Protect Medicaid

Floor Speech

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Ms. RIVAS. Mr. Speaker, as we speak, House Republicans are finalizing an extreme budget plan that includes the largest cut to Medicaid in our country's history.

This is an outright assault on the healthcare of nearly 14 million Americans, including over 370,000 people in my district, California's 29th.

Additionally, hospitals like Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar, where over 70 percent of patients rely on Medicaid, will suffer, and services at health centers throughout my district, including El Proyecto del Barrio and Northeast Valley Health Corporation will be cut.

Republicans' attacks on Medicaid means Americans, including millions who are already struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living, will be forced to pay more for healthcare.

Republicans continue to show that they have no plans to make life easier for anyone who is not a billionaire. In fact, while the rest of the country gets sicker and poorer, Republicans are set to give their billionaire donors new tax breaks.

Protecting Medicaid is essential to our communities. That is why House Democrats and I are demanding an up-or-down vote to protect it.

I call on my Republican colleagues to join House Democrats in signing our discharge petition to protect Medicaid for their constituents and healthcare for children, seniors, and the disabled in their district. National Science Foundation

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Ms. RIVAS. Mr. Speaker, this week we should be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the National Science Foundation and the countless investments it has made to propel our country ahead in the technological race.

However, since the start of the Trump-Musk administration, the NSF has been in its crosshairs. In total, Elon Musk, DOGE, and this administration have terminated over 1,400 meritorious grants totaling more than $1 billion in funds.

Some of the projects that these funds would have supported include giving middle school students opportunities to use math and design to address agricultural issues; identifying the use of deepfakes and curbing the spread of misinformation; and supporting and training the next generation of quantum technicians.

Cuts to these programs, and many more, came with no transparency, little communication, and zero accountability.

My colleagues on the Science Committee have repeatedly demanded that the administration answer for their actions, even as recently as this week. Each time we were met with radio silence.

This administration needs to answer for its unprecedented attack and how it wiped out decades of progress for science, including decades of progress for diversifying the STEM workforce.

This week, we should be celebrating the advancements NSF has contributed to over the past 75 years and looking forward to a bright and innovative 75 more years. Instead, we are fighting to save it from the chaotic, reckless, and destructive actions of this administration.

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