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Floor Speech

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Mr. LUJAN. Mr. President, I rise today for every American who is scared--scared about losing their health insurance, scared about making ends meet after the passage of the Republican budget betrayal.

This August, my Republican colleagues are going to have to return home, and they are going to have to face their constituents. Let's see how many of them have the courage to hold townhalls and actually have real conversations with their constituents and take real questions.

I hope my Republican colleagues are ready to explain why they gave the ultrawealthy a $250,000 tax break--you heard that right, a $250,000 tax break--while gutting Medicaid--a gut punch to people who depend on Medicaid to be able to get the care they need for themselves or for their kids, maybe some other loved ones; the same Medicaid which helps cover the births of nearly half of America's children.

I hope my Republican colleagues can answer how they can take from veterans, seniors, and children with disabilities just to hand more money to the top 0.1 percent. The top 0.1 percent--they are the wealthiest people in America. They are the ones who were rewarded with the taking of this money.

Meanwhile, Democrats have been listening to our constituents and hosting townhalls--even in Republican-led States--and fighting back against a law that does nothing for working families and everything for the ultrarich.

Senate Democrats are offering Republicans another chance to reverse the devastating cuts they just passed--cuts that will close rural hospitals and decimate Medicaid because Republicans have turned healthcare into a privilege reserved only for the most wealthy in the country.

That is not the way it has always been. Sixty years ago, Democrats and Republicans on this very floor came together to save seniors living in poverty and Americans who were suffering or dying prematurely because they didn't have health insurance and they couldn't see a doctor. This promise our government made to our Nation has saved millions from illness and undue financial burdens.

Senate Republicans broke that promise to the American people. Senate Democrats know that every American needs healthcare to survive.

Back home in New Mexico, families are learning what this law means for their daily lives. Some are already living their worst fears. They are checking their bank accounts. They are calling their doctors. They are trying to refill prescriptions while they still can.

Moms and dads of very sick kids are wondering how they are going to afford care when these cuts go through. One of those moms is Karisa from Las Vegas, NM. Her daughter Aurora was born with a chromosome 16 disorder. She had to have open-heart surgery. She spent her first year alive on oxygen.

Aurora is a fighter, but without Medicaid, Karisa could never have afforded the surgeries that saved Aurora's life. Because of Medicaid, Aurora isn't just surviving; she is thriving. She is going to birthday parties. She is playing on the playground and dancing to her favorite cartoons. That is what the fight is all about.

As Senators, we have the privilege to represent our constituents, but it comes with the responsibility to ensure that families like Karisa's can focus on healing instead of having to focus on the bills they can't afford.

Look, New Mexicans aren't looking for handouts. They work hard. They care for one another. I know it because I have lived it. When I was a kid, we moved in with my grandparents, Celedon and Nestora Lujan. I didn't understand it then, but I understand it now. We lived together because we had to. Now, don't take that wrong--we were also blessed to. It is how families get by in New Mexico.

Medicaid is not a handout; it is a lifeline. Medicaid is American dignity--the dignity of parents focused on caring for their children, not having to argue with an insurance company; the dignity of a senior not having to choose between medicine and groceries.

Earlier this month, Senate Republicans all voted to gut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.

I mean, heck, some Senate Republicans are now even introducing legislation to roll back the very Medicaid cuts that they voted for on this floor just 3 weeks ago, trying to cover their tracks.

By the way, these same Senate Republicans all said on this Senate floor in one way or another that they promised they were not going to cut Medicaid. Well, I am tired of saying ``Well, it is not completely true'' or ``Oh, well, they misspoke.'' No. They lied. And growing up, my father told me that the coverup is worse than the lie. I hope when they go home, they have the courage to face their constituents.

So, Democrats, we are all standing here today to do what is right. Our bill will restore the Affordable Care Act's premium tax credits, which will bring down costs. It will reverse Republican cuts to Medicaid, remove redtape, and prevent the closures of rural hospitals-- something I think we all agree on.

So I urge my Republican colleagues, vote for your constituents, vote to save our rural hospitals, and vote to restore dignity to every American.

Let's work together and reverse the damage of the Republican budget betrayal.

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