Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, my good friend from the great State of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition.

This resolution, this effort to censure Delegate Plaskett and to rip away her membership on the Intel Committee, is nothing more than a political stunt by a desperate, failed candidate for Governor trying to pander to the people back in South Carolina. It is nothing more than that.

You want to make the statement about who has brought disgrace to the House. The actions of this House Republican majority have brought disgrace to the House of Representatives from day one of this Presidency.

The reality is, if you want to talk about fealty to the Constitution and things of that nature, the House is a separate and coequal branch of government. You don't seem to understand that.

You have functioned from the very beginning of your so-called majority, Mr. Speaker, not as a check and balance on an out-of-control administration, but as a reckless rubber stamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, and you are failing the American people.

You failed to keep your core promise. Your core promise to the American people was that you were going to lower costs on day one. Costs haven't gone down here in the United States of America. Costs have gone up.

The Trump economy is a complete and total failure. It is a disaster. The American people are hurting, and so every week, you come to the House floor now that you have returned from your 7-week, taxpayer- funded vacation and come up with another stunt to try to distract the American people. Or perhaps you were ordered by your puppet master, Donald Trump, who wants to distract the American people today.

That is because his effort to suppress the Jeffrey Epstein files has failed spectacularly.

We believe in transparency, we believe in accountability, and we believe in due process. That is the opposite of what is happening on the floor today.

Let me be very clear about Stacey Plaskett. She is a woman of great intelligence and a woman of great integrity, and she deserves better than what she is receiving from House Republican extremists. She deserves the opportunity to be heard. She deserves due process. She deserves the ability to make her case, not to be prosecuted by pettifoggers playing lawyer on the floor of the House of Representatives. Google that if you don't know what it means.

The so-called Freedom Caucus wants to lecture us about proceeding at this moment.

The actions that you continue to engage in will have consequences: consequences today, consequences tomorrow, consequences next week, consequences next year, and certainly consequences when the American people throw this House Republican majority out in the aftermath of the election next November. Be very careful about the extreme actions that you continue to engage in.

Now, it is extraordinary to me week after week, censure after censure, and I wonder: Is it just coincidence that the last three censures we have had on the House floor happened to involve--first you tried to censure LaMonica McIver, and then, Mr. Speaker, Republicans tried to censure Ilhan Omar. Now we are on the floor, and you are trying to censure Stacey Plaskett.

What is it exactly that those three individuals have in common?

House Republicans are going to have to answer for the extreme things that you continue to do.

The American people know this is a phony majority. It is a fake majority. It is not a real majority.

Republicans aren't doing anything to make life better for the American people, and that is why we are on the floor right now. There is nothing that House Republicans can do to disgrace Stacey Plaskett because House Republicans continue to disgrace themselves. So whatever happens later on this evening, the American people will hear from Delegate Plaskett beyond this making her case. The people of the Virgin Islands, I am confident, will continue to stand behind her.

We will never be lectured on issues related to accountability, transparency, principle, and ethics from this group of extreme House Republicans who continue to visit a national nightmare on the American people, bending the knee to a wannabe king and doing real harm in real time. At the end of the day, your time is coming as well.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, for yielding and for her steadfast leadership on behalf of working families and hardworking American taxpayers in the great State of Connecticut, and all across America.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this woefully inadequate spending bill that fails to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis and fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of Americans.

Mr. Speaker, before I say anything further, let me thank our men and women in uniform, our Active-Duty troops, our hardworking Federal employees, our civil servants, our TSA agents, our Capitol Police, our staff here in the House of Representatives, and our air traffic controllers for their service, their sacrifice, and for the work that they do on behalf of the American people each and every day. It is our promise to all of them that we will continue to work hard to make sure they are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve in a year in which the Trump administration has gone after hardworking Federal employees relentlessly, including firing more than 200,000 Federal employees prior to the start of the Trump Republican shutdown.

Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. Donald Trump and Republicans made the decision to shut the government down, the longest shutdown in American history. They would rather do that than provide healthcare that is affordable to working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and hardworking American taxpayers.

All across the country, I am certain that there are people in America asking the question: Where do we go from here?

House Democrats have a simple answer. We will continue to fight to lower the high cost of living. House Democrats will continue to fight to address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created, and House Democrats will continue to fight to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of Americans.

This fight is not over. We are just getting started. We will fight today. We will fight tomorrow. We will fight this week. We will fight next week. We will fight this month. We will fight next month. We will fight until we win this battle for the American people. That is our commitment as House Democrats.

There are only two ways that this fight will end. There are only two ways, Mr. Speaker, that this fight will end: Either Republicans finally decide to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits this year or the American people will throw Republicans out of their jobs next year and end the speakership of Donald J. Trump once and for all. That is how this fight ends.

Mr. Speaker, during this painful Trump Republican shutdown, what we have seen is two different philosophies in terms of how to govern for the American people. The Democratic Party philosophy is clear. We are ready, willing, and able to find bipartisan, common ground, anytime, anyplace, to enact spending agreements that actually make life better for the American people.

However, in order to do that, we need to have partners on the other side of the aisle who are actually willing to find the bipartisan path forward. What we have seen from Republicans from the very beginning of this Presidency is a my-way-or-the-highway approach. That has been the Republican philosophy. Jam your extremism down the throats of the American people. That is what we have seen from day one of this Presidency. That is the reason why the government has been shut down by Republicans and Donald Trump for the longest period of time in American history.

What have we seen from Donald Trump and Republicans during this shutdown? A consistent unwillingness to actually find common ground in order to make life better for the American people. Donald Trump, during the shutdown, found the time to play golf week after week after week. Donald Trump found the time to pardon serial fraudsters like George Santos and Rudolph Giuliani. Donald Trump found the time to meet with the Chinese Communist Party. Donald Trump found the time to destroy the east wing of the White House. Donald Trump found the time to extort $230 million from the Department of Justice so he could line his pockets. Donald Trump found the time to bail out Argentina with $40 billion. Donald Trump found the time to rip away SNAP benefits from 42 million Americans.

Mr. Speaker, these extremists are not like us. They are not like us. They have zero interest in fighting hard to make life better for the American people. Their philosophy: My way or the highway. Our response: Get lost.

We are going to continue to fight hard on behalf of the American people in the midst of a healthcare crisis and a cost-of-living crisis that is very real, despite what Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party, has to say. He claims there is no affordability crisis in the United States of America.

However, why would anyone believe anything that Donald Trump or Republicans have to say on this issue? Throughout 2024, before the election, Republicans in the House and the Senate and Donald Trump on the campaign trail spent all of their time saying that costs were going to go down on day one.

Mr. Speaker, costs haven't gone down. Republicans haven't done a damn thing to lower the high cost of living. Costs haven't gone down in this country. Costs have gone up. Inflation is on the way up. Housing costs are out of control. Grocery costs are out of control. Electricity bills are out of control. Healthcare costs are skyrocketing and out of control.

In the midst of this affordability crisis, seeing this, Democrats said we have got to fight to make sure we extend Affordable Care Act tax credits so that tens of millions of people--working-class folks, middle-class folks, people in rural America, working-class America, small-town America, the heartland of America, Black and Brown communities all throughout America--don't experience premium increases that in some cases will go up by $1,000 or $2,000 per year.

In many cases, month after month after month, it will go up $1,000 or $2,000 per month. That is tens of thousands of dollars per year. It is unacceptable in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. This is in the midst of a Republican healthcare crisis.

Republicans enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. They ripped health insurance away from 14 million Americans. As a result of Republican policies, hospitals, nursing homes, and community- based health centers are closing all across America including in rural parts of this great country of ours.

Now because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are at risk of being unable to afford to see a doctor when they need one. It is happening in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world.

It can't be the case that healthcare is simply a privilege for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. Mr. Speaker, that is the Republican perspective.

As Democrats, we believe that healthcare has to be a right and a right that is affordable and available to every single American in the United States. That is what this fight is all about, and that is what the fight will continue to be about as we move forward.

Many of my Republican colleagues have suggested that they want to deal with the healthcare affordability issue. They want to address the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating people all across this country. We have an opportunity for them to do so.

There is a discharge petition connected to legislation that House Democrats have introduced to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for 3 years. We believe that working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, and everyday Americans deserve the same level of certainty that Republicans always provide to the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected donors. Working-class Americans deserve that level of certainty.

We ask our Republican colleagues to join us in extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. It is not too late. We are in the midst of open enrollment. The tax credits expire on December 31. We will stay on this issue until we get this issue resolved for everyday Americans.

Mr. Speaker, as I close, I have had the opportunity, as many of us do, to serve in the United States Congress with legendary figures, too numerous to mention. Some of those legendary Members include, of course, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, the great Jim Clyburn, Maxine Waters, Elijah Cummings, and Charlie Rangel.

Our own Marcy Kaptur is the longest serving woman in the history of the United States House of Representatives. We have all had the opportunity to serve with legendary Members like John Dingell. As I said, they are too numerous to mention.

Mr. Speaker, one can't call that roll without calling the name of the great John Lewis. I had the distinct honor of serving with John Lewis for several terms. Many of us here in the House of Representatives did.

I will never forget on my first day in Congress that I had the opportunity to meet John Lewis for the first time in person. He called me over to see him on the House floor. He just asked me a simple question. He said: Are you the new guy?

I said: Yes, sir, Mr. Lewis, I am.

He said: Well, we are colleagues now. You don't have to call me Mr. Lewis. You can call me John.

I said: Yes, sir, Mr. Lewis, I understand.

Then he said to me: You are from Brooklyn, right?

Mr. Speaker, I have to be honest. I was tempted to say that Brooklyn is always in the House. Instead, since my mother, Laneda Jeffries, raised me with some sense, I said: Yes, sir, I am from Brooklyn.

Then he said something to me that I have never forgotten. He said: Well, I hear some positive things about you from your predecessor, but Washington, D.C., young man, can be a rough place. I don't want you to get into any trouble unless it is good trouble.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to stop by on the House floor to make sure it is clear to the American people that the spirit of John Lewis lives amongst House Democrats. We will continue to get into good trouble to make their lives better. That is our commitment to every single American all across this country, from this day and for every day, moving forward.

It was John Lewis who said to us that ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime and maybe even many lifetimes. Each one of us in every generation must do our part.

Mr. Speaker, we love Mr. Lewis. We were blessed by our opportunity to serve with him. House Democrats are here to do our part. We are in this fight until we win this fight for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Connecticut for her leadership and for yielding as we debate this partisan, reckless Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to legislation that continues the relentless Republican attack on the healthcare of the American people.

What we have seen throughout this year--notwithstanding Republican promises to lower the high costs of living, which Republicans promised to do on day one of the Trump Presidency. We know costs aren't going down. Here in the United States of America, they continue to go up. Inflation is going up. Life is becoming more expensive for the American people, in part, as a result of Donald Trump's tariffs that House Republicans continue to rubberstamp.

Democrats recognize that the cost of living in the United States of America is far too high. We have to fix our broken healthcare system, and we also have to clean up corruption in this town so that we don't have a government of the elites, by the elites, and for the elites. We deserve a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That is why we oppose this reckless Republican spending bill.

The Republican assault on healthcare has been relentless: the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, and millions of Americans losing their healthcare as a result of the Republican one big, ugly bill. Hungry children have had food stolen from their mouths as a result of the one big, ugly bill. That is going to make them vulnerable to sickness, illness, and disease.

Mr. Speaker, all of this was done so that Republicans could reward billionaire donors with massive tax breaks.

In addition to the unprecedented assault on Medicaid, as a result of the Republicans' one big, ugly bill, the American people are confronting the possibility that Medicare could be cut by $536 billion this year, the largest cut to Medicare in American history, as a result of what Republicans have done and as part of their relentless assault on the healthcare of the American people.

Premiums, copays, and deductibles are skyrocketing. Over the next few weeks, tens of millions of Americans are about to confront dramatic increases in their healthcare. They will confront thousands of dollars, and in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars, in additional expense per year because of what Republicans have unleashed on the American people as part of this unprecedented assault on healthcare.

Mr. Speaker, I heard earlier today some of my colleagues on the Republican side say that the healthcare issue was not germane and that we are raising issues around Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act or increasing premiums, copays, and deductibles. The fact is that Republicans are dramatically ending medical research in the United States of America including as it relates to research for children with cancer. Who does that?

The fact is that all across this country, as a result of actions Republicans have taken and are continuing to take in targeting the healthcare of the American people, hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health clinics are closing including in all of my colleagues' districts and throughout rural America.

Mr. Speaker, don't come and argue to us that these issues are not germane. I will tell my colleagues what is germane. Protecting the healthcare of the American people is germane. That is what Democrats are doing in fighting back against this partisan Republican spending bill.

There is an alternative. It has been introduced by Senator Patty Murray and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. It is supported by Democrats in the House and the Senate. It keeps the government open. It allows for bipartisan negotiations as it relates to a spending bill that would actually meet the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their public safety, and their economic well-being. It will actually try to make progress on lowering costs in America, which my Republican colleagues promised to do, Mr. Speaker, and failed to do. That is the legislation that we should be taking up.

Republicans know that this partisan, reckless, dirty spending bill is dead on arrival in the United States Senate. Yet Republicans continue to refuse to even discuss protecting the healthcare of the American people in the face of a relentless Republican assault that will actually harm people and cause Americans, children, families, seniors, and veterans to lose their lives.

We have a choice to make here in the House of Representatives. It appears that Republicans believe that healthcare should simply be a privilege available only to the wealthy, the well-off, and the well- connected. We strongly disagree.

Access to high-quality and affordable healthcare is a right; and Democrats are on the floor of the House of Representatives vindicating that right at all times. That is why we are voting ``no.''

Some have suggested that our principled opposition to the partisan Republican spending bill may result in a government funding lapse. We have heard all year how Republicans have a mandate, how Republicans have the Presidency, how Republicans control the House, and how Republicans control the Senate. If that, in fact, is the case, as is the moment, temporarily, Republicans will own a government shutdown. Period. Full stop. It is the Republicans' shutdown.

We are fighting for the healthcare of the American people. We will do that today. We will do that tomorrow. We will do that next week. We will do that next month. We will do that this year. We will do that next year. We will do that at all times. We are standing up for the healthcare of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, cancel the cuts. Lower the costs. Save our healthcare.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate Bob Fischer, a proud product of South Buffalo and the incredible manager of the Democratic Cloakroom, on his well-deserved retirement after almost four decades of serving the people's House.

In 1987, Bob came to Congress not knowing how long he would stay or what kind of mark he would leave on this institution. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and we are here today as Members of Congress to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation for his distinguished contributions and dedication to this institution, the people's House, for nearly four decades.

In fact, after almost four decades of service here in the people's House, it is clear to me that other than his family, the only entity that Bob loves more than the House of Representatives is the Buffalo Bills, who, in fact, are playing tonight.

The work that we do as Members of Congress exists in the public domain, but the American people don't often get to see folks like Bob who keep this place running and who support the hundreds of Representatives and our staff with whatever we need.

Whether providing updates to our offices, wrangling Members to make sure we are present for votes, or sharing information in real time, we can't do our jobs on behalf of the people without the Cloakroom. Bob has been the one who has kept the Cloakroom humming, with a steady hand, patience, expertise, professionalism, and heart and soul.

Even through the terror and chaos of January 6, Bob was a calm and comforting presence, bravely helping to ensure that Members of Congress were safely evacuated off the floor.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Bob for his courage and his heroism on that fateful day.

Bob is one of the unsung heroes of the United States Congress, so it is especially fitting that he shares a name with one of the greatest unsung heroes in NBA history, Robert Horry, who was known as Big Shot Bob.

Robert Horry was not a flashy player, but he was someone who played the game the right way and had an uncanny ability to make the right plays at the right moment, including in the NBA championships when all was on the line.

He never made an All-Star game, never was elevated along with folks like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, or LeBron James. What is interesting is that Michael Jordan had six championships, Magic Johnson had five championships, LeBron James had four championships, but Robert Horry had seven, more than any of them, because he was always at the right place, at the right time, with the right moves, the glue that made these teams into champions.

Mr. Speaker, that is what Bob has done for the House Democratic Caucus. He made the right play at the right time to ensure that the team delivered results for the American people.

I know I speak for all of us as members of the House Democratic Caucus when I say that Big Shot Bob Fischer will be missed by all of us.

Bob's family is here with us, including his wife, Julie; children, Christy and Emily; and parents, Robert and Kathy. We thank them for sharing their husband, their dad, and their son with us for the last 39 years. We congratulate Bob on a well-deserved retirement.

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Pelosi), our great Speaker Emerita.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, for yielding and for her strong leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Motion to Instruct. From the very beginning of this Congress, Democrats have made clear that

we are willing to work with anyone in this town who is committed to lowering the high cost of living.

America is too expensive. Far too many people in this country are working hard and playing by the rules, but they are unable to get ahead and can barely get by.

Yet, what we have seen from this Congress is that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have consistently made life harder for everyday Americans. That is what the one big, ugly bill was all about. It was to hurt everyday Americans in order, Mr. Speaker, to reward billionaire donors with massive tax breaks.

Why was this done? The one big, ugly bill rips healthcare away from millions of Americans. Hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health clinics will close. The American people are now confronting dramatic increases in healthcare premiums, copays, and deductibles. America is already too expensive. President Trump and House Republicans are making things worse.

Democrats are prepared, under the leadership of Rosa DeLauro, to sit down anytime and anyplace to negotiate a bipartisan spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, public safety, and economic well-being.

What Democrats will not do, Mr. Speaker, is support partisan spending legislation put forth by Republicans that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people.

Enough is enough. We need to reverse the damage that has been done, not do more.

The big, ugly bill steals food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors, and veterans. Why? Once again, it is to pay for massive tax breaks to Republican billionaire donors. This is unacceptable and unconscionable.

This motion to instruct will help ensure that in a conference between the House and Senate, between Democrats and Republicans, we are actually protecting women, infants, and children here in the United States of America, all over, in urban America, rural America, small- town America, suburban America, exurban America, and the heartland of America.

The assault on the social safety net that Republicans have engineered this Congress, Mr. Speaker, has been completely and totally unacceptable, hurting everyday Americans and exploding the debt and the deficit at the same period of time.

Nothing has been done by this Republican-led Congress to lower the high cost of living. Donald Trump promised that costs would go down on day one. Costs have not gone down. They are going up. Inflation is on the way up. Life has gotten more expensive. Electricity bills are skyrocketing and out of control. Now, healthcare premiums are on the verge of increasing by thousands of dollars a year for 20 million Americans unless Republicans choose to join us and act with respect to the tax credits that will expire at the end of this year connected to the Affordable Care Act.

There is much work that needs to be done. Again, Democrats are ready to sit down anytime and anyplace to work out a spending bill on a bipartisan basis that actually makes life better for the American people, but we will not allow this administration and the Republican Congress to continue to hurt everyday Americans.

That is why I strongly support this motion to instruct. That is why we have made clear that under no circumstances will we support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to rip away healthcare from the American people.

Vote ``yes'' on this motion to instruct.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, the top Democrat on the Committee on Rules, Mr. McGovern, for his leadership and for yielding.

I thank all the distinguished members of the Committee on Rules for their steadfast, courageous, and insightful participation in opposition to this rule and the substantive legislation that underlies this particular rule.

I also thank Rosa DeLauro for her principled and strong opposition to this reckless Republican rescissions package, this effort by the Trump administration to, once again, hurt everyday Americans.

Mr. Speaker, it was just said on the House floor that the American people are fed up with out-of-control, wasteful government spending. As Democrats, we are committed to making sure that taxpayer dollars are spent in an effective, efficient, and equitable manner.

This bill that is on the floor right now has nothing to do with waste, fraud, and abuse. It represents an attack on the public health of the American people, the national security of the American people, the public safety of the American people, and the ability of the American people to actually get information, particularly in rural America, that they may need through public radio or public television in the face of an emergency.

Mr. Speaker, no one is buying the notion that Republicans are actually trying to improve wasteful spending.

In the aftermath of this one big, ugly bill that just passed this Chamber and has been signed into law that explodes the debt by more than $3 trillion, and then asks everyday Americans to pay for part of the expenses in the bill by ripping away healthcare for more than 17 million Americans, hospitals will close, nursing homes will shut down, and community-based health clinics will be unable to provide services to everyday Americans. As a result of the one big, ugly bill, people will die.

It is an all-out assault on healthcare and the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. It also rips food out of the mouths of hungry children, seniors, and veterans. All of this is being done to provide massive tax breaks to billionaires.

Then, Mr. Speaker, in this one big, ugly bill that has now been signed into law, the debt and the deficit will explode by trillions of dollars.

How dare anyone from the other side of the aisle claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility. That is fake, and that is phony.

When you look at this particular piece of legislation that is in front of us right now, this reckless Republican rescissions package, it undermines American national security and American leadership in the world.

This is not an America First bill. It is a China first bill because of the void that is being created all across the world. It is in America's interests, our national security interests and our leadership interests, to make sure that we are investing in development, diplomacy, and democracy all across the world.

Great leaders have recognized that throughout the American journey. It was Abraham Lincoln who came to the House Chamber in the middle of the Civil War, in the early 1860s, and spoke to the Congress and talked about America being ``the last best hope on Earth.''

President Lincoln said that in the 1860s, a visionary declaration of the role that America might one day play as the leader of the free world.

This legislation, this reckless Republican rescissions package, undermines our ability to keep our people safe here and to project America's soft power all over the globe.

Mr. Speaker, why would we undermine our ability to use diplomacy, democracy, and development to protect our own national security?

The President promised that on day one he was going to end the war in Ukraine that is now going on. In this particular piece of legislation, we are undermining the ability of Ukraine to continue to valiantly fight against Russian aggression.

Russia is not our friend. They are our enemy. Vladimir Putin is a sworn enemy of the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, why is it Republicans in this bill are once again undermining Ukraine?

Ukraine stands on the side of democracy. Ukraine stands on the side of freedom. Ukraine stands on the side of truth. Russia stands on the side of autocracy, tyranny, and propaganda.

Why would we stand on the side of Russia? That is inconsistent with American leadership. This reckless Republican rescissions package does the exact opposite.

Mr. Speaker, we just saw tragedy unfold in the Texas Hill Country. More than two dozen children have died. Parents should never have to bury their children. More than 100 Texans died in the deadly floods.

There are a lot of questions that need to be asked about government failure and State government failure in Texas. The Governor of Texas has a lot of questions that need to be answered. Instead, he is trying to rig the Texas congressional map in the middle of a search and rescue operation. He has got to answer some questions.

The Trump administration needs to answer some questions about the National Weather Service and the devastating cuts that have been inflicted on them. Mr. Speaker, the Trump administration needs to answer some questions about the stated goal to defund FEMA.

In the midst of this tragedy that we all need to collectively respond to in Texas, just as we needed to respond to the tragedy that unfolded in California and the wildfires earlier this year, this reckless Republican rescissions package is going to undermine the ability of people in rural America and in small-town American to receive advance warning or necessary information when disaster strikes, when extreme weather strikes, when flooding strikes, and when hurricanes strike.

That is what happens when public radio is shut down and public television is shut down, which is what this reckless rescissions package will do. It is all extraordinary.

Mr. Speaker, I don't understand why Republicans continue to advance legislation on the floor of the House of Representatives that hurt everyday Americans. Is it simply because the goal is, as always, to reward billionaires, as was done with the one big, ugly bill, providing them with massive and unnecessary tax breaks?

Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of this Congress, as House Democrats, we made it clear that we would work with anyone in this town in order to make life better for the American people. We would work to lower the high cost of living of the American people and to address the affordability crisis afflicting the American people.

We thought perhaps we would have some partners in this necessary endeavor. Why? Mr. Speaker, Donald Trump and House Republicans promised that they were going to lower costs. In fact, costs were going to go down on day one. Those are not my words. Those are President Trump's words.

Costs haven't gone down in the United States of America. Costs are going up. Inflation is on the way up. Life is getting more expensive for the American people.

Nothing in this reckless rescissions package is going to make life more affordable for everyday Americans. It is going to complicate their life even further just like what happened with the one big, ugly bill.

Mr. Speaker, we are strongly opposed to this legislation. This is legislation that apparently Republicans don't even want to actually debate on the House floor. Once again, they want to address an issue to be debated in this Chamber under the cover of darkness.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, the challenge that we have with this legislation is that the appropriations process has historically and traditionally been bipartisan. It means Democrats and Republicans will work and try to come together to reach a spending agreement that meets the needs of the American people in terms of their health, their safety, and their economic well-being. House Democrats and Senate Democrats, along with House Republicans and Senate Republicans, will do it in a bipartisan appropriations process to try to reach an enlightened agreement.

Mr. Speaker, what this rescissions package signals to us and the people that we represent and, more importantly, what it signals to America, as the OMB Director just said, Republicans aren't interested in bipartisanship. They aren't interested in commonsense solutions to finding common ground anchored in Democrats and Republicans coming together.

We know that is the case because we have made clear our willingness to solve the challenges that the American people face and work with anyone in this town, particularly when it comes to lowering the high cost of living in the United States of America. Republicans continue to do nothing about that. They are not doing a damn thing to make life more affordable for the American people.

That is one of many reasons why we continue to be opposed to this reckless legislation that Republicans bring to the House floor. It will hurt everyday Americans. It will hurt children. It will hurt families. It will hurt older Americans. It will hurt people that Republicans represent in rural America and all while undermining American leadership in the world.

Mr. Speaker, once again, this is unfortunate. Once again, we see a Congress not functioning as a separate and coequal branch of government. We see a Congress, given this Republican majority, not willing to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch but always willing to do the bidding of the executive branch, as if we work for the Article II branch of government.

Mr. Speaker, we don't work for Donald Trump. We don't work for JD Vance. We don't work for the OMB Director. We work for the American people, and that is why we are a hard ``no'' against this reckless rescissions package.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from the

great Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) for yielding and for his tremendous leadership.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to Donald Trump's one, big ugly bill, this disgusting abomination, the GOP tax scam.

It guts Medicaid. It rips food from the mouths of children, seniors, and veterans. It rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks. Every single Democrat stands in strong opposition to this bill because we are standing up for the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I have heard a lot from my Republican colleagues who have expressed pride in this accomplishment. I ask the question: If Republicans were so proud of this one big, ugly bill, why did debate begin at 3:28 a.m. in the morning?

Republicans are once again, Mr. Speaker, as has been the case through every step of this journey, trying to jam this bill through the House of Representatives under cover of darkness.

Mr. Speaker, I am here today to make it clear that I am going to take my time and ensure that the American people fully understand how damaging this bill will be to their quality of life.

Republicans and Donald Trump promised that costs would go down on day one. Costs haven't gone down under Donald Trump and House Republicans here in the United States of America. In fact, costs have gone up.

We believe that America is too expensive, that the cost of living is too high, and that that is a priority that should be worked on in a bipartisan way.

From the very beginning of this Congress, our Republican colleagues have shown no interest in addressing the high cost of living in the United States of America.

Not a single executive order has been issued by this administration, Mr. Speaker, to address the high cost of living. Not a single bill has been passed, Mr. Speaker, to address the high cost of living in the United States of America.

This one big, ugly bill, this reckless Republican budget, this disgusting abomination is not about improving the quality of life of the American people. It will hurt everyday Americans in several different ways.

This bill represents the largest cut to healthcare in American history. It is an all-out assault on the healthcare of the American people.

It is an assault on Medicaid. It is an assault on Medicare. It is an assault on the Children's Health Insurance Program. It is an assault on the Affordable Care Act. It is an assault on Planned Parenthood and the healthcare of women all across the United States of America.

It is an unprecedented assault on the American people and their healthcare. We have almost $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid. This runs directly contrary to what President Trump indicated in January, which was that he was going to love and cherish Medicaid.

Nothing about this bill loves and cherishes Medicaid. It guts Medicaid. It guts Medicaid in a way that is going to hurt children. It will hurt families. It will hurt seniors. It will hurt people with disabilities. It will hurt women. It will hurt everyday Americans.

Hospitals will close, including all throughout rural America, Mr. Speaker. Nursing homes will shut down. By some estimates, one in four nursing homes will close as a result of this one big, ugly bill.

Community-based health clinics, which are the lifelines in neighborhood after neighborhood and all across this country--in urban America, in rural America, in suburban America, in small town America, in the heartland of America--will not be able to operate.

As a result of the lack of healthcare that will result directly from this one big, ugly bill, people in America will die unnecessary deaths.

That is outrageous. It is disgusting. That is not what we should be doing here in the United States House of Representatives. It is not what we should be doing.

In addition to the cuts to Medicaid, this bill will result in the largest cut to Medicare in American history--by some estimates, more than $500 billion in cuts to Medicare as a result of the Republicans' one big, ugly bill.

This bill will also result in a devastating blow to the Affordable Care Act. That is no surprise because, since 2010, Republicans, Mr. Speaker, have been trying to gut and destroy the Affordable Care Act.

As a result of the damage that is done to the Affordable Care Act in this legislation, millions of Americans will lose their healthcare. The assault on healthcare in this one big, ugly bill will result in more than 17 million Americans losing healthcare in the United States of America.

Shame on the people who have decided to launch that kind of all-out assault on the health and well-being of everyday Americans. That is not what we should be doing here in the United States House of Representatives.

Because of the drastic cuts that are made to healthcare in this one big, ugly bill, people with private insurance all across America are going to experience increases in their premiums, co-pays, and deductibles. Millions of Americans in every corner of this country will experience an all-out assault on healthcare.

That is a very different vision, Mr. Speaker, that Republicans have, working hard to take healthcare away from the American people, than our vision. That is because we believe, as Democrats, that in the United States of America, healthcare should not simply be a privilege. Healthcare is a right that should be available to every single person in the United States of America.

This bill is an all-out assault on the healthcare of the people of the United States of America, hardworking American taxpayers. These are the people we should be standing up to work hard to lift up, but instead, they are victims of this legislation.

Hospitals will close. That impacts everybody in the United States of America. Mr. Speaker, if your hospital closes, whether you are on Medicaid or not, you will be unable to get the treatment that you or your family need. That is why we are fighting so hard to stop this bill. One in four nursing homes, by some estimates, will close as a result of the Republicans' assault on Medicaid in this one big, ugly bill.

This bill also represents an assault on nutritional assistance here in the United States of America. We have made great progress over the last 50-plus years as it relates to hunger in this country, great progress, but we are still dealing with the reality that tens of millions of people in this country go to bed every night wondering whether they are going to be able to get a nutritious meal the next day--tens of millions of people in this country, millions of children.

Instead of trying to address that issue, Mr. Speaker, the one big, ugly bill will rip nutritional benefits away from millions of Americans, including children. It will rip food from the mouths of hungry children, hungry veterans, and hungry seniors.

That is unacceptable. It is one of the reasons why we stand in strong opposition, Mr. Speaker, to this one big, ugly bill.

Republicans promised to address the high cost of living in the United States of America. We believe that the cost of living is too high. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high. And childcare costs are too high.

America is too expensive. There are far too many people in this country struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. That should not be the case in the United States of America.

Instead of addressing the high cost of living in this one big, ugly bill, Mr. Speaker, Republicans are actually going to increase costs, particularly as it relates to the energy bills that everyday Americans pay. It is estimated that energy bills will increase by hundreds of dollars a year. That has nothing to do with lowering the high cost of living and making this country a more affordable place. It does the exact opposite.

It is an all-out and unnecessary assault on the clean energy tax credits, the clean energy tax credits that many of my Republican colleagues promised in letter after letter after letter that they would stand behind, but all chose to fold and abandon, fighting instead for special interests and opposing the ability for this country to stand up a cleaner energy economy, which means cheaper energy.

Because of the attack on clean energy jobs, on the clean energy economy, and on the economic development that had already been set in motion, often in districts represented by our Republican colleagues and in Republican-led States, red States, by some estimates, millions of jobs are going to be lost.

They are ripping healthcare away from millions of Americans, Mr. Speaker, and ripping food away from children, veterans, and seniors. They are raising the cost of utilities, raising their energy bills by hundreds of dollars, and stripping away millions of jobs all across America.

What is all of this being done for? It is to provide massive tax breaks to billionaires all across this country.

We are better than that in the United States of America. When we take an oath, convene here, and come to the United States Capitol, our job is to make life better for everyday Americans. The genesis of this bill, the focus of this bill, and the justification for all the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans in this bill is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires.

It is extraordinary. Never in my time here in Congress have I experienced legislation that benefits so few people who fall into the category of the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected, while at the same time hurting everyday Americans, whom we should be fighting hard to help.

Now, all of this apparently is being rushed because the decision was made by President Trump that he would like to get a bill done by the Fourth of July. What does the Fourth of July have to do with this one big, ugly bill? What does celebrating American independence, the birth of this exceptional country, the journey that we have been on for 249 years, any of that, have to do with this one big, ugly bill?

I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that if you actually look at the Declaration of Independence, what we find is that everything about this one big, ugly bill runs in direct contrast with what was set in motion by the Framers and the Founders of our great country.

Of course, the Declaration of Independence, authored by Thomas Jefferson, makes the famous statement: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.''

Mr. Speaker, I want to lock in for just a moment on that aspirational objective, the pursuit of happiness. When it comes to everyday Americans, this one big, ugly bill will hurt the quality of life of hardworking American taxpayers, and it is all designed to put a happy smile on the face of billionaires. That is inconsistent with the Declaration of Independence and what we should be celebrating on July Fourth.

Thomas Jefferson and the Framers of this country set us on a course of action, a journey, a march toward a more perfect Union in part anchored in the pursuit of happiness, which decade after decade, century after century, those leaders who sat at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, leaders in this Congress on both sides of the aisle, tried to bring about for the greatest number of Americans. That is not what this one big, ugly bill is all about.

America is too expensive. There are far too many people who are living paycheck to paycheck here in this great country--that should not be the case--people who are struggling to survive, to make ends meet.

Mr. Speaker, imagine a country where everyone can afford to live the good life, work hard, play by the rules, and live the good life. We haven't reached that place in the United States of America. Imagine a country where everyone can work hard, play by the rules, and live the good life, with a good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children, and a good retirement--which means keep your hands off Social Security and Medicare now and forever.

We want a country where every single American can afford to live the good life, have a good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children, and then a good retirement.

We know that in the United States of America, to unlock that quintessential American Dream, living the good life, you have to work hard and play by the rules. But the challenge that so many Americans have right now in this country is that they are doing those two things. They are working hard and they are playing by the rules, but they are unable to experience the great American Dream. They are unable to get to that third leg. They are unable to live the good life. That is what we should be focusing on here in the United States Congress, not gutting Medicaid, not ripping food out of the mouths of hungry children, and not rewarding billionaires with massive tax breaks.

How can you prepare to celebrate legislation that will undermine the quality of life of everyday Americans? It is not just a hypothetical. It is not just hyperbole. It is not just hype. It will happen. Everyday Americans will be hurt by the one big, ugly bill.

We are here on the floor of the House of Representatives debating legislation in the middle of the night with millions of Americans having gone to sleep anxious about what would happen here on the floor of the House of Representatives, understandably concerned that their voices have not been heard in this debate, that their pleas for compassion have been overlooked.

Many of my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, on the other side of the aisle have chosen not to hold townhall meetings, not to hear from the voices of the people that they are privileged to represent.

We have embraced the American people. We haven't run from the American people. House Democrats will continue to run toward the American people and lift their voices up.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to take a little time to share some of the stories of the American people, voices that might otherwise be excluded from this debate. We are not going to let those voices be excluded. We will ensure that these voices are heard. We will continue to do everything we can to bring those voices to life here on the House floor and beyond, to stand up for the best interests of everyday Americans.

We heard from many of them throughout this process. I will share just a handful.

``With Medicaid expansion, I now qualify for Medicaid. Without insurance, my monthly bill for my three injectable drugs would be $3,000, $36,000 a year, and that doesn't include any of my other meds or my medical appointments. Who has that kind of money?''

That is Charles who lives in Alaska, the district represented by Congressman Nick Begich.

``Medicare and Social Security keep me alive. I am surviving on about $13,000 a year, most of it from my Social Security checks. That is just enough to afford my rent, utilities, and food. Without Social Security, I would be homeless, and if Medicare did not pay for my medications and I had to pay full price, I wouldn't be able to survive. There are so many other seniors who are in the same boat. Without these programs, seniors like me would die on the street.''

That is Paula, who lives in Arkansas' Second Congressional District, represented by my colleague, Congressman French Hill.

``My son is a 25-year-old young adult with profound nonverbal autism who needs 24/7 support. Our family has relied on Medicaid from the time he was 2 years old, when he began early intervention services. At 3, when he was diagnosed with autism, private health insurance denied him coverage for his preexisting condition. Medicaid stepped in to provide healthcare. From that point until today, home and community-based services through Medicaid have been vital to our son's health and well- being. Medicaid also helped his school district pay for medically necessary therapies at school. Our son is thriving and healthy, and our family can support him at home because of Medicaid.''

That is Robin. She lives in Arizona's First Congressional District, represented by David Schweikert.

These are stories from everyday Americans who have written to us to say to this Congress: Stand up for our healthcare, Mr. Speaker. Don't stand up for billionaires. Stand up for everyday Americans, for our health, for our safety, and for our well-being.

Gwendolyn from Arizona also writes. She says: ``Medicaid is the difference

between my son being healthy, happy, cared for, and social versus being at home with aging parents who struggle to physically provide the care that is required daily. Medicaid funding means my son receives the incontinence supplies he needs, the internal feeding supplies he needs to live, and medications that his primary insurance won't cover. Medicaid matters because, without it, my son and millions of others like him may not survive.''

Let me speak directly to Gwendolyn from Arizona: Her Representative may not be fighting on your behalf. As House Democrats, we are here to say to you: We agree. Medicaid matters, and it must be preserved. It must be preserved because Medicaid matters to millions of people all across this great country--to children, to seniors, to people with disabilities, to women, to families, and to people in every corner of the United States of America. Yes, Gwendolyn, Medicaid matters, and if your Representative won't fight for it, we will.

Brenda says to us: ``My youngest child is a nonverbal 43-year-old female with autism who has been on Medicaid since she was 12. She has had three major surgeries and six or more outpatient surgeries, all made possible because of Medicaid. We would not have been able to get our daughter what she needed if it wasn't for Medicaid.

``She also has a seizure disorder and is on several medications. Some of them are way too expensive for us to afford on a blue-collar income. Finding doctors that are good and accept Medicaid are few and far between, but some doctors are better than none and the only way our daughter will get any medical care at all. She is one of the many vulnerable people in society, and caring for her is a full-time job for myself and her father, who are both retired and are full-time care providers for her.

``I am not sure why anyone would want to take this help and service from people whose very life depends on the help it provides.''

That is a powerful and profound question: Why would anyone in this House vote to take away Medicaid from the American people amongst the most vulnerable here in the United States of America?

Brenda, from Arizona, lives in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District, represented by my colleague, Congressman Juan Ciscomani.

Garrett, also from Arizona--I am still in the A section right now, so strap in as we make sure we lift up the voices of everyday Americans all across this country. It is important that we take note. This isn't abstract, taking away healthcare from the American people. It is concrete. It is real. It has devastating implications.

Garrett says: ``I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth. Thanks to Medicaid, I was able to undergo multiple surgeries that significantly improved my ability to walk, transforming both my mobility and daily life. Relying on Medicaid, SNAP in the past, and SSI, I worry about what would happen to me and my friends if these programs were taken away. Without them, I wouldn't be able to keep up with doctors' appointments, medications, and transportation.''

Earlier today, my distinguished colleague from the great Commonwealth of Virginia read a passage of Scripture. It was one of my favorite passages of Scripture, Matthew 25 and 35 through 40. Later on this morning, as I continue my remarks, perhaps I will have the opportunity to go a little deeper into the meaning of Matthew 25 and 35. What I can say is that all of us should be trying to lift up the least, the lost, the left behind, the poor, the sick, and the afflicted.

Garrett tells us: ``I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth.''

The first thing that jumped out to me when I read this was that we are all God's children, and we should be looking after all God's children to the best of our ability, not running away from them and undermining their quality of life.

Garrett, we are going to continue to stand up and work hard on your behalf.

Nancy from California--that is a great name. Nancy from California, writes: ``My two special health needs former foster children depend on Medicaid for a dizzying array of health services, ranging from over 20 pediatric medical specialists and palliative care to behavioral health and occupational therapies. They both have rare, incurable, disabling diseases that require IEPs to navigate school.''

She continues but I want to pause right there. I think that is an important point, talking about her children and the IEPs to navigate school. We should be looking out for children like Nancy's two beautiful, former foster care children, her two special health needs children, as she calls them. It is one of the reasons why the Department of Education is important. Public schools are important. Nothing in this bill supports public education.

In fact, this one, big, ugly bill represents an attack on public education, and that is not consistent with what we should be doing as we prepare to celebrate our 249th birthday and lifting up this pursuit of happiness.

Nancy continues: ``The ACA protections for preexisting conditions and the removal of lifetime caps are also essential. My youngest child required medical care that I simply cannot afford, costing between $750,000 and $1 million per year, depending on how stable her health is. I work part time, but the caregiver burden is too demanding for me to maintain a full-time job. As a single, widowed mother, Medicaid has become a lifeline for keeping my kids as well as possible.''

Nancy lives in California's First Congressional District represented by my colleague, Congressman Doug LaMalfa.

Laura lives in the Central Valley of California, an area of the country with the highest concentration of Medicaid recipients, the highest concentration of Medicaid recipients.

``I have been raising my six grandchildren for 15 years and they are coming of age, but not many jobs are available. Also, my 16-year-old grandson depends on Medicaid and EBT to survive. He takes many medications a day.''

If you are not going to respect my ability to speak, respect the story that I am telling on behalf of Laura. Respect her story because her story matters. Her story matters and the American people matter.

``He takes many medications a day. I am too old to do anything but take care of him. I can't imagine choosing what medicines he gets or who gets to eat. Please reconsider for the people who need medication that is necessary for survival. Universal access to food and meds would lighten the worry that we carry. Not having to worry about food and medicines gives me more time to care for my 26-year old grandson who was quadriplegic due to a head-on collision last year. Please don't make him suffer any more. He needs food supplements and many medications every day to survive.''

Laura lives in California's 22nd Congressional District, a district that is represented by my colleague, Congressman David Valadao. This happens to be the district that has the highest concentration of Medicaid recipients in this country.

Laura, I don't know what your Congress Member is going to do. Every single House Democrat is fighting hard to protect your Medicaid. We value you, and we are working hard to defend it.

Jacki is from the Orange County area of California.

``My son is 34 years old. He has Down syndrome and autism and lives at home with his aging parents--dad, 82, and mom, 71. His biggest joys in life for him are his day program and eating out. How small are his desires, and you want to take that away from him.

``He requires much care: bathing, shaving, washing hair, brushing teeth, dressing, et cetera. His aging parents can do the job required for this 100 percent of the time. He has great caregivers right now, and they have been with him for many years.

``Now you want to take that away from us. Please know that Medicaid, Medi-Cal is what allows us to keep him in a safe and happy environment that he will not get anywhere else and for a whole lot less money. Why should that change for him? Please be respectful of families who have high-need family members who need these services. Thank you for allowing me to speak on behalf of my son and everyone who loves him.''

Jacki lives in California's 40th Congressional District, a district represented by my colleague, Congresswoman Young Kim.

Kayla writes to us from Colorado: ``At 26, I was diagnosed with brain cancer, a discovery I was only able to make because of Medicaid. Without it, I wouldn't have been able to get the treatment I need to survive. That diagnosis changed my life, and while I am grateful to be here, I can no longer work. Now, I rely on disability benefits, food stamps just to get by. These programs are the only reason I am able to live. Without this support, I don't know how I would manage.''

Kayla lives in Colorado's Second Congressional District, a district represented by the assistant Democratic leader, Joe Neguse.

Kayla, I can say to you that your Congress Member is fighting hard to protect you, just like every single member of the House Democratic Caucus.

Ashley writes to us from Colorado and says: ``My life was saved by the Affordable Care Act. Because of this act, I was able to stay on my parents' health insurance when I couldn't get any coverage. At the time, I was dealing with a myriad of health issues and would eventually be diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses.

``Because of the ACA, when my husband and I were married, I was able to be added to his insurance without being denied due to preexisting conditions. Prior to the act being passed, I was denied coverage and care many times. If I was even approved for coverage, it cost me thousands per month in premiums. I was being penalized, Mr. Speaker, for being sick. There were many times when I could not get coverage that I had to choose between which prescriptions I would get to have or whether I would get all of my meds or the groceries we needed.

``You know, there are far too many people in the United States of America right now, before experiencing the devastating consequences of this one big, ugly bill, who have to choose between putting food on the table, clothing on their backs, access to medication, or paying the rent. The United States of America is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Not a single hardworking American taxpayer should ever have to choose between food or medicine or rent or putting clothing on their back. Not a single hardworking American taxpayer should ever have to make that choice.

``If people did not have to worry about healthcare being accessible, they would be able to be seen when necessary, and when people are able to see doctors when they are unwell, they can stay healthy for longer periods of time. When people can stay healthy, they don't miss work. When people don't miss work, they don't risk losing their jobs.

``The way things work now only encourages the constant classist act of keeping the sick and poor sick and poor. This should never ever be the situation in a country that claims to have the best functioning economy in the world, the best doctors, the best universities.''

Ashley lives in Colorado's Third Congressional District, represented by my colleague, Congressman Jeff Hurd.

Ann also writes from Colorado: ``Through the Medicaid waiver, Scott Anson was placed in a group living situation that worked out for a while but was eventually kicked out. After that, he moved back in with me but ended up homeless once more before finally being placed back on a Medicaid waiver program.

``Now he is doing really well. His job, which he loves, also receives funding through Medicaid so that people with disabilities can be employed and be productive members of the community. Without Medicaid, he probably wouldn't be alive today. Without this assistance, we likely wouldn't be where we are now, and I doubt that there would be a happy ending to this story.''

Anne lives in Colorado's Sixth Congressional District, a district represented by our colleague, Congressman Jason Crow, who is also fighting hard to protect your interests, as every single one of us in the House Democratic Caucus will continue to do.

We believe, in America, healthcare is not simply a privilege that should be afforded to the wealthy, the well-off, and the well- connected. It is a right that should be available to everyone, a right that is still imperfect at this moment that we are working hard to perfect. This one big, ugly bill, the largest attack on healthcare, Mr. Speaker, in the United States of America, moves us in the opposite direction.

Daniella is also from Colorado. She writes to us: ``Medicaid has been a lifeline for our family, especially for my 5-year-old daughter who has autism.''

That is the thing, Mr. Speaker, Medicaid is important for so many Americans all across this country, including people with disabilities. It is a necessary lifeline so that parents can help their children live a better life with dignity and respect.

Why would any legislation that this House passes attack healthcare available to families that are pouring in everything they have to help their child under difficult circumstances live the best possible life? It perplexes me, Mr. Speaker, that this bill would go after the healthcare of people like Daniella and her 5-year-old daughter.

Daniella says: ``As parents we have faced many struggles trying to balance full-time work, starting a real estate business, and still being there for our three other children. It has been overwhelming at times, and finding the right support for her hasn't always been easy, but Medicaid has provided therapy and services that have made a world of difference in her life.

``These therapies have helped her make progress, feel seen, and connect with her peers, which means everything to us. It has allowed her to be a part of the world, to feel included, and to overcome obstacles that seemed insurmountable at times.

``Medicaid has helped us give her the opportunities she deserves and millions of other children in the United States.''

Mr. Speaker, Daniella lives in Colorado's Eighth Congressional District, a district currently represented by Congressman Gabe Evans; currently represented.

Mr. Speaker, we heard from Martha, who writes from Florida: ``I have an adult daughter with developmental and intellectual disabilities who needs Medicaid for her medical care. As a mom, I worry a lot about what the future will hold for her. Will she have access to quality medical care when my husband is no longer able to provide for her? Please, support individuals like my daughter who are vulnerable and need our help. Thank you from my heart.''

Martha lives in Florida's Seventh Congressional District, a district represented by our colleague, Mr. Speaker, Congressman Cory Mills.

We have heard from people from the heartland of this country. In Indiana, Kim writes to us: ``SNAP and Medicaid were lifelines when my children were younger, at least when I was able to get them. As a single mom, working my way up from low-paying jobs, we often had too little food. My dinner was the combined uneaten food from my four kids' plates. Even then, keeping benefits was difficult due to missing or late paperwork, and faxes lost to the ether.

``I sometimes worked three jobs and cried too often when the letter came saying benefits were suspended. When that happens, you end up hungry for weeks until it is straightened out.''

Kim lives in the Ninth Congressional District of Indiana, Mr. Speaker. She says: ``SNAP and Medicaid were lifelines when my children were younger, at least when I was able to get them.''

Let me pause right there for a moment because one of the arguments that I have consistently heard made, Mr. Speaker, by our Republican colleagues on the other side of the aisle is that they weren't going after Medicaid recipients, that no benefits would be taken away as a result of these so-called work requirements.

Let's fact-check that statement. Every independent entity that has looked at this question, including the Congressional Budget Office, has made clear that as a result of the one big, ugly bill, millions of Americans will lose their Medicaid benefits. These so-called work requirements are just a smokescreen because more than 90 percent of the people who receive Medicaid benefits who can work do work right now in the United States of America. Right now, more than 90 percent of recipients work.

What these impositions are are really paperwork requirements that are designed to make it harder for everyday

Americans like Kim to access their benefits. As a result, millions of Americans who are eligible, who are hardworking, who are deserving will lose their healthcare.

Kim says: ``I sometimes worked three jobs and cried too often when the letter came saying benefits were suspended.''

As House Democrats, Mr. Speaker, we are here fighting for people like Kim and millions of others like her all across the United States of America who will lose urgently necessary, life-changing, and life- sustaining Medicaid benefits as a result of Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill.

We hear from Maria from Iowa in the great heartland of this country. Maria writes to us: ``In 2021, I got seriously sick with COVID. I ended up in a coma for 12 days, spent 3\1/2\ weeks in the ICU, and then another 3 weeks on the recovery floor.''

Mr. Speaker: ``If it wasn't for Medicaid, I wouldn't have received any of the care I needed. I honestly don't know where I would be today. I don't know what my family would have done. Without Medicaid, I wouldn't have made it. If I lost Medicaid, it would completely change my life. I wouldn't be able to afford my insulin, diabetes medication, blood pressure medication, or see my endocrinologist, all of which are life-sustaining treatments. I also need to see my pulmonary specialist regularly. Without Medicaid, my health would deteriorate rapidly.''

That is a statement that applies to millions of Americans all across this great country who are at risk of losing their healthcare because this one big, ugly Republican bill has put a target on their back.

``Without Medicaid, my health would deteriorate.''

I am taking the time to share these stories because this is a question for so many Americans of life and death. It is extraordinary that on the House floor and in the middle of the night, the American people are forced to confront a bill that targets their healthcare and will result in their well-being deteriorating.

More than 17 million Americans are at risk of losing healthcare coverage. Then tens of millions more are experiencing increased premiums, copays, and deductibles as a result of the attack on healthcare in this bill. Many of them will also lose coverage and lose their healthcare.

These are Americans on private insurance or insurance provided by employers. But because of the healthcare attacks in this bill, their premiums, their copays, and their deductibles will go up. Some will not be able to afford it, and they will lose their healthcare.

That is what this bill represents. That is why I am taking the time to share these stories, experiences, concerns, fears, and anxieties of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I wish we had a lot more time to debate this bill. This is the type of bill that under normal circumstances we would have hours and hours of debate. Hundreds of Members could participate on both sides of the aisle and share their thoughts, their perspectives, their ideas, and their passionate support or passionate opposition.

This bill, which by some estimates is larger than the CARES Act, the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act combined in terms of its possible impact on the debt in this country--increasing the debt by more than $3 trillion and saddling our children and grandchildren with that level of extraordinary debt by people who claim to be fiscally responsible--the implications of this bill are enormous.

Yet, each side of the House Committee on Ways and Means was given 15 minutes to discuss the implications of this bill. Each side of the House Budget Committee was given 15 minutes to discuss the implications of this bill that will have devastating consequences for everyday Americans, while rewarding billionaires with massive tax breaks.

Mr. Speaker, it had been my hope that we would be able to have a robust debate, passionate support or passionate opposition, in connection with this bill. My hope was that hundreds of Members on both sides of the aisle could participate in it.

Instead, we have a limited debate where the relevant committees of jurisdiction have been given 15 minutes each on a bill of such significant magnitude as it relates to the health, the safety, and the well-being of the American people.

Because that debate was so limited, I feel the obligation, Mr. Speaker, to stand on this House floor and take my sweet time to tell the stories of the American people. That is exactly what I intend to do.

I will take my sweet time on behalf of the American people, on behalf of their healthcare, on behalf of their Medicaid, on behalf their nutritional assistance, on behalf of veterans, on behalf of farmers, on behalf of children, on behalf of seniors, on behalf of people with disabilities, and on behalf of small businesses.

On behalf of every single American, I am on this House floor after 6 a.m., and I plan to take my sweet time.

``Without Medicaid, I wouldn't have made it. If I lost Medicaid, it would completely change my life. It would also severely affect my husband with epilepsy. Without Medicaid, he wouldn't be able to afford his seizure medications, which means he would have seizures every week like he did before. This would leave him unable to function or work. Before he had Medicaid, he would have a seizure. It would take him days to recover. His health is inconsistent, which makes it hard for him to hold down a job.

``I still have my house, my car, my husband, and my health. Thank God for that. Why should we have to struggle so hard just to live in a country with so much wealth? I am considered one of the lucky ones, and yet I still struggle to make ends meet for the basics.''

That is Maria, pouring her heart out to us, as Members of Congress, about her struggles. She lives in Iowa's First Congressional District, represented by our colleague, Mr. Speaker, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

``In a country with so much wealth, I am considered one of the lucky ones, and yet I still struggle to make ends meet for the basics.''

Maria makes this important point as we stand on the threshold of the Fourth of July. Thomas Jefferson wrote those immortal words in the Declaration of Independence: ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.''

Mr. Speaker, if I am not going to get any love from the other side the aisle, I would expect that at least Thomas Jefferson would. He wrote, in the Declaration of Independence, ``that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.''

What is the pursuit of happiness in the United States of America here in the year of our Lord 2025?

Imagine a country where every single American can afford to live the good life--work hard and play by the rules in order to live the good life. That is the American Dream.

Our concern as Democrats is that, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, there are far too many people like Maria from Iowa who are unable to achieve that American Dream. They are unable, despite working hard and playing by the rules, to live the good life-- good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children, and a good retirement. That should not be too much to ask for here in the United States of America.

Instead of working to bring that American Dream to life for the greatest number of people all across the country, this one big, ugly bill, Mr. Speaker, that our Republican colleagues are trying to jam down the throats of the American people will undermine their quality of life.

I also heard from Patrick, who lives in the heartland of this country. He is one of the good people of Iowa who says: ``I am a registered nurse in the ICU at the VA hospital in Iowa City. I have worked as a nurse for 30 years, and I am a native Iowan. I have two disabled children who are on Medicaid. My son had a severe brain injury as a child and requires extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. My daughter is autistic and lives independently in housing provided by Medicaid. Before we had

Medicaid, we were bankrupt paying for their treatment. We would go bankrupt again if Medicaid is cut.''

These are complicated systems for people with very complicated needs. These ``commonsense solutions'' they are coming up with are not based in reality. People have tried these work requirements in the past, but even disabled or able-bodied people--we all have barriers, from childcare, transportation, and monetary limitations. It is a foolish idea to think that this won't have a negative impact.

They are just trying to remove people from the program, and it is cruel.

Patrick is correct. I am grateful for his service as a registered nurse at the VA hospital. I am grateful for all that he is doing to love and cherish his two disabled children, who are on Medicaid.

He is exactly right. What is contemplated in this one big, ugly bill is wrong. It is dangerous, and it is cruel. Cruelty should not be either the objective or the outcome of legislation that we consider here in the United States House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, cruelty should never be the objective or the outcome of legislation that we consider here in the House of Representatives, but it is cruel to take away Medicaid from the American people. That is why, as House Democrats, we will continue to show up, speak up, and stand up in defense of the healthcare of the American people.

I am thankful for all of my colleagues who are here and who, throughout this process, a difficult process, have stood up over and over and over again on behalf of the healthcare of the American people.

I am thankful for my colleagues in leadership, Whip Katherine Clark, Chair Pete Aguilar, and all the members of House Democratic leadership. I am thankful for the leaders of every single committee who have been battling hard to push back against the cruelty that is in this one big, ugly bill.

I am thankful for the leadership of Richard Neal. I am thankful for the leadership of Frank Pallone. I am thankful for the leadership of Brendan Boyle. I am thankful for the leadership of Angie Craig. I am thankful for the leadership, the principled leadership, of every single member of the House Democratic Caucus.

Above all else, I am just thankful for the spirit and the heart and soul of the American people who have risen up throughout this country to make it clear to all of us in this institution: Keep your hands off our Medicaid. Keep your hands off our healthcare, our Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act. Keep your hands off our Medicaid.

That is why, Mr. Speaker, I stand before you today to lift up stories on behalf of the American people who don't have the great privilege and honor to stand on this House floor as all of us do, Democrats and Republicans alike, on behalf of the American people in this great institution, the House of Representatives.

To me, what we are doing with this one big, ugly bill is an assault on healthcare, on veterans, and on nutritional assistance. It is an assault on good-paying, clean energy jobs. It is an assault on the high cost of living in the United States of America. All of it is inconsistent with the best of what this House of Representatives should be doing for such a time as this.

I stand here on behalf of everyday Americans like Elizabeth, who is also from Iowa. Elizabeth suffered from sepsis caused by untreated strep throat. After waiting to receive care, while uninsured and without paid sick leave, after receiving the care she needed, she was able to apply for Medicaid and have her medical bills retroactively covered.

Now, Medicaid has allowed her to get access to essential and preventive healthcare. Mr. Speaker, Elizabeth lives in the congressional district represented by our colleague Zach Nunn, Iowa's Third Congressional District.

I thank Elizabeth for highlighting one of the concerns that all of us should have with this bill.

When you launch an all-out assault on the healthcare of the American people, when you effectively end Medicaid as we know it, when you gut parts of the Affordable Care Act, what you essentially are doing, by stripping healthcare away from the American people, is putting people like Elizabeth back in the position that she had previously been in, where she has an untreated medical condition that won't get better on its own, will likely get worse, and lead to further medical complications.

Why would we do that to the American people? That is wrong. We should be lifting people up in this country, not tearing them down. We should be lifting up everyday Americans, not tearing them down and putting them at risk of their life, their quality of life, their health, their well-being, getting worse.

We hear from Becky from the great State of Louisiana. By the way, Louisiana is a State with some of the highest percentages of Medicaid recipients of any State in the Union. Louisiana is a State at risk of suffering greatly as a result of the all-out assault on Medicaid that is part of Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill.

Becky tells us: ``I have had Medicaid for years, and without it I wouldn't be able to afford to see my doctors or cover what Medicaid doesn't pay. As a senior citizen, I now have to go back to work just to keep a roof over my head, afford rising food and utility costs, and maintain my car. Meanwhile, the government keeps taking more and more out of my Social Security benefits, money I already paid taxes on while working. It feels like the middle class no longer exists. You are either rich or poor. Politicians today have no real understanding of what it is like to struggle every single day. If they had to live like regular people, maybe things would improve for seniors like me.''

Mr. Speaker, Becky lives in Louisiana's Third Congressional District, a district represented by our colleague Representative Clay Higgins.

Louisiana is a State, of course, also represented by my good friend and colleague Congressman Troy Carter, who is with us here in the Chamber, and also Cleo Fields, another good friend and colleague.

Louisiana is a State that stands to suffer mightily as a result of this all-out assault on Medicaid.

Mr. Speaker, I heard my distinguished colleague, the House majority leader, someone who I personally respect for his resilience, his perseverance, and his journey. I think he comes by his views in good faith. It is his perspective. It is the Speaker's perspective.

Yet, many of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have made the representation that, as House Democrats, we are not telling the truth to the American people about the devastating impact that Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill, a bill being rushed through this Chamber, will have on the health and the well-being of people in Louisiana and all across the country.

They have accused us of fear-mongering and making misrepresentations, and so I was surprised to learn, Mr. Speaker, that the Louisiana State Legislature--the Louisiana State Legislature that has a Republican supermajority--the Louisiana State Legislature recently voted to condemn the one big, ugly bill because of the extraordinary attack on Medicaid that will adversely impact their constituents.

We are telling the truth. This one big, ugly bill will hurt everyday Americans in Louisiana and all across the country. Don't take our word for it. Take the word of the Louisiana State Legislature supermajority.

Mr. Speaker, we are here on the House floor taking our sweet time to tell the stories of the American people and the adverse impacts of Trump's one big, ugly bill that my House Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, are trying to jam down the throats of the American people, causing great harm to those who we should be working hard to protect, love, and cherish, not adversely impact their ability to live and live life more abundantly.

Tamra, who lives in Louisiana's Fourth Congressional District, represented by the Speaker of this great House: ``I have depression and PTSD. I am unable to work and rely on Medicaid to get my monthly medications to keep me essentially alive.''

Tamra, we are going to continue to fight hard on your behalf.

We heard from Emily, who lives in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Emily tells us: ``I had moved to Massachusetts in 2020 and was working a retail job for minimum wage. I was unable to afford much, but the State, thankfully, approved me for SNAP assistance and Medicaid. Without that jump start, I am not sure where I would be today. There shouldn't be shame or stigma surrounding these programs. You never know when life will get pulled out from underneath you. The relief when these programs can come to your aid is indescribable.''

Emily lives in the Fifth Congressional District of Massachusetts, a district that is represented by House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, who is a strong champion on your behalf, Emily, powerfully, ethically, and principally fighting hard on your behalf.

Kasey lives in the Second Congressional District of Maine, a district represented by Congressman Jared Golden. I am thankful for Congressman Golden's service. He served his Nation with distinction overseas and has come back home to serve this Nation in the United States Congress.

Kasey writes as a single mom of two young children and nonprofit professional in rural Maine, Kasey and her children rely on Medicaid and SNAP to live their lives. The resources and stability provided by Medicaid and SNAP allowed Kasey to leave her emotionally abusive husband and support her children.

Kasey's 7-year-old son has ADHD and is on the autism spectrum and relies heavily on individualized support through Medicaid. If Medicaid goes away, Kasey doesn't know how their family will stay afloat.

The American people are pouring in to us, Democrats and Republicans, in the United States House of Representatives, the people's House, pouring in to us with all of their heart, all of their soul, all of their authenticity, and pleading that this Congress would find it in our hearts to stand up for them and not stand up for billionaires, which is what this one big, ugly bill is designed to accomplish.

Sarah writes to us from Michigan's Fourth Congressional District: ``My daughter has a heart condition, and the fact that she is on Medicaid is the only way that we can pay for her doctor's visits and medications. I am a widow, and money is very tight, so the fact that I am on Medicaid, too, is the only way that I can pay for my own visits and meds. The loss of Medicaid for us would be absolutely devastating.''

Mr. Speaker, Sarah lives in Michigan's Fourth Congressional District, a district currently represented by our colleague, Congressman Bill Huizenga.

``The loss of Medicaid for us would be absolutely devastating.''

That is the consequence of the GOP tax scam. This disgusting abomination, this reckless Republican budget, Mr. Speaker, that Republicans were trying to jam down the throats of the American people during the dead of night, it is extraordinary.

No legislation that we consider in the House of Representatives should be devastating for everyday Americans, either in its objective or in its outcome, but as Democrats, we stand here in strong opposition to this one big, ugly bill because of the devastating consequences that will result to everyday Americans all across this great country.

Lucy writes to us from the heartland, from the great State of Michigan, as well. ``My brother is a developmentally disabled senior who lives in a group home. Until the age of 59, he was cared for by our mother. He cannot live on his own and has numerous health issues. He depends on Medicaid. Without Medicaid, his brothers and sisters could not support his medical care.''

We are hearing from families all across the country: mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, husbands and wives pleading with this Congress, pleading with House Republicans to stand up for their loved ones who are on Medicaid, who are at risk of having their healthcare run over and their lives ruined by the consequences of Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill.

Lucy lives in Michigan's Seventh Congressional District, a district currently represented, Mr. Speaker, by our colleague, Representative Tom Barrett.

We have also heard from Sharon who lives in Michigan. ``My daughter is a young woman who was born with cerebral palsy, mild cognitive impairments, and autism. She depends on Medicaid services for her health, safety, and well-being. She is unable to work or take care of herself. She is unable to work or care for herself without help. Without Medicaid, she is totally at risk. Cutting Medicaid to give tax cuts to wealthy billionaires is not only cruel and unethical,'' Sharon writes, ``but it puts vulnerable people, including children, at risk of severe mental and physical health problems. Do the right thing and rescind the drastic cuts to Medicaid for vulnerable people with serious physical disabilities and people with serious and persistent mental health problems.''

Mr. Speaker, Sharon lives in the 10th Congressional District represented by our colleague, Congressman John James. I don't know how the Congressman from the great State of Michigan will vote at the end of the day as it relates to defending people like Sharon, but as Sharon writes--I know what I can say--she says: ``Do the right thing and rescind the drastic cuts to Medicaid for vulnerable people with serious physical disabilities and people with serious and persistent mental health problems.''

Sharon, House Democrats will always do the right thing when it comes to your health, your safety, and your well-being, your Medicaid, and the love and care that you are working hard to provide to your daughter. We will always do the right thing. We are not perfect. No one is, but we will always strive to do the right thing on your behalf.

As I work through these stories in the Midwest, it appears, Mr. Speaker, that I am about halfway through the stories as it relates to Medicaid, Medicaid, Medicaid. It appears that I am halfway through the stories as it relates to Medicaid, but the extraordinary thing about this bill is that it represents such an unprecedented assault on the American people that there are stories that need to be told as it relates to the attack on nutritional assistance for the American people, and I will tell those stories. The stories need to be told as it relates to the attack that has taken place on farmers in this country, and I will tell those stories. The stories need to be told as it relates to the attack on small businesses in this country, and I will tell those stories. The stories need to be told as it relates to the unprecedented assault on veterans in this country. How dare this administration attack veterans who have served this country?

Instead of attacking veterans, we should make sure that every single veteran in this country can live with the dignity and respect that they have earned.

There are stories that need to be told as it relates to the veterans in this country, and there are stories that need to be told as it relates to law-abiding immigrant families.

We have to secure our border. We believe that we have a broken immigration system that should be fixed in a comprehensive and bipartisan way, but we must also stand up for Dreamers and farmworkers and law-abiding immigrant families in this country. We will not abandon our Nation's heritage as a country of immigrants, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. As part of what American exceptionalism has been all about, these are stories that need to be told.

William writes to us from the great State of Minnesota.

I am so thankful for our colleagues from the Minnesota delegation, fighting hard on behalf of that great State.

``I am a 57-year-old man living in central Minnesota. I am a type 1 insulin-dependent diabetic, legally blind, and I suffer from severe nerve damage in my back and legs due to diabetes. I rely on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP benefits to support myself. Any reduction in these programs would severely impact my life and my ability to afford food, pay for my small apartment, and access medical care. Without these benefits, I would be destitute.''

William lives in Minnesota's Sixth Congressional District, Mr. Speaker, a district represented by our colleague, Congressman Tom Emmer.

I would say to William that I don't know what the majority whip will ultimately decide to do as it relates to this one big, ugly bill, but we are going to stand up for the things that clearly matter to you. We are going to stand up for Social Security, stand up for your Medicare, stand up for Medicaid, stand up for your SNAP benefits, and stand up for you.

I would also note, parenthetically, it is not rhetorical that we are claiming to stand up for people like William, a 57-year-old man living in central Minnesota. He notes two things that are of interest to me. He says that ``I am a type 1 insulin-dependent diabetic,'' and then also says, ``I rely on Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SNAP benefits to support myself,'' which suggests to me that William actually may have been a beneficiary of some of the hard work that has taken place on this side of the aisle.

His life is not perfect. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, but as a type 1 insulin-dependent diabetic who is also on Medicare, as a result of the Inflation Reduction Act, his insulin at this point always and forever will be no more than $35 per month.

That is a downpayment, William, on the type of work we believe needs to be done because we are committed to lowering your costs, despite all the talk that comes from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, on day one promising to lower the high costs of living, that costs would go down on day one.

Costs haven't gone down, Mr. Speaker. In the United States of America, costs are going up. Life remains far too expensive, and as a result of some of the reckless policies coming out of the Trump administration, including the Trump tariffs, on-again, off-again, creating so much uncertainty, but certainly will result in thousands of dollars per year in additional costs on everyday Americans.

We are committed to lowering the high costs of living. We are committed to making sure that every single person in this country can afford to live the good life--good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for their children, and a good retirement. We are committed to working hard to make sure that every single American, like William, can afford to live the good life.

This one big, ugly bill does the exact opposite. It doesn't make life more affordable, Mr. Speaker. It makes life more expensive.

Heather from the great State of Minnesota writes: ``Without Medicaid, my three kids and I would have no insurance. I couldn't afford my epilepsy and schizophrenia medications. My kids wouldn't have access to healthcare, including ER visits, physicals, vaccines, and dental cleanings.''

Heather lives in Minnesota's Eighth Congressional District, represented by our colleague, Mr. Speaker, Congressman Peter Stauber.

Lynn writes to us from Missouri, the Show Me State, a State ably represented by Representative Emanuel Cleaver and Representative Wesley Bell. Lynn writes to us and says: ``I am a widow, near 70, with very little family left and have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I have an adult son severely disabled. He already has lost transportation services due to low Medicaid funding. If Medicaid is cut, it will be disastrous for my situation.'' Lynn knows that this one big, ugly bill puts a target on the back of Medicaid.

One of the Senators from the great State of Missouri, Senator Josh Hawley, spent months warning about the damage that Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill would do to the people of Missouri as a result of the all-out assault on Medicaid and then turned around and voted to cut Medicaid from his constituents.

It is so shocking, so disappointing, so heartbreaking for many Americans that a lot of people in the House of Representatives, Mr. Speaker, and a lot of people in the Senate have talked a good game about Medicaid but then turned around and done nothing to protect it. That is shameful. It disgusts me because I want to believe in the good faith of every Member to look out for the people that they are privileged to serve.

Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill is an all-out assault on healthcare, an all-out assault on Medicaid, with the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.

This legislation will end Medicaid as we know it. Millions of people will lose their healthcare. 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 people all across this country, will shutter. As a result of Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill, people in this country will die unnecessary deaths. That is unacceptable. That is unconscionable. That is un-American.

That is why, as House Democrats, we stand on this floor aggressively pushing back for 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, Republicans immediately race to legislation that provides massive tax breaks for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected in this country. We have 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 added to our Nation's debt and deficit.

During the Presidency of George W. Bush, in 2001 and 2003 yet again, there were 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. He 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. They are the party of fiscal irresponsibility over and over and over again.

Now, with this bill, they have taken it to a whole other level because in addition to exploding the debt by more than $3 trillion--and by some estimates even more than that--they are 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 is extraordinary to me. It shouldn't be surprising because it is exactly what we saw during the first 4 years of the Trump administration where the signature legislative accomplishment was the 2017 GOP tax scam where, by some estimates, 83 percent of the benefits would go to the wealthiest 1 percent in this country, saddling, at the time, our children and grandchildren with more than $2 trillion in additional debt.

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. 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, veterans, seniors, and people with disabilities. Mr. Speaker, Trump's one big, ugly bill is obscene in that regard.

It seems to me that all of us have a responsibility as leaders to try to make life better for the American people. That is 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 is what great leaders do, leaders like FDR, President Johnson, President Obama, and so many others. That is what the track record says.

The American people in this country deserve real leadership. What we have seen from complete Republican rule in Washington, D.C., Mr. Speaker, is not leadership that lifts up the American people. It is leadership that is tearing them down and tearing us apart. The first 6 months of this administration

have been characterized by chaos, cruelty, and corruption. That is 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 coequal branch of government to actually lift people up.

Mr. Speaker, when President Lincoln addressed the House of Representatives--I believe it was his second annual message to Congress on December 1, 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 on December 1, 1862, President Lincoln said:

``Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. 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 is America: Even to this day, the last best hope of Earth.

It is extraordinary that Abraham Lincoln, in America's infancy, understood the importance of this country, not just for its citizens but for the world. He urges 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 ever applaud, and God must forever bless.''

That is 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 and ready to recklessly rubberstamp legislation that will rip healthcare away from more than 17 million Americans.

That is not leadership. That is not the leadership that this country deserves, but that is 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 is a recognition of the aspirational objective that all of us should have. It is 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. The gift that we have been given is that sacred charge to strive for a more perfect Union and to look out for every single American as best we can.

We have seen that kind of leadership across the years, across the decades, and across the centuries, particularly as it relates to the social safety net that is under extreme assault right now. Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill represents an unprecedented assault on America's social safety net and an unprecedented assault on hardworking taxpayers.

It is the exact opposite of the type of leadership we have seen in this country that is designed to march us toward a more perfect Union. It is one of the reasons why we can't forget American history. We need to learn from and lift up American history, as well as all types of history.

I will address that issue later, but let me also parenthetically make it clear. Black history is American history. We will never let anyone erase it. We need to learn from it and not erase it. We will never let that happen.

Our history teaches us that what leadership actually does is set us on a course toward a more perfect Union. 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 poorhouse. 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 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 is all or none.''

President Roosevelt further went on to say: ``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.''

He 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 am 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 is leadership. That is what we should be doing here in the United States of America, Mr. Speaker, not enacting devastating cuts to healthcare that will hurt millions of everyday Americans.

All of this is also unfolding in an environment where Social Security is now under attack. That is extraordinary to me. Social Security is a sacred promise. It is a sacred trust between the American people and its stewards, her stewards, in government.

That is why I am so thankful for leadership as it relates to Social Security, for people like Congressman John Larson, who 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 is what we should be doing 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. They label Social Security and Medicare entitlement programs.

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 will be set in motion by Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill, and now cosigned, it appears, by House Republicans.

Mr. Speaker, House Republicans have also cosigned 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 and delivering packages. I was just a sophomore at Midwood High School in Brooklyn, when I got my first job, earning minimum wage, $3.35 an hour. I was thankful for that money, having been raised by my mom and dad in a working-class neighborhood in central Brooklyn. It was $3.35 an hour. I was coming of age in the middle of the crack cocaine epidemic in central Brooklyn.

I couldn't wait to get my first check. I was told because I was working part-time and I was a high school student that the money that I made would not be taxed. 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 Albee Square Mall in Brooklyn and get some new sneakers so I could look fresh like Run-DMC. The 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.

Then I got my first check, and I had two questions, Mr. Speaker: Who is FICA, and why is he taking my money?

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, and earn throughout their entire life. They are benefits that they deserve.

So keep your hands off Social Security and Medicare, the earned benefits of the American people. Hands off these earned benefits.

It is 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 is not the only one. This is a great country, an exceptional country. There are 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 are not seeing this level of leadership coming out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

I am 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 was from the great State of Missouri, Emmanuel Cleaver's State, the good Reverend Dr. Emanuel Cleaver, my friend and my mentor. Mr. Truman, shortly after ending World War II--we are so thankful for the sacrifice, the bravery, and the courage of the Greatest Generation. A few months after, he unexpectedly became President, he replaced the great FDR. On 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 to enjoy good health. Millions do not now have protection or security against the economic effects of sickness. And the time has now arrived for action to help them attain that opportunity and help them get that protection.''

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.''

He says: ``regardless of residence, station, or race.'' That is Presidential leadership that brings people together. It 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 healthcare 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. He made clear that is unacceptable in the United States of America.

He articulated a forward-looking vision for universal healthcare; an aspirational vision. It was a vision designed to lift the American people up, not rip healthcare away from them, which is what this one big, ugly bill will do, ripping healthcare away from more than 17 million Americans.

That is shameful. It disgusts me that we are on the floor of the House of Representatives right now having to push back so aggressively against an all-out assault on the healthcare 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.

Of course, he wasn't the only one. We are 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, was inspired, in part, by his own experiences growing up in the hill country of Texas and seeing rural poverty and the devastating impacts of it. It was 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 is not the type of leadership that this country needs or that rural America needs. I am thankful that we have examples of the type of leadership that hopefully, Mr. Speaker, we can aspire to achieve 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 authors.

``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 is 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 is ironic. That is what Presidential leadership looks like.

LBJ says: ``This insurance will help pay for care in hospitals, in skilled nursing homes, or in the home.''

Yet, Mr. Speaker, we are 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 is shameful. It is not the type of leadership that this country needs right now, but that is what we are 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.

I will 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 way . . .

``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.

In 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.

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. It 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.''

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 thy hand wide unto thy brother, unto thy poor, and to thy needy in thy land.''

Is that what we are 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 is not what Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill is all about. It is an assault on everyday Americans to reward billionaires with massive tax breaks. That is extraordinary.

President Clinton in the 1990s talked about the Children's Health Insurance Program, a 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. It is 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 healthcare of the American people.

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.''

Budgets are moral documents. 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 and 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 is an immoral document that we are debating right now in 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 the nickname ObamaCare, but the great Jim Clyburn flipped the script and said, yes, it is ObamaCare because President Barack Obama cares about the American people just like we do as House Democrats.

That is 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. I am proud to stand here on the floor saying, yeah, we are going to continue to defend ObamaCare until the very end no matter what it takes.

President Obama spoke to this Congress, as well, talked about Presidential leadership. We have seen it year after year, decade after decade, century after century. President Lincoln, President Roosevelt, President Truman, President Johnson, President Clinton, and President Obama lifted up the American people on the healthcare issue. I think it is important that these words, as well, continue to echo out throughout America.

President Obama said: ``There is 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. ``But even before this crisis, each and every one of us knew there were millions of people across America who were living their own quiet crises. Maybe because they had a child who had a preexisting 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 fifties, 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 are on the threshold of doing something about it,'' he said to the United States Congress, to Speaker Nancy D'Alesandro Pelosi and others, who were great partners in this effort.

He said: ``And now, we are on the threshold of doing something about it. We are a day away.'' This is aspirational leadership. ``After a year of debate, after every argument has been made by just about everybody, we are 24 hours away.''

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 is 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 preexisting 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 are 26 years old.''

The Affordable Care Act was a tremendous step in the right direction. It is aspirational leadership. Tens of millions of Americans now have health insurance coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act.

This reckless Republican budget, this one big, ugly bill that President Donald Trump has directed my Republican colleagues to sign off on, to recklessly rubberstamp and to bend the knee to even though this bill and its assault on healthcare, on Medicaid, on the Children's Health Insurance Program, on Medicare, and on ObamaCare will rip away healthcare coverage from the people my Republican colleague are here in Washington to represent.

It is extraordinary to me that, as a result of this one big, ugly bill, this all-out assault on healthcare in this country, millions of people are going to lose coverage, thrown off of healthcare, 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.

As a result of the all-out Republican assault on healthcare 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 healthcare of the American people.

I am sad. I never thought that I would 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 is a crime scene going after the health, the safety, and the well-being of the American people. Mr. Speaker, we want no part of it, which is why we are fighting so hard to stop it.

Serving in the United States Congress on this glorious floor, having to be part of a crime scene, it is shameful, an all-out assault on the American people.

President Biden worked hard with many of the people in this Congress who still serve to try and build upon this great legacy, this journey that we have 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. Then, it advanced to 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 is part of our march toward a more perfect Union. That is 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 2022. He 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, D.C. I am disgusted by that. It is not what lawmaking should be about.

President Biden, reflecting upon the challenges of making progress on behalf of the American people, said, in August 2022: ``And, yet, we have not wavered. We have not flinched. We have not given in. Instead, we are delivering results for the American people.''

``We didn't tear down; we built up. We didn't look back; we looked forward. . . . This law that I am about to sign finally delivers on a promise that Washington has made for decades to the American people. . . . Guess what. We are giving Medicare the power to negotiate those prices,'' lower prices on behalf of the American people.

President Biden goes on to say: ``This means seniors 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 is still work to do, but the 46th President of the United States of America did that.

He went on to say: ``The Inflation Reduction Act locks in place lower healthcare 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 healthcare.

In this one big, ugly bill, Republicans are setting in motion the explosion of those tax credits that are designed to provide affordable healthcare coverage to the American people.

Leadership requires courage, conviction, and compassion. Yet, what we have seen from this administration and its co-conspirators on the Republican side of the aisle, Mr. Speaker, is cruelty, chaos, and corruption. It has all been morphed into a toxic mix now contained in Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill, an extraordinary assault on the healthcare of the American people.

I mentioned earlier, Mr. Speaker, that I would be taking 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 am 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 of the American people.

It is an assault on healthcare, an assault on nutritional assistance, an assault on children, an assault on veterans, an assault on farmers, an assault on everyday Americans.

Christal, who is also from the great State of Alaska, said: ``After my husband passed away suddenly, I was unprepared to pay all the bills as a part-time, stay-at-home mom. Working part time while my young girls were in school, I applied for SNAP benefits and was so thankful I received them, for it helped me so much. 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 am 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.''

Mr. Speaker, I thank Christal for sharing her story with us.

Mr. Speaker, Talese, who wrote to us, lives in Alabama's Fifth Congressional District, a district currently represented by Dale Strong.

I am so thankful for the representation of my good friends, Terri Sewell and Shomari Figures, in the great State of Alabama.

Talese writes to us: ``I am 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 would probably have very little in terms of food because I am always running on E. I am so beyond grateful for the assistance.''

Mr. Speaker, Curtis writes to us 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.''

Mr. Speaker, now the nutritional assistance benefits will be ripped away from millions of Americans in Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill, a bill that Republicans are prepared to recklessly rubber stamp.

We also heard from Diana from the 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 has 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. It is 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 is fighting hard for the American people. We want to protect you as best we can from this cruel assault on nutritional assistance. We are going to continue to fight hard for you.

In Ohio, Julie writes to us: ``I am so thankful for Emilia Sykes and Marcy Kaptur. Marcy Kaptur is the original gangster of the Ohio delegation. She is the longest serving woman in the history of the United States Congress. She is fighting hard on behalf of the people she incredibly represents, along with Emilia Sykes, Shontel Brown, and Greg Landsman.

Of course, all of us 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 have seen from House Democrats.

We saw it from Brittany Pettersen, the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Colorado, who gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Sam, at the beginning of this year.

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 Pettersen 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.

She did it in connection with that first vote that set this whole disgusting abomination into motion in February, that same day.

Kevin Mullin showed up to vote on behalf of the American people. Just like all of us continue to do, Kevin Mullin showed up to vote, despite the fact that he had been experiencing multiple surgeries. He was dealing with some complications. He understood, just like all House Democrats, the need to stand up in this moment and fight hard for the American people. He understood the need to be here throughout this entire toxic journey that Republicans have set us on in connection with this one big, ugly bill.

Kevin Mullin, coming off of multiple surgeries, rolled out of his hospital bed. He got on a plane from northern California and 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 and the House Democratic Caucus family to push back against this one, big ugly bill.

I am so thankful and so appreciative to see the great Joyce Beatty who has been battling some issues. She worked her way through them and put off surgeries for as long as she could.

Yet, perhaps against some of the advice that she may have received, she understood, as she said in her own words, the importance of being here on behalf of the American people and to stand up and push back against Trump's one big, ugly bill because it will have devastating consequences for everyday Americans.

I thank Joyce Beatty for her courage, her strength, and her resilience on behalf of the people that she represents in the great State of Ohio and people all across the country. That is what we do as House Democrats, and she is leading by example.

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 here in Washington.

Mr. Speaker, let's understand who is doing you in. It is the people on the other side of the aisle. It is not too late. All we need are four Republicans to join us and to show John McCain levels of courage, not on the battlefield as he did in such an extraordinary way. Yes, John McCain was an American hero and patriot.

He was an American hero and patriot. I may have disagreed with him on a whole host of issues, but we cannot disagree with the fact that he was an American patriot and a war hero who served this country overseas.

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, Mr. Speaker?

He got elected to the United States House of Representatives. I am just making sure you are paying attention, Mr. Speaker. All good things start in the United States House of Representatives, as far as we are concerned.

Then, he went over to the Senate. In one of his final acts of courage, he pushed back against the efforts to rip away healthcare from millions of Americans.

All we need are four Republicans to show John McCain's levels of courage when it comes to protecting the health, the safety, and the well-being of the American people and protecting the nutritional assistance of the American people.

I think, earlier today, I may have neglected to mention the leadership of Jim McGovern, who has done an extraordinary job leading the charge on the Rules Committee as we pushed 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 were pushing amendment after amendment, debating hard against this one big, ugly bill on behalf of the American people.

Jim McGovern, of course, is a longtime champion for combating hunger in the United States of America. Thankfully, Jim continues to battle hard on behalf of the American people with resilience and strength even in the face of great tragedy.

Julie writes: ``SNAP has been an amazing help to my family. I am very grateful to receive it. I am a single mom of twin 13-year-old girls. I have been on my own with my girls since they were 1 and have never received child support. I do work.''

People who receive Medicaid work. People who receive SNAP work. 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 of my expenses. It is 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 can only offer the bare minimum. Food banks don't give basics like milk and bread.''

That is 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 have 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.''

Mr. Speaker, some people in this Chamber need to hear those words again: ``Giving freely and charitably is the way of Jesus.'' That is someone who is talking like a Matthew 25 and 35 Christian.

He says: ``SNAP and Social Security benefits have been lifesaving for me. They literally keep me alive. I suffer from severe depression, anxiety, and OCD, and I have Asperger's. This is why I am on Social Security and SNAP. I believe 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 is 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 is the kind of leadership that this country needs and deserves right now, but that is the kind of leadership it is 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 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, healthcare, supplemental nutritional assistance; the assault on veterans; the assault on clean energy jobs; the assault on the cost- of-living, which is represented in this bill; or the assault of the fiscal irresponsibility of a bill that will explode the deficit, increase the debt by trillions of dollars, and 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.

It is 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. We imagine a country where every single American can afford to live the good life, have a good-paying job, good housing, good healthcare, good education for your children, and a good retirement. You work hard, play by the rules, and live the good life. That is the America that we should be working hard right now to bring about for every single American.

We know there are far too many Americans in this country struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.

Mr. Speaker, that should not be the case in this 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. He made that promise. It didn't happen on day one. It hasn't happened on month one, month two, month three, month four, month five, or month six. It is not happening, Mr. Speaker. Costs aren't going down. Costs are going up in the United States of America.

Life is becoming more expensive. 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 is our plan. That is our vision. That is our goal as House Democrats, an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers. Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill will make life more expensive for the American people.

Lynette wrote to us. She is also a resident of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She said: ``I am 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 is 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 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 I don't have the extra money. And I don't qualify for Medicare, and I don't make enough to get insurance on the marketplace for insurance.''

Lynette says: ``Without the help of SNAP and Section 8, I would not be able to afford anything.''

Mr. Speaker, Lynette resides in Pennsylvania's Seventh Congressional District, a district represented by our colleague Congressman Ryan Mackenzie.

Wendy writes to us from the Commonwealth of Virginia. She says: ``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 2 years. To my family, SNAP is literally life or death. 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 a lifesaver.''

That is what these safety net programs represent: lifesavers for Americans in need. Instead of protecting these lifesaving 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. 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 is not right, and that is why we are fighting hard. It is for people like Wendy who, Mr. Speaker, lives in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District, a district represented by Congressman John McGuire.

Jamie is from the great State of Wisconsin, 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 am doing this on my own. Please don't take away SNAP.''

That is a plea that I think is being heard all across this land: Please don't take away SNAP. It is a lifesaver that is being ripped away from the American people as part of this Republican effort, Mr. Speaker, to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires.

Jamie lives in the Third Congressional District of Wisconsin, currently represented, Mr. Speaker, by Congressman Derrick Van Orden.

Healthcare is under assault. Nutritional assistance is 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 and say one thing and then they do the exact opposite. Many of the policies that we have 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, a fourth-generation farmer on land her family has worked for almost 125 years in north central Iowa. Then, it says: ``If there is all this uncertainty out there, how can we plan? We need a path forward. It is like changing a tire while we are still driving down the road.''

That is what our farmers are being asked to do: change a tire while they are 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 are kind of holding our breath for this fall. That is when it will hurt the most farmers. We need trade with Mexico and Canada, too. That is 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.''

As House Democrats, we are focused on creating more good-paying jobs and on economic strategies that make sense and are designed to lift up the American people. Yet, 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, but we've been here for over a hundred years. My great-grandfather, my grandfathers on both sides, and my father were all farmers. Honestly, I cannot understand it. I have not heard anybody from that administration that can tell me anything that makes any sense of what he is causing.''

John further writes: ``You cannot take a chain saw and do surgery. I am going to plant about 50 percent 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 have seen from the Trump administration, from the so-called DOGE effort, and from our Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, is deeply troubling. Republicans are trying to take a chain saw to Social Security, a chain saw to Medicare, a chain saw to Medicaid, a chain saw to the healthcare of the American people, a chain saw to nutritional assistance for hungry children, a chain saw to farm country, and a chain saw to vulnerable Americans.

Yet, as House Democrats, we are here to make clear, Mr. Speaker, that we are determined to take a chain saw to Project 2025--a chain saw--a chain saw 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 are going to take a chain saw to the Republicans' Project 2025. That is what we are prepared to do.

I thank John from North Carolina.

There is one last farmer whose voice I want to elevate at this moment, and then I would like to have a discussion 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 am struggling to understand now because it appears that almost every single House Republican is prepared to recklessly rubberstamp Donald Trump's extreme agenda and sign off on this one big, ugly bill.

I am going to go through some of the correspondence momentarily that maybe, at some point, our Republican colleagues can help us figure out.

I will enter into the Record one last story from a farmer. Can we respect the farmers in the United States of America? Can we respect them? We began this country as an agrarian economy. We should respect the farmers in this country as I am telling their stories on the eve of our 249th birthday. Can we respect the farmers in this country who we are working hard to defend?

Suzie is from Missouri in a district, Mr. Speaker, represented by Ways and Means chairman, our colleague, Jason Smith. She writes to us, and she says that Suzie and her husband moved back to her family farm over two decades ago where they raised their children, including a son with complex medical needs who relies on Medicaid for essential therapies and care.

Over the years, Suzie has seen firsthand how Medicaid has been a lifeline for families like hers, especially in rural communities. The proud mother and daughter of hardworking Missourians, Suzie apparently has voted for both Democrats and Republicans, and her husband is a registered Republican; but as farmers, they both believe that access to healthcare should never be a partisan issue.

We agree. Thank you, Suzie. Access to healthcare in the United States of America should never be a partisan issue. It should never be considered a privilege just for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. It is a right that should be available to every single American, and that is what we are fighting hard right now to defend here in the United States of America and to push back against this one big, ugly bill.

As I mentioned earlier, in the time that I have remaining, I certainly want to share the story of some of our veterans; share a few stories of some of our small business owners who would also be under assault as part of this one big, ugly bill. I want to also share the stories of hardworking and law-abiding immigrant families who also will be targeted by this one big, ugly bill.

However, I did want to take a little time at this moment to enter into the Record some of the statements that have been made, Mr. Speaker, by our Republican colleagues that I just don't understand. I mean, I am flummoxed by some of these statements. I have always wanted to use that word, y'all.

I was hoping to seek some clarification at some point after I am able to yield the floor, but I am still here to take my sweet time on behalf of the American people because it was totally unacceptable that you would try to jam this bill, Mr. Speaker, down the throats of the American people with 15 minutes allocated for a debate that would hurt everyday Americans--allocated to the committees of jurisdiction, 15 minutes.

Now, I am here with my House Democratic colleagues 4 hours in, taking our

sweet time on behalf of the American people, and I am flummoxed. Maybe it is flummoxed.

As I mentioned, Mr. Speaker, I always wanted to use that word. I can't spell it, but I know what it means. I am confused by many of these statements, so I am trying to enter them into the Record and then perhaps, at some point, get some clarification.

Talking about Medicaid cuts, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, the Vice President said these cuts are immaterial.

Are you kidding me? Immaterial? I am perplexed. I am astonished. I am confused that someone who sits in the second highest office in the land would say that Medicaid cuts, a trillion dollars or so of Medicaid cuts that are in Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill, are ``immaterial.''

I am confused, Mr. Speaker, by the statement that was made by the former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who, when talking about the Medicaid cuts that millions of Americans have been reaching out to us, pouring into us their heartfelt concerns at the devastating impact that these Medicaid cuts will have on their health, their safety, and their well-being, I am confused, Mr. Speaker, by the statement that Mitch McConnell made. He said: ``People will get over it.''

No, Mitch. The American people will not get over it, but they will get even next November. That is what is going to happen because of these cuts being unleashed on the American people.

I am confused, perplexed, astonished, and flummoxed by some of these statements.

This one is a beauty from the great State of Iowa. In the great State of Iowa, Senator Joni Ernst showed up at a townhall meeting in Iowa. First of all, I will give her credit for showing up at a townhall meeting because House Republicans were instructed not to show up at townhall meetings. She shows up, Mr. Speaker, at a townhall meeting and is questioned about the fact that healthcare in America--that Medicaid is a question of life or death.

When asked by one of her constituents about the concern that was had, the fact that people will die as a result of the devastating cuts to Medicaid and healthcare that are in Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill, Senator Ernst said: ``We are all going to die.''

Yes, Joni, the American people understand that, at some point, all of us will transition, but the American people do not deserve to die as a result of the Republican cruelty that is in this legislation, do not deserve to die as a result of the cruelty that is embedded, Mr. Speaker, in this legislation, ending Medicaid as we know it, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history as a result of this all-out assault on healthcare in America.

Mr. Speaker, there are 220 Republicans who I serve with in this Congress, and I wish I had time to go through the impact in all 220 districts. Actually, since I have unlimited time, maybe I do, but, Mr. Speaker, I figure that I will start in my home State of New York.

Mr. Speaker, in New York's First Congressional District, represented by our colleague Congressman Nick LaLota, approximately 50,000 New Yorkers will lose their healthcare.

In New York's 24th Congressional District, Mr. Speaker, represented by our colleague Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, over 30,000 New Yorkers will lose their healthcare.

In parts of western New York, an upstate district, New York-23, currently represented by Congressman Nick Langworthy, approximately 35,000 New Yorkers will lose their healthcare as a result of Trump's one big, ugly bill.

In New York-17, currently represented by Congressman Mike Lawler, more than 30,000 New Yorkers will lose their healthcare.

In New York-21, the north country, represented by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik--welcome back to Congress. I am sorry it did not work out for you. That is a lesson that should be learned by all those who pledge fealty to the wannabe king, but I digress.

In New York's 2lst Congressional District, currently represented by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, approximately 44,000 New Yorkers will lose their healthcare.

In Long Island, Suffolk County, part of Long Island, currently represented in Nassau County by two amazing colleagues, Tom Suozzi and Laura Gillen, but in Suffolk County, New York's Second Congressional District, currently represented by Congressman Andrew Garbarino, 48,000 New Yorkers will lose their healthcare in Suffolk County, in New York's Second Congressional District, as a result of Trump's one big, ugly bill.

In the 11th Congressional District, a district that includes all of Staten Island, a district, Mr. Speaker, currently represented by Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, more than 50,000 New Yorkers will lose their healthcare as a result of Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill. On Staten Island and in New York's 11th Congressional District--I don't think that the Wu-Tang Clan would approve of that.

It is incredible to me. In district after district after district, Mr. Speaker, represented by my Republican colleagues, so many Americans will stand to lose their healthcare as a result of Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill.

Now, this is not just a Democratic perspective. We stand by that perspective. We will continue to articulate that view and forcefully defend the healthcare of the American people, but it is not just a Democratic perspective.

I thought that it was important that we enter into the Record some of the words, Mr. Speaker, of Members of the House Republican Conference who wrote directly to you, Mr. Speaker, in their own words, talking about the challenges of this one big, ugly bill.

February 19 of this year, in a letter written to the Honorable Mike Johnson, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the subject line was: ``Protecting American Communities in the Budget Reconciliation Process.''

For all the American people who may be watching the floor of the House of Representatives right now, that is the process that we are in with this one big, ugly bill.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans chose to go down this road because Republicans are uninterested in actually trying to find bipartisan solutions to solving problems on behalf of the American people, so we are in this budget reconciliation process that can avoid the filibuster in the United States Senate. Republicans, Mr. Speaker, are not interested in trying to actually find bipartisan common ground.

We are the party of common sense. Let's be clear about it. I am going to be spending some time on the road talking about what common sense really is all about. Common sense certainly is not taking healthcare away from the American people.

I have a lot of statements that have been entered into the Record, but I figured we would start with this one from February 19: ``Dear Speaker Johnson, as members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference-- ''

That is different than the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus right now is fighting hard on behalf of the healthcare of the American people on the Democratic side. We call that the real CHC. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is fighting hard on behalf of the American people.

However, this is the letter: ``As members of the Congressional Hispanic Conference--''

Mr. Speaker, as you know, these are Republicans here in the House of Representatives.

``--and those who represent sizable Hispanic populations, we are writing to express our concerns regarding possible funding decisions stemming from the House Budget Resolution's committee instructions advanced on February 13, 2025.''

Those budget instructions, by the way, were what set this whole toxic process in motion that has resulted in this moment that we find ourselves in right now on the floor of the House of Representatives, connected to this one big, ugly bill.

In this letter, it says that: ``While we fully support efforts to rein in wasteful spending and deliver on President Trump's agenda--''

Let me park it right there parenthetically for a moment. Nothing in this bill is about waste, fraud, and abuse. Nothing is doing anything meaningful about waste, fraud, and abuse.

The letter continues: ``--it is imperative that we do not slash programs that support American communities across our Nation. . . . ''

It then goes on to say: ``The House Budget Resolution proposed $880 billion in cuts to programs under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, with Medicaid expected to bear the brunt of these reductions.''

Those are their words, not our words.

``Nearly 30 percent of Medicaid enrollees are Hispanic Americans, and for many families across the country, Medicaid is their only access to healthcare. Slashing Medicaid would have serious consequences, particularly in rural and predominantly Hispanic communities where hospitals and nursing homes are already struggling to keep their doors open.''

Mr. Speaker, these are members of the House Republican Conference warning about the devastating impacts of this one big, ugly bill.

It goes on to say: ``The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has been tasked with cutting $330 billion, where Federal aid for higher education--such as Pell grants--may be a target for reductions.''

Once again, let me park it right there parenthetically to make the observation that this bill also assaults higher education in the United States of America. That is a disgrace.

Mr. Speaker, members of the House Republican Conference predicted that that would occur. Those are their words, not our words.

``The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has been tasked with cutting $330 billion, where Federal aid for higher education--such as Pell grants--may be a target for reductions. Hispanic students make up a significant share of Pell grant recipients, many of whom are first-generation college students striving for a better future for themselves, their families, and our Nation . . . If we are serious about empowering the next generation and strengthening our workforce, we must facilitate, and not undermine, opportunities that help students succeed.

``Finally, the House Committee on Agriculture has been directed to cut $230 billion.'' Then, Mr. Speaker, our Republican colleagues go on to write: ``While we fully support efforts to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse--``

By the way, that is all fake. We support a Federal Government that is effective, efficient, and equitable, and that eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse. That is not what this bill is all about.

But it goes on to say: ``While we fully support efforts to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse, we must ensure that assistance programs--such as SNAP--``

I mean, I am just confused.

``--remain protected as nearly 22 percent of Hispanic families rely on this critical program as a temporary safety net during difficult times.''

Then this letter, written to you, Mr. Speaker, by the Congressional Hispanic Conference concludes: ``Hispanic Americans are the future of the Republican Party.''

I will reserve judgment on that statement. As House Democrats, we are going to fight for every single community in the United States of America, including the Hispanic community, every single community. We want every single community to experience the good life, to be able to afford to live the good life. That is what we want for every single community: Good-paying jobs, good housing, good healthcare, good education for the children, and a good retirement. That is what we want for every community.

However, the Congressional Hispanic Conference writes, in closing, to you, Mr. Speaker, that these Hispanic Americans ``are closely watching to see if we will govern in a way that honors their values and delivers results.''

Just to make sure that appropriate authorship is conferred, I am going to enter the names of the signatories to this extraordinary letter, Mr. Speaker: Tony Gonzales, Nicole Malliotakis, Monica De La Cruz, David Valadao--who represents more Medicaid recipients than any other Member of Congress--Juan Ciscomani, Rob Bresnahan--what a beauty-- James Moylan, Kimberlyn King-Hinds. They all signed this letter.

The question that many Americans have to ask right now is that, after signing a letter indicating your commitment, Mr. Speaker, to protecting Medicaid and SNAP and access to affordable higher education through Pell grants, how is it possible that, Mr. Speaker, some of our Republican colleagues will turn around and devastate Medicaid, devastate supplemental nutritional assistance, and devastate the ability of Hispanic communities to achieve the type of upward mobility, in part through higher education, that is talked about in this letter?

Mr. Speaker, that letter was written in February.

Then we go to March. Can I talk about it? I mentioned, Mr. Speaker, I am here to take my sweet time on behalf of the American people.

On March 9, there is a letter that is written to House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, Mr. Speaker. By my count, 21 Republicans signed this letter. It is about the importance of the clean energy economy in the United States of America.

I would assume, based on this letter, that all of the signatories to this particular piece of correspondence are now horrified by the attack on clean energy, on clean energy jobs, and the clean energy economy in this one big, ugly bill. We will see shortly because everyone is going to have to go on record.

In this particular letter, written on March 9, Mr. Speaker, 21 Members of the House Republican Conference write to Chairman Jason Smith: ``Countless American companies are utilizing sector-wide energy tax credits--many of which have enjoyed broad support in Congress--to make major investments in domestic energy production and infrastructure for traditional and renewable energy sources alike. Both our constituencies and the energy industry alike remain concerned about disruptive changes to our Nation's energy tax structure.''

The letter continues toward the end: ``With all this in mind, we request that any proposed changes to the tax code be conducted in a targeted and pragmatic fashion that promotes conference priorities without undoing current and future private-sector investments which will continue to increase domestic manufacturing, promote energy innovation, and keep utility costs down.''

The language that was chosen there is pretty interesting, but the translation is protect the clean energy economy. That is what this letter was all about. It was written, by my count, 21 House Republicans.

Mr. Speaker, Andrew R. Garbarino, Jennifer Kiggans, Juan Ciscomani, Gabe Evans, David Valadao--what a prolific writer--Mark Amodei, Michael Lawler, Young Kim, Don Bacon, Vince Fong, Jeff Hurd, Thomas H. Kean, Jr., Nick LaLota, John James, Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan, Mariannette J. Miller-Meeks, Earl L. ``Buddy'' Carter, Dan Newhouse, Erin Houchin, and David P. Joyce all write in support of a clean energy economy.

As House Democrats, we support--we know that there is an all-of-the- above approach that is underway right now--wind and solar energy and renewable energy because renewable energy is cheaper energy. Cheaper energy means reducing the high cost of living for everyday Americans. That is what we as House Democrats support.

Yet, I am perplexed because this letter was written, but the one big, ugly bill represents an extraordinary and unprecedented assault on clean energy and cheaper energy in the United States of America.

Mr. Speaker, I ask the question: What are those 21 Republicans going to do when it comes to voting for this one big, ugly bill?

Then we have got another letter in April. We have got a February letter, a March letter, and an April letter. They are quite elegant with these letters.

April 14, 2025, is correspondence written by 13 House Republicans, Mr. Speaker. It is written to you and Steve Scalise, the majority leader. It is written to Tom Emmer, majority whip. It is written to Brett Guthrie, the chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. It says: ``As Members of Congress who helped to deliver a Republican majority, many of us representing districts with high rates of constituents who depend on Medicaid, we would like to reiterate our strong support for this program . . . ''

By the way, it is a program that the one big, ugly bill now will cut and devastate, gut, Mr. Speaker, by almost $1 trillion.

In this letter, 13 Republicans say:

`` . . . we would like to reiterate our strong support for this program that ensures our constituents have reliable healthcare. Balancing the Federal budget must not come at the expense of those who depend on these benefits for their health and economic security.''

Mr. Speaker, that is their words, not our words. Then this bill makes an extraordinary declaration. I think it is important for us to understand who led this bill. It is David Valadao.

These are just facts, Mr. Speaker. These are publicly issued letters.

David Valadao, Don Bacon, Jeff Van Drew, Rob Bresnahan, Juan Ciscomani, Jen Kiggans, Young Kim--the usual suspects--Robert J. Wittman, Nicole Malliotakis, Nick LaLota, Andrew R. Garbarino, Jeff Hurd, and Michael V. Lawler, which by my count is 13 Members.

In some of the relevant portions of this letter, it says: ``To strengthen Medicaid, we urge you to prioritize care for our Nation's most vulnerable populations. Our constituents are asking for changes to the healthcare system that will strengthen the healthcare workforce, offer low-income, working-class families expanded opportunities to save for medical expenses, support rural and underserved communities, and help new mothers.''

In the second paragraph of this letter, a letter dated April 14, 2025, Mr. Speaker, these 13 Members of the House Republican Conference make this extraordinary representation. It says: ``However, we cannot and will not support a final reconciliation bill that includes any reduction in Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations.'' This bill represents the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. It will devastate vulnerable populations all across America.

The reality is that all 212 House Democrats are going to stand up and protect the healthcare of the American people. We are going to protect the Medicaid of the American people against this assault on vulnerable communities.

I am looking forward to all 13 of these Republicans joining us to protect the healthcare of the American people whom they represent. That is the promise, Mr. Speaker, that your Republican colleagues made in this April letter.

We are looking forward to all 13 Republicans in the letter joining us to protect the Medicaid of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, this SALT issue is also an interesting one. A statement was issued on May 8 from my colleagues in the New York delegation, Elise Stefanik, Andrew Garbarino, Nick LaLota, and Mike Lawler. These are just facts right now. It was big talk about standing up to protect the State and local tax deduction.

Let's make sure we set the record straight here as to what happened to the State and local tax deduction, which impacts millions of hardworking American taxpayers all across the country, including the districts represented by the individuals whom I just named.

The State and local tax deduction was decimated, Mr. Speaker, by Donald Trump, House Republicans, and Senate Republicans in 2017 in connection with the GOP tax scam that callously and unnecessarily imposed a $10,000 cap, wiping away thousands of dollars a year for hardworking American taxpayers. Republicans did that.

Mr. Speaker, let's set the record straight. Mr. Speaker, there are people in this Chamber claiming to be saviors. Saving what? Saving from the devastation that Republicans have wrought by decimating the State and local tax deduction?

What is interesting about this is that people who are against this claim that the State and local tax deduction is subsidizing States in certain places to the detriment of others, but every single State that suffered from the Republican effort, Mr. Speaker, under Donald Trump's Presidency in 2017 to decimate the State and local tax deduction, every single State is a donor State that sends more money to the Federal Government than we ever get back in return, a donor State.

Some people in this town are running around misrepresenting the facts. We are okay to be a donor State, but don't lie to the American people about the reality of the State and local tax deduction.

Then, Mr. Speaker, you have this extraordinary statement on May 8. It is big talk, no action. I guess, in Texas, they say all hat and no cattle. They are prolific writers.

That brings us to this letter that was written in the House Republican Conference on June 6. I am really confused by this combination of this particular letter followed by an interesting statement that was made after the Senate passed Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill by Lisa Murkowski.

Maybe somebody, Mr. Speaker, can help me reconcile these statements, because all of us in the House and Senate were independently elected to stand up on behalf of our constituents in the Chambers that we serve in. I am going to get back to that point momentarily.

In the House, we passed this one big, ugly bill, initially in late May, devastating Medicaid, devastating nutritional assistance, and devastating the clean energy economy. Actually, it is benefiting red State after red State after red State in the United States of America.

Members of the House Republican Conference wrote to Majority Leader Thune and Chairman Crapo. This is after passing a bill in the House of Representatives that devastated the clean energy tax cuts that they are talking about in this letter on June 6.

It says: ``As members of the House Republican Conference, we write to express our continued support for commonsense energy policy and to urge the Senate to substantively and strategically improve clean energy tax credit provisions included in the House-passed reconciliation bill.''

I mean, what is happening right now? This may be beyond the legislative process.

In this letter, it goes on to say, in relationship to a bill that every signatory signed and voted for: ``Our position has always been that the energy tax code should be modernized in a way that promotes fiscal responsibility and business certainty. Fully realizing that balance requires improvements to the House-passed version of H.R. 1. . . . We believe the Senate now has a critical opportunity to restore common sense and deliver a truly pro-energy growth final bill that protects taxpayers while also unleashing the potential of U.S. energy producers, manufacturers, and workers.''

In other words, every single one of these signatories--Jen Kiggans, Brian Fitzpatrick, Juan Ciscomani, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Andrew Garbarino, Don Bacon, Mark Amodei, Gabe Evans, Young Kim, David Valadao, Rob Bresnahan, and Thomas H. Kean, Jr.--every single one of these signatories voted for a House bill that undermined the clean energy economy, noted that it would hurt their own constituents, voted for the bill anyway, and then begged the Senate to make a difference.

That is not how we should be legislating in the United States House of Representatives. That is not how you legislate, particularly when every single House Democrat voted against the bill.

It left the House, limped out of the House by a single vote. So every single signatory on this letter could have stopped the bill that you, yourself, Mr. Speaker, indicated the signatories of this letter damaged the very thing they claim to be fighting for.

I am confused, perplexed, flummoxed at what the heck is going on. It is extraordinary.

I am just overwhelmed by the amount of correspondence. I had to just pick out the ones that were the most extraordinary to make sure they were entered in the Record.

The most recent one on the subject of Medicaid was written on June 24. It was directed to the Honorable John Thune, the majority leader of the United States Senate, and the Honorable Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.

I think it had, by my count, 16 Members. No surprise, y'all, that it was authored by David Valadao.

I mean, these letters can make up a book, Mr. Speaker. David Valadao,

Juan Ciscomani, Rob Bresnahan--Mr. Speaker, these are just facts--Chuck Edwards, Young Kim, Andrew Garbarino, Mike Lawler, Jen Kiggans--the gang is all here again--Jeff Van Drew, Don Bacon, Dan Newhouse, Zach Nunn, Robert J. Wittman, Nicole Malliotakis, Mariannette J. Miller- Meeks, and Jeff Hurd. That is 16 members, Mr. Speaker, of the House Republican Conference in a letter written to you, Mr. Speaker, and the Honorable John Thune, majority leader of the United States Senate, on June 24. Here is the most extraordinary statement written in this letter, in the second to last paragraph--I think we call that the penultimate paragraph.

In the second to last paragraph, it says: ``Protecting Medicaid is essential for the vulnerable constituents we were elected to represent. Therefore, we cannot support a final bill that threatens access to coverage or jeopardizes the stability of our hospitals and providers.''

Mr. Speaker, these are 16 members of the House Republican Conference who just a few days ago made clear on the record that they will not support devastating cuts to Medicaid. All we need, Mr. Speaker, are four Republicans from this group to join us, and we can stop these devastating cuts to Medicaid.

Join us. We welcome you with open arms into the warm embrace of Members of Congress who are here to protect the healthcare of the American people. Just four of y'all, we welcome you with open arms into the warm embrace of Members of Congress determined to protect the healthcare of the American people. All we need are four, and so many of y'all are on record.

As I conclude this section of this particular presentation--and we still have some ground to cover--we are going to continue as House Democrats to take our sweet time on behalf of the American people because the issues are too significant to ever walk away from.

I just want to turn to a statement that was issued by Senator Lisa Murkowski. I want to give some love to the other side of the Capitol.

Again, Mr. Speaker, these are just the words that were issued. I am not even trying to characterize the words, but the American people need to hear these words from the people who were sent to Congress to protect their interests.

Senator Lisa Murkowski says: ``This was one of the hardest votes I have taken during my time in the Senate.''

Let me just editorialize there briefly. This should not be a hard vote, Senator Murkowski. This should be a ``hell no'' vote on behalf of the people you were sent to Washington to represent. It is a ``hell no'' vote for us because we are standing up on behalf of the American people. It should be a ``hell no'' vote.

Mr. Speaker, these are the words of Senator Murkowski. She says: ``This was one of the hardest votes I have taken during my time in the Senate.'' And then she keeps it real. As far as I can tell, she says: ``But, let's not kid ourselves. This has been an awful process. . . .''

Mr. Speaker, those are the words of a Republican Senator, not us. ``This has been an awful process--a frantic rush to meet an artificial deadline that has tested every limit of this institution. While we have worked to improve the present bill for Alaska, it is not good enough for the rest of our Nation, and we all know it.''

Yes, Senator Murkowski, we all know this one big, ugly bill will devastate everyday Americans across this country.

Yet, in the concluding paragraph--this comes after Senator Murkowski voted for this bill, the deciding vote in the United States Senate. It says: ``My sincere hope is that this is not the final product. This bill needs more work across Chambers and is not ready for the President's desk. We need to work together to get this right.''

Let me get this straight. I think the number was 16 House Republicans, Mr. Speaker, vote for a bill that they know will hurt their communities, Mr. Speaker, that they represent. They vote for the bill anyway when any one of them could have stopped this bill from ever leaving the House of Representatives, and then they write a letter to the Senators on the other side of the Capitol saying, fix this bill, when any single one of them could have stopped the bill dead in its tracks.

Then, Senator Murkowski, in her Chamber, turns out to be the deciding vote for a bill that she says, Mr. Speaker, is not good enough for the rest of the Nation and we all know it, votes for it anyway, and then begs the House to fix the bill.

That is not how the people's business should be done in the United States Congress. We have a responsibility to stand up for what is right and stand up for what is right in the Chamber that we serve in.

That is what we should all be doing, and so our House Republican colleagues, Mr. Speaker, have one last opportunity to join us as Democrats, every single Democrat, who is going to stand up and protect the healthcare of the American people, stand up and protect the nutritional assistance of the American people, stand up and protect our farmers, stand up and protect our veterans, stand up and protect the clean energy economy, stand up and protect our public schools.

Every single one of my House Republican colleagues have the opportunity now, in this Chamber--not the other Chamber, in this Chamber--to join us as Democrats and stand up for what is right.

The eyes of America are watching.

We started this process, Mr. Speaker, 3:28 in the morning, this debate. I took to the House floor maybe 1\1/2\ hours after that, and we still have a lot to say on behalf of the American people for such a time as this.

Every single one of us have an opportunity to stand up for what is right here in the United States of America.

I will speak for just a few moments about some of the people who have been targeted in a callous way by this administration, some of the stories that need to be told on behalf of the American people.

I mentioned, of course, Mr. Speaker, throughout this process, we have been thankful for the stories shared by everyday Americans who went to bed last night fearing the worst and have woken up this morning horrified by Donald Trump's one big, ugly bill that will hurt everyday Americans and rewards billionaires with massive tax breaks that will serve to devastate the social safety net and explode our Nation's debt.

I will tell a few stories on behalf of our Nation's veterans who have also written to us to share their concerns with this one big, ugly bill.

Victoria from Arizona wrote to us, Mr. Speaker, and said: ``My husband and I are patriots. We are both Army veterans who were disabled as a result of our service. We have five children and run a small electrical contracting business. We live on a fixed income and, like most families, have struggled with rising costs. One of our sons is adopted. He is a wonderful, loving 7-year-old who has autism and ADHD. He qualifies for Medicaid because he was adopted, and it has been the saving grace for his health and well-being.

``Medicaid is the reason we were able to get his formal diagnosis of his autism and ADHD. It also covers his regular doctors' visits and dental care. We used Medicaid to access in-home therapy for him, and it was a huge help. Slashing Medicaid will have especially dire consequences for rural communities like ours, forcing hospitals to close. Health resources are already slim in our area.''

This Army veteran writes: ``President Trump is causing enormous stress and hardship for families like mine. He and his billionaire friends don't need more tax breaks. It is outrageous. The last thing we should even be considering is cutting Medicaid. These programs are lifelines.''

We agree with you, Victoria. She lives in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District, Mr. Speaker, currently represented by Congressman Juan Ciscomani.

Troy, another veteran, lives in California, Mr. Speaker, in a district currently represented by Jay Obernolte. That is California's 23rd Congressional District, I believe. He writes to us and says: ``I was in the U.S. Army and went to Kosovo in 2001, and Iraq in 2003 and 2005. I depend on the VA as I am too disabled to work. I depend on VA healthcare. My children are now on Medicaid. I have worked from when I

was 14 years old to 42. I am suffering from long COVID, and until I can return to work, I need help from the American people. I have had your backs. Time for you to cover my back,'' writes Troy.

Mr. Speaker, ``I need NIH's help. Now is the time to stand up for all Americans. Stop the assault on the VA, NIH, Medicaid, and the rest of Americans.''

We agree with you, Troy. It is time to stop the assault on the American people. Stop the assault that is represented in this one big, ugly bill.

Christy, another veteran, wrote to us and says: ``I was drafted in 1970. My choice was incarceration or militarization, so I enlisted in the Navy and became a Navy corpsman, serving on the USS Long Beach (CGN-9), and her marine detachment, where I was assigned to the Third Marines 1st Medical Battalion. I was blessed. I lived through two tours, giving medical care to my shipmates.

``Every other day I was assigned to flight ops to transfer or pick up the wounded and dead Marines from shore to ships waiting offshore about eight miles. I hated the smells of war,'' this veteran writes.

``Death and misery were my constant companions. The war left me unsettled mentally and morally corrupt. For 50 years, I have suffered with my PTSD, which went undiagnosed for years. After 12 years of VA therapy and working hard for my soul to be repaired, I find myself living alone and isolating from others, and I am one of the lucky ones thanks to the care I have received from the VA.''

Veterans pouring out their heart and their soul, sharing their anxiety with all of us, urging this Congress to do something, to stand up on behalf of the veterans who are going to be hurt by this one big, ugly bill, devastated by this one big, ugly bill.

We also heard, Mr. Speaker, from Timothy, who I believe may have written to us from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He says: ``My name is Timothy, and for the past 5 years, I have worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development in field policy and management.''

The Department of Housing and Urban Development that was once led so ably by our former colleague, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, and now has been taken in a very different direction.

Timothy writes: ``In this role, I have educated the community about HUD's program such as FHA loans and housing counseling that allow people to purchase homes, affordable rental housing that help people pay their rent, and homeless services that help people find shelter and leave the streets. I have worked with internal data that focused on improving our programs. Most recently, I worked with a team that hired people from housing authorities and Job Corps with the goal of providing people a career and a way off government assistance. Those incredible people, along with myself, have been fired by Elon Musk's

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Connecticut for yielding and for her tremendous leadership in pushing back against this reckless Republican rescissions package.

It is extraordinary to me that, once again, we are on the floor of the House of Representatives not debating legislation that Republicans bring forward, Mr. Speaker, that is designed to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America, a promise that Republicans repeatedly made last year to the American people and now have repeatedly broken.

Throughout this Congress, not a single bill has been brought to the House floor by my Republican colleagues that addresses the high cost of living in the United States of America--not a single bill.

House Republicans and President Trump promised that costs were going to go down in the United States of America. In fact, the majority has said that costs were going to go down on day one. Yet, we know that costs haven't gone down in this great country, Mr. Speaker. Costs have gone up.

America is too expensive. Housing costs are too high. Grocery costs are too high. Utility costs are too high. Childcare costs are too high. Insurance costs are too high. America is too expensive.

Republicans have decided that, in the face of this affordability crisis in the United States of America, the majority is going to undermine America's ability to protect our national security through the exercise of soft power and addressing in a bipartisan way the HIV and AIDS epidemic, a program that was first put into place by President George W. Bush and has saved the lives of millions of people across the world and, of course, people here at home by fighting against this epidemic.

America is made safer when we are able to invest in diplomacy, development, and democracy across the world, particularly in the face of aggressive efforts by China, Russia, and other malignant actors to move the world in a different place.

Mr. Speaker, this reckless Republican rescissions package will undermine America's national security and undermine public health here in this country and across the world. It actually represents an attack on children.

This is extraordinary to me. We are on the floor of the House of Representatives not debating legislation that is designed to make this country and our economy more affordable but actually debating legislation that targets Elmo, Big Bird, Daniel Tiger, and ``Sesame Street.'' That is what we are doing by going after public broadcasting in the United States of America.

``Sesame Street'' has a letter of the day. I believe the letter of the day today is C. How appropriate because this Republican bill is cruel, and it cuts children's programming all across the country.

How can this be that Republicans' priority right now does nothing on the economy, nothing to make life more affordable, and nothing to address the high cost of living? Instead, Republicans are attacking Elmo, ``Sesame Street,'' Big Bird, and Daniel Tiger. Republicans' priorities are all wrong.

This is on top of a GOP tax scam, Mr. Speaker, where Republicans are trying to visit on the American people the largest cuts to healthcare in American history, targeting Medicaid, Medicare, the Affordable Care Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and women's health by trying to defund Planned Parenthood. That is what Republicans in this Congress are trying to do through the GOP tax scam, this disgusting abomination, the one big, ugly bill.

My Republican colleagues are going after school lunch programs for children, supplemental nutrition assistance for children, and now children's programming.

That doesn't suggest to me that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are actually trying to strengthen families. This legislation would weaken families. It would weaken our ability to lead throughout the free world and weaken public health and safety for everyday Americans and people all across this country.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a ``no'' vote.

Also, I am hopeful that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will at some point actually decide to focus on the issues that matter, to lift children up, not target them; to lift families up, not target them; to lift older Americans up, not target them; to lift veterans up, not target them; and to lift healthcare for everyday Americans up, not target them. That is what House Democrats will continue to do on behalf of the American people. It is high time that our Republican colleagues join us.

Vote ``no'' against this reckless Republican rescissions package.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlemen from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), who has done a tremendous job leading the Ways and Means Committee on our side.

I also thank Ranking Member Brendan Boyle, Ranking Member Jim McGovern, all the members of the Ways and Means Committee, the Budget Committee, the Rules Committee, every single Member of the House Democratic Caucus who have stood on this floor, stood before the Rules Committee, participated in markups on behalf of the American people, in defense of the American people.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this reckless, regressive, and reprehensible GOP tax scam. This is one big, ugly bill that House Republicans are trying to jam down the throats of the American people under the cover of darkness.

This legislation will not make life better for the American people. The GOP tax scam represents an assault on the economy, an assault on healthcare, an assault on nutritional assistance, an assault on tax fairness, and an assault on fiscal responsibility.

There are more than 100 other reasons to vote against this one big, ugly bill that can be found by reading this more than 1,000-page document. Those reasons are too numerous to mention, but this legislation also undermines reproductive freedom, undermines the progress that we have made in combating the climate crisis, undermines gun safety, undermines the rule of law and the independence of the Federal judiciary. It even undermines the ability of hardworking and law-abiding immigrant families to provide remittances to their loved ones who just may happen to live abroad.

There are more than a hundred different reasons to vote against the GOP tax scam. In the days, the weeks, and the months to come, all of those reasons will be exposed for the American people in each and every one of your districts.

This bill represents a failed promise. Last year, Donald Trump and House Republicans spent all of their time talking about their promise to lower the high cost of living in the United States of America. In fact, Donald Trump and Republicans promised that costs would go down on day one.

We are now more than 120 days past the inauguration. Costs aren't going down. They are going up. Inflation is out of control. Insurance rates remain stubbornly high. Our Moody's rating, our credit rating has been downgraded. We have got people losing confidence in this economy. Republicans are crashing this economy in real time and driving us toward a recession.

Beyond that, costs are actually going up. The trade war that Donald Trump has recklessly launched, his tariff scheme, will raise the cost of goods, groceries, and gas for everyday Americans, the Americans that Republicans claim they were going to help, but the Americans that they are clearly hurting.

Republicans have destabilized the business environment. Small businesses are at risk of closing. Farmers, small family farmers are in distress. Businesses can't invest. People are not hiring. Republicans are actively crashing the economy, driving America toward a recession.

Republicans promised to lower costs on day one. Costs aren't going down. They are going up.

Now, as House Democrats, we believe that we have to build an affordable economy for hardworking, American taxpayers. We are committed to lowering housing costs, grocery costs, insurance costs, childcare costs, and utility costs. In America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, there are far too many people living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet.

Here in this country, no American should find themselves in that situation. Republicans promised that they would do something about it, but things are not getting better. They are getting worse.

We could have partnered together to try and find a bipartisan path toward building an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers, but Republicans chose to go it alone, to try to drive their extreme right-wing policies down the throats of the American people.

That is what this one big, ugly bill represents, not simply a broken promise as it relates to your failures on the economy. Despite the gentleman from Louisiana trying to articulate all of the so-called successes that have taken place, we know that this Presidency has already been a failure, filled with crisis and chaos, cruelty, and corruption.

The American people know it, which is why Donald Trump, at the 100- day mark, was the most unpopular President in American history. The American people understand. It is unfolding right before their eyes. No matter what kind of MAGA spin you try to put on the situation, things are going to get worse.

Why? It is because of this big, ugly bill. It is not simply an assault on the economy, a broken promise, but it is an assault on the healthcare of the American people.

You see, as Democrats, we believe in this country that healthcare is not simply a privilege. Healthcare is a right.

From Medicare, to Medicaid, to the passage of the Affordable Care Act and subsequently enhancing it, we have begun to move America to a place where every single person in this land could have access to the healthcare that they need to live a life of dignity and respect.

At this moment in America, we have the lowest rate of uninsured people in our Nation's history, but this GOP tax scam will reverse that with this assault on healthcare. It is the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.

Here is what it will mean for the American people: Children will get hurt. Women will get hurt. Older Americans who rely on Medicaid for nursing home care and for home care will get hurt. People with disabilities who rely on Medicaid to survive will get hurt. Hospitals in your districts will close. Nursing homes will shut down, and people will die.

That is not hype. That is not hyperbole. That is not a hypothetical. The people that you all represent have been writing to us to make that clear. Thousands of people who have written to us--everyday Americans-- have made that clear. I will just present a few of those stories in the Record.

I have type 1 diabetes and was diagnosed when I was 7 years

old. I have had jobs with private insurance in the past, but

I lost my job during the pandemic. With childcare becoming a

major challenge, it made more sense for me to stay home with

the kids, but that also meant losing my health benefits.

Right now, we are all on Medicaid. It is crucial for me to

stay alive and healthy. I need insulin and supplies to manage

my diabetes every single day. Without it, I could die.

That is Shauna, who lives in Arizona's Sixth Congressional District.

My youngest son has leukemia. He was a self-employed

handyman and, therefore, he didn't have sufficient insurance.

When the cancer became more debilitating, he could no longer

work. He has undergone radiation, stem cell transplant, and

then more radiation. He is still fighting cancer, and without

Medicaid and the fine physicians, he would surely die.

That is Gregg, who lives in the Eighth Congressional District of Colorado.

As a cancer survivor with chronic illnesses, I rely heavily

on Medicaid and food stamps to get by. Without these

essential programs, people like me would suffer. I am

currently taking expensive medication to stay in remission,

but my condition and the side-effects of my treatment make it

impossible for me to work. Unfortunately, my work history

also disqualifies me from receiving Social Security benefits.

I am not alone in my dependence on these Medicaid and food

stamp benefits. Children, elders, and many others who are

sick or struggling also rely on them to survive. I urge you

to do the right thing for the people you represent. Without

food stamps and Medicaid, the consequences would be painful

and even deadly.

That is Julisa, who had a message for her Representative in Pennsylvania's Eighth Congressional District.

What we are here to say as House Democrats to Shauna, to Gregg, and to Julisa is that if your Representatives won't fight for you, we will. We will. We will. If they won't fight for you, we will fight for you, for your healthcare, for your decency, for your well-being, for your grace, and for your dignity.

Now, in addition to visiting the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, that is not enough for the MAGA extremists. CBO has independently confirmed that this one big, ugly bill will also set in motion a $490 billion cut to Medicare in this country.

Unfortunately, that should come as no surprise because we know that our Republican colleagues have been trying to attack Social Security for decades, as they are doing right now, not necessarily in this bill. Why? It is because the 1974 Budget Control Act prevents you from doing it, but you have been going after Social Security for a long time and going after Medicare for a long time. Elon Musk, who seems to function as your puppet master, has made clear his intentions, which you just follow as if you work for him.

Elon Musk wants to take a chain saw to Social Security, a chain saw to Medicare, as you are doing in this bill. Elon Musk wants to take a chain saw to Medicaid, as you are doing in this bill. Here is our message to you and the American people: No matter how long it takes, House Democrats are going to take a chain saw to Project 2025 because it is not in the best interests of the American people.

What this bill represents is your effort to try to put into law Project 2025. You acted like you didn't know anything about it. This is why you have no credibility right now. You spent all of last year lying to the American people, saying to them that you were going to lower the high cost of living. In fact, you are doing the exact opposite.

At the same period of time, you acted like you knew nothing about Project 2025, and this bill is an effort to try to implement it into law.

You mentioned credibility issues. I think it exists on the right side of this Chamber.

Not only have you gone after Medicaid. Not only have you gone after Medicare.

Mr. Speaker, you know what is interesting, is that every time I have come on this floor, I can use sharp language, he can use sharp language. You choose to admonish me. I don't work for you, sir. I work for the American people.

We can continue this. Every time I am interrupted, that is going to add another 15 minutes to my remarks.

Mr. Speaker, what we have seen is the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. It is an effort to devastate Medicare. Of course, what this bill also does is strip away some of the coverage provided by the Affordable Care Act.

Millions of people will lose their coverage as a result of this GOP tax scam. When you aggregate the assault on healthcare that is taking place, what we are likely to see is, at least, 13.7 million people are going to lose their healthcare in the United States of America.

That is what we are fighting for. That is why we are a ``no,'' amongst several other reasons on this bill. It is an assault on the economy. It is an assault on healthcare. It is also an assault on nutritional assistance.

Now, in the 1960s, the American people were shaken up and disturbed by images they saw after some investigations exposed the conditions of some people in America who were dealing with intense hunger in rural America, in underresourced communities, and communities of color, images of children with distended bellies, families rummaging through garbage in order to find food so they wouldn't starve.

That is what eventually led to the creation of what is now the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program because the American people concluded that in this great country, not a single child should ever go hungry. That is our position.

Apparently, it is not the position of our Republican colleagues. In this bill, SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will experience more than $300 billion in cuts, the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history.

Literally, Mr. Speaker, Republicans are taking food out of the mouths of children, disabled Americans, veterans, and older Americans. That is another reason why we are strongly opposed to this bill.

This is the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. It is indecent to rip food out of the mouths of children and everyday Americans. It is indecent.

To make matters worse, we know that as a result of this bill, according to an analysis from the Urban Institute, there are 18 million children in this country who are at risk of losing school meals. Decade after decade after decade in America, we have made great progress. That progress, as it relates to alleviating hunger and food insecurity, is now at risk of being rolled back.

One of the excuses that I am sure we will hear from the Speaker of this institution is that this one big, ugly bill is all about waste, fraud, and abuse.

It is interesting because month after month after month, we continue to hear that phrase. Let's be clear: As Democrats, we believe in trying to make sure that Federal taxpayer dollars are spent in an efficient and effective way. We are all for that, but that is not what is being done in this bill. No evidence of waste, fraud, and abuse has been presented in a compelling way.

In fact, you know what is interesting, you are talking about taking away nutritional benefits that amount to $2 per meal, $6 per day, at the same time, when Elon Musk and his Federal contracts are worth $8 million a day.

If you are trying to find waste, fraud, and abuse, I have a suggestion: Start right there. Start right there. Don't take food from the mouths of our children. Start right there.

This is one big, ugly bill. It is a GOP tax scam. It is a reckless Republican budget. It is an assault on the economy. It is an assault on healthcare. It is an assault on nutritional benefits. It is also an assault on tax fairness.

Here is the thing: It is the largest cut to healthcare in American history coupled by the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history in order to enact the largest tax breaks for billionaires in American history.

That is unacceptable. That is unconscionable, and that is un- American. That is un-American because my Republican colleagues promised that they would actually focus their efforts on trying to make life better for everyday Americans. However, disproportionately the benefits of this bill, as confirmed by independent observers, don't go to those who may be at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum. They actually go disproportionately to those at the highest end of the economic spectrum.

A CBO analysis requested by Congressman Boyle and myself just confirmed that. It is not hype, not hyperbole, not a hypothetical; it is what will happen if this one big, ugly bill became law.

It is an assault on tax fairness and, of course, that is coupled with the assault on fiscal responsibility.

It is ironic to me that many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility, but as Richie Neal has often eloquently articulated, that is not what the record shows. The record shows something very different.

This fiscal irresponsibility that comes from the other side of the aisle is actually connected to the obsession with massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. We have seen this rinse-and-repeat scenario play itself out over and over again.

President Reagan comes in to office, and what is his signature domestic priority? His signature domestic priority is massive tax cuts for the superwealthy. As a result, he escalates the debt and deficit.

Those policies, of course, are continued by his successor, President George H.W. Bush, but then President Clinton takes office. In his 8 years, he turns a deficit into a budget surplus. That is fiscal responsibility.

Then, after 8 years in office, President Clinton is replaced by President George W. Bush, who proceeds to follow the same playbook. They used to call it trickle-down economics. The American people aren't buying it because they figured out what trickle-down economics means: We may get a trickle, but we are guaranteed to stay down. That is what has happened over and over again.

President Bush comes into office, and he introduces massive tax cuts for the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. The 2001 tax cuts and the 2003 tax cuts turned a budget surplus into a massive deficit. His administration then further exacerbated the problem with a failed war in Iraq and a failed war in Afghanistan. They were asleep at the switch as it related to the economy, which resulted in the Great Recession.

Then, President Obama takes office to once again demonstrate what fiscal responsibility is all about. In 8 years, he takes the deficit that he inherited of $1.5 trillion and cuts it by a trillion dollars, notwithstanding the economic mess that he inherited, having to dig the country out of the Great Recession.

Of course, 8 years of President Obama brings us to the current administration in its first term. As my colleague from Louisiana talked about, what is their signature legislative accomplishment? The 2017 version of the GOP tax scam, where, by some estimates, 83 percent of the benefits were set in motion for the wealthiest 1 percent, and you borrow more than $2 trillion to do it, once again exploding the debt and deficit in the United States of America.

President Biden comes into office in his first 2 years, notwithstanding all the signature accomplishments--many of which did have some bipartisan support, particularly in the Senate. There were significant accomplishments led by President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and Democrats in the House, partnering with our colleagues in the Senate. Notwithstanding all of those accomplishments, he reduces the deficit in his first 2 years by $1.7 trillion.

That is what fiscal responsibility looks like, so we are not going to be lectured on this issue.

Then, my colleagues have the nerve to talk about fiscal responsibility and to try to pass a bill that disproportionately benefits their billionaire donors like Elon Musk, and borrows--will add to the debt--more than $5 trillion.

That is an assault on fiscal responsibility. That is forcing our children and our grandchildren, all of them, to shoulder an unnecessary burden that will limit their ability to fully experience the American Dream.

That is why we oppose this bill. It is an assault on the economy, an assault on healthcare, an assault on nutritional assistance, including on our veterans, an assault on tax fairness, and an assault on fiscal responsibility.

As I close, let me make one other observation. I believe that there are people of faith on both sides of this Chamber, authentically people of faith on both sides of this Chamber. I am not one to question anyone's faith, but I do think we have to ask the question, particularly when you study the Gospel, and the Gospel in particular of Matthew 25:35-40, where Jesus talks about the importance of standing up for the least, the lost, the left behind, the poor, the sick, the afflicted, the homeless, the people who are confined, strangers in a foreign land.

When you know the Gospel, when you are charged with trying to live the Gospel, it cannot be the case that one goes to synagogue or one goes to the mosque or one goes to church, as I do, but one goes to church to pray on Sunday, and then comes to Washington, D.C., to prey on the American people the rest of the week.

You can't prey on the poor, prey on the sick, prey on the afflicted, prey on our children, prey on people with disabilities, prey on our veterans who served this country, and project that that is consistent with the faith that I at least know, anchored in Matthew 25:35.

Mr. Speaker, I think this, in some ways, is a sad day here for this institution. James Madison, one of our great thinkers, I believe it was in Federalist No. 51, talks about Congress at its best should function as a rival to the executive branch, serve as a check and balance on the out-of-control impulses of an executive that may emerge from time to time. Congress, according to James Madison, at its best would serve as a rival to the executive branch.

Unfortunately, our House Republican colleagues haven't followed the vision of this Madisonian version of democracy because they have consistently proven to be nothing more than a rubberstamp for Donald Trump's extreme agenda, and the American people are paying attention. The American people are paying attention.

I think that when the story is told of the 119th Congress, when the votes are ultimately cast on that first Tuesday in November next year, this day may

very well turn out to be the day that House Republicans lost control of the United States House of Representatives because the American people are paying attention.

They are smarter than you think, and they know when they are being hurt. They know when their interests are not being served, and they know when they have been lied to and deceived.

See, they know that Congress was meant to be a separate and coequal branch of government. We don't work for President Trump. We don't work for J.D. Vance. We don't work for Elon Musk. We work for the American people. That is what House Democrats are all about.

Mr. Speaker, because we work for the American people, we will continue to stand up for an economy that is affordable and makes life better for hardworking American taxpayers. We will stand up for Social Security, stand up for Medicare, stand up for Medicaid, stand up for nutritional assistance, stand up for our children, stand up for our veterans, stand up for our seniors, stand up for our families, stand up for the American way of life. That is what House Democrats will continue to do.

We will stand up today, stand up tomorrow, stand up this week, stand up next week, stand up this month, stand up next month, stand up this year, stand up next year, stand up at all times until we end this national nightmare and restore the American Dream for every single person in this great land, from sea to shining sea.

Vote ``no.''

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on House Administration be discharged from further consideration of H. Con. Res. 33, a bill directing the Architect of the Capitol to install at a permanent location on the western front of the United States Capitol an honorific plaque listing the names of all of the officers of the United States Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia, and other Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies and protective entities who responded to the violence that occurred at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. Speaker, a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, this is National Police Week pursuant to Public Law 87-726, enacted on October 1, 1962, National Police Week here in the United States Congress, where Congress honors the courage, the bravery, the service, the sacrifice, and the heroism of members of law enforcement. Is that correct?

Mr. Speaker, a further parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, do the House rules require compliance with the 2022 Public Law 117-103, signed by the President at the time, that requires a plaque listing the names of all police officers who defended the Capitol on January 6 to be placed on the western front of the Capitol Building?

Do the House rules require compliance with that public law?

Mr. Speaker, a further parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. Speaker, we appear to be in violation of the House rules, given that the law that was passed in 2022 required that a plaque honoring those heroic police officers be placed on the western front of the Capitol Building no later than March 15, 2023, but 791 days have passed, and this Republican Congress has refused to comply with the law.

It is time to honor those heroic officers. It is unconscionable. It is unpatriotic. It is unfathomable. It is unacceptable. It is un- American. You need to honor those officers and treat them with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman, my good friend from the great State of California (Mr. Huffman), for his tremendous leadership and for pushing back against this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge a strong ``no'' against this silly, small-minded, and sycophantic piece of legislation. When the American people woke up this morning, they could reasonably ask the question: What are their elected Representatives on the floor of the House of Representatives going to be debating?

In an environment where the Trump tariffs are costing them thousands of dollars more per year, Republicans are crashing the economy in real time, costs are being raised on hardworking American taxpayers, and Republicans are driving us toward a painful recession, what might Members of Congress under this temporary Republican majority be debating on the floor today?

Would it be legislation about the economy? Would it be something about healthcare? Would it be anything about Social Security? Perhaps it is something on public safety. Maybe it is national security matters. It could be anything to bring the American Dream to life for hardworking American taxpayers. No, what Republicans have decided to spend this entire legislative day doing is to debate a bill to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

In some ways, I guess the American people can be thankful. This week, what Republicans were going to try to do was visit upon the American people the largest Medicaid cut in American history. Mr. Speaker, because Republicans were on the run, they were forced to take that hearing down. That battle is not over.

In the absence of their ability to actually jam up hardworking American taxpayers, and instead of focusing on things that would make a difference in the lives of the American people, we are here on the House floor, more than 400 years after the fact, debating legislation to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

It turns out there is a lot more foolishness than this particular bill. Apparently, it is not enough simply to try to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Republicans have introduced an act of Congress to express support for the designation of the first-ever Gulf of America Day. That ingenious piece of legislation was introduced by Representative Mark Alford of Missouri.

At a time when Americans are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, and when we are grappling with the high cost of living, don't worry because Republicans have a solution. Congressman Brandon Gill of Texas has our back with a bill to require the $100 note to include a portrait of Donald J. Trump. No, thank you.

Not to be outdone, Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina has the Donald J. Trump $250 Bill Act. Really? That is a hard pass.

Flight travel has become more dangerous. We have an ongoing air traffic control crisis this week at a major airport in the northeast. It is central to a lot of the commerce and the functioning of the economy, an economy that Republicans are breaking in real time.

What would be the Republican response to the situation in our skies? Representative Addison McDowell of the great State of North Carolina has a bill to designate Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia as the Donald J. Trump International Airport. Did Virginia even vote for Donald Trump?

Families are confronting thousands of dollars more per year in higher costs, thanks to Donald Trump's reckless tariffs. Instead of pushing back the President, instead of Congress asserting our constitutional authority as it relates to tariffs and trade in the best interest of the American people, no, Republicans have a different approach.

Here is a gem from Representative Anna Paulina Luna from the great State of Florida. She has introduced legislation to arrange for the carving of the figure of President Donald J. Trump on Mount Rushmore.

Are we living in the times of King Nebuchadnezzar? What are we doing? There are serious issues that the American people want us to confront.

From the very beginning of this Congress, Democrats have said: We will work with anyone to lower the high cost of living, to secure the border, to fix our broken immigration system, to protect communities, to stand up for the healthcare, for the safety, for the well-being, and for the national security of the American people.

Republicans have no agenda other than the toxic agenda connected to their big, ugly bill that they are trying to jam down the throats of the American people. When they have to run away from that and push it back, this is what we are left with. We are left with renaming the Gulf of Mexico, which 70 percent of the American people reject. That is according to Fox News, that bastion of progressive politics.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge a ``no'' vote against this small-minded, silly, and sycophantic bill. I can say without hesitation, reservation, or need for clarification that America is not down with MTG.

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. 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.

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.

Far too many people in this country can't get ahead, and they can barely get by, struggling to make ends meet, living paycheck to paycheck. We should be acting decisively to address the high cost of living.

President Trump promised costs would go down on day one. Costs aren't going down. They are going up. Inflation is going up. Consumer confidence is coming down.

These reckless policies, including the Trump tariffs, are driving us toward a

recession. On top of it all, Republicans are presenting a budget that is going to make things worse.

I stand here today in strong opposition to this reckless Republican budget. It is a cruel budget. It is a budget that will have catastrophic consequences on everyday Americans.

It is an assault on the economy. 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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, my good friend, Adriano Espaillat, for his

leadership and for convening us on the floor today in honor of an iconic, heroic, and trailblazing Member of Congress, Raul Grijalva.

It was an honor for all of us to have had the opportunity to serve with Chairman Grijalva. He was a mentor to many. His principled leadership was a North Star for so many in this Congress. He was a leading progressive voice throughout the years but a friend to all.

We know that throughout his time and throughout his journey in public service it was a journey that led to his working year after year, decade after decade, century into century, laboring in the vineyards of his community and ultimately the country to make a difference in the lives of others who might otherwise have been left behind.

He was an iconic Mexican-American leader and an iconic American leader. We are also appreciative of his life, of his leadership, and of the tremendous legacy that Congressman Raul Grijalva leaves behind.

Congressman Grijalva throughout the years did many things, from community organizer to school board member, from school board member to county supervisor, from county supervisor to Member of Congress, from Member of Congress to chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

Through that journey, year after year, decade after decade, and century into century, Raul Grijalva held many titles. His North Star remained the same. He was a defender of the disenfranchised, a voice for the voiceless, a climate champion, and a powerful, profound, principled, purposeful, and progressive public servant who made a difference in the lives of so many people.

We are going to miss Raul Grijalva. We will miss his wisdom, we will miss his insight, we will miss his idealism, and we will miss his laughter and his sense of humor, but we are better off for having had the opportunity to serve with him as individuals.

Most importantly, his community is better off, the State of Arizona is better off, the Congress is better off, and the country is better off because of Raul Grijalva and his incredible leadership.

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. Dukes was a fierce civil rights champion, a defender of democracy, and a powerful voice for the voiceless.

She never hesitated to speak truth to power and always fought for a nation designed to be the best version of herself.

The lasting impact of Dr. Dukes will be felt for decades to come, including through her work to launch the Head Start program nationally and her continued support for children and families all across the United States of America, fighting to make sure that every single child had access to a high-quality education so they could experience the American Dream.

I pray for Hazel's son, Ronald, the entire Dukes family, and all who loved her. May she forever rest in peace.

Mr. Speaker, God bless Hazel Dukes, God bless New York, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.