Republican Budget Betrayal

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARBAJAL. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise on behalf of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. A number of members are going to come to provide testimony tonight about what we perceive is a betrayal of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle of the American people with the recently passed budget resolution that really is going to provide tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans in exchange for cuts in vital, essential programs for working- and middle-class families.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand here with my colleagues from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to call out the partisan Republican budget resolution that passed last night for what it is. It is a rip- off of the American people. Their budget proposes reckless spending to support billionaires and make everyday Americans foot the bill.

It cuts over $1 trillion, including $880 billion from Medicaid, in order to partially pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest people.

These tax cuts would not go to help everyday Americans. Instead, they would go to the richest 1 percent.

Apart from that, it also increases the deficit and the national debt to the tune of $4 trillion.

What happened to fiscal responsibility?

This is a betrayal of the American working middle-class families. There are 80 million people in this country who rely on Medicaid. In my district alone, over 236,000 people on Medicaid are at risk of losing their healthcare. This includes nearly 100,000 children and 24,000 seniors.

Not only that, but the budget resolution would also go after the Affordable Care Act again, and it is projected to raise annual health premiums by roughly $1,200 for 20 million people. It would force 7 million Americans to lose their health insurance.

This budget resolution does nothing to deliver on the current needs of the American people. As inflation continues to grow and threats of trade wars persist, the cost of necessities like groceries, childcare, and housing will continue to increase putting a greater burden on American families.

Their budget resolution also earmarks $200 billion to supercharge mass deportations that go beyond violent criminals.

Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, under this plan, we can expect even higher prices for food and goods, and it further worsens our workforce shortages. The reality is that undocumented workers make up 14 percent of construction workers and roughly 42 percent of our agricultural workforce.

Mr. Speaker, instead of helping everyday Americans, the cuts would go to the richest 1 percent. This is a terrible circumstance.

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Mr. CARBAJAL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Espaillat for his remarks.

Before I yield to our next speaker, I wanted to reiterate: Make no mistake, under this plan we can expect even higher prices for food and goods, and it further worsens our workforce shortages.

The reality is that undocumented workers make up 14 percent of construction workers and roughly 42 percent of our agricultural workforce.

Farmworkers help feed our Nation and allow grocery stores to stay stocked with affordable fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, this reality is not what my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want to admit.

On Monday I offered an amendment to the budget resolution so we can move forward the bipartisan Farm Workforce Modernization Act to provide farmworkers with legal status so they can continue to work on our farms in this country.

Not only is this the right thing to do, but providing farmworkers with legal status helps provide stability and keeps our stores stocked with affordable groceries and domestically grown food, also helping American growers.

Instead, the Rules Committee blocked my amendment, and not a single amendment was made in order. We need to do better than this and deliver on lowering costs for the American people.

I call on my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to reconsider this reckless plan that would benefit billionaires at the expense of everyday Americans.

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Mr. CARBAJAL. Randall).

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Mr. CARBAJAL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Washington (Ms. Randall) for her words.

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Mr. CARBAJAL.

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