Washington, DC – Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke on the House Floor in opposition to the dangerous GOP Tax Scam passed by House Republicans to strip healthcare and nutritional assistance from the American people in order to enact massive tax breaks for billionaires.

JEFFRIES: 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 1000-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 may just happen to live abroad. There are more than 100 different reasons to vote against the GOP Tax Scam. And in the days and 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.

But 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’re now more than 120 days past the inauguration. Costs aren’t going down. They’re going up. Inflation is out of control. Insurance rates remain stubbornly high. Our Moody’s rating, our credit rating has been downgraded. And you’ve got people losing confidence in this economy. Republicans are crashing this economy in real time and driving us toward a recession. But 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 and groceries and gas for everyday Americans, the Americans that you claimed you were going to help, but the Americans that you are clearly hurting. You’ve 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. You are actively crashing the economy, driving America toward a recession. You 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’re committed to lowering housing costs and grocery costs and insurance costs and child care costs and utility costs. 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. And you promised that you would do something about it. But things are not getting better. They’re getting worse. We could have partnered together to try to find a bipartisan path toward building an affordable economy for hardworking American taxpayers, but you chose to go it alone, to try to drive your extreme right-wing policies down the throats of the American people. And that’s what this One Big Ugly Bill represents. 

Not simply a broken promise, as it relates to your failures on the economy. And 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. And 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’s unfolding right before their eyes, no matter what kind of MAGA spin you try to put on the situation. And things are going to get worse. Why? Because of this Big Ugly Bill. Not simply an assault on the economy, a broken promise, it’s an assault on the healthcare of the American people. You see, as Democrats, we believe, in this country, healthcare is not simply a privilege, healthcare is a right. And from Medicare to Medicaid to the passage of the Affordable Care Act and subsequently enhancing it, we’ve begun to move America to a place where every single person in this land can 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, the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. And here’s 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’s not hype. That’s not hyperbole. That’s not a hypothetical. The people that you all represent have been writing to us to make that clear. Thousands of people who’ve written to us—everyday Americans—have made that clear. And let me just present a few of those stories into the record.

I have Type 1 diabetes and was diagnosed when I was seven years old. I’ve had jobs with private insurance in the past, but I lost my job during the pandemic. With child care 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’re all on Medicaid. It’s 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’s 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 the cancer. And without Medicaid and the fine physicians, he would surely die. That’s Greg, 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’m 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’m not alone in my dependence on these Medicaid and food stamps 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’s Julisa, who had a message for her Representative in Pennsylvania’s Eighth Congressional District.

But we’re here to say, as House Democrats, to Shauna, to Greg and to Julisa, 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.

Full remarks can be watched here.

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