One Big Beautiful Bill Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, time flies these days, but it was just over a week ago when the House and the Senate passed what President Trump called the One Big Beautiful Bill, just in time for him to sign it before the deadline that he himself requested of July 4th.

This comes after naysayers and the media said it couldn't be done-- simply, that the Speaker didn't have the votes with the razor-thin margins, and that, here in the Senate, we would not be able to get the majority vote we needed to pass this bill into law. But we did. To all those detractors and Debbie Downers, it looked like this pessimism was completely unwarranted.

Now that the Republicans have proven their critics wrong by accomplishing what they insisted had to be done in order to avoid a tax increase on millions of Americans, our colleagues across the aisle do what they do best, and that is criticize what we have done, which they themselves were unwilling to do. But having offered no positive alternative, all they can do is what they have learned to do, which is to oppose each and every thing that President Trump and Republicans propose.

Ever since the Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law, and even when lawmakers were working hard to make it over the finish line, our Democratic colleagues said that they found political gold in this bill and that this would be the pathway for them to win back the majority in the House of Representatives in 2026. And, of course, the mainstream media have parroted their party line, claiming that this bill will end up being unpopular.

They have done everything from describing this as not the Big Beautiful Bill but as the ``Big Ugly Bill'' and claiming that somehow it benefits only a fraction of the American people at the top 1 percent and accusing us of fiscal irresponsibility, while they claim that somehow the most vulnerable among us have become even more vulnerable. None of these accusations are true.

Of course, again, our Democratic colleagues could have worked with us to pass a bipartisan piece of legislation but chose not to do so. They have no positive policy proposals or vision for what America should be doing. At a time when we are confronting a multitrillion-dollar tax increase, all they can do is criticize and, of course, reflexively oppose each and every thing that President Trump is for.

But I think it is important to point out what we were able to accomplish in this bill and why it was so important that we were successful. This legislation prevents hard-working taxpayers from facing the largest tax hike in American history.

After 4 years of the Biden administration, we saw 40-year-high inflation. The cost of everything has gone up because of massive overspending during the 4 years of the Biden-Harris administration. Taxpayers have already sustained a cut in their standard of living through this hidden tax called inflation. So the last thing they needed or they deserved was a massive tax increase on top of this 40-year-high inflation, where everything, on average, is, let's say, an estimate of 20 percent more expensive than it was before the Biden administration.

In addition to preventing that multitrillion-dollar tax increase, we made these tax provisions permanent, preventing future Congresses from allowing that tax increase to take effect. We also provided additional benefits to working parents by making sure that their child tax credit wasn't cut in half.

And, of course, the President promised no tax on tips and no tax on overtime for millions of middle-class families. We felt it was important--and I know the President did--to keep his promise.

In Texas, the Big Beautiful Bill will save my constituents an average of $3,000 next year. That is real money to most Texas families.

The other allegation by Democrats is that somehow this bill was not fiscally responsible. Well, we are $36 trillion-plus in debt. But, again, here is another example of where our Democratic colleagues have nothing to say about how we address these problems, other than: Let's raise taxes on the American people.

According to the Wall Street Journal, about 62 percent of taxpayers would see their taxes go up if Democrats had their way and the temporary tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had expired.

But it is important for us to begin to chip away at that national debt. I have said, time and time again, that we are spending more money on interest on the national debt than we are on defense, which is an unsustainable trajectory in a very dangerous world. I have been an advocate of looking at ways to trim mandatory spending programs, and the Big Beautiful Bill does just that.

I think what most people don't fully understand, including Members of Congress, is that the Federal Government spends roughly $6.5 trillion a year. We appropriate about a third of that during the appropriations process, but the rest of it is on autopilot. It is mandatory spending programs that Congress does not appropriate on an annual basis. But once we turn it on, it continues until it is changed--usually never-- and it goes up more and more each year with cost-of-living provisions.

Then there is the Tax Code itself, which is used sometimes for what is called tax expenditures. So we needed to look at ways to begin to reform some of the mandatory spending programs, if we were going to have a prayer at reducing the national debt, even by a little, as a first step.

While this bill was not perfect--and, certainly, no piece of legislation ever is--it did make important reforms that will help us bend the curve of our debt trajectory.

For example--and Democrats opposed this--we implemented work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents to receive means-tested programs like Medicaid.

So let's back up a little bit.

Means-tested programs have income requirements. If you go above that threshold, you don't qualify. If you fall below it, you do. But Democrats have succeeded in making sure that able-bodied adults were receiving massive benefits under safety net programs, even though they were able to work and provide for their families and should have been working.

In fact, our healthcare system had gotten so out of whack that more money was going to able-bodied adults than to the disabled, to pregnant women, and to children under the Medicaid Program. Our bill fixed that.

Are work requirements for able-bodied adults some sort of radical conservative or Republican idea? Not if you look at the polling, which says that 62 percent of Americans, which is a bipartisan number, support work requirements for able-bodied adults for means-tested programs.

I am, frankly, surprised it is only 62 percent. It is only common sense that people who can work should work. It is actually better for them. Work provides dignity and a sense of self-worth. The idea that we should continue to subsidize people playing video games, sitting on their couch at home, is beyond the pale. I think, certainly, the American taxpayer deserves better than to spend their hard-earned money on people who can and should be working.

Then I offered an amendment to the Big Beautiful Bill that sort of, I think, cast the position of Democrats versus Republicans in a very clear light. My amendment would have penalized States for giving Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants who were charged or convicted of serious crimes like murder, human trafficking, child abuse, or child pornography. Forty-three Democrats voted against that.

Turning it the other way around, that means 43 Democrats were for providing government benefits to illegal immigrants who were charged or convicted of very serious crimes.

You really can't make this stuff up. It is stranger than fiction.

Our colleagues across the aisle showed their true colors by voting for taxpayers to continue paying for government handouts to folks who shouldn't really be in this country in the first place, but for the open border policies of the Biden administration.

One accusation I find particularly ironic from our friends across the aisle has been this idea that we have somehow added redtape to Medicaid by requiring recipients to verify their eligibility for the program two times a year.

People come in and out of the Medicaid Program based on that means testing, based on their earnings threshold. So checking periodically to make sure that people still qualify strikes me as making good sense.

But when Republicans talk about cutting redtape, we are talking about ways we can get government out of the way of our small businesses and our entrepreneurs so that our economy can grow and so that people can create wealth for themselves and their families and their beneficiaries. We are talking about reducing the government's footprint so that the magic of American innovation can take place, unstifled by unnecessary regulations.

This bill will allow America to return to being the land of opportunity, where hard-working men and women who have a dream for a better life can build a business to support themselves and their families and have something to pass on to the next generation and, at the same time, to provide jobs for people who want to work and provide for their families.

So eligibility verification for those receiving means-tested government benefits is not simply redtape. It is a perfectly reasonable requirement, when someone is receiving a government benefit, to prove that you actually are eligible according to the law.

This will also help us safeguard our safety net for those who are truly among the most vulnerable and to root out waste, fraud, and abuse.

There is no evidence that anything that the bill did or will do will reduce things like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather forecasting. Yet we hear Democrats claiming that somehow this bill is responsible for things like the terrible flooding that occurred in Texas on July 4. There is simply no evidence of that. Yet that doesn't stop them and some of the press from parroting these false claims that some of the provisions of the bill, which was just signed on July 4, somehow had that effect.

Now, our Democratic colleagues are simply unreconciled to the fact that last November, voters gave Republicans a mandate. President Trump won the electoral vote, the popular vote, and every single swing State, and Republicans won the majorities in both Houses--in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. And passing the Big Beautiful Bill was an important step in keeping our promises to the American people and advancing President Trump's legislative agenda.

But there is more. In addition to extending President Trump's tax cuts, a critical part of his campaign was to restore security to the U.S.-Mexico border and to end the rampage of criminal activity that went unchecked during the Biden administration. So in addition to spending reforms and tax cuts, the Big Beautiful Bill made good on his promise--and my promise and the promise of many of us--to take steps to secure our southern border and to protect and to support, once again, law enforcement rather than to make it impossible for them to do their job.

In Texas, Governor Abbott and the State spent billions of dollars on something called Operation Lone Star, which is a fill-the-gap program that the State implemented because the Biden administration refused to secure the border, which is a Federal Government responsibility. And the Federal Government should have funded that effort but did not.

The Big Beautiful Bill includes provisions to reimburse States like Texas for their efforts to do the Federal Government's job but one that the Federal Government simply refused to do under the Biden-Harris administration. I think reimbursement of that funding is only fair, and I am glad the Senate and the House have now made that a provision of this legislation.

This legislation will also fulfill President Trump's pledge to make our cities and streets safe again through provisions that bolster our Nation's border security and law enforcement efforts.

Over at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the Big Beautiful Bill will provide additional funding to hire, retain, and train personnel who will carry out the President's immigration agenda-- something that he was elected on. And people repudiated the position of the Biden-Harris administration, which essentially was one of no controls.

The hard-working men and women in law enforcement at ICE will receive performance and signing bonuses as well as recruitment, hiring, and onboarding costs for those personnel. The bill provides resources for ICE and Federal law enforcement training upgrades as well as fleet modernization. These are important elements of actually enforcing our immigration laws.

It will support enforcement and removal operations so that criminal aliens who entered the country during the Biden administration can be removed.

In addition to the criminals, there are roughly 1\1/2\ million people who have pursued some relief in the form of asylum but have been denied any sort of relief from immigration laws and who have been ordered removed from the country but have simply stayed in the United States and defied being repatriated. Well, that is now going to change under the Trump administration.

Our bill also allocates funding for the Department of Justice to combat drug trafficking and illegal drug use as well as to investigate and prosecute crimes related to illegal immigration.

These provisions will help keep America safer by shoring up law enforcement across the board to right the wrongs of the previous administration.

During the last 4 years, Texas, because of our 1,200-mile common border with Mexico, has particularly suffered under President Biden and DHS Secretary Mayorkas's reckless open border policies. This legislation is an important step in correcting the previous administration's costly and in some cases deadly errors.

Last November, the voters voted to turn the page on the failed policies of the Biden administration, and passing this bill was a critical step in reversing those policies. This bill will put more money in taxpayers' pockets and allow us to avoid the largest tax increase in American history. It will strengthen our border and support law enforcement.

I was disheartened and disappointed but not surprised, frankly, that our Democratic colleagues voted to block the bill, preferring instead-- I assume, since they offered no viable alternative--to foist that large tax increase on the American people, which would have amounted to a $2.6 trillion tax hike on households earning less than $400,000 a year. I am glad they did not prevail, and I am sure those taxpayers agree. Next April, when tax season rolls around, I am confident taxpayers will agree and will be thanking the Grand Old Party for this One Big Beautiful Bill.

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