sorry, kids. so they can get a tax break? this just cannot be right. this cannot be right. it does not stop there. threatening thousands of good paying union jobs in nevada. across our country by letting criminal tax credits from solar wind projects expire before the projects can even get off the ground. you know, in nevada we have more solar jobs per capita more than any other in the nation. we have enough solar energy to power nearly 1.3 million homes. it is a growing terrific industry in nevada. we need all the energy that we can get at an affordable price. this bill, this bill will decimate this important and growing industry. states across the country. and on top of that, republicans

have added an additional new tax on wind and solar projects. raising prices on real working families. families that are already paying too much for their energy. creating opportunities, expanding and investing in our infrastructure in our nation. but this bill will add more taxes,/projects and raise energy prices for hard-working families and all of this is causing properties across the country to stall or cancel projects over the uncertainty of losing access to the tax credits. fewer jobs, less investment and more families wandering actually how they will make ends meet. we are talking about an industry that support 280,000 american

workers, electricians, technicians, construction crews, i could go on and on about all the jobs that are in our solar and wind industry. .... to their jobs and billionaires past their office. i want to remind people what we reconciliation. expanded health insurance and for the first time we gave medicare negotiate lower drug prices passing excited this extreme and economic security.

parents want their kids to healthcare when they are sick. they don't want billionaires. the still turn your back on families to read, you two look at them and tell them that they don't matter, their children don't matter as they won't care they need. i shudder to think of the consequences. it doesn't matter. arnold, how you can base it but

that's what you are about to give the american people deserve better i will fight every single step of the way you look for. >> i'm sorry senator. give me about five minutes. number one on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle disagree with the narrative of the billion our taxes. and to make ends meet, they benefit from that. i read the bill. he is a good friend and great

leader i thank him for the work he's doing. the baseline in the bill so should have started with that. i'm here to talk about the tax credit credit. an expert in this office and practitioners that work. in one of the most sophisticated of electrons in the world and got the power running purchase

agreements and was amazing to me is the work that we lay down and $30 billion and put it in service. and in this industry. i understand technology because of storage of the baseline.

it was renewable natural gas but somehow had a think tank worked in operation . walk away and what you have done is power surface because there isn't going to be a generator anytime soon.

five years now so at the same time the pipeline is going down. i'm going to get but it's going to be a problem it's another example, you don't think you the implementation. another reason i developed for

my own party. and written a few that haven't got their hands dirty. the senate and the maryland donald trump likes to call the bill republicans are trying to do the big beautiful bill. at least hours and otherwise very wealthy in america and on

the defensive virtually every bank agree 90 and also read the bill you look at the bill, the tax benefit the united states america. next benefits with the top 5% so this is a choice being made by donald trump and republicans in congress to get to billionaires at the expense of the country a transfer of wealth eight huge inheritance.

americans are going to have to pay in many middle ways. and every american increase and their health insurance premiums go up for mortgages or car loans.

and our tax cuts for his billionaire buddies so let's take a look. this bill pays for over 1 trillion two people make over $500,000 every year by cutting $1 trillion of health benefits from those who rely on medicaid and the affordable care act. because of the affordable care act, 12 million americans will lose access to healthcare coverage. by doing lose access to health coverage because they refuse to extend tax it that millions of middle-class americans use

extending tax cuts for the wealthy and not extending the healthcare tax credits middle-class americans used afford health insurance. it means nearly 17 million of federal americans access to healthcare coverage. 29000 of my fellow lavenders. who are these marylanders? babies and children, the health insurance program the children and america. 700,000 children in maryland.

if the bill passes. helping people to vulnerable stages of their lives that covers one in four people mental health, substance disorders. it is the primary payer for long-term health coverage covering 60% of nursing home residents. if even a fraction coverage and nursing homes because in the families will have to figure out how to care for their loved ones. as many as 500 nursing homes on

the cost are vulnerable a central to their lives for home and community-based care and being separated from their loved ones. the university of pennsylvania of this bill before the senate will result in 51000.

and he passed away because they had cancer. accidents at a nursing home and they have conditions set back. ultra- wealthy and unconscionable in the bill and 17 million would lose their care coverage i want to read a few stories of marylanders who rely on medicaid and the efforts that

have unfolded and the united states senate. i had a call from one of my constituents who has a son. her son takes chemotherapy and loses access to health insurance and it would be a death sentence. in a lavender wrote his son still able to work and depends entirely on medicaid for support and also sent please don't let the senate passes bill and the

stories go on and on and on. they been in desperate shape and lost access to the average. all americans are likely to see higher premiums in the hospitals have those additional costs and they cycled through the system in the form of higher premiums

and we are already seeing the impact insurance companies today is look going forward in this legislation. you'll have millions of americans as a result, and 20% cut $200 billion and over 40 million americans is some kind of help with food and nutrition and their snap benefits. others will see rising costs,

most of whom are families should. 17 million americans access to their coverage and the nutrition program and focus for american households. americans today because this bill and less energy was alive higher costs.

the time. hundreds of millions of dollars donation and the tax break. as a result of the also people companies will pay $0.

and new clean energy product. and it is established for a win win when. our environment and the economy and for family pocketbooks. by 2035. about that. this bill is a result in dramatic reduction and new energy produced only electric grid with less energy generated in household energy costs and bills are going to go up.

in the interests of oil and gas teachers and utility companies benefit from higher prices consumers will have to show up. in the area of energy this is not america first, this is very much america and retreat that often agree with elon musk, but is absolutely right when he says a few days ago the latest draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in america and caused

immense harm, under the name of the past, severely damaging the future. that is the republican senate bill. it is driving purpose, northstar of this bill? in the bill of everybody else in the top one tenth of 1% of high income earners will get an average tax break of 21,505,000 dollars.

as i said earlier, almost 50% of the tax benefits of the top 5% that happened everything else the medicaid. the cost of tumors and the bill is still going to add $4 trillion. chosen and sworn not g voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to. the point of order is sustained and the amendment fails. mr. thune: mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the following senators to be recognized to offer amendments, motions or points of order, that the

amendments be reported by number with no amendments prior to the vote, bluackburn, number 2401. the presiding officer: is there an objection? without objection. mrs. blackburn: mr. president. i call up my -- the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: i call up my amendment 2401 and ask it be reported by number. the clerk: the senator from tennessee, mrs. blackburn, proposes amendment 2401 to amendment 2360. mrs. blackburn: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent for two minutes of debate equally divided. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. millions of vulnerable americans, including the disabled, elderly, and low-income children depend on medicaid for vital health care services, but waste, fraud and abuse are pushing this program to the point of insolvency. according to one estimate, there

were more than one trillion in improper payments over the last decade. to protect medicaid for those who truly need it, this corruption must end, including by removing the 1.4 million illegal aliens currently exploiting the program. my amendment would close a loophole that allows illegal aliens to receive medicaid coverage for up to 90 days by blocking federal taxpayer dollars from funding benefits for perspective beneficiaries until their citizenship or lawful presence is verified. i urge a yes vote on this amendment. now, i ask for the yeas and nays. mr. wyden: -- the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the yeas and nays are ordered. the senator from oregon. mr. wyden: the blackburn amendment penalizes innocent people eligible for medicaid

coverage and are waiting to cut through a thicket of red tape and get health care. this can go on for months and months, and defies basic fairness and common sense. the parliamentarian has already ruled that the federal government, if it does this, it would be coercive and not acceptable under the reconciliation rules. this is a distraction from republican attempts to doecimat the medicaid benefit. i therefore raise the point of order that the pending amendment violates the byrd rule 313(b)(1)(e) of 1974 and ask for the yeas and nays. mrs. blackburn: pursuant to 904 of the congressional budget act of 1974, i move to waive and ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the question is on the motion to waive. vote:

the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. cash is what he said. anybody who says the current policy baseline is the way to intellectual and brought want to make sure i call back will correct it is another quote. i'm going to call him out on it. this is? i think it is and disagree at

least they used on its accounting and i would dare say make the cameras blush. of the build shows individual tax rate. in the dreaded. when you use the budget path and it republicans want to use $83 billion.

but i do want to put it up here from the before responsible federal budget shows what senate republicans say their bill will cost in each of those years. and if you add up the blue deficits of the ten years the claim for $41 billion debt over

ten years. his the honest accounting u.s. senate for the purpose of the budget, conciliation, you get 4.2 trillion in debt. i do want to say you have these orange lines and what is representing some of the cost revenues go down because under this house publican plan, tax cuts for people with the no tax on tips go away. they vanish right here 2029 of the tax cuts very wealthy

people, they go on for the ten years, they gone forever. senate republicans of the entire structure of the reconciliation because when it was first, the entire purpose was to reduce the deficit republican senators entire purpose of that procedure that allows them to pass the one votes and not having to secure the threshold to overcome the filibuster. they are violating an entire structure and why? they are hell-bent making sure the tax cuts are very wealthy people go on forever.

i'll just close by pointing out it wasn't that long ago donald trump took the old office look at the cameras for america and the gilded age for the wealthiest those of the people speaking to because they are the ones right behind. in the billionaire cabinet by far and i hope our senate and

bipartisan basis will give it a thumbs down i give the fourth and the sender from vermont. the president, i've read the bill and get 60% of the benefit

and make everyday americans pay the price to pump those taxes and no wonder i now is oppose the bill the question is will u.s. senate proposes bill? he ways the president so-called one big beautiful bill is 11500 people of care coverage under obamacare. 21000 vermonters will lose medicaid coverage nutrition programs the well-being of your citizens and in vermont the snap program 11% of households use it. 65000 people a little over a third households rely on snap

program. nearly 3000 veterans and, rely on the net programs. billions are going to be cut and that will hurt vermont and hurt everyone. in vermont, some homeowners save money on the energy bill and the upgrades under the reduction act. for $20 to $980 a year, that's real money for people living paycheck to paycheck. this bill scraps that. we still have time.

democrats constituents will be hurt by this bill my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have an opportunity to make a choice. you're going to protect your constituents who will suffer the same afflictions or defer the president? this is going to inflict bipartisan vein. this is not aiming at red or blue state, working-class and middle-class america. just to give an example, west virginia, the great state i visited, hardest working people ever, except maybe vermont dairy farms, 76000 people in west virginiare will lose access to healthcare because of this billk

and i just want to repeat, this is bipartisan inflection, this is real. why it benefits so few. mr. president, the american people know that financial

viability they are going to show up and across the country 17 million people will lose reimbursement for medicaid and they will do what they do, even if they don't get paid so the hospitals out of business in every state the bill cuts by 930 billing dollars to the ripple effect will hurt all of our hospitals and absolutely some of those will close employers doing everything they can for healthcare for their employees will see premiums spike.

the bill will rip away food assistance to 42 million americans. that will be gone. they put food on our table. one of the things farmers are so proud of they been able to supply the food distributed the snap program. they do a lot of good as a tax takes away the incentive.

they have come from clean energy. represent in the folks represented is going up. and it proposes the moratorium of ten years on anyone taking any action and effects everyone in our state and argue for state

rights on behalf of their own citizens. it's already about $35 trillion. 33 children or what? very wealthy people multinational incorporation for record profits at the expense of healthcare and community hospitals, and the extent of investments and clean energy and the expense of food and nutrition programs invested in what? it is destructive, not productive. inflation is going up under this bill. how much more we will pay. it's about a trillion dollars so

folks will be paying at least a thousand dollars more. grocery prices going up for all americans. there is an ugly aspect of this bill and it is that this bill is providing tax cuts largely to the very wealthy. the top 1% of income earners in this country will get 60% of the benefit. a couple hundred thousand people will get immense tax breaks people can see in the 60% category and from the working

and middle class. for working americans. we have a job to do, to strengthen this economy and provide stability. in this bill there doing the opposite. accelerating climate change rather than diminishing it in life tougher.

i urge my colleagues and i killed back. >> the bill is a farce. the tax break to a millionaire and pay for it and talk about we cut food stamps. eight years as governor in 12 years governor. it never seen a bill this bad, this irresponsible resident and downright cruel.

healthcare and food in exchange for the wealthy. this is a middle-class tax cut. the tax cuts making 400 million a year the cost of the bill would drop by 60%. there wouldn't be any to medicare or medicaid and snap. that's okay, but just up and 400,000 and don't get the tax breaks to the millionaire.

i don't think they needed. this bill can care of the middle class. for kids to give a millionaire $32000 cut. sitting around, that's ridiculous, nobody would suggest that but here we are.

there is no rush on the bill. on the other side remotely can kill us and start over and break the decent bill on a bipartisan basis. let me start hospitals in the association. the world hospitals. several things happened.

the economy of the town goes with it in a major employer so the economic of the jobs small town will make a huge difference in the economy. they are going to have to enclosures, the cutting of services. we have a county with no services. they are pleading to not do this. it doesn't make any sense.

when i work here in the 70s i had insurance and a junior staff member two years ago because i had that recheck of her eight years and i wouldn't have been able to spring forward.

the doctor said you better sit down. you will have to have serious surgery. i had the surgery and here i am. if i had insurance, i wouldn't be here. it's always haunted me and it's wrong. it will have coverage and people die when they don't have health insurance.

this isn't a joke. multitrillion dollar cut with medicaid to million people cut off, 60,040,000. that is a fraud. the understanding of session and i never have and i said hi back. in 2017 for 2018. what is the cruelty to do this?

and let's talk about snap. you feed yourself on the average cost in the u.s. is about ten or 15 so already below average. and food insecure talking about cutting and taking dollars away from those kids. and 24% of the kids and i was

70%. in the billion-dollar tax cut. so little time, it is irresponsible. and the thing that gives life to this nonsense is a $5 trillion

increase in the debt ceiling and we don't need to increase the debt ceiling. it's a sham. i want to hear anymore from my colleagues. we are mortgaging our future and here this, and $4 trillion to the deficit unnecessarily is a saying of famous new englander. actions take so loud i can hear your word. the first rule if you're in a

hole, stop digging. and give the tax benefit 60% people making 400,000. in the unpaid for bush tax cuts. but you don't run deficits and times are good. if you're in a hole, stop digging. the nonperson group said i

haven't heard this mentioned. accelerate the insolvency. the security trust fund. getting the irs and i have another suggestion for my colleagues. your defined 600 million a year? push the tax laws of cheaters. it was left on the table because cheaters, mostly high income or not paying the taxes they owe. he had to pay it, everybody knows what he's making. penn state lawyers and accountants and not talking about this here, some cold tax

evasion 600 million your. that would be nice. under this, they are increasing $75 billion over the years, an additional 18 billion a year, tripling the budget of ice. they are tripling the budget and dangerously close to creating a federal police force, which would never had and we shouldn't have. and i don't get where that came from. people thought where mass and of the good guys.

so let me go back to the beginning. all this damage giving a tax break and they make it a million dollars. if we limit the tax cuts. any cuts to medicaid on the deficit. over the next 44 hours and state writing responsible bill inspiring tax cuts for the middle class and deal with

issues within the federal government should be addressed. should never have come before this, i hope enough of my colleagues that this is an unnecessary damage to the citizens of the country and every state citizen suffered and this is something we in this body can and should prevent. ...

which without objection. mr. president, the chart recognizes a senator from arizona. >> mr. president what are we doing here? seriously? i'm waiting for somebody to tell me how this makes sense.

we are debating a budget that gives another round of tax cuts to billionaires and giant corporations on the backs of everyday americans. and, it also adds trillions of dollars to our national debt. that does not make any sense to me. it does not make sense to the arizonans that i have been hearing from in every corner of our state. if you grew up in a household like mine where money was tight, you would know that budgets are about priorities. i can still picture my mom sitting at the kitchen table trying to figure out which bills to pay. you take the money you have and

you put it where it is needed. this tells the american people president trump and republicans in washington need help if you are a billionaire it says we've got your back if you are a parent trying to provide for your family a senior and a nursing home or child who counts on school for your only hot meal you are on your own this is not about balancing the books. it's about picking winners it's about letting everyone fall behind and who loses? it is the americans working two jobs. raising kids, caring for elderly

parents and just trying to stay afloat. because if you grew up in a family like mine who also know how hard people work to reach their american dream. the promise that if you work hard, your kids will get a good public education you will be able to put food on the table you will be able to go to the doctor and state healthy and your kids will be able to grow up and achieve their own american dream. this promise is already getting harder and it is getting more expensive. we need to be working together across the aisle to make sure everyone who works hard and have a brighter future. but that's not my republican colleagues are doing with this bill. the planet they are jamming

through right now will put the american dream out of reach. and for what? to hand out more tax breaks than they could spend in 10 lifetimes. i've spent the last several months traveling across arizona. up into our big cities phoenix and tucson. up into small towns like clarksdale and sierra vista talking to arizonans face to face. listening to their stories. hearing what it would mean to them if medicaid, food assistance and other essential services got cut for them and their families. what i have heard is clear. this a budget is going to make it harder for them to stay afloat.

let alone get ahead. in clarksdale i met a guy name christian. is referral hospital kidney doctor he told make his patients many of whom rely on medicaid for dialysis are now considering stopping treatment altogether because they may not be able to afford it. this is a quote he said financially, none of the patients i serve can pay out of pocket. it's a choice of either massive debt or death. that's the reality too many rural communities. another woman told me about her friend a survivor of two car accidents and a spinal injury. her friend relies on medicaid to help deal with her chronic pain.

without it, meaning medicaid she set her friend might end her life because the pain is unbearable. she asked me to deliver this message to my colleagues. she said this is not a country that cannot afford to care for people like her. we can't afford to care for everyone if we change our priorities from giving tax cuts to billionaires. to taking care of americans who are in pain every day. mr. president, people across arizona are pleading with us to get our priorities right. i hosted a medicaid town hall and that's where i met this woman name tara. she told us how she was once a single mother and help to

programs like medicaid and snap help to raise circuit and build a stable life. to date she works a good job. she does not rely on these programs anymore. but here's what she said. i am deeply concerned about the proposed cuts to medicaid, snap and related programs. i know firsthand they do not just help families they are often the only path to stability. just last week i was in tucson where i live work gabby and i live helping distribute school lunches. at a local high school is the high school my wife went too. i wanted to see firsthand what the summer meal programs mean for arizona families. these programs are funded

through the united states department of agriculture date rely on data from snap in a medicaid to identify the children who need them the most. at this bill passes a bunch of these kids that i served and i think it was last weekend. they won't be eligible for these programs anymore. it will be harder for them to access school meals which i think we all know compromises or academic performance. it's not numbers on a spreadsheet. in its hunger, it's illness, it is fear. that's a bunch of folks who work really hard doing everything right and they are still going to get punched in the gut. it's not just what i hear in person mr. president, my office

gets hundreds of letters and phone calls every week from arizonans. people who are scared. they want us to listen. i want to share some of the r12 does. isn't that true in part dialysis. i call this week and said the only way i.e. on right now. i cannot work. i am not old to retire and i'm dipping into my retirement early just to keep up with my mortgage. without this out but i do not know what i will do. esther resident veteran should never have to say those words in this country. one of the most sacred promises we make to the men and women who serve is that we will take care of them when they return home.

that does not end when they hang up the uniform but includes making sure they make food, access healthcare and live with some dignity. sick, struggling and wondering how he will survive because the programs he relies on are under threat. cheryl, from tucson was a 59-year-old widow said, she said i receive disabled widows of benefits. medicaid, medicare and snap. get this, she said my wrench and utilities eat all but about $300

of my monthly income. snap and my health care card used to cover most of my food costs. i used to have about $40 left over to buy some extra groceries for the unsheltered in my area. here is a woman with $40 extra and she is helping other people. this is now included for my household takes all of it. i am scared i lose even one of these benefits i will lose the roof over my head. karen, from scottsdale's work for over 25 years helping veterans and people with disabilities. she wrote many of the people i work with rely on medicaid because they can only work part

time or because their employers don't offer benefits. cutting them off will make healthcare more expensive for everyone. the rich do not need an extension on tax cuts at the expense of low income and middle-class families. mr. president these are my constituents. these are folks who took time to write or call their senator. every single one of them, mr. president is saying the same thing. we are barely holding on and we are scared this is going to put us over the edge. i wish i could say these stories were met with compassion by everybody here. but instead what if my republican colleagues said, this is a quote, they will get over

it. and another when asked whether cutting medicaid would cost lives said well, we are all going to die anyway. i did not come here to throw jabs. i am repeating those words because they reveal how this budget was written without any connection to the real world consequences. this is not about politics. it is about people. so i ask again, what are we doing here? who do we serve? is it people like tara in cheryl and crystal and frank who are working hard and doing everything right to try to get by? or is it a bunch of billionaires who have already made it and don't need another handout.

if my colleagues do not believe me i urge them to go read some of the e-mails and listen to the phone calls they are getting. maybe hold a town hall. listen to those folks. really listen to what they are saying. don't crush their american dream. don't rigged the system even more against them. don't take a vote just because it is easy. we can do better for the people we serve. mr. president, they deserve that from us thank you and yield the floor.

>> mr. president. >> a chair recognizes a senator from wisconsin. >> i rise today in disbelief. it may sound a little cheesy but at the end of the day i fundamentally believe in public service. i believe it can be a force for good. a force to give people opportunity. of course it is people power that can lift our neighbors up and instill hope. a force that meets the toughest challenges of our constituents and that is why i am struck with disbelief. disbelief because if you believe these things like ideal, which i would argue most of my colleagues are due, why would you be jamming this bill through? i do time when wisconsin famines

are asking us to take on a high chance of living and make a shot at success, republicans are raising costs and making an already unfair tax system even worse. my republican colleagues are not using their time and energy to go after greedy corporations. not to lower the cost of housing and not to expand house access to affordable healthcare. instead they are forging ahead with the bill that will kick millions of americans off their health insurance. jack up prices for care for millions more and literally take food off the tables of hungry families. i was in the same ballot is donald trump last year. i heard the same concerns for mice constituents that he did.

families needed some breathing room. my republican colleagues often said his presence victor gave a mandate. the president and i got the same mandate to lower costs and give people the opportunity to live a steady and comfortable life. but in response the difference cannot be more's dark i am working to do something about it. this is bill, the landmark bill from this president and the republican party goes just the opposite and will raise costs for families. one of the biggest cost drivers i hear about is healthcare. instead of standing up to big drug companies to lower prescription drug costs in said building on the affordable care act to expand access to healthcare coverage this bill

terminates coverage for americans. 17 million americans will be kicked off by either medicaid or the affordable care act because of this bill. that is like stripping healthcare coverage of the entire population of wisconsin, minnesota and iowa combined. these are not just numbers. these are people people who have stories and they matter. after battling a childhood illness i became one of those americans listed as having a pre-existing health condition. insurance companies were legally able to deny me coverage. but because of the affordable care act we change that and gave families like mine hope. hope they can get healthcare at a price they can afford and

sleep well at night knowing they have coverage. medicaid is given that same hope for generations to some of our most vulnerable neighbors. but with this bill my republican colleagues are instilling fear. when we talk about medicaid we are talking with the elderly, people with disabilities, and children. we are taught by a single mother of three who's struggling to make ends meet and so many more. i have traveled the state of wisconsin from superior to and green bay and everywhere in between. to hear from people who will be harmed by this bill. i have come to this very floor to share their stories to try to help my republican colleagues understand what this bill will mean. but it's not just the folks you

need medicaid to survive. who are sounding the alarm. take it from doctor abigail a resident rural wisconsin. particulate children, seniors and individuals with disabilities. of the care they need to survive. she continued saying these provisions will limit my ability to complete my job to the fullest. i will lead to worse outcomes for the patient. the executive director of an out patient counseling center on the fox valley in wisconsin who said and i quote, without medicaid and medicare reimbursements are reduced rates all nonprofit will struggle to survive. she continued to say quote i would hate to consider cutting

staff or programs. but that could become our only option. we would lose the ability to serve hundreds of clients. not because the need has just finished but we could no longerr afford care without reimbursement. i have more and more of the stories from doctors, nurses and administrators on the ground who are spelling out the absolute dire consequences of this bill. in wisconsin we are already in a crisis when it comes getting good healthcare to rural communities. the system is broken. this bill is destined to make it only worse. while healthcare is near and dear to my heart there is more bad news in this bill. republicans big betrayal will also take food assistance

literally means by which some people are able to put nutritious food on the table, away from them. this bill will take snap assistance our nations best way to make sure no one goes hungry away for more than 3 million americans. and that leads us to the why? republicans are making all of these cuts so they can rig our tax code which i must say already is deeply unfair to working families. that would further tilted in favor of the biggest corporations and the richest in our country. the republican bill gives the people at the one tenth of 1%, the richest of the rich a tax cut of more than $250,000 every year. yes, a quarter of a million dollars a year.

all the while this bill hits working families the hardest. when taking into account the disastrous and medicaid and snap cuts, many working families would see their annual incomes fall by over $1500. but it does not have to be this way. yes, our system for taxes and healthcare are broken. but this bill is not the solution. this bill would make it harder for working families have the opportunity to get ahead. harder for parents to get their kids healthcare. harder for families to put food on the table. we comment democrats and republicans should be working together to give some relief to workers. but instead republicans will choose to go it alone and vote to give the biggest corporations and the wealthy another unfair leg up.

i will end with this. while i remain in disbelief and frankly discussed, i will always have hope. i will have hope because it's not the people in this chamber with the power. it is the people. it is the people who will sadly feel the repercussions of this bill. it's the people who are rising up and it will hold anyone who passes this disastrous bill accountable. that is where the true power is. and without a yield. >> men president? what's a senator from hawaii. >> madam president democrats have been on the floor for hours today pointing out what is in this thousand page bill that took over 16 hours to read. i called thousand pages of pain.

it's the billionaires game. it's not enough that my colleagues have been on the floor talking about how this bill is going to hurt people on medicaid. taking food away from our children and families through the snap program. healthcare, food, housing, energy support. you name it the pain is in this bill are but one of the areas people do not know about is this bill actually has provisions that would take away support for our public schools. let that thing sink in and it'st enough this is a thousand pages of pain just about every aspect of our lives you can think of another coming after support for public schools. so today i'm rising as an advocate for the 49 million children who are enrolled in public schools across our

country. nearly 90% of k-12 students go to public schools including 95% of children with disabilities. yet we have a regime that's actively working to and federal support for our public schools. the president try to totally eliminate the department of education and sadly for him he cannot do it through executive order because only congress can do that. they're doing a lot of other things with support for public schools. so as republicans in congress are trying to undermine support for the true first ever national private school voucher program. let that sink in.

the first ever national private school voucher program. that is taken mightily from public schools and basically turning it over too private schools through voucher program. so let's be clear the school voucher program, a provision is not about money for schools. it's about even more money for billionaires they are the folks are going to get the most out of this voucher for public schools program. under this program wealthy donors will have large handouts for supporting school vouchers. their headlight gop voucher pie would divert billions, for billy it year in taxes in perpetuity to private schools.

so, specifically that plan would provide dollar for dollar tax credit for what not to commit tax deduction returned by a tax credit this is money that comes right off your taxable amount. so, with this bill would do is provide a tax credit of $5000 or 10% of a taxpayer's adjusted gross income, whichever is greater. so a taxpayer making 10 million we do have people who make 10 million a year contribute 1 million and receive a credit for that full amount. how do you like that? you can get a million dollars off your tax bill by contributing to this private school voucher program. so, rather than calling this plant when it is. the word scam comes to my mind it's like scamming the public schools. republicans deceitfully trying to sell this plan as an

expansion of school choice for families. isn't this voucher program great? more from his consent to private schools and here's the reality. recently know about school voucher programs they do not promote school choice let me give you two examples of why this argument does not hold water. school vouchers do not cover the full cost of private school tuition is a lesson anyone thought about how much private schools cost? private schools can cost something in the order 15 to $20000 a year. starting from kindergarten and voucher program will not support that full amount. that means families want to send their kids to these private schools will have to make up the cost difference. how many middle income, low income families will be able to

exercise that choice to send their child to a private school the cost that much? and not only that, as we have seen as past and voucher programs private schools often raise their tuition when they become eligible for vouchers. iowa is an example. after they approved vouchers in 2022, private schools there increase their prices by over 20% for kindergarten and over 10% for other grade levels. here's another example of why this argument this program promotes choice. there are fewer private schools in rural communities. many do not have access to private schools if they live in rural communities how does this expand choice for these families?

the reality is the majority of vouchers have gone to wealthy families in subsidizing school tuition for students who already attend private schools. republicans who make that even worse by prioritizing scholarships for the students. i want to repeat that not only is it bad enough we are going to divert all of this money basically to private schools but this bill actually has a provision people who get these scholarships are student to already go to private schools. in louisiana for example 99% of voucher tax credits there went to families above 200,000. in virginia the number was 87% of vouchers and that state going to wealthy families. senators duly chosen and sworn for the having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to.

the point of order is sustained and the amendment fails. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the following senators be offered to -- offered amendments. no amendment in order prior to the vote in relation to amendments or motions. kaine, motion to commit and blumenthal, motion to commit. the presiding officer: without objection. kaine i have a motion to commit at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: senator from virginia, mr. kaine, moves to commit the bill h.r. 1 to the committee on homeland security and governmental affairs with instructions. mr. kaine: i ask further reading of the motion be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaine: mr. president, 30% of the workforce is convention compared with only 6% of the overall workforce. the trump administration has fired more veterans than any administration in the history of the united states. copeland was a 20-year air force veteran who trained bomb sniffing dogs and then took a

job with the department of agriculture and trained dogs to sniff out illegal agriculture products. he was fired 11 days before the end of his probationary year. the letter said you have not demonstrated that your further employment at the agency would be in the public interest. he said i gave blood, sweat and tears to this country for 20 years to continue service to the federal government. i feel like i've been thrown out like a piece of trash. my motion hits pause on this bill and would stop mass firing of veterans because it's wrong and i would ask my colleagues to support my motion. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator from montana. a senator: i thank my colleague for concern for veterans. i field compelled to note this motion would stop the big, beautiful bill in its tracks. mr. sheehy: i was asking where was the democrat when we laid off tens of thousands of contractors during the covid pandemic. there were no due process or consideration for their service was given.

democrats are trying to nitpick and derail this bill by disguising the fact they're advocating for the largest tax increase in the history of man mankind. this is also completely unnecessary. federal law requires the office of personnel management to consider military preference in hi hiring our federal workforce. we should stop using our veterans as political pawns. we need a strong, capable government that is fiscally sound. i urge a no vote. mr. kaine: do i have any remaining time? the presiding officer: six seconds. mr. kaine: we should stop this. president trump has only been in office six months and already has fired pore veterans than any president in american history. please vote yes. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin.

mr. banks. . the clerk: mr. banks. there is all kind of data on who owns the stock in this country. generally it is the people with a lot of wealth. so this bill had a provision that enable people to donate appreciated stock so they could could escape tackle gained taxes on the stock contribution totally. so come this republican voucher proposal outlandish as it is was briefly delayed after it was

deemed noncompliant with the budget rules earlier this week. republicans remained undeterred and have decided to plow forward with a nearly identical plan. what it comes down to is, this a plan does not help students. it is not promote choice it does not support public schools where the majority of our kids go. we should be supporting our public schools not taking resources away from them. so, my democratic colleagues and i will continue to fight to fund findquality public schools to improve public education in this country. this voucher plan is get another wrongheaded proposal that should be called out for what it is, a handout for the wealthy at the expense of the hard-working american families.

i urge my colleagues to reject this idea and i yield back. cooks better president? what's a senator from georgia. >> madam president i rise tonight in a moral moment in our nation. as we debate this the bill, so much is on. the line. the healthcare of over 16 million americans, seven or 50000 of them georgians, is on the line. food for hungry children in a wealthy nation where one in five children are already food insecure. they do not know where the next meal is coming from. their livelihood, their welfare is on the line. the well-being of seniors in

nursing homes and the disabled to rely on medicaid and those who care for them is on the line. the fate of rural hospitals in georgia, and alaska, and louisiana, and little towns all over this nation that are right now barely hanging on is on the line and the squat scraps they are throwing them while cutting them will not save them. my friends on the other side of the aisle know it. they know these scraps they are throwing at rural hospitals will not save them. and so in a very real sense lies are on the line we are in a moral moment. because something else is on the

line. i submit the character of the country is on the line. in a real sense the question tonight is who are we? not who do we tell we ourselves we are. but who are we really? what and who do we care about? what kind of nation are we? and what kind of people do we want to be? who matters? and who doesn't? who do we think is dispensable? the answer to that question is clearer then in the nation's budget. i submit a budget is not just the physical documents. a budget is a moral document.

show me your budget i will show you who you think of matters and who doesn't. if this awful budget were ekg it would suggest our nation has a heart problem. and is in need of moral surgery. i'm cleared tonight i understand the nature of what we are engaged in. this is a political process, it is. but it is also immoral exercise not only for the nation but for each of us individually. and especially for the mere 100 of us out of a nation of 300 million who get to vote

perhaps in a matter of hours. we have the rare privilege of standing up to people who have entrusted with us that covenant of centering their families. it's a real privilege for the people of your state to say that since we cannot all go to washington we are going to trust you andll rules of power to be thinking about our children. . to be thinking about our parents as they deal with the blessings and the burdens of growing old. and so the question for me tonight is how will we show up in this moment? that is why yesterday i gathered in the russell rotunda with the

multifaith coalition of clergy. to pray that lawmakers might have the courage to stand up to their party. to stand up to the special interestn.. to protect seniors in nursing homes and pregnant mothers on medicaid and children who risked going to school hungry every single day in this country. one and five children and the wealthiest nation on this planet already food insecure with these snap cuts, this body is about to make it worse. surrounded by clergy of many faiths traditions yesterday i. i would have the courage. i. would have the grace to stand as voices for the voiceless.

as i stood there i cannot help but feel déjà vu. the first time i've been in our nation's capitol speaking out against these policies that betrayed hard-working families. it was eight years ago almost to the day in 2017 when washington republicans are trying to pass the tax bill that favored wealthy americans over working families i came into this building and not as a senator but as a pastor i had no idea eight years later i be serving in this body i had no notion i would even run for the senate. i came as a citizen. standing with the multifaith coalition we are running for

nation's leaders. we were gathered in the rotunda of the russell building. as we were singing and praying, the capitol police said i'm sorry pastors you cannot sing and pray in the rotunda if you do not disperse we are going to have to arrest you. the capital police did not mishandle us that day. they were first rate professionals. they said if you do not disperse we will have to arrest you hate what they did not understand as i had already been arrested. my conscience had been arrested. my heart and my imagination my moral imagination had been arrested by this idea that we as

a country are better than this. i come from a tradition you don't pray with your lips you prate with your legs you put your body in the struggle for other struggling bodies. and so here i am tonight, eight years later having transformed my agitation into legislation. i was arrested that day but i've coeur d'alene my protest in the public policy. eight years ago i was on the outside tonight him on the inside. it is the same fight some of us fight on the inside someday to serve in the senate or in the

house others are just watching at home tonight be clear we are in the same fight with her on the streets or in the suites same fight. and in some ways this is the same bill eight years later just worse. like most horror movies the sequel tends to be worse. we were here eight years ago washington politicians were trying their best to gut the affordable care act member that? they were trying to gut obamacare out of political motives. many were spared.

but tonight is the sequel they are of the back to their own political tricks. trying to dismantle again with this legislation. it is the same fight. just worse this time. instead of extending tax credits of a lower health insurance costs for the middle class, my friends on the other side are giving billionaires and the richest of the rich a tax cut. they are working real hard tonight to help billionaires because god knows they are having a hard time apparently. what that means is one point to million georgians ande. nearly 20 million americans are going to see their health care premiums rise. that is what is at stake

tonight. they enact deep cuts to medicaid they are positioned not to extend these premiums, these tax credits they are raising the cost of healthcare for all of us. even if you are on private insurance. your healthcare is about too go up. your hospital might close. because they're cutting clean energy tax cuts your utility bills are about too go up. i have a question tonight, who voted for that? some of us a democrat some are republicans. some of us are independent some voted for one party. some voted for the other party i get it but who voted for that?

who voted for everyone's health care premiums to go up in the hospital so close? here is what i know. the folks back in georgia did not vote for that. they voted for me and they voted for donald trump but they did not vote for that. ordinary folks do not want this. ordinary everyday people who barely pay attention to politics. they do not want this. even fox news a poll you will pl not often hear me say that. but even a fox news a pole from this month found that americans do not support this big ugly bill.

this is symptomatic of the ways in which the people's voices have been squeezed out of their democracy. this is not just a healthcare fight. it is not justified for food security for snap. it's that bit in the real sense of the fight for our democracy whose voice is yet to be heard in the chamber. that is what this is about the character of the country. ordinary americans do not want to do this to our children. that's why they need to know 71% of all medicaid enrollees in georgia are children. 71%. taking away healthcare from kids to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. now, let me be clear i'm all for tax cut.

i believe working families deserve a tax cut and i certainly do not want to see them face a tax hike this year. that's why what to nearly double the child tax credit. i believe in tax cuts for hard-working families for middle-class people for working-class families. instead of doing that, instead of helping working-class families who are struggling now again state 10% tax on everything, rising costs, we are now burdening our children by adding $3 trillion to the debt. we are taking away healthcare from kids and then burdening them with the debt. we are engaged in a robin hood and reverse this body of stealing for the poor to get to

the rich for this massive transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top. this is socialism for the rich. and, when the people hear about it, guess what, they don't like it. democrats and republicans. when people hear about what is in this big ugly bill, they don't like it. that's where the folks on the other side are trying their best to fact fast track it. they have not even finished writing it. twisting themselves and not. making members walk the plank to pass this big ugly bill. do not want to rub her children of food and healthcare and

burden them trillions in debt to give a billionaires and wealthy corporations and other tax cut. people do not want this bill. and so if the people do not want this bill, they're not trying to pass it here's the question you got to ask yourself at home. you have to ask yourself who are they working for? who are they fighting for? who do they think it matters? do you think they're working for you? this is a moral moment.

in a budget is a moral document. we have been summoned to these moment people of faith come people of moral courage who claim no particular faith at all. maybe because i was here yesterday and eight years ago for similar fight with faith leaders. maybe because i'm a preacher and it is sunday and i've been here instead of church. i've especially been think about those who are people of faith. people whose lives are informed by scripture, people of the book. maybe those of us of different politics but read from the same book ought to spend some time together reading the book. because i do sometimes wonder and i say this with all humility. none of us owns the truth.

but there are days when i have to ask people of my faith tradition as a christian, are we reading the same book? the book i know says i was hungry and you fed me. i was sick, i was in prison you visited me. i was a stranger and you welcomed me. and is much as you didn't do the least of these you've done also under me. the book that i love says learn to do good, secret justice rescue the oppressed defend the orphan plead for the widow. speak out for those who cannot speak for the right of the destitute. speak out, judge righteously defend the rights of the poor and the needy.

our book says whoever is kind to the poor lends to the lord will be repaid in full. the prophet amos condemns though who by the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, they sell the poor out working-class people for cheap. and for those of us who have a vote, in this moment, for my colleagues who are swinging on a moral dilemma, i hear the prophet michael say, he has already told you what is good. what does the lord require?

but that you do justice. love kindness. and walk humbly with your god. may god be with our nation and grant us grace, wisdom, and courage for this moment. madam president i yield the floor. >> madam president? what's asunder from new hampshire. >> madam president first i want to thank my colleagues and especially just now my colleague from georgia for their work tonight. for their expression of what is at stake in this moment. and to senator warnock i say thank you and amen. i am here today because i am joining the majority of americans are deeply alarmed by this plan from the president and his congressional allies.

will make life less affordable for more americans. when we will return home for this fourth of july it would be nice to bill to tell our constituents that we came together and pass a bipartisan legislation to help bring down costs for families. instead my colleagues who vote for this legislation will have to explain why at a time when pocketbooks are strained they chose to support a partisan bill to make american rates even less affordable. what will america look like once is takes effect? millions of people will of loss or health coverage thanks to the largest cut to medicaid in american history. more people will not be able to provide preventive care and cancer screenings it. more people will get sick. healthcare premiums will surge for everyone because fewer

people will have care in the number of uninsured americans will increase. rural hospitals will close their doors because they lost a medicaid reimbursement that help keep them afloat. more people, especially in states like mine will have to make long car rides just to get to a hospital 50 miles away in the desperate moments when minutes feel like hours and hours like eternity. seniors will be thrown into grave peril because this bill threatens hundreds of billions in medicare cuts. once this implant eviscerates food assistance programs, it will be much harder for families to afford to put food on the table. at a time when groceries are already far too expensive. let there be no mistake more families and children who today will go hungry. and all the while our children will be unburdened with

trillions more in debt. and the name of what causes all of this, it's also paid for tax break for billionaires. this will also make us an america where people are less free. in new hampshire during my time as governor we adopted a medicaid expansion to support from both political parties. we balance the budget of the same time. we understood that without palms freedom. to work and provide for one's family. the freedom from disease and despair. the freedom that comes from why do i even have to say this? also understood a great country like ours treats its people with great dignity we don't let families fall sick we do not imperil our economy, our debt

and our workforce just to pay for tax giveaway for billionaire. what kind of country will be with this bill? the clerk: mr. ricketts, no. >> will news $470 or more next

year while the top 0.1%, that's people who earn about $4 million or more will be $348,000 richer. this bill would take away healthcare from tens of thousands -- and would take a similar toll across the country. indeed, in both florida and texas, the number of people who will lose their health insurance is greater than the entire population of new hampshire. millions of people losing care within the stroke of a pen. what have these people done to deserve that? all the american people are asking for is for us to help bring down costs. but the president and the republicans take away their healthcare? sometimes we're faced with bills that fail to fully meet the moment, to be sure. but it is rare to find

legislation like this. a bill that makes life less affordable during a time when americans of every political stripe are crying out for lower costs. a bill that seems that it was drafted just to make a mockery of the wills and wishes of the majority of people in this country. lately, many of my colleagues and some political pundits have been talking about this bill as if it were inevitable. a run away freight train so vast that it cannot be stopped. and they suggest that some of the bill's efficiencies can just be overlooked. but of course this bill was not inevitable, nor is it now. so let's be clear, each and every senator in this body has free will. god given free will. which means that the measures in

this legislation that got medicaid weren't written by mistake or by chance. we didn't arrive on this day with a vote on this terrible budget bill by accident. let's not dilute ourselves. we're only here because the majority in this body decided to ignore the majority of the country and made a series of decisions. the republican majority decided to gut medicaid. they decided to take away healthcare from millions. they decided to raise insurance premiums for the rest of us. they decided that closed hospitals were a risk worth taking. they decided that taking food away from hungry kids was acceptable. they decided that trillions more in debt was not a problem. the republican majority decided

that depriving the american people of all these things and raising their costs were worth it, just as long as they paid for another tax break for billionaires. because that's the bargain that this administration, along with my american colleagues is forcing the american people to accept. our people will be less healthy, our kids will have more debt. but the president and billionaires like him will get a tax break. what makes this bill so frustrating -- this bill includes provision sized support -- and a tax cut -- as

well as the provision -- instead, my colleagues chose to take these common sense solutions -- that president trump brings to washington.

president trump likely will get this bill passed. my republican colleagues -- upon trillions to our national debt, burdening the children's

future. to remind this administration -- they know it. just to be clear, this tax break for corporate special interests and billionaires has a price. a price that can't be summed up in a budget line or written off during tax season. because when we debate healthcare in america, some dress up these discussions with words like reconciliation and program and discretionary spending. but what they're talking about is being sick and being healthy.

it's a price that's exacted in cancers that go undetected. it's exacted in chronic illnesses that go untreated. it's exacted in the healthcare challenges in our country that continue to go unaddressed because we spend all our energies simply trying to keep our heads above water and -- in floods of the president's own making. the price tag is more than dollars and cents, it includes the cost of losing more people from our work force because they're too ill to work. it includes the gnawing pain of hunger and the small toll of

malnutrition that will come as food assistance programs are robbed. it includes the anguish of young parents no longer knowing how they will make end's meet. it includes the the yeas are 47, the nays are 53.t. the motion is not agreed to. the chair recognizes the senator from connecticut. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. i have a motion to commit. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: h.r. 1 to the committee -- mr. blumenthal: i make a motion the reading be dispensed with. i make this motion to commit the reconciliation to the armed services committee on behalf of myself and senator schumer because president trump earlier this year solicited and accepted a $200 million gift from the

government of qatar, a boeing 747 jet to be retrofitted supposedly for use as air force one. mr. blumenthal: make no mistake, this transfer is illegal. it's a blatant violation of the constitution's emolument clause which prohibits exactly this kind of foreign gift risking undue foreign influence. it's also abhorrently wasteful, costing taxpayers at least $1.5 billion to strip it down and install all the necessary security systems. and it won't even be ready before the end of trump's term. and now we learn from the air force secretary just last week that the money will be transferred from modernization of our nuclear arsenal, the sentinel intercontinental

ballistic program. it is a sacrifice of our national security. illegal, exorbitantly costly, dangerous to our national defense. we should stand up to this corrupt self-dealing. this motion which i worked on with senators schumer and schatz would send the bill back to the armed services committee with instruction to add a prohibition on using funds for this unconstitutional wasteful self-enrichment. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from miss. mr. wicker:ness the eight motion to commit. each one of these would have the effect of ending this process and prohibiting this bill from being passed, and that's the reason they keep offering them. i just want to point out there is nothing in this reconciliation bill about

presidential aircraft, the current one or any future ones. our colleagues have worked on the specifics. i know my friend from connecticut knows this because he's a senior member of the committee. we have specifically outlined every purpose for which the $150 billion is to be used by the administration. and not only that, i have received an assurance from every witness we have who has come before the committee to become a member of this administration that they will follow our directions without exception. so given the fact that there's no funding in this bill for any presidential aircraft and that the department of defense portion of this reconciliation is accompanied by specific language as to where it should be spent, i ask for another no vote on these dilatory motions

to commit. mr. blumenthal: mr. president, in the 30 seconds i have left, let me just respond -- the presiding officer: the senator has no time. mr. blumenthal: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin.

the clerk: mr. banks. mr. barrasso. mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn. mr. blumenthal. ms. blunt rochester. mr. booker.

the clerk: mr. booker. mr. boozman. mrs. britt. mr. budd. ms. cantwell. mrs. capito. mr. cassidy. ms. collins. mr. coons. mr. cornyn. ms. cortez masto. mr. cotton. mr. cramer. mr. crapo. mr. cruz.

the clerk: mr. curtis. mr. daines. ms. duckworth. mr. durbin. ms. ernst. mr. fetterman. mrs. fischer. mr. gallego. mrs. gillibrand. mr. graham. mr. grassley. -- every senator on this floor might make a different choice about the policies that they would enact. their preferred policies. but i doubt, madam president, there is anybody here who is willing to go home and defend the virtues of wasting a trillion dollars of the american people's money on interest payments. the non-partisan congressional

budget office and outside groups like the pen wharton budget lab tell us that by the end of the next ten years, we will have the highest debt ratio ever, eclipsing the debt our nation had in the 1940's. what was happening in the 1940's, that's when the greatest generation borrowed money to beat european fascism by becoming the arsenal of democracy. those were their receipts. those were the receipts of a generation that understood its commitment to the next generation, to us. when we contemplate from this broken senate the patriotic accomplishments of the greatest generation, what has always

seemed particularly egregious to me have been the tax policy republicans have passed four times since ronald reagan passed it in 1981. every single time, they made the same promises. every time, look it up. they made the same promises that their trickle down tax policies would drive economic growth, cut our deficit, pay for themselves. every time including the recent trump tax cut in 2017, these promises have been false. they've been false. that was 8 years ago. that wasn't a century ago. we know what the math is. everybody in this room knows the deficit is far worse today than it was when donald trump passed those tax cuts. president trump has had a very rare thing happen, which is he got to take four years off and come back and be president.

there's nobody in this chamber who can deny that. i always find it amazing when i hear these promises. why people make them if they know they're so false. over and over and over. and i think the reason is, madam president, is it is a way that politicians in washington can avoid the objections that you could never get away with at home. imagine for a minute if there were a mayor in america, any mayor in any town.

in santa fe, new mexico. or in colorado or in los angeles, california. it doesn't matter, republican town or a democratic town. imagine if a mayor came to you, madam president and said this town is gonna borrow more money than we have ever borrowed before. that would worry you, that would worry me. and i think our first question would be okay, that worries me. what are you gonna spend the money on that you're borrowing? are you gonna spend it on schools? no. are you gonna spend it on parks? no. are you gonna spend it on the water infrastructure that so many communities in new mexico require? are you gonna spend it on the mental health crisis that our

teenagers are facing? because of our failure to address it. are you gonna spend it on infrastructure? and the answer to all those questions would be no. what are you gonna spend the money on, mr. mayor? well, the answer is, i'm gonna give tax cuts to the two richest neighborhoods in town and hope that those trickle down to everybody else. that is the republican tax policy. there's a reason why no mayor in america has ever done that. there is no mayor in america who has ever pursued trickle down economics. because you would get one out on a rail. you would get one out on a rail if you went and said we are gonna borrow the most money that's ever been borrowed from

our children to finance tax cuts for the richest neighborhoods in town. it makes no sense. it is preposterous. yet, that has been the argument since ronald reagan first said these tax cuts will be paid for. the economy will grow. there won't be a deficit. there's a reason we're paying more than a trillion dollars in interest today and that's because our deficits are enormous. fortunately, and this is really important for the american people to understand, we still live in the strongest country in the world. we are in the world's richest economy. we have the most lethal

military. apart from our president, we have a national commitment to an independent judiciary, the rule of law and low levels of corruption in our economy and in our society. we have unparalleled capital margins, cutting edge innovation and world leading universities. we have all those things going for us, partly because the folks that came before us invested in those things and built those things and tended to those things. but what we struggle with in our time is a sense among most americans that they can't get ahead. that the american dream is farther and farther out of reach for themselves and for their family. but in my view, that is the biggest challenge our country faces. and in the face of this bill --

and in the face of this bill's ill considered tax cuts, it cuts to our healthcare system, which will throw millions of people off their healthcare and make healthcare more expensive for everybody else. by the way, what's the logic of that? the logic of that is when you throw people off their healthcare, they end up going to the emergency room to take care of themselves and take care of their families, just as anybody would. that's the most expensive care that anybody could have. that expense is then put into our insurance policies and all of us are gonna pay for it. you can't wish away people just because you throw them off health insurance. when other countries in the world, other wealthy, rich countries in the world have a system of insurance that basically guarantees healthcare

and mental health care to their citizens. it's worth asking why we would throw our people off the not so great health insurance that they have. that's a good question. but it's particularly crazy when it just drives up the cost for everybody else. we need to deeply think about the challenges that our country is facing today. it's more unequal. the top 1% owns 30% of our nation's wealth, madam president. and the bottom 50% earns 2.5%. the top 1% of americans owns 50% of the value of the stock market. the top 1% of americans own 50%

of the value of the stock market. while the bottom 50% own just 1% of its value. something that's really affecting my state is the nation's median home price is now five times higher than median family income. and as a result, the average first time home buyer is now 38 years old. madam president, 38 years old versus 29 just a generation ago. reading scores in our nation have hit a 20 year low. and perhaps most damning, and perhaps most upsetting is that our life span has declined since the 1980's. --

if we do not shift course soon will be the first generation of americans as kids and grandkids will be worse off than we are. that has never happened before. we will have that will happen to our children. many young people today cannot afford to live on their own and they may never afford to the house. they cannot afford healthcare or childcare. they cannot count on a quality education for their children into many parts of america. some are really worried about whether they're going to be able

to afford a child at all. if you have not heard a family say that to you, in your town halls, or in your meetings, you have not been paying attention. but, instead of addressing any of these challenges we are debating a bill tonight that make the wealthiest americans even wealthier on the poorest americans even poor. half a million of whom live in colorado. while adding millions more to the debt which working americans are going to have to pay back. that is what this republican trickle down app in the economics comes down too. that is what it comes down too. our generation is made some

really bad choices when it comes to our children's future. this a bill only makes matters worse for them. all of this debt will constrain the choices that they are going to be able to make for themselves and that is a shame. because unlike us perhaps they will aspire to follow in the footsteps of the greatest generation to build a country where lifespans are growing. or economic mobility is rising. where poverty and economic anxiety are falling. where energy exports are increasing and admissions are decreasing. quality healthcare and childcare, they are abundant not scarce. it seems obvious to me, madam

president, that our child's ambition should be ours as well. unfortunately tomorrow, the republican majority may pass a bill that takes us further in the wrong direction. in its are going to have to fight harder to fulfill our duty. madam president i yield the floor. cox met a president? what's a senator from california. madam president today would meet at the center of a great debate at a crossroads that will determine the direction of the country for another generation. this debate, this choice goes to the heart of the central question nothing plugging over the last three decades.

that question is this. we still earn a good living for yourself and your family you're working hard and america by your food and medicine get a decent education and go on a family vacation. for all too many millions of people the answer is no. what do we do about it? my father's unclosed clothing business is a traveling salesman and he made $18000 a year. on the strength of that single income for $18000. my parents bought a home for $18000. it was the american dream and it came true today i am a u.s.

senator. not too is part of the american dream. anything is possible in this country. could anyone buy a home for the cost of an annual income even of u.s. senator? cost three or four times that much. my kids are paying thousands and thousands of month in rent they could find the costs and their annual income there's even less of a chance of that. at the rate we are going the right housing prices are rising much until they have two afford a home at any income. and of course is not just a home. millions of families are one healthcare crisis away from feeling. failing.

and it's not their fault. it's not their fault. they're working harder than ever they cannot keep pace with rising freedom and charges at the emergency room. i cost more to heat your home in the winter. a lot more to cool your home ofn the summer. will income sever in comparatively flat. why weren't we not in a great depression not even a great depression all that with terms turf wars we may get there soon enough. why now? white now is is coming to a head? the answer is people feel more squeezed than ever more pressure than ever more like a failure than ever because they are doing their best, working their

hardest and they are still hanging by a thread. and do you know something? is not their fault. it is not their fault. they are doing everything they can to provide for their families. and it is just not enough. it not their fault but it is someone's fault. someone's responsibility. there are some who should be held accountable for the fact that this generation is the first to renege on a compact between generations that we would leave the country better off to the next generation than the one that came before. and you know how that someone is with us. the nature of work has changed it remove the country in the

wrong direction. the question before us today whether we continued to barrel down that track towards higher home prices, bigger healthcare cost, more hunger and greater hardship, or whether we change direction much too late, yes. requiring an even more profound course correction certainly. but finally steer this country to better quality of life for all of our citizens. is this bill that change in direction? did that lead our country on the path of prosperity? the answer it, the simple turbo but clear as day answer is no most emphatically not. it does nothing to bring down costs. the does nothing to make it easier for mind to buy a house.

instead burling down attracted nowhere. donald trump promised he would not cut medicaid. this bill cuts hundreds of billions of dollars for medicaid. the present commitment made again and again print and generate republican said will love and cherish medicaid. fibroids that were not going to touch it. even a few weeks ago he said were not changing medicaid we are leaving it. but we are seeing in the black and white and text they released in the dark of night that simply is not true. this bill will result in millions losing their healthcare from cuts to medicaid. we know that. the republicans know that.

thom tillis has made this point over and over again tonight as have other republicans in this body. misquotes out hospitals in the poorest counties and states. it takes food away from the hungry it kills clean energy we have to rely on oil and gas for everything. with higher prices at the pump. and middle-class lowering taxes and the very wealthy corporations. on the 0% earners, making more than $5 million a year you get three to $46000 tax cut. how is that fair? how is that right? borrows the money from our kids

to pay for that $346,000 tax cut. to pay for the habits of really rich people. where's the fairness? the immorality in that? when is enough enough? my father was part of the greatest generation. we would appear part of the most selfish. i am fed up with that. i am fed up with it. what happened to any sense of responsibility in this generation? and partnership. we love our children and grandchildren only to give to ourselves? the rich can have a bigger

bigger vote corporate ceos can have more money and buy back more of its stock and be richer than your neighbor while his neighbor has no home at all? the presiding officer: on this vote, the yeas are 47, the nays are 53. the motion is not agreed to. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that it be in order for the following senators to be recognized to offer amendments, motions or points of order, the amendments be reported by number, with no amendments with regard to the vote, hassan -- gallego motion

to commit, hassan. mr. gallego: i have a motion to commit at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from arizona, mr. gallego moves to commit -- mr. gallego: i ask further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. gallego: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to offer a motion to strike provisions that cut medicaid funding for substance abuse disorder treatments. families across the country are facing the heartbreaking reality of loved ones battling substance abuse disorders. for many, medicaid is the only way to afford the treatment they need. republican efforts to cut medicaid efforts for substance abuse treatment is cruel. it hurts those who have shown the bravery to seek help and undermines efforts to combat pluck health crises such as fentanyl. at the same time, this republican bill would give the wealthiest americans and large corporations tax cuts and loopholes that will only benefit the elite.

we can continue to fund substance abuse disorder treatment by making corporations and the ultra wealthy pay their fair share in taxes. i urge my colleagues to support this motion to protect those seeking treatment and finally make corporations and the ultra wealthy pay their fair share. mr. crapo: mr. president. the presiding officer: the chair recognizes the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: republicans are strengthening medicaid and setting it on a more fiscally sustainable path by targeting waste, fraud, and abuse. this bill does not take medicaid away from children or the elderly, the disabled, or the medically frail. adults caring for children and elderly relatives, or any recipient the program was originally designed to help. it increases eligibility to home and community-based services which will increase access to mental health or substance abuse disorder treatments. if this motion were adopted, it

would delay a vote on this bill and stand in the way of republicans' efforts to prevent a $4 trillion tax hike on working families and deliver additional tax relief to the middle class. i urge my colleagues to vote no. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. mr. gallego: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote: we cannot be cutting medicare for working people and poor people in order to constantly give special tax treatment to corporations. that same center went on to say quote slashing health insurance for the working poor is morally

wrong. i wish more of them spoke with that clarity. i wish to speak aloud with the rest of america's speaking. the courage to put people first. mike collins have a chance to vote against this legislation amendments that will say it hands off medicaid. don't let that nutrition programs one senator said are going to hurt people we don't watch out. and takes care away from mexicans who are sick. it's not just in mexico. these cuts will hurt people in every state. my republican colleagues offer something called the polar

chaos. thela carveout for one state. in outlook, these carveouts are at admission this bill will leave people hungry and without care plain and simple. otherwise why would they want to carveout their states? why was this part out added? this can cut funding for rural hospitals in the programs these children and families in need for our rural communities out there. for the farmers and ranchers who grow our food. this bill will hurt your bottom line by closing rural hospitals, rural grocery stores. for families who rely on snap. thisms bill means less food on e table more children going to bed hungry. all will making healthcare especially emergency care harder to access.

that is what this bill does to hard-working americans and not even mentioning this or currently have healthcare but will no longer be able to afford it because of this bill. those watching at home tonight could you not think this impacts you? it just might. earlier this week i had the honor of speaking with the hulk healthcare worker, julie. julie traveled all the way from new mexico to washington d.c. to tell congress not to mess with her family's medicaid. juliet's son received mental health care through medicaid. that coverage was cut, julie lost her son. soon after, her daughter was diagnosed with a serious

condition that required immediate care. now without medicaid their daughter might not have survived either. the mexican understand the responsibility of looking after family. i grew up trying to help take care of my grandparents. grandma and grandpa. my dad's parents. now, when my other grandparents were victims of a terrible car accident, i watch my mom, my uncles, my aunts and my cousins show a grace looks like. what love feels like.

but compassion really means. with an attack on those values. values of helping one another and shared sacrifice. all the more handouts for the wealthy there is nothing in this bill that shows we are all looking out for our neighbors across america. like so many americans so deeply concerned about the price tag. this bill would add more than $3 trillion the national debt. two people watching this is not just a number. higher interest rates think about your credit cards your mortgages if you're fortunate to have one. this bill will make your life more expensive. it's a total betrayal of our

constituent to the american people hear me when i say keep speaking. you stop help the sale of our public lands. mentor voices impossible to ignore. this bill is not the law of the land yet. but if we state silence, it will be. keep organizing. calling. i keep showing up because part of our responsibility as american citizens one another. just invite what it other to treat others the way we want to be treated. the golden rule.

it's not hard we all have a response about to stand up when something this dangerous threatens her neighbors, our values and our future. mr. president i yield the floor. mr. president? i reckon as a senator from new jersey. >> i rise today to lift up the fact this reconciliation bill will do real harm to countless american families. phones are hurting right now that ravage large parts of our state. mental healthll crisis people across this country all begging for help. so many other challenges. the fear of a health crisis.

like susan of mother i met at a town hall. i tried to highlight the challenges so many families are facing. a woman ensues it shared her story a mom of a 24-year-old son with down syndrome. they is a medicaid to cover his care. she broke down at that weight of hergr fear and worry of her chi, can relate too. she said to me this is the face of medicaid. as i went over to give her a hug she said it is real. it is real i know everyone in here knows that. i know because offices on both sides of the aisle are getting the same calls. our phone systems are broke down because of the overwhelming volume of people calling and literally begging, begging us

not to do this. begging us to protect medicaid so their kids into the doctors. begging us not to cut snap benefits of their students can have access to healthy food. it is a humbling experience seeing apparent begging for the resources to take care of their sick child. and yet as i look around marching through this process generational damage that will be done. while we are rushing through, barreling through without the ability to properly debate this. i want you to know the people in new jersey, the people in this

country this budget represents an abandonment by their government. this will hurt everyone we are supposed to be helping. some of the people impacted the most with the disability community hundreds of thousands of people in new jersey would rely on medicaid. our 15 million the disability advocate in new jersey. who drumming at a town hall after gun accident he was 11, tom is a total quadriplegic depend on a ventilator. medicaid helps and go to school, then college in his own words has given him dignity. he said quote if i lose a medicaid i feel like i am getting shot in the head again. this time it's not a bullet it is legislation.

i want everyone to hear if this budget passes families every single state across this country will feel these cuts along after the media and the trump administration decide it's time to move on and get over it. i doesn't just move on where they have to delay treatment because they have a lost insurance coverage. when the family has to up in their lives to become caregivers to their parents because they cannot afford eldercare. when a hospital closes the closest emergency room is hours away not in five hours, they won't get over it. i will remember what is happened to their lives. because of it.

these cuts to health care is so dramatic all throughout our community. i talked to hospital leader in new jersey who said these cuts could be so devastating to the revenue. they're not sure they're going to be able to keep their doors open, hospital. this is not the only story like this across my state, across the country. we are going to have a lot of challenges that will reverberate beyond just those on medicaid. it's going to affect every single one of us. losing that critical care in communities not only abandoned in their time of most need but leave a tragic ripple effect in

other hospitals. i'll put amendment to this bill that would stop this from happening of a force hospital closures and reduced access to affordable healthcare for so many across his country. should know rialto shui help billionaires and their rockets out in space will turning people with hospitals. much care is acceptable to take away from families across new jersey to fit a budget line. how many patients can be turned away from life-saving medication just so the wealthy can have a nice tax break. dread profound words of my office. she said and medicaid as a reflection of our values. it is how we show up for each other when life gets hard. what does it say about our nation as were having this

debate that could very well. but those who need the care the most. they are just expendable. they are just some remainder on the equation of capitalism that is pushed to the wayside. theo, inevitability is the shrug of the shoulder without a care in extended arm and hand to reach out and pull them up. let's be very clear this bill will calls prices to drive up in new jersey alone over 454,000 40 bemis will see higher costs and premiums according to new jersey department of banking and insurance. would not raise these cost by striking provisions are out of pocket costs under medicaid. the children's health insurance

program in private insurance too. we cannot billionaires to get richer while working families are seeing drastic increases to their premiums are out-of-pocket costs. cost to keep their children healthy as we deal with the worst measles epidemic and decades. in decades. cost afford medicine both your government attacking signs and fact. making parents have to work that much harder to keep the children safe. with all the challenges we are dealing with right now it's painful to think through what will happen at this bill goes into effect for the fact these healthcare cuts will increase our gaps worse and conditions for vulnerable communities including children. if we cannot stand up for them, for our children who are we wilg to stand up for? as i have said at the beginning, every family has a healthcare story. everyone is felt overwhelmed in

the face of sickness and injury. just a year ago at my father took a fall. i got the call with us on the campaign trail and rushed down to the hospital. even after the surgery there is more debilitating challenge we face a cognitive decline my father is descending into dementia. i spent father's day weekend with my father the entire weekend. it was in the emergency room he had twice followed in two days for two separate trips to the emergency room. my family is overwhelmed right now. we struggle to think through his needs that go far beyond what we can provide. he goes far beyond what medicare can provide. it's not just my father and my family we have failed the seniors. we have failed as we fail to plan and create a place for elder care in this country that

preserves a foundation of dignity and decency for everybody. and, when you're in the trenches of fighting for your own life or gripping the hand of a loved one struggling the last thing you want to think about is a worry if you are eligible for this treatment or that. you want to be able to provide what it takes for your loved one to survive. to go a little further. he spent a little more time on this planet with us and grow our love deeper. we ask ourselves why is this happening? it's going to balloon the deficit by trillions of dollars. who among us think the problem we face as a nation is because the wealthiest among us do not have enough. that distrust in government

right now is not because politics is not doing enough to help. the most well off in our country the billionaires and the millionaires. i ask my colleagues to find the courage to do the right thing. i want to bring back 2017 this very chamber as the centers and gather it to decide the fate of the affordable care act which was at the time hanging by a thread. many of my colleagues here in this chamber were also on the floor at that time. i was not. i was a regular citizen angry at what a scene unfolding. watching it on my phone. i was so detached what's happening on the chamber i remember thinking to myself how could the senate be seriously considering doing such harm to this country? to so many americans? by triton got pre-existing conditions the affordable care

act i asked myself and my missing something? am i missing information to understand why it is this is even happening? we sought rushed conversations and saw people running back and forth without senator john mccain step up and signal with his arms that he did not stand for this. senator mccain's vote was that rare moment of doing what you know is right even when you're surrounded by noise telling you it is wrong. it is surreal finding myself on the floor of the senate in a similar moment in our own nation's history when so much on the line with this about a look around this chamber and yet again see the exact same questions from eight years ago.

how can this series be considering getting care for so many? with the benefit of being here the conversations i am still left with the question of him i missing something? how is it that such an esteemed body that's meant to protect the american people in this chamber were so many decisions have been made to protect the american people we are on the cusp of doing something that will do generational damage to so many american families. this vote before us seems as surreal and reckless from within the chamber as it does from outside. while the problem is the same, so is the solution. it is about courage. the courage john mccain had the courage so many of our constituents had. so many have called and shared

their personal stories. how they probably had never told anybody but they feel so desperate right now to do something that they are willing to open themselves up. to pull back the curtain of the dangers and the pain that they have endured. to be able to try to do anything to stop this bill from hurting americans. that is courage. that's courage about standing up against the big money and the special interests and sometimes it feels insurmountable. i say to my colleagues here today you will not be remembered by whether or not you passed this bill on president trump's timeline. are you feign concern about the

constituents to stab them in the back later. you will be remembered by your courage to stand up and say no. you'll be remembered by your courage to speak out for the people not just the people who have paid for all of us. you will be remembered in the same way our former colleague was remembered by what he did eight years ago. i urge you to remember at this this jobis bigger than all of u. bigger than any one man, one party it's about using our votes and our courage to make lives better for those that we represent. history and the american people are watching. you still have time. you still have power. i still believe in this chamber and believe it can be a force for good. but let's use it for the children, for the disabled for those not in this room. with that i yield back.

>> mr. president provides a record as a senator from california. >> mr. president i to rise in opposition to that reconciliation built before us. but before i get to my objections over the substance of this historic attack on working and middle-class families. i want to speak for amendment minute as the ranking member of the rules committee. i need to address how republicans are abusing the process to get here. they're breaking the senate rules to hide the true cost of the bill for the second time in just six weeks the republican majority was going nuclear on

the senate rules. and doing it with the same purpose to avoid 60 boat threshold of the filibuster in order to pass a very unpopular agenda. now we know often times we are advised against getting into quote unquote process they may not care about the processor understand process. but in this particular case it's significant of the damage this bill represents. the procedural links to which the is going to try to get this done. it's surprising it was just in may that senate leader soon unequivocably said quote the republicans are in charge the

legislative filibuster will remain in place. to the back to january he was asked about this because people have said this might be coming. he said that about overruling the senate parliamentarian that's tell it can to killing the filibuster. we can't go there, people need to understand them. ". but now republicans are trying to do exactly that. to hide behind technical language of senate procedure to harm working families. and like i said just last month republicans voted in very plain language the congressional review act.

california clean air act standard with the simple a simpy vote. fast forward to today they are writing the same play this time with trillion dollar consequences not just air quality and public health consequences. colleagues and folks watching at home, budget reconciliation is the most powerful expedited procedure statute of the books. you can do a lot with the simple majority and avoid the filibuster but you have to do it by the rules of reconciliation. but today the republican majority once to extend trillions of dollars in tax cuts for president trump's billionaire friends and extend

those tax cuts permanently. that's not just terrible terrible policy it's against the senate rules. congressional budget act says clearly reconciliation bills cannot increase the debt beyond 10 years. it does not take a nobel prize-winning economist to know. . ms. hassan: mr. president, i have a motion to commit at the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from new hampshire, ms. hassan, moves to commit the bill h.r. 1 to the committee on finance with instructions. ms. hassan: i ask that further reading be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. hassan: mr. president, across the country americans of every political stripe are urging us to come together to help bring down painfully high

costs. instead, the president is making life even less affordable, both with this partisan budget bill and with his decision to launch a trade war with our ally, canada. the president's tariffs combined with this bill will raise costs for firefighters, truck divers by $500 all so that the wealthiest .1% making over $4 million get a $350,000 windfall. a at a time when the american people need their costs to come down or, i can think of few ideas... i urge my colleagues to listen to the great majority of americans who need their costs to come down and to support my motion. mr. crapo: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho.

mr. crapo: crapo. oh, idaho. sorry. the presiding officer: it is an oklahoma accident, sir. mr. crapo: i have got to get used to that. none of the president's tariffs rely on previous reconciliation bills or are contingent on this bill. we can and should have a debate about the precise approaches, including how to best incorporate tariff policy. but this is not the appropriate vehicle to have a serious debate on trade. if adopt odd, this motion would commit -- if adopt odd, this motion would commit the whole bill to a delay and stand in our efforts to prevent a $4 billion tax hike on working families and to deliver additional tax relief to the middle class. i urge my colleagues to vote no. ms. hassan: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll.

vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso. in 2017 during the first trump presidency. republicans seen by said they could afford hundreds of billions of dollars in permanent tax cuts for large corporations. i remember the arguments back then, this is going to grow the economy they said. it will reduce the debt they said.

that did not happen. to date they are arguing with the ford programs that keeps kep skids from going hungry? we can't afford the program that keeps lights on in emergency rooms? it is outrageous in 2025 so many working families are struggling. struggling to keep up with the rising costs from trump's chaotic tariff wars with the prices going up for groceries and other everyday goods. many are working long hours and still struggling to make ends meet to afford care for their loved ones. i got it. i've been there. colleagues come as i share with you before i'm working-class parents who came to the united

states are mexico in the 1960s i will remind you for four years my father worked as a short order cook and my mom clean houses. out of those moderate salaries there and my sister, my brother and i are proud working class community in california. i remember what it was like to live paycheck to paycheck. i know how unnerving it can be for example in the car broke down you listened and witnessed your parents debate because on the one hand maybe they cannot afford the cost of repairing the cart right away but they also realize they could not do not fix the car because they had to get to work. so many communities like the one

i grew up in that are not looking for handouts. americans want a fair chance to work hard and provide for their family. i'm providing for families as part of the american dream. people just want a fair playing field. in country that was promised and profit as the united states of america that should be should not be too much to ask for. but not only would the republican budget reconciliation bill the one big hand out for the wealthiest of americans, it would make life harder for working families in order to pay for it.

that is wrong and it is cruel. at its very core just like trump did in 2017 with the help of republicans in congress this bill is fundamentally about one thing and one thingy. only. cutting taxes for the wealthiest americans. on big corporations. how else do you explain the fact the top .1% will see a tax cut of more than $250,000 a year while millions of american households will see a reduction in their annual income or take-home pay. that is because to pay for the massive handouts to the wealthy republicans are getting healthcare and cutting services that so many working families depend on.

they're twisting themselves into knots in order to cut around one trillion dollars in healthcare. cuts that would leave 16 million americans without health insurance. we are talking about seniors. we are talking about children. americans with disabilities. hard working families who do not deserve to be kicked off of their health insurance dress so billionaires can pay less in taxes. these devastating cuts will close rural hospitals around the country. including in california were so many are already struggling just to keep the doors open. and for folks listening to the debate thinking if i am not on medicaid this may not apply to me, this is not going to hurt me.

let me remind you your local hospital that relies on medicaid dollars is forced to cut services or cut staff, or even close its doors as a result then yes you too will be hurt. but the bill does not stop there. in this bill republicans cut snap nutrition assistance the critical lifeline that so many count on to literally feed their families. how much more cruel can you get? but wait, there is more. republicans are also rolling back the progress we have made investing in our transition to a clean energy economy. targeting millions of clean energy jobs that are fueling innovation and helping us stay

ahead of china. the cuts to clean energy that republicans are making in this bill will lead to higher energy costs. higher electricity bills for so many families. so many voters went to the polls and voted, hoping for lower prices. they were desperate and looking for relief and that is what motivated their votes. but this bill does the opposite. so, i have to wonder from my republican colleagues, who are supporting this measure who is that you are fighting for? do any of you really come to congress to take food away from the hungry?

to take care away from sick children? what are you proposing be done here? now, i've seen republicans go back and forth on this bill for months now trying to decide just how much they can try to get away with. i have heard some of the arguments that they plan to make to justify voting for this bill. some of them will argue we need this bill because we need to reduce the deficit. talk about misleading. this bill adds a trillions, yes trillions of dollars to our nation's debt. so when they try to twist the numbers and cut up with the funny math does not even result in deficit reduction. and doou you know how you can tell?

because the republicans include a 5 trillion-dollar increase to the debt limit in this bill. if the bill and the cuts included in the bill indeed reduce the deficit, as they claim it does, they would not have needed to raise the debt limit in the process. so let's bein clear. republicans were voting for this bill it will hurt so many of their constituents. behind closed doors you have republicans handing out flyers that show just how devastating it medicaid cuts will be in states represented by republicans. we are here to discuss the burden snap cuts will have of state and local governments. but because the leader of their party wants to sign this bill to

celebrate the fourth of july this year many of them will vote yes. but i will ask again, who is this bill and service of? who areye you standing up for? who are you fighting for? i will tell you who i am fighting for your time fighting forno people from san diego home care provider who because of his mother's-who became his mother's full-time care provider when she was tragically hit by a car and became disabled. jesus could not hold a full-time job and carry all the responsibilities of looking after his mother. for both jesus and his mother medicaid has been a lifeline. i am fighting for him. i am fighting for people like tina ewing wilson who remembers

what it was like the last time her medicaid benefits were cut. tina struggles with seizures and developmental disabilities and requires care 24/7. but when the great recession hit, medicaid cuts followed, tina knew she could only afford her care by offering free room and board to caregivers. caregivers who went on to abuse drug and alcohol and took advantage of her financially. tina is terrified of that possibly happening again. these republican cuts to medicaid impactor. i am fighting for her. i'm fighting for the families at the children's hospital were over half of all patients are covered by medicaid. i am fighting for the nurses and caregivers who fear for their

patients. they care for their patients but they fear for their patients because of these proposals. for every parent across the country his work in their tail off to put food on the table for their children. every now and then may need a helping hand. if you see these americans, if you have constituents with similar expenses in your state, and still think they should have less of our help not more then i guess we came to congress for different reason. you have seen so many corporation profit sore and that wealth inequality grow. and think billionaires need more tax relief. then i guess you came to congress for different reasons.

and if this week you vote to rip these critical lifelines away from millions of americans because you somehow think it's the right political calculation, then surely we came to congress for different reasons. colleagues, it is crystal clear. i urge you to vote no on this bill and stand with me. to stand with us. stand up for working families. that is what i plan to do. thank you, mr. president i yield the floor.

correct thank you, mr. president. i come today to explain my vote yesterday for voting against the motion to proceed on this bill. happy monday. i will explain in a moment. i will explain in a moment. thank you for being here. it is a monday and i will be a little short today as the president is beginning some

signings at the white house and the oval office. we do now to compete so forgive me in that regard. i do have a few announcements for you here and we will start. president trump and secretary state marco rubio continued to deliver on this administration vision of peace through strength resolute diplomacy backed by principled leadership. on june 27 secretary rubio undersecretary allison hooker senior advisor hosted ministerial signing of a landmark peace agreement between the democratic republic of the congo and the republic of rwanda. the agreement marks a historic milestone for the great lakes region. bringing an end to a 30 year war. the united states in coordination with the african union, will continue supporting full implementation of this company is a peace deal to pave the way for mutual prosperity. tomorrow secretary rubio will welcome his quad counterparts from australia india and japan

to washington to re- affirm our shared commitment to free and open end of pacific trade this ministerial reinforces our joint resolve to defend his sovereignty strengthen regional maritime security build resilient supply chain. and as you may know today president trump will issue a new executive order lifting u.s. sanctions on syria reaffirming its belief the syrian people deserve a future of safety and prosperity. this policy reflects the president's conviction american leadership can unlock new paths to regional stability. finally the department middle east task force ended its activities on friday june 27. u.s. embassies and consulates throughout the region are open providing routine and emergency services. the department continues to share information and updates with u.s. citizens affected by the conflict. as of today we have sent nearly 100 security alerts since the onset of the crisis additionally

a total of 16 fights departed israel with over 650 u.s. citizens and lawful residents and their accompanying immediate family members. we are grateful to our partners in the region particularly greece, italy and cyprus for welcoming u.s. citizens on these assisted departure flights into our partners in qatar and around the world. it's a good thing to be able to say that she would not welcome your questions. all right yes mira not that you ever have anything on your mind at. [laughter] let's do it. >> thank you. a couple of questions. oner, on israel is going to ask about syria but get to it later. last week reported israel's military advocate general has ordered an investigation into possible war crimes over allegations of israeli forces is

deliberately file that palestinian civilians near gaza distribution center. and today the ministry acknowledged palestinian civilians were harmed at least theseaid dissipation centers. i am wondering in light of these assessments at the administration is going to allocate that money? >> well, i think the answer to that is certainly no. what we expected the idf and israel have announced they are of course investigating certain incidents. it is a good time for a reminder here that hamas is responsible for the current situation in gaza. they initiated the attack on october 7. they refused to lay down their arms are the remains of two americans. use violence interfere with aid deliveries to the people of gaza who are dire need of food and aid. in the meantime i think we have

to recognize of course this remains a war zone effectively there are four sites working. we are coming up to about 51 million meals distributed. it is certainly not easy. there are efforts on the ground to those do not want to be a success. the people of gaza miserable for decades now. this a key unlocking door to a better future. it's a new approach for gaza there is demand understandably for aid to get in that dhf is doing that. we also of course decry loss of life and the violence that continues. that's we do we continue to work for cease-fire as well. >> and complete understand their concerned about this.

perhaps administration is thinking about talking to ghs? to risk mitigation? >> i will not get into the details of the conversations or had. they continue on. were still working there is a potential for cease-fire clearly it has been may be a little over a week american power in donald trump's leadership has changed their still more to do. the appropriate thing investigating certain allegations. we certainly, like everyone else will be watching that. and at the same time there are people on the ground want to disrupt and disturb the success of this because of this industrial complex that has allow this to go on for decades.

we are working to get aid in still working for the cease-fire. still hoping to make the difference for gaza and of course our action and the issues with a rod speak to our commitment to changing the middle east so people can live in peace. andrea mitchell. >> thank you very much a related follow-up. acknowledging hamas on october 7. under still holding hostages. witness the october 7 the idf but the video which is perfectly disturbing. acknowledging all of that. how does the president aspirations for a cease-fire has been changed? how is that affected by the israeli strikes in gaza?

are there conversations? >> i would caution reports from the area that we in fact honor the fact there are investigations and wait for actual facts that i think will be very useful. again at the same time we have arethe president has an excellet relationship with beebe netanyahu and fax who made a commitment he has from the beginning of this administration to change that environment. that commitment remains. certainly we know the story 51 million meals have been distributed through the region, through gaza but we have the president's call for new ideas that is part of that. that regional partners are acting on that as well. we know this cannot continue. israel is an ally of ours of course i'm not going to discuss a presumed to know the conversation the president is happening. that is his prerogative. yes, ma'am.

>> is not referring to separate strikes it had been reported in gaza. there are several casualties too. >> again this is a war zone. hamas is not put down their weapons. we had a cease-fire at which they violated and refused to engage in another we continue despite all of that to get another cease-fire. decease arewas broken by hamas. it is a war. to speak about the specific is what israel's doing i would direct you to the israeli government and i think it is important to recognize this is a process that is ongoing. our role and this is to help ease the suffering as much as we can. certainly part of that is going to hopefully get a cease-fire. the present is optimistic. so we will be as well. matt lee maybe has a question? >> yes, i do. >> i want to ask about syria. first i want to hear very, very

briefly too. >> i want to go on and on i don't know. >> my question will be very, very brief. how do you decide when it's okay to speak about revoking someone's visa? because for years and years and years, decades. the mantra has been these records are confidential. situation one entertainer has had his visa revoked very publicly by the deputy secretary it's tweeted by secretary rubio and informed by other officials. so what is the deal with this law reapply unless you don't want to talk about it? >> i cannot speak to the decisions at the time but we do know is a very public dynamic with individuals. we have a very public policy and procedure in process now that we

are discussing regarding national security and how we are handling the visa process. in this particular case of course what you are referring to is the tweet from her deputy secretary that the state department has revoked u.s. visas for the members of bob dylan band and their hateful tirade including leading the crowd and death chance. forward is to glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country. we have stated when it comes to how we vet people if they are te going to be coming here to be helpful, to be nice people to beat great tourists or if they are coming for other reasons every sovereign nation has a right to decide who is going to come to this country. so we have been public about that standard. this was a very public event that violated as you have seen from the deputy secretary's tweets the very basic standard

of the nature of who we want to let into the country. that is our right it's important the american people support us taking care about who comes here. i think his tweets on secretaries language speak for itself. >> at the public facing thing. >> i said in this case that is what has occurred. i think the policy is certainly clear for individuals. but we are thinking about the nature of the policy itself it has been publicly discussed they chose to do so. >> also very briefly on syria. in the next 10 or 15 minutes or so. state department component of what this will do? i know it's treasury and commerce. what happens at the state

department? >> it is sanctions and aspects like that of course belong to the treasury. a lot of people do not know that but they are the ones who manage out the application of what occurs. i will repeat what my colleague karoline said just a little bit ago about this event. the president is going to sign an executive order to terminate u.s. sanctions on. in an effort to promote and support the country's path towards stability and peace. maintaining sanctions on the former president assad. his associates drug traffickers, isis mems and their affiliates and iranian proxies this is an action that the president has promised and shocked the world within saudi arabia. when he first announced the plan is committed to supporting a syria that is stable, united and

at peace with itself. in this particular application this is about the treasury. it is about the white house. and certainly our special envoy ambassador barrick his and now application and work at getting that country back on its feet. right sean? >> yes sir. >> just getting to the decisions members of this administration to the vice president very vocal about free expression saying even if things are hateful there are laws that both prohibit insults that are appropriate what is the difference here? i'm not justifying i'm not supporting. but why is it there's a same time a push. [inaudible]

>> again, this is not about the nature of a concert but it's about our standards of who we let the country but were not telling people what they can sing about or what that kitten say that's not involved here.they obviously felt free to say what they are saying and chanting and they can do that. and we can do what we do. it really is about the issue of national security. about issues of violence. the increase in anti-semitism but its heroism in general. that dynamic the crime in the united states what happened with the open border. the transnational that are here. i dynamic that is ruined american lives that has created cities that are unlivable. every american deserves better they deserve to know they have leadership simple basic law and order respect for the people who

are here. when we think about why you have a visa system which is in part to vet to stop and ask questions is a take that seriously. >> and one other case, hungary which. [inaudible] hundreds of thousands of people there's a view on that you think it's in lb gtq? >> with the vice president or any of us speak about the nature of policy or think what's important regarding freedom of expression. that is our plan what we feel is important to convey in what countries do is their business. events happen all over the world as we know every day which the united states is no comment about. we have nothing to add on this matter. but again it's what countries do

the choices they make with their nation and what citizens do and how they respond to that. >> the u.s. did criticize uk cooks i'm not going to speak to individuals or instances or comments that are made. again we have events that happen all the time all over the world. which might be worth commenting on we do not comment on all of them for very good reason. yes sir. >> recently more than 200 people were slaughtered earlier this month and a series of attacks on christian villages and islamic militants. so thousands were displaced but what's the state doing to address is everything the state can do? >> i cannot speak about what is being discussed now or any kind of diplomatic conversations are planning et cetera.

i went to briefing again on wednesday. which i will be a part of will be briefing on wednesday. let's take that back and find out where that stands in what her plans are. i'll have that for you. the attacks of ukraine larger than ever before. the present on friday addressed he said. [inaudible] the largest ever. >> i'm sorry? [inaudible] [inaudible] >> again i certainly, for obvious reasons refused to characterize the most powerful man of the world to save in this country and the world at this time. i can tell you other things he has had most recently on the 25th he said i consider him,

potent, a person who has been misguided. very surprised i thought we would've had that settled talking about certain issues. he called the other day he said can i help you with iran? i said no, you can help me with the russia. you helped us on with you, russia and also putin's ambition regarding ukraine. i know one thing is he would like to settle he like to get out of this thing it's a mess for him. the present negotiating certainly we've ever had the courage going on. the present is a one person to be able to bring everyone to the table who is willing to talk to everyone. i was the power of their zits at its back in support of the american people again his frustration and lack of

acceptance that have to stop to me people dying a key element for his administration is a key part of the work that is doing is our support for ukraine and the need for the carnage to stop. the decision for the biggest collapse. i am not going to speak to that pet will be do know is about apparently bothers russia is a back nato is strongly returned with the original roots of being a deterrent that is what nato's job has been. it was remarkable we support nato completely are safe

unstable europe being on deterrent this defense spending help them achieve that. so we are excited about that. >> some sources said this week or next week can you update that? >> i cannot speak to any ongoing means or may or may not be coming up. >> they are not favorable. most respond to the statement message?

>> we've always been saying every countries in the hands of his own people and comes to what iran's leadership is saying the president's words and deposition is one that can prevail here. his desire for a round tube into the normal order with countries he continues to be willing to do whatever it wants there's peace in the region. thirty pass out when to wrap it up today. i will see you on wednesday. you know how to reach me here. i think i've got an e-mail thank you everyone. have a great day appreciated.

test. good morning everyone. i am the head of the justice department criminal division. thank you all for joining us today as we announce the largest coordinated healthcare take that in the history of the department

of justice. today it marks a decisive moment and our fight to protect american taxpayers from fraudsters and to defend the integrity of america's healthcare system. we are announcing today charges against 324 defendants for their alleged participation in healthcare fraud schemes involving approximately $14.6 billion in false claims submitted to medicare, medicaid and other healthcare programs. in a take down this large i cannot possibly describe all of the work that went into dismantling each scheme. therefore key points the bear emphasizing. first, let me be clear about what these healthcare fraud schemes mean for every hard-working american family. these criminals did not just steal someone else's money. they stole from you.

every fraudulent claim, every fake billing, every kickback scheme represent the money taken directly from the pockets of american taxpayers who fund these essential programs through their hard work and sacrifice. and when criminals defraud these programs they're not just committing theft. they are driving up our national deficit and threatening the long-term viability of healthcare for seniors, disabled americans and our most vulnerable citizens. this enforcement action is cash as well as luxury vehicles and properties returning real money to american taxpayers into our government healthcare programs. second we are seeing a disturbing trend of transnational criminal organizations engaging in increasingly sophisticated and complex criminal schemes that defraud the american healthcare system. as part of this takedown we've

identified is in charge defendants are burning from russia, eastern europe, pakistan, and other foreign countries these individuals have infiltrator healthcare system to steal american taxpayer dollars. just one example we dismantled a scheme run from russia and eastern europe that strategically bought dozens of medical supply companies in the united states and submitted more than $10 million in fraudulent healthcare claims to medicare. to make matters worse, these perpetrators use the stolen identities of more than 1 million americans spanning all 50 states to perpetrate the scheme and submit these false claims. i am pleased to report federal agents intercepted and arrested key members of that organization at u.s. airports and that u.s./mexico border cutting off their intended escape routes.

the days of transnational criminal organizations using the american healthcare programs as their personal piggy bank are over. third, this takedown resulting criminal charges against 74 defendants including medical professionals who fueled america's deadly opioid crisis. with personal profit. these are not isolated instances of poor judgment these are calculated schemes designed to exploit americans struggling with addiction while enriching the very people who were duty-bound to help them heal. we charge pill mill operators who discredit his prescribed unnecessary opens dismantle pharmacies that existed solely to distribute drugs to addicts and dealers. feeding the addiction crisis that has devastated so many american communities. this is not healthcare. it is a staggering breach of

trust. under my leadership the criminal division will prosecute these criminals as aggressively as we would any drug dealer. because that is exactly what they are. fourth, many of the defendants charges part of the state specifically targeted our most vulnerable citizens. elderly americans in nursing homes, individuals with disabilities, those battling serious illnesses and more. for example, our prosecutors charge seven defendants including five medical professionals in connection with approximately $1 billion in fraudulent claims to medicare and other healthcare benefit programs for performing medically unnecessary skin grafts on dying patients as they are seeking to spend their final days with dignity and peace. that conduct is exactly as callous and disturbing as it

sounds. patients and their families trust these providers with their lives. instead of receiving care they became victims of elaborate criminal schemes. today's takedown marks a historic day in addition to the tireless work for fraud this unit this extraordinary effort would not have been possible without law enforcement agencies with me here today. health and human heart services, centers for medicare and medicaid services, federal bureau of investigation and drug enforcement administration. and of course countless partners across the federal, state, local law enforcement communities and dozens of united states attorneys offices. thank you to all who made today possible. now despite these historic achievements we are not resting on our laurels. we are making advancements to stay ahead of the criminals and their illicit schemes.