Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2025
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I should be quite clear about what this is really about. This budget represents a Republican betrayal of the middle class, and I am proud to rise to oppose it.
Here is what is at stake. My friends on the other side of the aisle want to deliver $4.5 trillion of tax cuts, almost all of which go to the richest 1 percent of Americans. How do they pay for it? How do they pay for that $4.5 trillion in tax cuts?
First, at least $880 billion is from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Those cuts from Medicaid, by the way, represent the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history. Seventy-two million Americans get their healthcare from Medicaid. I am mostly talking about seniors, children, and those with disabilities. Another 20 million Americans get their healthcare from the ACA. Combined, I am talking about 92 million Americans whose healthcare is at risk. Why? All to deliver tax cuts to billionaires.
Now, we have a math problem because even with the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, we don't get anywhere close to $4.5 trillion. How do they finance the rest of it? We have more cuts, hundreds of billions more in cuts to education programs like school lunches, Head Start, and student loan repayment. There are also $230 billion in cuts to nutrition assistance at a time when grocery prices are at record highs.
All told, that gets you to at least $1.5 trillion. Remember, the size of the tax cuts is $4.5 trillion, and they want to add some more spending on top of that. What do they do to make up the difference? Increase the national debt by $4 trillion, a massive increase to our national debt from the same crowd that for the last 4 years has done nothing but shed crocodile tears about the size of our national debt.
Mr. Chair, you can always tell when there is a Democrat in the White House because that is when the other side cares about the size of the national debt, but when there is a Republican President, a Republican House, a Republican Senate, the top priority is always tax cuts for the top 1 percent.
A budget isn't just numbers on a spreadsheet. It is a reflection of our values. It is a reflection of what kind of country we are and want to be.
This past November, there was a lot of campaigning going on around this country, and especially in my State, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. After all, we are the biggest battleground State in the Nation. A lot of promises were made on both sides. A lot of it was about reducing costs for ordinary Americans.
Not once, ever, in that campaign did I ever hear the other side say: We are going to cut Medicaid to the tune of $880 billion, the biggest cuts to Medicaid in American history. In fact, we have a President who said: I will love and cherish Medicaid. Then a few hours later, he endorsed the House Republican plan that slashes Medicaid to the tune of $880 billion. When this President promises to love and cherish something, watch your wallets.
I think the American people are going to figure out what this is about. It is right there in black and white. The $880 billion I talked about, it is right there in their 58-page resolution. The $4 trillion increase in debt is right there in black and white in their resolution. No amount of spinning will get you away from that simple reality. This is cutting healthcare and all sorts of programs for the American people in order to deliver tax cuts for billionaires who don't need it.
I urge every Member in this House to oppose this reckless and unfair plan.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I would remind my fellow Pennsylvanian that this bill would put 3.1 million people in Pennsylvania at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone), the ranking member of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I would remind the gentleman that this bill would put 2.8 million people in North Carolina at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), the ranking member of the Ways and Means Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, the gentleman from Kansas is right, it is a big, beautiful bill for billionaires. I would also remind the gentleman that this bill would put 410,000 people in his State of Kansas at risk of losing Medicaid.
I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from the Commonwealth of Virginia (Mr. Scott), the ranking member of the Education and Workforce Committee, also a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I remind the gentleman that this bill would put 990,000 people in Oklahoma at risk of losing Medicaid.
Craig), the ranking member of the Agriculture Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would remind the gentleman this bill would put 1.8 million people in the Commonwealth of Virginia at risk of losing Medicaid.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would remind the gentleman that this bill would put 2.4 million people in Michigan at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Speaker, let's be clear. That is what this debate is about. The other side is great at trying to distract you, holding up the shiny object of a few outlandish stories about tens of thousands of dollars to distract you from the trillions of dollars that are at stake. One in three Americans get their healthcare from Medicaid. That is at risk because of this proposal, and don't forget it. We can't allow ourselves to get distracted.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I would remind the gentleman this bill would put 4.2 million people in Texas at risk of losing Medicaid.
Kaptur), a distinguished member and friend from the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from Ohio.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Since the gentleman asked the question, I am happy to answer it. Right there in the bill, $880 billion directed to the Energy and Commerce Committee as a floor to find savings. In other words, for cuts. There is only one place that can come from. Literally, if they cut 100 percent of everything else Energy and Commerce has purview over, it would still leave them hundreds of billions of dollars short. It has to come from Medicaid. It has to come from the ACA premiums because much like when Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he replied: Because that is where the money is.
Likewise, in terms of the Energy and Commerce cuts, the $880 billion has to come from Medicaid because that is the only place you can find $880 billion. Don't be fooled by their rhetorical tricks.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Mrs. Watson Coleman), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN. Mr. Chair, I am standing in opposition. During their campaigns, Donald Trump and my Republican colleagues promised to get to work to lowering prices for the American people. This budget is a betrayal of that promise. It is a betrayal of millions of our children, our parents, and our seniors. It is a betrayal of the one- third of New Jersey children who rely on Medicaid. It is a betrayal of the one-third of new mothers who count on Medicaid for their prenatal care. It is a betrayal of 6 in 10 New Jersey seniors living in nursing homes. It is a rip-off of New Jersey taxpayers as Republicans have prioritized tax cuts for their billionaire donors over the lives of everyday citizens who will suffer under this new budget.
My neighbor, Tom Kean, has over 70,000 Medicaid recipients, including over 27,000 children. Does Congressman Van Drew from New Jersey know a vote for this budget means abandoning 177,000 of his residents for the billionaire class? Does Congressman Chris Smith know that there are 178,000 Medicaid recipients in his district, including nearly 100,000 children who will be cut and will lose their coverage simply to enrich Trump's billionaire friends?
A few weeks ago, I offered an amendment in the Budget Committee to eliminate these disastrous cuts. Not a single Republican gave me a vote on this issue. Last night, I offered the same amendment to the Rules Committee, and we had the same outcome. There was not one Republican vote. I only hope that there are at least a few of my Republican colleagues today who have the courage and the humanity to stand up for their most vulnerable constituents and to vote ``no.'' I urge a ``no'' vote here.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I remind my friend and fellow Pennsylvanian who just spoke, this resolution would put 3.1 million people in our beloved Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Ms. Plaskett), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I would remind the gentleman that this bill would put 1.3 million people in Missouri at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Escobar), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I would remind the gentleman that this big, beautiful bill for billionaires would put 820,000 people in Arkansas at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries), the Democratic leader of the House and my friend.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I remind the gentleman that this bill would put 950,000 people in Alabama at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Minnesota (Ms. Omar), who is a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I remind the gentleman this bill would put 13.4 million people in California at risk of losing Medicaid.
I further remind my friend, the chair of the Budget Committee, that it was not the Democratic leader's statistic that he was quoting about 83 percent. It was the Congressional Budget Office that found that 83 percent of the 2017 Trump tax cuts go to the richest 1 percent of Americans.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Tonko), who is a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I remind the gentleman that this bill would put 1.8 million Hoosiers at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters), who is the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, the chair of the Budget Committee said something moments ago to the effect of: This is about giving the people their money back.
That is not so. This is about the one in three Americans on Medicaid who are at risk of losing it because what is in this budget plan in black and white are the largest cuts to Medicaid in American history and cuts to other programs like SNAP, school lunches, and Head Start. Why is that? It is to deliver tax cuts, 83 percent of which go to the richest 1 percent of Americans. That is what this plan is about.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), my friend and ranking member of the Appropriations Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from Connecticut.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Ohio is actually right: It is a dangerous world.
Mr. Chairman, do my colleagues know what makes it more dangerous? It is when, under this administration, the United States is voting with Russia and North Korea and Hungary and voting against every single one of our democratic allies. That makes a dangerous world infinitely more dangerous.
Mr. Chairman, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Huffman), my good friend and the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentleman from California.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I wouldn't want to disappoint the gentleman from Michigan, so I am happy to inform him of the accurate number. This bill would put 2.4 million people in Michigan at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Jayapal), a distinguished former member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I will remind the gentleman that this bill would put 340,000 people in Nebraska at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu), a member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, upon hearing that the richest 1 percent of Americans pay 45 percent in taxes, my heart is breaking. I will be sure that at church this Sunday we take up an extra collection, but God knows that the billions of dollars they are about to get in this budget resolution will certainly help line their pockets.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. McGarvey), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I remind the gentleman who just spoke that this bill would put 2.8 million people in North Carolina at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Amo), a distinguished member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, I remind the gentleman this bill would put 2.8 million people in North Carolina at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Moskowitz), a member of the Judiciary Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I remind the gentleman that this resolution would put 13.4 million people in California at risk of losing Medicaid.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Vermont (Ms. Balint), a great member of the Budget Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from Vermont.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I would remind the gentleman, this bill would put 1.2 million people in the Badger State at risk of losing Medicaid.
I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley), a distinguished member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I remind the gentleman that this bill would put 1 million people in South Carolina at risk of losing Medicaid.
I appreciate the previous speaker's candor. He is saying he wants $5 trillion worth of cuts. To quote him, this is only the beginning. I hope that every middle-class American hears that and knows what is coming. By his own words, this is just the beginning. This is bad enough.
What are we talking about? We are talking about $880 billion worth of cuts to Medicaid and the ACA, $230 billion worth of cuts to nutrition programs, $330 billion worth of cuts to student loan programs, Pell grants, Head Start, school lunches, and more. Why? It is all so tax cuts worth $4.5 trillion can go to the richest 1 percent of Americans.
Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New Jersey (Ms. Pou), a wonderful new Member of this body and a distinguished member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Mr. Chair, let me first say before my closing that my good friend and chair of the Budget Committee and I have worked closely together in opposition a lot of the time but actually in agreement some of the time with some real achievements, though not today.
He said something that really interests me. There is this GAO report showing $5 trillion of fraud. I certainly would be interested in seeing that report. The size of the entire budget every year is only $6.5 trillion. How in the world is $5 trillion out of $6.5 trillion really fraud? I find it a little hard to believe.
Mr. Chair, we are at a pivotal moment. I said at the beginning of this debate some 2\1/2\ hours ago that this budget resolution represents the Republican betrayal of the middle class. For the last 2\1/2\ hours, we have heard speaker after speaker on my side expose exactly why that is so.
First and foremost, and I think most crucially, the $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid, the largest cuts in American history to Medicaid, why is that important? It is important because 72 million Americans rely on Medicaid. Another 20 million rely and get their healthcare through the Affordable Care Act. They are also at risk.
We have heard further that, while those are the biggest cuts, there are even more. There are hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to nutrition assistance, school lunch programs, Pell grants, and Head Start. The list goes on and on. Why is that? It is all to deliver $4.5 trillion of tax cuts to the richest 1 percent of Americans.
Let's not forget the fact that in order to cover the rest of the costs of those tax cuts, they are increasing the debt limit by $4 trillion. They like to talk about debt and how horrible it is, but this piece of legislation will make our debt situation far worse.
This is the Republican betrayal of the middle class. Day after day, in my home State of Pennsylvania, candidates from both sides talk about how the number one priority should be to lower costs for Americans. The President made that promise. He said he would do it on day one.
Here we are more than a month in, and there is not one executive order or one bill to lower the costs for the American people. Instead, we have this bill to take money from the middle class and give it to those who need it the least.
Mr. Chair, I am proud to lead the opposition to this Republican betrayal of the middle class. I urge every Member of this House to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source