Category: Americas

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
In Washington state, at least 306,000 people will lose health care under Republican bill; 900,000 Washingtonians could see SNAP benefits reduced or eliminated; 14 rural hospitals will be at risk of closure
***VIDEO of Senator Murray’s full floor speech HERE***
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, took to the Senate floor to speak out forcefully against Republicans’ reconciliation bill—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which, as Murray detailed, will rip away health care from millions of Americans, shutter the doors of hospitals and health care clinics across the country, make the largest cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in history, and blow up the national debt—all so Republicans can fund massive tax breaks for billionaires.
Republicans’ 940-page bill, which they released in the dead of night, cuts more than $900 billion from Medicaid—$100 billion more than the House bill. That means about 17 million Americans will lose their health care, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and more than 300 rural hospitals and over 500 nursing homes could close because of the legislation. The legislation makes the largest cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in history and will rip away nutrition assistance entirely from more than 5 million Americans and shift tens of billions of dollars in costs to states. The legislation also increases the debt by nearly $4 trillion dollars—nearly a trillion more than the House bill. About two in three Americans oppose the bill.
In Washington state, 1.95 million people rely on Apple Health, Washington state’s Medicaid program, and over 300,000 Washingtonians access coverage through the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace (Washington Healthplanfinder). The Joint Economic Committee estimates that at least 306,312 people in Washington state would lose their health insurance under the Republican legislation—that includes 198,050 people who would be kicked off Medicaid and 108,262 people who would lose their coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Among other things, Republicans’ bill would institute work reporting requirements for Medicaid, which have been proven not to increase employment and just strip health care coverage from people who are already working or exempt—this would put more than 620,000 Washingtonians at risk of losing their health care coverage or having it delayed. Fourteen rural hospitals in Washington state would be at risk of closure under the Republican bill. The legislation also “defunds” Planned Parenthood for the next year, threatening the closure of up to 200 health centers across the country—90 percent of them in states where abortion is legal. 11 percent of Washington state residents rely on SNAP, and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services estimated that more than 900,000 people across the state could their see SNAP benefits reduced or eliminated under the House bill—the Senate bill is just as extreme.
Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered, are below and HERE:
“I think it’s really important the discussion we had right now about the deficit and debt, but I want to talk a little bit more about this bill in general.
“You know, recent KFF polling shows that this Republican Big, Ugly, Betrayal bill is overwhelmingly unpopular. In fact, this thing is more underwater than the Titanic.
“Nearly two-in-three Americans view this bill unfavorably. That goes up to nearly three-in-four when they learn it will kick millions—millions—off their health insurance. And it goes up to nearly four-in-five when they learn it will choke off funding to their local hospital. In other words, the more the American people hear about what is actually in this Big, Ugly Betrayal bill, the more they dislike it.
“So with that in mind, I want to be here today to say a little bit more about what is in the Republicans’ latest version. Spoiler alert: it is still big, it is still ugly—and it is an absolute betrayal of the people who sent us here to fight for them.
“The Republican plan is still going to mean over 16 million people losing health care as patients get kicked off their ACA plans. Kids and struggling families will get kicked off Medicaid. Rural hospitals are going to forced to shut their doors.
“The Republican plan is still going to mean more starving families. New red tape is going to cut people off from their SNAP benefits that they need to put food on the table, and it is going to take away kids’ school meals.
“The Republican plan still rips away support from the people in this country who are struggling the most, to give away billions in tax breaks to billionaires who need help the least.
“In short, this latest version of Republicans’ bill would still be one of the biggest transfers of wealth from the people at the bottom to the people at the top in our nation’s history.
[Health Care]
“When it comes to health care, this Republican abomination will cause millions of people to lose their insurance, and see their costs skyrocket in one way or another.
“It will create mountains of new paperwork and bureaucratic barriers that are positively meant to kick people off their Medicaid and ACA coverage.
“And there is new sabotage to the ACA health care markets, which will mean more people losing their affordable coverage. Meanwhile, there is nothing—a big, fat zero—when it comes to renewing the tax credits Democrats passed to lower your health care costs.
“That’s right—while Republicans are showering their billionaire donors in new tax breaks, they will not lift a finger to extend health care tax credits that are saving millions of families thousands of dollars a year on health coverage.
“Instead, they are going to make sure people lose health care coverage—including our seniors, people with disabilities, pregnant women, millions of patients who rely on Medicaid.
“And let’s not forget, the cuts in their bill are going to shutter hospitals across the country, especially in our rural areas.
“Do you have Medicaid? Medicare? Employer-sponsored-coverage? Regardless, Republicans have some pretty bad news for you—because it hardly matters what insurance you’re on when you don’t have a hospital to get care anymore!
“In Washington state, we have fourteen rural hospitals that are fighting to survive and would likely close under this bill—mostly in areas represented by Republicans, I should add!
“Not to mention, we have six rural labor and delivery units that could be forced to close their doors under this bill.
“And you know what the Senate Republicans did? They made that problem worse! They put even more pressure on our rural hospitals!
“I’m telling you, this betrayal is getting bigger and uglier by the day. And this cannot get lost: Republicans want to shut the doors of one of the biggest health care providers in the country.
“They want to defund Planned Parenthood. That is wildly harmful and wildly unpopular.
“It would shutter at least 200 health centers that provide a wide spectrum of care—including cancer screenings, pap smears, birth control for millions of women.
[Nutrition]
“And let’s not forget, Republicans are cutting nutrition assistance too.
‘This Big Ugly Betrayal would make one of the biggest cuts to SNAP in history. We are talking around a $200 billion dollar cut over the next ten years. Now it should be obvious, but that would be devastating for our country and for our kids’ future.
“And yet, Republicans are not giving up on taking dinner off the table, taking school lunch off kids’ trays, all so they can shovel tax cuts at billionaires and wealthy corporations.
“And it is worth underscoring, the new red tape in their bill is even targeted at some of our most vulnerable families! Because it expands work requirements to apply to seniors and parents with kids in school.
“Mr. President, when my dad, a WWII veteran, got sick with Multiple Sclerosis, he lost his job. He lost his job. My mom was at home, 7 kids she was raising, my dad lost his job, and my mom had to spend some time getting some new skills so she could go back to work and take care of our family. You know what, during that time? We had to rely on food stamps in my family, to feed those seven kids in my family.
“But under this Republican bill today—because neither of my parents had a job during those few months—my family would not be eligible for SNAP benefits. We would not have even gotten food on our table at the worst time in my family’s life. This is wrong.
“Thanks to those food stamps, my family did get through that rough patch, and all seven of us kids grew up to give back to our communities—whether as a firefighter, a middle school teacher, or even here as a United States Senator.
“So I can’t emphasize enough: Republicans want to cut families from SNAP and Medicaid—programs that give people a hand up in hard times—why? So they can give an enormous hand out to the richest people and biggest companies in the country.
“Oh and, at the same time they are making it harder to afford groceries and health care, I should mention—they are also gutting energy investments in a completely chaotic way that is all but guaranteed to drive away jobs and drive up energy costs for all of American families.
[Higher Education]
“And at the same time, in this bill, they are giving billionaires billions of dollars, Republicans are going to give students the short end of the stick.
“This big mess of a bill would tear away programs and protections that make it possible for many students to pursue a higher education: it eliminates GRAD PLUS loans, it cuts families off from Parent Plus loans, it punishes students who go into public service or a medical residency, and more.
“Meanwhile, they are tearing down the guardrails—from gutting regulations that protect students whose universities commit fraud, to opening a Pandora’s box for Pell grants, with a new loophole that will let low-quality programs suck up our taxpayer dollars.
“These changes are especially going to hurt students from low-income families, and first-generation college students, and our veterans.
“Some of them will have no way to go to college when Republicans take their support away. Some will be driven into predatory private loans they can’t afford. And some will get lured into low-quality programs that take their money, waste taxpayer dollars, and leave the student worse off.
“And if that wasn’t enough—if the Secretary of Education wanted to try and stop this kind of fraud, and protect students, Republicans will leave them about as much authority as a school hall monitor.
“Because in this bill, Republicans prevent any Secretary of Education from making regulations that carry added benefits for borrowers.
“And it hardly matters if that is a good impact—like saving students’ money, or protecting taxpayer dollars from fraud, or making higher education more accessible—Republicans are going to make problems worse, and make fixing them even harder.
“Students in this country should be outraged.
[National Debt]
“And I want to be perfectly clear about something. If Republicans charge ahead with this big, awful, mess—which they seem intent on doing—they can kiss any last shred of credibility goodbye, as we just talked about, when it comes to pretending they care about balancing the budget or addressing the national debt.
“The idea was already laughable—for the entirety of the 21st Century, the biggest driver of the national debt has been tax cuts that Republicans championed.
“But now, as we just talked about, they want to put at least 4 trillion dollars—that is trillions, with a T—on the national credit card. Why? So they can shower the richest people on the planet with more money.
“And then they’re pretending all the math works and it’s kind of easy-peasy if they only just, they can do it if they kick people off health care, or take enough meals away from kids, or close enough hospitals, or—better still—use some absurd accounting gimmick to pretend, to pretend that billions of dollars in new tax cuts for their billionaire donors actually just don’t cost anything.
“Well I’ve got some bad news for Republicans—your math is terrible, and so is this bill. This thing is very expensive. And you don’t have to take my word for it.
“Ask the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which just said the latest version of this bill will add $4 trillion, “T,” trillion to the debt just over the next 10 years.
“If Republicans want to ignore them, you can also ask the fiscal hawks at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. They calculate that the House bill adds $5 trillion to our debt, when you include interest payments and the cost of making temporary provisions in this bill permanent. And we are told the Senate bill is even less fiscally responsible.
“Everyone agrees: this thing is not beautiful, but it is recklessly big. And it won’t just increase the debt—it will blow it up!
“Mr. President, this may very well be the most expensive bill in history. I say ‘may’ because Republicans are still planning changes, we have not yet gotten the final bill. They already cut out even more taxes for multinational corporations.
“SNAP benefits? They’re still on the chopping block. Health care? Still on the chopping block. In fact, they want to cut Medicaid even more painfully.
“We may not know how expensive the Republicans’ bill will be in the end, but we know who is paying for it. Paying for it is you, working families.
[Blocked Provisions]
“And it is important for people to know: as bad as this bill is, Republicans were trying to make it even worse.
“Now, Democrats have been fighting them every step of the way, and we have notched a few important wins by challenging every single provision we possibly could under the Senate rules.
“So I want to talk about some of the things Democrats were successful in striking out.
“Because if Republicans had had their way, not only would this bill take away more food from our struggling families, or shutter even more hospitals, and kick even more people off their health insurance. It would have also sold off our public lands!
“And instead of just slashing CFPB funding, it would have completely shuttered the doors of a very important federal watchdog that protects Americans from getting scammed.
“If Republicans had had their way, this bill would make it easier to buy gun silencers, harder to get your earned income tax credit, or pay off your student loan, and effectively impossible to get insurance plans on the marketplace that cover abortion care.
“If Republicans had had their way, this bill would have also given Trump more power to deny funding to our constituents on a whim, and less power for the courts to stop him.
“We are talking about a whole smorgasbord of really awful, unpopular ideas and policies that would have hurt our families and weakened our democracy. Ideas that were this close to making it into this bill.
“But Republicans did not have their way. Democrats have been fighting back at every single step. We got those provisions tossed in the shredder, and we are still doing our darndest to send the rest of the bill into the shredder as well.
[Making People Heard]
“Now let’s be clear, when we talk about how unpopular this bill is with the American people, the reason is simple: this bill polls like garbage, because it is garbage. That’s why it should go nowhere, except a trash bin.
“Democrats are going to keep pushing back on this monstrosity with absolutely everything we’ve got, at every step we can.
“We’re not going to stand by as Republicans shutter hospitals, so the richest people in the country can build another vacation home.
“We are not going to sit around and let Republicans kick millions of people off of their insurance and raise working families’ premiums—so corporate executives can get a bigger bonus.
“And we are not going to be silent as Republicans take food away from struggling families so they can help billionaires fuel up their private jets.
“We are going to keep speaking up, we are going to keep pushing back, and we are going to make sure everyone—everyone—knows exactly what is going on here. This bill is deeply unpopular—that much is clear.
“But if Republicans keep pushing for this disaster, buckle up, because we are only going to get louder and louder about how big this is, how ugly it is—and it is only going to get more unpopular with the folks back home as these provisions are enacted if this bill passes.
“I’m pretty astounded by how far some Republicans are trying to stick their heads in the sand on this. One Republican Senator told their concerned constituents, and I quote, ‘We are all going to die.’
“Maybe that’s a better name for the bill? At least it’s more honest. Because, when you take health care away from people, when you make it harder to get, when you make it harder to afford, when you close the only hospital for miles—yeah, you’re right, people will die.
“You’d think my colleagues would show a bit more concern about that. Instead, that senator actually doubled down. And in a response video she filmed walking through a cemetery—I don’t know how you get out of touch that much to misunderstand this, but let me clear about something to our Republicans: whistling past the graveyard is a metaphor to stop ignoring dangers. It is not a literal messaging suggestion!
“And if you thought Republicans couldn’t be any more dismissive to their own constituents, this week, another Republican Senator, who was speaking about people voicing their concerns about these Medicaid cuts, said they will, quote, people will ‘Get over it.’
“Mr. President: I have news for every one of my Republican colleagues who is trying to deny the reality of this bill and pretend the fairytales they are telling themselves are true.
“When someone’s local hospital closes, they don’t ‘get over it.’ When someone’s kid is kicked off health care, they do not ‘get over it.’
“And Republicans don’t want to take my word for it, they can listen to the doctor I spoke with who warned, when patients go uninsured, they delay care and it increases costs for everyone. Instead of paying $10 for diabetic medication, we’ll pay $10,000 for an amputation.
“Or, Republicans can actually read the countless letters I am getting from my constituents sharing their stories: ‘My dad is a double amputee, he relies on Medicaid,’ ‘Without Medicaid we couldn’t get my kids’ anti-seizure medication.’
“Or, ‘I’m a full-time caregiver for my daughter with cerebral palsy’… or my son with spina bifida… or my elderly mother… and this bill threatens to kick them off the health care and supportive services they rely on to survive.
“Or better yet, Republicans can go out and talk to their own constituents, because I have no doubt they will hear similar stories.
“They will even come to you! Advocates have been here in D.C. all week. I’ve seen them in the halls. I’ve heard from them from my office!
“And now Republicans can listen to the people across the country who are warning them about this bill. And they can do the right thing and abandon this effort, or they can keep ignoring them.
“But make no mistake, in the end the American people will have their voices and their votes heard.
“Because at the end of the day, this bill—this monstrosity of a bill—is all in the goal of a tax break for multi-billionaires and corporations. And the way they pay for it is by taking away your health care, and your nutrition—the things your families, or your neighbors, or people you know rely on. And that’s just wrong. It’s un-American. And we’re fighting back.”

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