众议院议长南希·佩洛西对俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京发出了严厉警告，因为俄罗斯在乌克兰地区附近的军事集结周日没有放缓的迹象。
“事实是，我们认为对乌克兰的攻击就是对民主的攻击，”佩洛西在美国广播公司《本周》的独家采访中告诉乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯“我们知道，生命损失、损害、对平民、对军人和其他人的附带损害是严重的。”
“如果他决定入侵，俄罗斯的母亲们不喜欢他们的孩子进入他不得不经历的——原谅我的表达——来自母亲们的腰包，所以他必须知道战争不是答案。他的侵略会带来非常严重的后果，我们团结一致使用它们。”
佩洛西说，美国必须为任何潜在的入侵做好准备，她认为制裁迄今为止起到了威慑作用。
“如果我们不威胁制裁和其他措施，这将保证普京会入侵。让我们希望外交能奏效。这是关于外交，威慑。外交，威慑，”佩洛西说。
“总统已经明确表示:俄罗斯要去那里，要付出很大的代价。因此，如果俄罗斯不入侵，并不是他从未打算入侵，只是制裁奏效了，”佩洛西说。
“我为总统所做的一切感到非常自豪。我们的盟友和北约团结一致，就制裁的严厉程度达成一致，这非常非常重要。也就是说，这是普京应该非常密切关注的事情，”佩洛西补充说。
佩洛西指出，虽然乔·拜登总统有权通过行政命令发布制裁，但如果国会通过立法这样做，“会更好”。
参议院一直在谈判一项俄罗斯制裁法案，但截至上周，议员们得出结论认为，他们的谈判陷入了“僵局”。参议员们表示，他们将继续谈判，同时也考虑“其他”选择。
在国内方面，佩洛西为通过历史上规模巨大的支出法案来应对冠状病毒和基础设施进行了辩护，一些人说，这导致了美国各地成本的上升。
她指出，众议院最近通过的旨在更好地与中国竞争的立法，以及长期停滞不前的《重建更好法案》，将有助于解决供应链问题，并从长远来看改善经济。
“人们有工作的事实总是导致通货膨胀的增加。这是件好事。但是通货膨胀不是一件好事，”佩洛西说。
佩洛西说:“必须有一个累积效应，一个累积效应，基础设施投资法案的部分后果是，更多的人有工作，因此通胀上升。
佩洛西补充说:“BBB是一项削减赤字的法案。“[联合税收委员会]表示，BBB将在头10年减少1000亿美元的国债，在后10年减少1万亿美元。”
她敦促西弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员乔·曼钦(Joe Manchin)理解国会在解决通胀问题上的作用，而不是助长通胀，他声称通过英国央行法案就能做到这一点。
“解决这个问题对我们来说非常重要。我们必须把它打倒，但不是。佩洛西说:“说我们正在做的事情助长了通货膨胀是不对的——尽管全世界都尊重我的朋友乔·曼钦——因为事实恰恰相反。
斯特凡诺普洛斯还就美国犯罪率上升向佩洛西施压，并注意到一些国会议员对如何解决这一问题的不同意见。一些人呼吁增加警力，而其他成员，如密苏里州的民主党众议员柯里·布什，则支持“解散警察”运动。
“好吧，尽管全世界都尊重柯里·布什，但这不是民主党的立场，”佩洛西在谈到“解散警察”运动时说，该运动呼吁将资金从警察部队重新分配给当地社区组织和非警务形式的公共安全。
佩洛西说:“社区安全，以各种方式保护和捍卫，是我们的就职誓言。她指出“2021年乔治·弗洛伊德治安司法法案”是对犯罪率上升的回答。这项立法是民主党起草的人权和警察改革法案。该立法旨在打击警察的不当行为、过度使用武力和警务中的种族偏见。在弗洛伊德被谋杀后，众议院于2020年批准了这项措施，但在参议院被搁置。
斯特凡诺普洛斯还指出，随着民主党为即将于今年11月举行的中期选举做好准备，拜登的支持率很低。他问佩洛西，鉴于大量民主党人已经宣布他们不会竞选连任，她是否担心失去多数席位。
“我不苦恼。我组织，”佩洛西反驳道。“我们完全打算赢得这次选举。没有比这更危险的了。”
“忘记历史，”佩洛西指着中期选举的历史结果对斯特凡诺普洛斯说。“我们在谈论未来....我们每一天都有做力所能及的事情的意图。我们已经决定要赢，这就是我们要做的。”
当被斯特凡诺普洛斯问及是否打算再次竞选议长时，佩洛西打趣道:“这不是问题。我现在的目的就是赢得选举。赢得选举，最重要是我们的民主。”
Pelosi has stark warning for Putin: 'He has to know that war is not an answer'
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."
"If he decides to invade, the mothers in Russia don't like their children going into what he's had to experience that -- forgive the expression -- bodybags from the moms before, so he has to know that war is not an answer. There's very severe consequences to his aggression, and we are united in using them."
Pelosi said the U.S. has to be prepared for any potential invasion, and she believes sanctions have acted as a deterrent thus far.
"If we were not threatening the sanctions and the rest, it would guarantee that Putin would invade. Let's hope that diplomacy works. It's about diplomacy, deterrence. Diplomacy, deterrence," Pelosi said.
"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.
"I'm very proud of what the president has done. The unity of our allies and NATO to come to an agreement as to the severity of the sanctions is very, very important. And that is, that is something that Putin should pay very close attention to," Pelosi added.
Pelosi noted that while President Joe Biden has the authority to issue sanctions by executive order, "it would be better" if Congress did so through legislation.
The Senate has been negotiating a Russia sanctions bill, but as of last week, lawmakers concluded that they had hit an "impasse" in their talks. Senators have said they will continue to negotiate while also considering "other" options.
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 fact that people have jobs always contributes to increase in inflation. And that's a good thing. But inflation is not a good [thing]," Pelosi said.
"There has to be a cumulative effect, a cumulative effect and part of the consequences of all of that investment in the infrastructure bill the rest, is that more people have jobs and and, therefore, inflation goes up," Pelosi said.
"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."
She urged Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia to understand Congress' role in addressing inflation as opposed to contributing to it, which he claims passing the BBB will do.
"It's very important for us to address it. We must bring it down and but is not. It's not right -- with all the respect in the world to my friend Joe Manchin -- it's not right to say that what we're doing is contributing to inflation because it is exactly the opposite," Pelosi said.
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.
"Well, with all the respect in the world for Cori Bush, that is not the position of the Democratic Party," Pelosi said of the "defund the police" movement, which calls for a reallocation of money from police forces to local community organizations and non-policing forms of public safety.
"Community safety, to protect and defend in every way, is our oath of office," Pelosi said. She pointed to the "The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021" as an answer to rising crime. The legislation is a human rights and police reform bill drafted by Democrats. The legislation aims to combat police misconduct, excessive force and racial bias in policing. The House approved the measure in 2020 following Floyd's murder, but it is stalled in the Senate.
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.
"I don't agonize. I organize," Pelosi countered. "We fully intend to win this election. Nothing less is at stake."
"Forget history," Pelosi said to Stephanopoulos when he pointed to historical election results during a midterm year. "We're talking about the future....We have every intention every single day to do everything in our power. We have decided to win and that's what we will do."
Asked by Stephanopoulos if she intends to run for speaker again, Pelosi quipped: "That's not a question. My purpose right now is just to win that election. Win that election, nothing less is at stake than our democracy."
