Hakeem S. Jeffries
Representative for New York · Democratic · United States
“In fact, there are so many loopholes written into the bill, I believe, that it is very unlikely that the sanctions relief contemplated in the legislation will ever see the light of day.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from the Commonwealth of Virginia for yielding and for his leadership. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the underlying bill to honor the heroic, brave, and patriotic Tuskegee Airmen, part of the Greatest Generation, who stood up against fascism, authoritarianism, and the forces that…”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“House Democrats, led by Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer and many others, have been at the forefront of standing up for the people of Ukraine, pushing back against the effort to run them over, pushing back against tyranny and propaganda and the horrors that have been inflicted on them by Vladimir Putin and this war of aggression that Russi…”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“The United States of America has always stood on the side of democracy, freedom, and truth, which is why we must always continue to stand on the side of the Ukrainian people. That is our pledge as House Democrats. We have been there with the Ukrainian people from the very beginning.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Yet, we find ourselves at this moment in time, some, including the highest reaches of the Federal Government in the executive branch, seemingly more interested in appeasing Vladimir Putin, not confronting him. That is why I have real concerns.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Many of us wonder why the President has been so reluctant to aggressively confront the bully of Eastern Europe. One of the things we have learned from the Tuskegee Airmen, from the great leaders of that time, from the Greatest Generation, from FDR, and from Churchill is that you have to confront the bully, not appease the bully.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
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“And at this moment in time, where we see renewed tyranny coming out of eastern Europe by Vladimir Putin and Russian aggression, let's summon the courage, the character, and the conviction that the Greatest Generation showed and not appease the bully but confront the bully until victory is won.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Speaker, I cannot support the bill related to Ukrainian sanctions on the floor today because substantively it will not accomplish the objective, which is to stand with the American people, stand with the Ukrainian people, stand with democracy, stand with freedom, stand with truth, and push back against tyranny. This bill, at the same time, could give the President an additional tool to visit economic harm on the American people. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I thank the distinguished gentleman from Alabama for bringing this legislation honoring the Tuskegee Airmen.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“I can't do it because I am standing up for everyday Americans who are suffering in this failed economy with a President who promised to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down in America. Costs have gone up. {time} 1500 One of the reasons they have gone up is because of the Trump tariffs that have increased costs on everyday Americans, thousands of additional dollars in expense per year--on groceries, on goods, on cars, even on homeownership. So why in the world would this Congress give this President additional authority to visit that kind of economic harm on the American people? So, respectfully, Mr.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Yet, we find ourselves at this moment in time, some, including the highest reaches of the Federal Government in the executive branch, seemingly more interested in appeasing Vladimir Putin, not confronting him. That is why I have real concerns. I am not in a position to support this legislation, notwithstanding the fact that I am proud to represent more Ukrainian Americans than any other Member of Congress in the country. Back home in south Brooklyn and Coney Island and in Brighton Beach, an incredible patriotic community, I say to my constituents that we will continue to stand with the Ukrainian people in Ukraine until victory is won, but this legislation does not provide a path to secure that.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Many of us wonder why the President has been so reluctant to aggressively confront the bully of Eastern Europe. One of the things we have learned from the Tuskegee Airmen, from the great leaders of that time, from the Greatest Generation, from FDR, and from Churchill is that you have to confront the bully, not appease the bully. We find ourselves, once again, in 2026, just like the Tuskegee Airmen found themselves in the early to mid-1940s in the FDR-Churchill versus Chamberlain moment, you are either going to confront the bully or appease the bully. That is what Chamberlain did. When you appease the bully, it doesn't work out. We learned that lesson, or should have, in 1939.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“In fact, there are so many loopholes written into the bill, I believe, that it is very unlikely that the sanctions relief contemplated in the legislation will ever see the light of day. That is particularly the case because President Trump has shown great reluctance, over the 10 years that he has been in our faces here in the United States of America, to actually side with the Ukrainian people. He recently blamed Ukraine for the increase in diesel prices. No. Diesel prices have increased because of the President's reckless and costly war of choice in Iran. He suggested that somehow President Zelenskyy, who has been a brave and courageous wartime leader, and the Ukrainian people have visited the horror, the terror, the war upon themselves. No. One person bears responsibility for it: Vladimir Putin.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“The United States of America has always stood on the side of democracy, freedom, and truth, which is why we must always continue to stand on the side of the Ukrainian people. That is our pledge as House Democrats. We have been there with the Ukrainian people from the very beginning. This legislation that will be before us today, unfortunately, in my view, does not accomplish the objectives that some may, in good faith in this House or over in the Senate, be trying to accomplish. All of us, I believe, certainly House Democrats, will continue to stand up for the Ukrainian people, but the manner in which this bill has been written doesn't require the President of the United States to impose sanctions on Russia.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“House Democrats, led by Speaker Pelosi and Leader Hoyer and many others, have been at the forefront of standing up for the people of Ukraine, pushing back against the effort to run them over, pushing back against tyranny and propaganda and the horrors that have been inflicted on them by Vladimir Putin and this war of aggression that Russia has launched. We will continue to, at all times, stand behind the Ukrainian people, support their courage, and their bravery in their fight, an existential one, against Vladimir Putin and Russia. We believe it is a fight not just for their territorial integrity but it is also a battle of the forces of democracy versus the forces of autocracy, the forces of freedom versus the forces of tyranny, and the forces of truth versus the forces of propaganda.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“As I was thinking about this on the way over, I am certainly so thankful to Congressman Shomari Figures for his leadership in advancing this legislation and for continuing, in every possible way, to stand up for his constituents of every race in the great State of Alabama. As I was thinking about the Tuskegee Airmen and the Greatest Generation who rescued the world from Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, and fascism, I thought how ironic it is that we are on the floor today debating legislation with respect to Russia, Vladimir Putin, and their horrific invasion of Ukraine.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from the Commonwealth of Virginia for yielding and for his leadership. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the underlying bill to honor the heroic, brave, and patriotic Tuskegee Airmen, part of the Greatest Generation, who stood up against fascism, authoritarianism, and the forces that were trying to bring about totalitarianism all across Europe and to the rest of the world. We can learn and be inspired by the courage, the character, and the conviction of the Tuskegee Airmen. It is unfortunate that some in this administration are trying to erase their history, but that history is not just Black history. It is American history. We will never let it be erased. We must continue to be informed by it, encouraged by it, and inspired by it.”
House of Representatives16 September 2026Source ↗
“Republicans have literally ripped food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors, and veterans to sustain the Trump war machine. Republican extremists apparently have money for wars but can't feed the poor. Our message to the American people is: Don't lose faith. Help is on the way. Regime change is coming to the House of Representatives in November, so keep your head up.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Donald Trump, in his own words, said that the affordability crisis is a hoax. Donald Trump, in his own words, said: I don't think about the personal financial situation of the American people. Donald Trump, in his own words, said: ``I love the inflation.'' Mr. Chair, we don't have to wonder why things aren't going well for everyday Americans in the United States right now. It is because, in my humble opinion, President Trump and Republicans in this House continue to act indifferent to the economic well-being of the American people and to actively do things that are hurting everyday Americans financially like this reckless and costly war of choice, which is why we stand aggressively against it.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Donald Trump, of course, has said: Because we are fighting wars, we can't prioritize things like daycare, Medicaid, or Medicare. That is exactly what is happening right now. {time} 1320 Republicans, in their one big, ugly bill, enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping healthcare away from more than 14 million Americans all across the country, in rural America, urban America, small-town America, the heartland of America, and Black and Brown America. No one has been untouched by the Republican assault on healthcare. Why is this happening? It is so that Donald Trump can fund this reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East. The reality is, in his own words, he doesn't give a damn about the economic well-being of the American people. How do we know that?”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“One of the most important things Members of Congress are solemnly given by the Framers of the Constitution is the responsibility to determine issues of war and peace. One of the most important things that we can do is stand against this reckless war of choice in the Middle East so no more servicemembers have to be sent home dead to their families who have been left behind. What we should be doing in this Congress is actually using our taxpayer dollars to make life more affordable for the American people, and that is our commitment as House Democrats. Unfortunately, Donald Trump and our Republican colleagues don't share that commitment. That is not a hypothetical. It is not hype. It is not hyperbole. Look at their own words.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“I stand in strong opposition to this America-last, reckless Republican budget, this effort to waste tens of billions of dollars more on operation epic failure in the Middle East. Mr. Chairman, we express our heartfelt condolences to the additional family members of those soldiers and members of the Armed Forces who have lost their lives needlessly in the Middle East, and we all have a responsibility to continue to stand with them in their time of mourning and their time of great need but simultaneously make sure that no additional heroic, patriotic, brave American servicemen or -women need to die overseas in Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice. We stand in strong opposition to this America-last budget.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Donald Trump and his violent masked deportation machine are spending billions of dollars for ICE to brutalize and kill American citizens or to violently target law-abiding immigrants, as we just saw in Maine and in Houston. Donald Trump, of course, promised that he was elected not to start endless wars in the Middle East but to stop them, and then turned around and has gotten us involved in a potentially endless war in Iran, a reckless war of choice that has made life more expensive for the American people while making us less safe, with Iran being stronger now, having a stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz, a stronger Iran now than they were before Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Chairman, I also thank the distinguished top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, Representative Brendan Boyle, for yielding and for his incredible leadership. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong opposition to this America-last Republican budget that will provide billions of additional dollars to Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East, which has been a complete and total disaster for the American people. Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice in Iran has skyrocketed gas prices on everyday Americans who are already suffering from the failed Republican economy and drowning in its poor management. Now, Donald Trump has made several promises to the American people upon his return to the White House, all of which it appears to me he has failed to keep.”
House of Representatives22 July 2026Source ↗
“We are going to stand on the side of our children, of our families, of our veterans, of older Americans, of everyone aspiring to achieve the American Dream, stand up in defense of Medicaid, stand up in defense of veterans' benefits, stand up in defense of nutritional assistance, stand up in defense of economic opportunity and a fair tax code that is designed to build an economy that actually works for everyday Americans as opposed to an economy of the billionaires, by the billionaires, and for the billionaires. That is why Democrats strongly oppose this reckless Republican budget resolution and will not rest until we bury it in the ground, never to rise again.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“The President himself has made that clear. At the end of the day, that is what this is all about. How extraordinary is that? As Democrats, we support tax cuts for everyday Americans, tax cuts for small businesses, tax cuts for family farmers, and tax cuts for those who need relief, not tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. I stand in strong opposition to this GOP tax scam. The reason why, Mr. Speaker, I have said let's debate this on the House floor directly through a colloquy, transparently, is to make it clear to the American people where we stand and where Republicans stand at such a fragile moment with so many people in this country struggling to make ends meet. House Democrats are going to continue to stand on the side of the American people.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Veterans will be hurt, people who have served this country admirably. They stood up for us. We should always stand up for them, not target them, as will be the case in this reckless Republican budget. Democrats are here to make it clear: Hands off Medicaid. Hands off the healthcare of the United States of America. Hands off nutritional assistance. Hands off veterans. Hands off everyday Americans struggling to make ends meet. Republicans do nothing to lower the high cost of living. In fact, they are making the affordability crisis in America worse, not better. Then, they target earned benefits and things that are important to the American people, like Medicaid, to visit upon it such an extreme cut. What are they doing it for? What is it in service of? All to pass massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors like Elon Musk.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Healthcare will be taken away from children, pregnant women, everyday Americans with disabilities, older Americans, people in nursing homes, and people who are receiving long-term care. Nursing homes will close. That will impact everybody in a given community. Hospitals will shut down in rural America and small-town America all across America. The largest Medicaid cut in American history is completely and totally unacceptable. In the same period of time, targeting nutritional assistance for children, infants, women, families, veterans, and older Americans, literally taking food out of the mouths of babies in the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, this is why we say it is a cruel budget. It is a callous budget. It is a budget that will have catastrophic consequences.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“It is an assault on Medicaid, an assault on healthcare, and an assault on nutritional assistance to children and families. It is an assault on older Americans and an assault on hospitals, nursing homes, and community health centers. It is an assault on veterans. That is why we reject it, because we are going to stand on the side of the American people. Now, there are so many different problems with this budget resolution, but let's begin with the fact that Republicans are setting in motion the largest Medicaid cut in American history. That is going to hurt people all across this country. In small-town America, in urban America, in rural America, in the heartland of America, in Appalachia, all across this country, people will be hurt.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“President Trump and House Republicans told us that they were going to deliver the golden age of America. Over the last several months, we haven't witnessed the golden age of America. We have witnessed a rotten age. They are crashing the economy in real time, driving us toward a Republican recession that is going to hurt children, hurt families, hurt seniors, hurt everyday Americans, hurt veterans, and hurt people across the land. Republicans haven't done anything to address the high cost of living. As Democrats, we recognize that America is too expensive. The cost of living in this great country is far too high. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. Childcare costs are too high. America is too expensive. We should be working to lower the high cost of living.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“I am ready to debate one-on-one, prepared to yield to the Speaker for colloquy at any time so we can discuss the Democratic vision for building an affordable economy that lowers costs and makes life better for the American people and the Republican budget proposal that would enact the largest Medicaid cut in American history in order to pass massive tax breaks for Republicans' billionaire donors like Elon Musk. Mr. Speaker, I am ready to yield. I am ready to debate one-on-one on this House floor. I promise not to rebuke him in the name of Jesus. Here in America, we were told by Donald Trump and House Republicans, that they were going to lower the high cost of living for everyday Americans. In fact, we were told that Republicans were going to do it on day one, and it hasn't happened.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, let me also thank the distinguished gentleman from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Representative Boyle, who is doing a tremendous job leading House Democrats on the Budget Committee. Yesterday, I urged the Speaker to join me on the House floor to debate this reckless budget one-on-one so we would have an opportunity to fully air, in a transparent way before the American people, Democratic values and Republican values, the Democratic perspective on this budget and the Republican perspective. I am on the House floor right now.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to remember the life, the legacy, and the leadership of the legendary Hazel Dukes. Dr. Dukes was a New York icon, a remarkable role model, and an American hero who helped to breathe life into the principles of liberty and justice for all and equal protection under the law. As an iconic president of the NAACP and the leader of our New York chapter for decades, Dr.”
House of Representatives11 March 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the Republican bait and switch that has been taking place throughout the 119th Congress. The Republican bait and switch has three elements: Part 1: Talk about lowering the high cost of living but do nothing about it. Part 2: Enact massive tax cuts for billionaires and wealthy corporations that will do nothing to improve the quality of life of everyday Americans.”
House of Representatives10 February 2025Source ↗