some have called for an increase in the police force, while other members, such as Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, have supported the "defund the police" movement.
Stephanopoulos also pointed to Biden's low approval rating as Democrats gear up for the upcoming midterm election this November. He asked Pelosi if she is concerned about losing the majority given the high number of Democrats who have already announced they are not running for re-election.
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