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July 3, 2025 07:00-09:01 - CSPAN
02:00:53
U.S. House of Representatives
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h
hakeem jeffries
rep/d 01:47:03
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Speaker Time Text
hakeem jeffries ▲ ● ▼
for the people that they are privileged to serve.
Donald Trump's one big ugly bill, an all-out assault on health care, an all-out assault on Medicaid, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.
This legislation will end Medicaid as we know it.
Millions of people will lose their health care.
Hospitals will close, including in rural America.
People will lose their nursing homes, one in four nursing homes may close as a result of this dangerous and extreme Republican budget.
Community-based health clinics relied upon by many of the people all across this country will shudder as a result of Donald Trump's one big ugly bill.
People in this country will die unnecessary deaths.
That's unacceptable.
That's unconscionable.
That's un-American.
And that is why as House Democrats, we stand on this floor aggressively pushing back on the everyday Americans on their behalf,
pushing back on their behalf because they will be so absolutely devastated if this bill were to pass in the House of Representatives.
Donald Trump's one big ugly bill hurts everyday Americans and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks.
Why is it that every time, Mr. Speaker, Republicans have the opportunity to govern in a partisan way, you immediately race,
Republicans immediately race to legislation that provides massive tax breaks for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected in this country.
We've seen this happen all over time.
During the presidency of Ronald Reagan, massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected, adding to our nation's debt and deficit.
During the presidency of George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003, yet again, massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected.
In fact, the Republican president at that time, in 2001, inherited a budget surplus from President Bill Clinton and immediately turned around and took that budget surplus and turned it into a deficit.
Exploded the debt.
Don't ever lecture us about fiscal responsibility.
Not now, not ever.
Mr. Speaker, Republicans are not the party of fiscal responsibility.
You're the party of fiscal irresponsibility over and over and over again.
And now, with this bill, you've taken it to a whole nother level.
Because, in addition to exploding the debt by more than $3 trillion, and by some estimates, even more than that, saddling our children and our grandchildren with trillions of dollars in additional debt.
Why?
It appears to subsidize the lifestyles of the rich and shameless.
That's extraordinary to me.
But shouldn't be surprising because it's exactly what we saw during the first four years of the Trump administration, where the signature legislative accomplishment was the 2017 GOP tax scam,
where by some estimates, 83% of the benefits would go to the wealthiest 1% in this country, saddling at the time our children and grandchildren with more than $2 trillion in additional debt.
And yet, Mr. Speaker, many of our Republican colleagues want to lecture America about fiscal responsibility and then have the nerve to come to the House floor and try to jam a bill down the throats of the American people, with a debate that began at 3:28 a.m.
In the morning.
That would saddle them with more than $3 trillion in additional debt to provide massive tax breaks to billionaires in this country and then pay for some of it by going after working
class.
Americans, everyday Americans, hardworking American taxpayers, middle-class Americans, children and veterans, and seniors and people with disabilities.
Mr. Speaker, Trump's one big ugly bill is obscene in that regard.
Seems to me that all of us have a responsibility as leaders to try to make life better for the American people.
That's what leaders have done, particularly those who have served in the White House when it comes to actually lifting up the people who we are entrusted to represent.
That's what great leaders do.
Leaders like FDR, President Johnson, President Obama, and so many others.
That's what the track record says.
American people in this country, they deserve real leadership.
What we've seen from complete Republican rule in Washington, D.C., Mr. Speaker, it's not leadership that lifts up the American people.
It's leadership that is tearing them down and tearing us apart.
The first six months of this administration have been characterized by chaos, cruelty, and corruption.
That's not real leadership.
We know what real leadership looks like in the United States of America.
Real leadership shows courage.
Real leadership shows compassion.
Real leadership shows commitment, working with Congress as a separate and coequal branch of government, not to bend the knee to some extreme agenda, which is what, Mr. Speaker, my House Republican colleagues are doing by supporting this one big, ugly bill.
Real leadership requires working with Congress as a separate and co-equal branch of government to actually lift people up.
President Lincoln, when he addressed the House of Representatives, believe it was his second annual message to Congress on December 1st, in 1862, in the middle of the Civil War, an existential crisis that we were facing in the United States of America.
He showed real leadership when he summoned this Congress to rise to the occasion.
In that second annual message to Congress, December 1st, 1862, President Lincoln said, fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.
We are, we of this Congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves.
No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us.
The fiery trial through which we pass Will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.
We say we are for the union.
The world will not forget that we say this.
We know how to save the union.
The world knows we do know how to save it.
We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility.
In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free.
Honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.
We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.
That's America, even to this day, the last best hope on earth.
Extraordinary that Abraham Lincoln, in America's infancy, understood the importance of this country, not just for its citizens, but for the world.
He urged this Congress: we shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth.
Other means may succeed.
This could not fail.
The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud.
And God must forever bless.
That's presidential leadership.
That kind of leadership is missing in the United States of America right now.
Exhibit A is the fact that at President Trump's urging, Mr. Speaker, our House Republican colleagues are here ready to rubber stamp, rubber stamp, recklessly rubber stamp legislation that will rip health care away from more than 17 million Americans.
That's not leadership.
That's not the leadership that this country deserves, but that's what the American people are experiencing because of Republican rule here in Washington, D.C. Yet we know, Mr. Speaker, that things can be different.
At the very beginning of the preamble of the United States Constitution, those words are written.
We, the people, in order to form a more perfect union.
I like that.
We the people, In order to form a more perfect union.
That's a recognition of the aspirational objective that all of us should have as part of our sacred charge to make life better for the American people,
while also acknowledging that at its birth and even to this day, America is not a perfect country.
But the gift that we've been given is that sacred charge to strive for a more perfect union, to look out for every single American as best we can.
Now, we've seen that kind of leadership across the years, across the decades, across the centuries, particularly as it relates to the social safety net.
It's a social safety net that's under extreme assault right now.
Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill represents an unprecedented assault on America's social safety net.
An unprecedented assault on hardworking American taxpayers.
It's the exact opposite of the type of leadership that we've seen in this country that is designed to march us toward a more perfect union.
It's one of the reasons why we can't forget American history, we need to learn from and lift up American history.
All types of history, and I'll address that issue later, but let me also parenthetically pause and make it clear: black history is American history.
We will never let anyone erase it.
We need to learn from it, not erase it.
And we will never let that happen.
History teaches us that what leadership actually does is set us on a course toward a more perfect union.
And leaders have recognized that part of doing that is to make sure we are there for everyday Americans who would otherwise find themselves in an incredibly vulnerable situation.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, reflecting upon Social Security, which he championed, uttered these words long before the economic blight of the Depression descended On the nation.
Millions of our people were living in wastelands of want and fear.
Men and women too old and infirm to work either depended on those who had but little to share or spent their remaining years within the walls of a poor house.
Fatherless children early learned the meaning of being a burden to relatives or to the community.
Men and women, still strong, still young, but discarded as gainful workers, were drained of self-confidence and self-respect.
The millions of today want and have a right to the same security their forefathers sought.
The assurance that with the health and the willingness to work, they will find a place for themselves in the social and economic system of the time.
Because it has become increasingly difficult for individuals to build their own security single-handed, government must now step in and help them lay the foundation stones.
Just as government in the past has helped lay the foundation of business and industry, we must face the fact that in this country we have a rich man's security and a poor man's security and that the government owes equal obligations to both.
National security is not a half and half manner, it's all or none.
President Roosevelt further went on to say that the Social Security Act offers to all our citizens a workable and working method of meeting urgent present needs and of forestalling future need.
It utilizes the familiar machinery of our federal state government to promote the common welfare and the economic stability of the nation.
The Act does not offer anyone either individually or collectively an easy life, nor was it ever intended so to do.
None of the sums of money paid out to individuals in assistance or in insurance will spell anything approaching abundance.
But they will furnish that minimum necessity to keep a foothold.
And that is the kind of protection Americans want.
Truer words could never have been spoken.
That is the type of protection that we should be building upon here in the United States Congress, not undermining.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt went on to say, what we are doing is good, but it is not good enough.
To be truly national, a Social Security program must include all those who need its protection.
Today, many of our citizens are still excluded from old age insurance and unemployment compensation because of the nature of their employment.
This must be set aright and it will be.
FDR continues to say to the American people, I am hopeful that on the basis of studies and investigations now underway, the Congress will improve and extend the law.
I'm also confident that each year will bring further development in federal and state social security legislation.
And that is as it should be.
One word of warning, however, in our efforts to provide security for all of the American people, let us not allow ourselves to be misled by those who advocate shortcuts to utopia of fantastic financial schemes.
We have come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.
There is still today a frontier that remains unconquered, an America unclaimed.
This is the great, the nationwide frontier of insecurity, of human want, and fear.
This is the frontier, the America we have set ourselves to reclaim.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt pioneered Social Security, but recognized that the work was unfinished, even as it related to making sure every single American, regardless of race or position in life, would have Social Security to be able to live out their golden years with grace and dignity.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt talked about this frontier that America must continue to pursue conquering the frontier of insecurity, of human want and fear.
That's leadership.
That's what we should be doing here in the United States of America, Mr. Speaker, not enacting devastating cuts to health care that will hurt millions of everyday Americans.
All of this is also unfolding in an environment where Social Security is now under attack.
That's extraordinary to me.
Social Security is a sacred promise, a sacred trust between the American people and its stewards, her stewards in government.
That's why I'm so thankful for leadership As it relates to Social Security, from people like Congressman John Larson, who recognizes that our goals recognizes that leadership is not attacking Social Security.
We, as House Democrats, led by John Larson, are determined to protect and strengthen Social Security for the American people, keeping FDR's promise of conquering that frontier of financial insecurity.
That's what we should be doing here in the United States Congress, not attacking the social safety net, Mr. Speaker.
Many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle constantly call things like Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs.
I think they label Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs.
And by the way, as a result of this one big, ugly bill, Medicare will be cut potentially by more than $500 billion.
The largest cut to Medicare in American history.
Set in motion by Donald Trump's one big ugly bill and now co-signed, it appears, by House Republicans.
Mr. Speaker, House Republicans who've also co-signed this extraordinary assault on Social Security, closing offices,
cutting off access to phone service, making it harder for seniors to access their hard-earned benefits.
Social Security is not an entitlement program.
Medicare is not an entitlement program, Mr. Speaker.
I learned this very early on in life.
When I was 15 years old, I secured my first job.
I was a messenger traveling from office to office in Midtown Manhattan, delivering mail, delivering packages.
I was just a sophomore at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, my first job, earning minimum wage, $3.35 an hour.
Thankful for that money, having been raised by my mom and dad in a working-class neighborhood in central Brooklyn, $3.35 an hour, coming of age in the middle of the crack cocaine epidemic in central Brooklyn.
And I couldn't wait to get my first check.
And I was told that because I was working part-time and I was a high school student, that the money that I made would not be taxed.
And so as I was anticipating that first check, I multiplied the amount that I was making, $3.35 per hour, by the number of hours that I expected to work during that pay period.
I calculated the total.
And Mr. Speaker, that money was already spent.
I couldn't wait to go to Alby Square Mall in Brooklyn and get some new sneakers so I could look fresh like run DMC.
Money was already spent, Mr. Speaker, because I was told that as a high school student working part-time, my first job, the money that I would make would not be taxed.
And then I got my first check.
And I had two questions, Mr. Speaker.
Who is FICA?
And why is he taking my money?
You see, Mr. Speaker, what I learned is that every single American from your first job to every single job that you hold until your last job pays into Social Security and Medicare through FICA.
Social Security and Medicare aren't entitlement programs, they are earned benefits.
Earned benefits that people work hard for, earned throughout their entire life, and that they deserve.
So keep your hands off Social Security and Medicare, the earned benefits of the American people.
Hands off.
These earned benefits.
Extraordinary that as a result of this one big ugly bill, Medicare could be cut by more than $500 billion and these earned benefits of the American people could be jeopardized.
Others have noted that because of Donald Trump's one big ugly bill, the insolvency of Social Security and Medicare could be accelerated.
This is the exact opposite of that sacred charge that President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated to the nation as he reflected upon the important first step that was taken with the establishment of Social Security.
He's not the only one.
This is a great country, an exceptional country.
So many examples of what leadership actually looks like.
Leadership that we are not seeing right now from the majority in the House of Representatives.
Leadership that we did not see on the Republican side of the aisle in the United States Senate in passing this disgusting abomination.
And certainly we're not seeing this level of leadership coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
But I'm thankful that we have examples of leadership echoing throughout our history that we can reflect upon and be inspired by as we navigate our way through these challenging times.
President Truman from the great state of Missouri, Emmanuel Cleaver's state, the good Reverend Dr. Emmanuel Cleaver, my friend and my mentor, President Truman,
shortly after ending World War II, was so thankful for the sacrifice and the bravery and the courage of the greatest generation.
A few months after he unexpectedly became president, replaced the great FDR.
November 19, 1945, he delivered a special message to Congress recommending a comprehensive health program.
I want to read just a few of those words because it shows us what leadership actually looks like, what it sounds like, what it feels like to have presidential leadership that we in Congress should aspire to working with,
as opposed to bending the knee to an extreme agenda reflected in this one big, ugly bill.
President Truman said to this Congress in a statement recommending a comprehensive health program, millions of our citizens do not now have a full measure of opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.
Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness.
The time has arrived for action To help them obtain that opportunity and that protection.
Truman goes on to say, President Truman goes on to say our new economic bill of rights should mean health security for all, regardless of residence, station, or race, everywhere in the United States of America.
He says, regardless of residence, station, or race, that's presidential leadership that brings people together, doesn't seek to divide us, which is what unfortunately is happening in the United States of America right now.
President Truman goes on to say to Congress: we should resolve now that the health of this nation is a national concern.
That financial barriers in the way of attaining health shall be removed.
that the health of all its citizens deserves the help of all the nation.
Truman goes on to articulate the challenges that exist in America as it relates to illnesses.
He articulates several of them.
He talks about the deficiencies in health care that existed across America.
And the fact that in the aftermath of World War II, it was clear that so many people without coverage were medically infirm.
And he made clear that's unacceptable in the United States of America.
He articulated a forward-looking vision for universal health care, aspirational vision, a vision designed to lift the American people up, not rip health care away from them, which is what this one big,
ugly bill will do, ripping health care away for more than 17 million Americans.
That's shameful.
It disgusts me that we're on the floor, the House of Representatives, right now, having to push back so aggressively against an all-out assault on the health care of the American people when we should be trying to lift them up in a manner consistent,
Mr. Speaker, with what President Truman once charged this Congress with doing.
And of course, he wasn't the only one.
We're thankful for other leaders who worked with this Congress in prior years to actually advance the health safety and well-being of the American people.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson in connection with the Great Society, inspired in part by his own experiences growing up in the hell country of Texas, seeing rural poverty and the devastating impacts of it.
Something that he was inspired to address as opposed to this one big ugly Republican bill that will result in rural hospitals closing in the United States of America.
That's not the type of leadership that this country needs, that rural America needs.
Thankful that we have examples of the type of leadership that hopefully, Mr. Speaker, we can aspire to achieving in this country.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson in connection with the signing of Medicare and Medicaid spoke to the American people.
He said, because the need for this action is plain.
And it is so clear indeed that we marvel not simply at the passage of this bill, but what we marvel at is that it took so many years to pass it.
And I am so glad that Amy Forand is here to see it finally passed and signed.
One of the first offers.
There are more than 18 million Americans over the age of 65.
Most of them have low incomes.
Most of them are threatened by illness and medical expenses that they cannot afford.
And through this new law, Mr. President, every citizen will be able in his productive years when he is earning to insure himself against the ravages of illness in his old age.
President Johnson was referring to President Harry Truman, who was there at the signing ceremony, having recognized President Truman's vision.
He says, and through this new law, Mr. President, every citizen will be able in his productive years when he is earning to insure himself against the ravages of illness in his old age.
That was the beauty of Medicare.
You pay into it, it's an earned benefit.
And you can reap the benefits in your golden years.
President Johnson went on to say this insurance will help pay for care in hospitals, in skilled nursing homes, or in the home.
It's ironic.
That's what presidential leadership looks like.
LBJ says this insurance will help pay for care in hospitals, in skilled nursing homes, or in the home.
And yet, Mr. Speaker, we're here 60 years later, and Republicans are trying to jam a budget down the throats of the American people that will close hospitals, close nursing homes,
and detonate the ability of millions of people to access home care.
That's shameful.
It's not the type of leadership that this country needs right now.
But that's what we're getting.
Chaos, cruelty, and corruption.
President Johnson went on to talk about Medicaid, which is the subject of an all-out assault now by this reckless Republican budget, the GOP tax scam, this one big, ugly bill.
So I want to make sure that the record reflects what enlightened leadership had to say about Medicaid.
The benefits under the law are as varied and broad as the marvelous modern medicine itself.
If it has a few defects, such as the method of payment of certain specialists, then I am confident those can be quickly remedied, and I hope they will be.
No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine.
No longer will illness crush and destroy the savings that they have so carefully put away over a lifetime so that they may enjoy dignity in their later years.
No longer will young families see their own incomes and their own hopes eaten away.
No longer will this nation refuse the hand of justice to those who have given a lifetime of service and wisdom and labor to the progress of this progressive country.
Medicare and Medicaid benefit older Americans right now.
People who have given a lifetime of service and wisdom and labor to the progress of this progressive country as LBJ spoke to.
And this bill, Mr. President, again a nod to President Harry Truman, is even broader than that.
It will increase Social Security benefits for all of our older Americans.
It will improve a wide range of health and medical services for Americans of all ages.
And then President Lyndon Baines Johnson leans in on the importance of Medicaid with a greater degree of precision.
He says, but there is another tradition that we share today.
It calls upon us never to be indifferent toward despair, commands us never to turn away from helplessness.
It directs us never to ignore or to spurn those who suffer untended in a land that is bursting with abundance.
And this is not just our tradition or even the tradition of the nation.
It is as old as the day it was first commanded.
Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, to thy needy, in thy land.
Is that what we're doing here today in the United States Congress?
Opening our hands of grace and compassion and responsibility to our fellow Americans, our fellow citizens.
No, that's not what Donald Trump's one big ugly bill is all about.
It's an assault on everyday Americans to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks.
That's extraordinary.
President Clinton in the 1990s talked about the Children's Health Insurance Program.
Program designed to make sure that children in this country would have access to the medical care they needed to live a life of dignity and respect.
And it's extraordinary to me, Mr. Speaker, that in Donald Trump's one big ugly bill, the eligibility for the Children's Health Insurance Program will also be diminished, as part of an all-out assault on the health care of the American people.
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hakeem jeffries ▲ ● ▼
So I thought it not robbery in the time that I have that we lift up the original spirit of the Children's Health Insurance Program.
President Clinton said to the nation, because we have acted, millions of children across this country will be able to get medicine and have their sight and hearing tested and see dentists and doctors for the first time.
Millions of young Americans will be able to go on to college.
Millions of Americans not so young will be able to go back to school to get the education and training they need to succeed in life.
Millions of families will have more to spend on their own children's needs and upbringing.
This budget is an investment in their future and in America's.
You see, budgets are moral documents.
And in our view, Mr. Speaker, budgets should be designed to lift people up.
This reckless Republican budget that we are debating right now on the floor of the House of Representatives tears people down.
This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document.
And everybody should vote no against it because of how it attacks children and seniors and everyday Americans and people with disabilities.
This reckless Republican budget is an immoral document.
And that is why I stand here on the floor of the House of Representatives with my colleagues in the House Democratic caucus to stand up and push back against it with everything we have on behalf of the American people.
In the spirit of John Lewis, show up, stand up, and speak up for what we know is right.
It's an immoral document that we're debating right now on the House of Representatives.
This budget also represents an attack on the Affordable Care Act.
For some reason, Republicans have been obsessed, Mr. Speaker, with attacking the Affordable Care Act, gave it a nickname, Obamacare.
But the great Jim Clyburn flipped the script and said, yes, it's Obamacare because President Barack Obama cares about the American people, just like we do as House Democrats.
That's not what is being reflected right now on the other side of the aisle.
We care about the American people.
We care about their health.
We care about their safety.
We care about their well-being.
And so I'm proud to stand here on the floor saying, yeah, we're going to continue to defend Obamacare until the very end.
No matter what it takes.
So President Obama spoke to this Congress as well.
We talked about presidential leadership.
We've seen it year after year, decade after decade, century after century.
President Lincoln, President Roosevelt, President Truman, President Johnson, President Clinton, President Obama lifting up the American people on the health care issue.
So I think it's important that these words as well continue to echo out throughout America.
President Obama said that there's still tremendous hardship all across the country.
But there is a sense that we are making progress because of you.
But even before this crisis, he, of course, speaks about the Great Recession.
Even before this crisis, each and every one of us knew that there were millions of Americans across America, millions of people across America who were living their own quiet crises.
Maybe because they had a child who had a pre-existing condition.
And no matter how desperate they were, no matter what insurance company they called, they couldn't get coverage for that child.
Maybe it was somebody who had been forced into early retirement in their 50s, not yet eligible for Medicare.
And they couldn't find a job.
And they couldn't find health insurance.
Despite the fact that they had some sort of chronic condition that had to be tended to.
And now we're on the threshold of doing something about it, he said to the United States Congress, the Speaker Nancy Delessandro Pelosi, and others who were great partners in this effort.
He said, and now we're on the threshold of doing something about it.
We're a day away.
This is aspirational leadership.
After a year of debate, after every argument has been made by just about everybody, we're 24 hours away.
But it may also be possible, referring to his critics that existed at the time who sat on the other side of the aisle.
He said, But it may also be possible that they realize after health reform passes and I sign that legislation into law that it's going to be a little harder to mischaracterize what this effort has been all about.
Because this year, small businesses will start getting tax credits so that they can offer health insurance to employees who currently don't have it.
Because this year, those same parents who are worried about getting coverage for their children with pre-existing conditions now are assured that insurance companies have to give them coverage this year.
Because this year, insurance companies won't suddenly be able to drop your coverage when you get sick or impose lifetime limits or restrictive limits on the coverage that you have.
President Obama went on to say, maybe they know that this year, for the first time, young people will be able to stay on their parents' health insurance until they're 26 years old.
The Affordable Care Act was a tremendous step in the right direction.
It's aspirational leadership.
Tens of millions of Americans now have health insurance coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act.
But this reckless Republican budget, this one big, ugly bill that President Donald Trump has directed my Republican colleagues to sign off on to recklessly rubber stamp and to bend the knee to,
even though this bill and its assault on health care, on Medicaid, on the children's health insurance program, on Medicare, and on Obamacare will rip away health care coverage from the people my Republican colleagues are here in Washington to represent.
It's extraordinary to me that as a result of this one big ugly bill, this all-out assault on health care in this country, millions of people are going to lose coverage.
Thrown off of health care.
Set in motion a chain of events where hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down, people unable to get the care that they need to live a life of dignity and respect.
And that as a result of the all-out Republican assault on health care in the United States of America, people will die.
Tens of thousands, perhaps year after year after year, as a result of the Republican assault on the health care of the American people.
I'm sad.
I never thought that I'd be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene.
And House Democrats want no part of it.
No part of it.
It's a crime scene going after the health and the safety and the well-being of the American people.
And Mr. Speaker, we want no part of it, which is why we're fighting so hard to stop it serving in the United States Congress on this glorious floor, having to be part of a crime scene.
Shameful.
All-out assault on the American people.
President Biden worked hard with many of the people in this Congress who still serve to try to build upon this great legacy,
this journey that we've been on, set in motion in modern American presidential history by FDR, inspired by the great vision of President Truman,
enhanced in years that were cut short far too early by President Kennedy, and empowered in such an extraordinary way by President Lyndon Baines Johnson,
built upon aspirationally by President Jimmy Carter, and then advanced.
the children's health insurance program by President Bill Clinton, furthered in such an extraordinary way by President Barack Obama and then built upon and enhanced by President Biden.
None of us are perfect, but that's part of our march toward a more perfect union.
That's part of the charge that we have as public servants, given that sacred charge in the preamble of the United States Constitution, we, the people, in order to form a more perfect union, leadership that tries to perfect the American journey.
President Biden spoke to this in August of 2022.
Talked about the challenges pushing back against special interests that are often the forces trying to stop progress on behalf of the American people.
this one big ugly bill is filled with giveaways to special interests here in Washington DC I'm disgusted by that it's not what lawmaking should be about
President Biden reflecting upon the challenges of making progress on behalf of the American people says in August of 2022 and yet we've not wavered we've not flinched we've not given instead we're delivering results for the American people
we didn't tear down we built up we didn't look back we looked forward this law this law that I'm about to sign finally delivers on a promise that Washington has made for decades to the American people
Guess what?
We're giving Medicare the power to negotiate, the power to negotiate lower prices on behalf of the American people.
This means seniors, President Biden goes on to say, are going to pay less For their prescription drugs, while we're changing circumstances for people on Medicare by putting a cap, a cap of a maximum of $2,000 per year on their prescription drug costs, no matter what the reason for those prescriptions are.
That means if you're on Medicare, you'll never have to pay more than $2,000 a year.
No matter how many prescriptions you have, whether it's for cancer or any other disease, no more than $2,000 a year.
I don't care who in this town is trying to take credit for something accomplished by others.
President Joseph Robinette Biden did that.
He did that.
He did that as part of our effort to lower costs on behalf of the American people.
None of us are perfect.
There's still work to do.
But the 46th President of the United States of America did that.
Inflation Reduction Act, he went on to say, locks in lower health care premiums for millions of families who get their coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Last year, a family of four saved on average $2,400 through the American Rescue Plan that I signed into law that Congress voted in place.
President Biden is talking about the continuation of our march toward a more perfect union, the work that we in this Congress, many of us who had the privilege to serve over the last few years,
did to try to expand and strengthen the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, by enhancing the premium tax credits available so that millions of additional Americans would actually have the ability to get access to health care.
And in this one big, ugly bill, Republicans are setting in motion the explosion of those tax credits that are designed to provide affordable health care coverage to the American people.
Leadership requires courage, conviction, compassion.
And yet, what we've seen from this administration and its co-conspirators on the Republican side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, is cruelty, chaos, and corruption.
And it's all been morphed into a toxic mix now contained in Donald Trump's one big ugly bill: an extraordinary assault on the health care of the American people.
I mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, that I've taken to the House floor to share stories from the American people.
Stories that are too numerous to articulate in the time available to us in connection with debating this bill.
But I'm going to do my best to make sure that we have a representative sample of why so many Americans all across this country went to bed in fear and are now waking up in horror because Republicans are trying to jam this one big ugly bill down the throats.
the American people.
An assault on health care.
An assault on nutritional assistance.
An assault on children, an assault on veterans, an assault on farmers, an assault on everyday Americans.
Crystal, who's also from the great state of Alaska, said that after my husband passed away suddenly,
I was unprepared to pay all the bills as a part-time stay-at-home mom and working part-time while my young girls were in school.
I applied for SNAP benefits and was so thankful I received them for what helped me so much.
And I was so thankful it put food on our table.
I didn't have to worry about how I was going to buy groceries while paying the other bills I had to take care of.
The SNAP program has helped me many times, and through those times I was struggling financially.
And so I'm so thankful it was there when I needed it most.
I am no longer on the program, but it was one of the biggest blessings in my life during those hard years after my loss.
Thank you to the government for helping me.
We all need help at times in life.
And I think this program should remain available to those who really need it, who are struggling.
Thank you, Crystal, for sharing your story with us.
Mr. Speaker, Talese wrote to us, lives in Alabama's 5th Congressional District, A district currently represented by Dale Strong, so thankful for the representation of my good friends Terry Sewell and Shamari Figures in the great state of Alabama.
Talese writes to us, I'm a single mom doing everything with my one income.
My ex-husband refuses to pay child support or split the cost of anything related to my daughter.
If it wasn't for SNAP, we'd probably have very little in terms of food because I am always running on E. I'm so beyond grateful for the assistance.
Curtis writes to us, Mr. Speaker, from the great state of Arizona, in my disabled senior status, I would be in a dire nutritional status if not mostly for the SNAP nutritional assistance, a godsend.
For so many Americans, that is what SNAP has been: a godsend in a time of need.
And now the nutritional assistance benefits will be ripped away for millions of Americans in Donald Trump's one big ugly bill, a bill that Republicans are prepared to recklessly rubber stamp.
You also heard from Diana, great state of California.
Diana writes, SNAP has helped my family tremendously during this difficult time.
We really appreciate all the help.
My husband was diagnosed with cancer.
And we have a little one at home.
It's been difficult taking care of everything.
Please keep this benefit to help people get on their feet.
Diana lives in the Inland Empire, California's 33rd congressional district, represented by the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Pete Aguilar.
Diana, Pete Aguilar is fighting hard for you, just like every single House Democrat are fighting hard for the American people to protect you as best we can from this cruel assault on nutritional assistance.
We're going to continue to fight hard for you In Ohio, Julie writes to us.
I'm so thankful for Amelia Sykes, Marcy Kaptur.
Marcy Kaptur is the original gangster of the Ohio delegation.
The longest serving woman in the history of the United States Congress, fighting hard on behalf of the people she incredibly represents, along with Amelia and Chantel Brown and Greg Lansman.
And of course, y'all know I couldn't leave out my big sister, Joyce Beatty.
I wanted to mention Joyce because this is part of the resilience of what we've seen from House Democrats, from Brittany Pedersen.
distinguished gentlelady from the great state of Colorado who gave birth to a beautiful baby boy Sam at the beginning of this year.
But because House Republicans, Mr. Speaker, have refused to allow proxy voting, virtual voting for expectant mothers and new mothers throughout this year, shortly after giving birth.
Congresswoman Brittany Pettison, each and every week, often with her baby boy Sam, has come to the United States Congress to stand with House Democrats in defense of the American people.
And she did it in connection with that first vote that set this whole disgusting abomination into motion in February.
That same day, that same day, Kevin Mullen showed up to vote on behalf of the American people.
Just like all of us continue to do, Kevin Mullen showed up to vote despite the fact that he had been experiencing multiple surgeries, was dealing with some complications.
But he understood, just like all House Democrats understand the need to stand up in this moment and fight hard for the American people, the need to be here throughout this entire toxic journey that Republicans have set us on.
Connection with this one big, ugly bill.
Kevin Mullen, coming off of multiple surgeries, multiple surgeries, rolled out of his hospital bed,
Got on a plane from Northern California, took his wife with him so that she could change his IV on the plane across the country to be here and stand with his sisters and brothers in the House Democratic Caucus family to push
back.
back against this one big ugly bill.
I was so thankful, so appreciative to see the great Joyce Beatty, who's been battling some issues, working her way through them, putting off surgeries for as long as she could.
And yet, perhaps against some of the advice that she may have received, understood,
as she said in her own words, the importance of being here on behalf of the American people to stand up and push back against Trump's one big ugly bill because it will have devastating consequences for everyday Americans.
Thank you, Joyce Beatty, for your courage, your strength, and your resilience on behalf of the people that you represent in the great state of Ohio and people all across the country.
That's what we do as House Democrats, and you're leading by example.
And I could tell stories about every single one of us who, in this moment, recognizes that we have to keep rising to the occasion because of the extraordinary assault that has been launched against the American people by Donald Trump and complete Republican control.
control here in Washington.
Let's understand who is doing you in.
People on the other side of the aisle.
It's not too late.
All we need are four Republicans to join us to show John McCain levels of courage.
Not on the battlefield as he did in such an extraordinary way.
And yes, Mr. President, John McCain was an American hero and patriot.
An American hero and patriot.
I may have disagreed with him on a whole host of issues.
We cannot disagree with the fact that he was an American patriot and a war hero who served this country overseas.
And then he came back home after being a POW year after year after year and got elected to the United States House of Representatives.
Did I get that right, y'all?
To the United States House of Representatives.
Just making sure y'all are paying attention.
All good things start in the United States House of Representatives as far as we're concerned.
And then he went over to the Senate.
And then in one of his final acts of courage, he pushed back against the effort to rip away health care from millions of Americans.
All we need is four Republicans to show John McCain levels of courage when it comes to protecting the health, the safety, and the well-being of the American people, protecting the nutritional assistance of the American people.
I think earlier today, I may have neglected to mention the leadership of Jim McGovern, who's done an extraordinary job leading the charge on the Rules Committee as we push back against this all-out assault on the American people.
Hour after hour after hour after hour, Jim McGovern, the members of the Rules Committee, and so many members of the House Democratic Caucus pushing amendment after amendment, debating hard against this one big, ugly bill on behalf of the American people.
Jim McGovern, of course, longtime champion for combating hunger in the United States of America.
So thankful for Jim's resilience and his strength, even in the face of great tragedy, continues to battle hard on behalf of the American people.
Julie writes, SNAP has been an amazing help to my family.
Very grateful to receive it.
I'm a single mom of twin 13-year-old girls.
I've been on my own with my girls since they were one and have never received child support.
I do work.
People who receive Medicaid work.
People who receive SNAP work.
So some people in this town need to stop lying to the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I said some people in this town need to stop lying to the American people.
Julie said, I do work, but don't make enough money to cover all my expenses.
It's a big misunderstanding that people on SNAP don't have jobs.
My children would eat very poorly if I didn't have SNAP.
I would have to rely on church food pantries.
And they could only offer the bare minimum.
The food banks don't give basics like milk and bread.
That's Julie's experience.
Mr. Speaker, she lives in Ohio's 14th congressional district represented by our colleague, Congressman David Joyce.
We heard from Mark from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Mark says, I've collected Medicaid and SNAP benefits for over a decade now.
I may well have found myself in a worse place if not for these programs.
Giving freely and charitably is the way of Jesus.
Reverend Cleaver, some people in this chamber need to hear those words again.
Giving freely and charitably is the way of Jesus.
That's someone who's talking like a Matthew 25 and 35 Christian.
SNAP and Social Security benefits have been life-saving for me.
They literally keep me alive.
I suffer from severe depression, anxiety, OCD, and have Aspergers.
This is why I'm on Social Security and SNAP.
I believe that everyone should have access to these benefits.
And in an ideal world, our communities would be centered around love, harmony, and the protection of each other.
That's real love.
Not fake love, like promising to love and cherish Medicaid.
And then turning around and presiding over the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, which is what Donald Trump's one big ugly bill represents.
Mark says, I believe that everyone should have access to these benefits.
And in an ideal world, our communities would be centered around love, harmony, and the protection of each other.
That's the kind of leadership that this country needs and deserves right now, but that's the kind of leadership it's not getting from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Mr. Speaker, Mark lives in Pennsylvania's first congressional district.
I believe that district is represented by our colleague, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick.
I want to ask the question, what happened earlier today?
How was it that a few hours ago, several of my Republican colleagues had principled opposition to Donald Trump's one big...
ugly bill several years ago, several hours ago, how is it that so many of our Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, had principled opposition to Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill.
Either because of the devastating assault on Medicaid, health care, supplemental nutritional assistance, assault on veterans, assault on clean energy jobs,
assault on the cost of living which is represented in this bill, or because of the assault on the fiscal irresponsibility of a bill that will explode the deficit, increase the debt by trillions of dollars, send us on a death spiral potentially as it relates to our economy.
How is it, Mr. Speaker, that so many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle had principled opposition just a few hours ago and now seem prepared to fold on the floor of the House of Representatives?
Don't you have some responsibility, Mr. Speaker, to say to the American people what happened?
What deals were cut?
What occurred in the back room?
It will all come out one way or the other, Mr. Speaker.
Incredible to me that this Congress is on the verge of ripping food out of the mouths of children, veterans,
and seniors as a result of this one big, ugly bill in order to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks and exploding the debt in the process.
I mentioned earlier in my remarks that as House Democrats, we envision a different country than the one that is being ravaged by such extremism right now.
Imagine a country where every single American can afford to live the good life, good paying job, good housing, good health care, good education for your children, and a good retirement.
Work hard, play by the rules, live the good life.
That's the America that we should be working hard right now to bring about for every single American.
But we know there are far too many Americans in this country struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That should not be the case in this great country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, a country that has become far too expensive for far too many people.
Donald Trump promised to lower the high cost of living on day one.
He made that promise to the American people.
Made that promise.
Hadn't happened on day one.
Hasn't happened on month one, month two, month three, month four, month five, month six.
It's not happening.
Mr. Speaker, costs aren't going down.
Costs are going up in the United States of America.
Life is becoming more expensive.
And it seems to me that in this great country, this Congress should be working hard to build an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers.
That's our plan.
That's our vision.
That's our goal as House Democrats, an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers.
But Donald Trump's one big ugly bill will make life more expensive for the American people.
Lynette wrote to us.
She's also a resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
She said, I'm a single mom of three girls.
Although my two older girls are out of the home, they and I struggle.
I work full-time, but it's not enough to get by.
Without the help of SNAP and Section 8, I would not be able to afford anything.
I sacrifice every day so my daughters can have food and a place to come home and call home.
I get $124 a month in food stamps.
$124 a month in food stamps, which isn't enough as food prices keep going up.
With the little help I do get from the government, I am grateful and blessed.
Last year I passed out after a church service and was rushed to the hospital.
I didn't have any insurance at this time, but I was treated.
However, I could not pay back the services that I received, and I still need treatments.
I have been choosing to pay for rent and food.
But I have these bills and other appointments that I need to go to but don't have the extra money and I don't qualify for Medicare, don't make enough to get insurance on the marketplace for insurance.
Lynette, without the help of SNAP and Section 8, I would not be able to afford anything.
Mr. Speaker, Lynette resides in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, a district represented by our colleague, Congressman Ryan McKenzie.
Wendy writes to us from the Commonwealth of Virginia, says that I am a single mother of two children and due to bone cancer,
I now live with a disability and am unable to work.
I have not only survived cancer, but my children and I also survived domestic abuse.
I have been making ends meet while not working or receiving any child support for almost two years.
To my family, SNAP is literally life or death.
And while I hope that one day my circumstances will improve to the point that I will not need the assistance for now, Wendy tells us, it is our lifesaver.
That's what these safety net programs represent.
Life savers for Americans in need.
And instead of protecting these life-saving programs, these life-sustaining programs, what we see from this one big, ugly bill is that nutritional assistance for the American people will be decimated.
And as a result, millions of Americans, our fellow Americans, are at risk of going hungry.
That is not right in the United States of America.
It's not right.
And that is why we're fighting hard for people like Wendy, Who, Mr. Speaker, lives in Virginia's fifth congressional district, a district represented by Congressman John McGuire.
Jamie from the great state of Wisconsin, the heartland, part of the heartland of the United States of America, the magical Midwest, the hardworking people of the great state of Wisconsin.
I was privileged to just be there this past weekend.
Jamie said, I work.
I am a single mom.
I need help to feed my kids.
All the bills have skyrocketed.
I'm doing this on my own.
Please don't take away SNAP.
That's a plea that I think is being heard all across this land.
Please don't take away SNAP.
It's a lifesaver.
It's being ripped away from the American people as part of this Republican effort, Mr. Speaker, to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires.
Jamie is represented.
She lives in the third congressional district of Wisconsin, currently represented, Mr. Speaker, by Congressman Derek Van Orton.
Health care under assault.
Nutritional assistance under assault.
Farmers in this country have also been under assault.
One of the reasons why so many Americans are cynical about our politics of the moment is that there are people who run for office, they say one thing, and then they do the exact opposite.
And many of the policies that we've seen come out of the Trump administration are inconsistent with the rhetorical promises that were made on the campaign trail.
Donald Trump and House Republicans promising to look out for people in farm country and then supporting policies that do the exact opposite.
April is from Iowa, says that fourth generation farmer on land her family has worked for almost 125 years in north central Iowa and then says, if there's all this uncertainty out there, how can we plan?
We need a path forward.
It's like changing a tire while we're still driving down the road.
That's what our farmers are being asked to do, change a tire while they're still driving down the road because of the uncertainty that has been unleashed by an administration far too focused on chaos, cruelty, and corruption.
Those are my words.
April goes on to say, we're kind of holding our breath for this fall.
That's when it will hurt the most farmers.
We need trade with Mexico and Canada too.
That's why I think the reciprocal tariffs are going to hurt us more.
We get fertilizer from Canada, we get parts and products made in Mexico.
Chouse Democrats, we're focused on creating more good-paying jobs, on economic strategies that make sense, that are designed to lift up the American people.
But I can't find anything in this 900-plus page bill that is actually designed to permanently sustain a positive trajectory for farmers in this country and for everyday Americans.
In fact, the chaotic uncertainty of the economic policies that have been unleashed by the Trump administration and complete Republican rule in Washington, D.C. will have devastating consequences for the American people and for farmers like April.
John writes to us from the great state of North Carolina.
He says to us, not many families can say this, black families, that is.
We've been here for over 100 years.
My great-grandfather, my grandfather on both sides, and my father were all farmers.
Honestly, I cannot understand it.
I have not heard anybody from that administration that could tell me anything that makes any sense of what he's causing.
John further writes, you cannot take a chainsaw and do surgery.
I'm going to plant about 50% less than I would normally because I don't know what the price is going to be.
I don't want to take the risk of putting even more out there.
What we've seen from the Trump administration, from this so-called Doge effort, and from our Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, is deeply troubling.
Republicans are trying to take a chainsaw to Social Security, a chainsaw to Medicare, a chainsaw to Medicaid, a chainsaw to the health care of the American people, a chainsaw to nutritional assistance for hungry children, a chainsaw to farm country, and a chainsaw to vulnerable Americans.
But as House Democrats, we're here to make clear, Mr. Speaker, we're determined to take a chainsaw to Project 2025.
A chainsaw.
A chainsaw.
A chainsaw to Project 2025 on behalf of the American people.
We don't want this country to go backward.
We want this country to go forward.
And so no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes, we're going to take a chainsaw to your Project 2025.
That's what we're prepared to do.
I thank you, John, from North Carolina.
One last farmer whose voice I want to elevate at this moment.
And then I'd like to have a discussion about anchored around some of the things that our Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have said during this entire process.
correspondence that has been written by Republicans as it relates to this one big ugly bill.
Correspondence that I'm struggling to understand now because it appears that almost every single House Republican is prepared to recklessly rubber stamp Donald Trump's extreme agenda and sign off on this one big.
ugly bill.
So I'm going to go through some of the correspondence momentarily that maybe at some point our Republican colleagues can help us figure out.
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