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Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, we are 3 days into a government shutdown, and we are in the middle of a healthcare crisis entirely of Republicans' making. A new poll shows that nearly 80 percent of Americans--that is 4 in 5--want Republicans to work with us to stop their premiums from doubling.

So what is the holdup? After all, as we speak, health plans are in the middle of locking in massive rate increases, and those notices will be in the mail any day now.

These are two serious issues facing our country. Yet Trump and Republican leaders are refusing to take any of them seriously. On healthcare, they have decided to shut down the government rather than work with us, and they have decided they would rather make up lies about illegal immigrants than to talk about the actual issue at stake: the reality that Republicans are letting premiums more than double.

News flash: Republican areas are actually going to face some of the biggest price jumps if they refuse to save healthcare.

Small businesses are going to take a hit, not to mention farmers. One-quarter of our farmers are covered on the ACA exchanges, so this healthcare crisis is a big concern for them.

Millions of families across the country are about to see their monthly healthcare costs jump by hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, and the Republicans' plan here seems to be, I hope no one notices.

That is out of touch. Maybe a couple thousand dollars here and there seems like no big deal when you take your marching orders from billionaires like Donald Trump, but if Republicans talked to everyday families and fewer rich billionaires, they would understand that the healthcare crisis Republicans are ignoring is going to devastate folks back home.

Millions of people are going to be priced out of their insurance. They will skip their basic healthcare. They will skimp on their medication. They will miss out on lifesaving treatments. It is no exaggeration to say people will die. There is no avoiding that reality, although Republicans seem determined to try.

On the shutdown, Trump and Republican leadership are not taking this seriously. President Trump has made clear that he doesn't see this shutdown as a problem to solve; he sees a shutdown as an opportunity to hurt people. He sees a shutdown as an opening to make good on even more of the awful promises of Project 2025. Trump sees a shutdown as an excuse to harm whoever he wants and do whatever he wants, even and maybe especially if it hurts folks back home.

The Trump administration actually isn't even trying to hide that fact. They are targeting their cuts at blue States, they are talking about canceling Democratic priorities, and they are threatening our constituents if we do not bend the knee.

No one can believe President Trump is serious about ending this shutdown when he is more focused on tweeting out fake sombrero pictures and showing Russ Vought as the Grim Reaper than he is on working on a deal.

No one can believe President Trump seriously cares whether he is hurting everyday Americans when the only thing he is focused on is taking the opportunity to punish the American people with cruel cuts and cruel firings, which don't just hurt Democrats, they hurt his own voters as well.

I should mention that no one can believe Republican leadership is serious about ending the shutdown, either, when Senate Republicans are holding the same vote over and over while refusing to start serious negotiations.

By the way, House Republicans are not even here in town. Instead of talking about addressing healthcare, they are just saying ``wait'' or ``later.'' Democrats have been waiting. We have been trying to save the healthcare tax credits for months. We cannot wait any longer. ``Later'' is too late.

The irony of Republicans telling us to wait on healthcare is as rich as the people they shoveled tax breaks on earlier this year, because, let's not forget, earlier this year, Republicans chose to spend a lot of time here and a lot of effort extending the tax cuts for wealthy CEOs.

Those tax cuts were set to expire at the end of this year, just like the ACA tax credits we are talking about now. What did Republicans do? Did they tell the billionaires to wait? No. Republicans moved Heaven and Earth to save the tax cuts for those billionaires, but now they won't move a muscle to save families from skyrocketing healthcare costs.

Republican leaders can't be bothered. When billionaires have a tax cut expiring at the end of the year, it is all hands on deck for Republican leadership, even if it means throwing working families overboard with a trillion dollars in healthcare cuts families will need to cover out of their own pocket or go without coverage.

But when healthcare is on the brink, when healthcare premiums are being locked in right now--right now--and when they are going to double for our families, Republicans are nowhere to be found. I mean that literally. House Republicans have not been here all week. They are missing in action. They should be rushing back to work on a solution. But Republican leaders seem to be moving in the opposite direction, forcing a vote on the same failed partisan bill for the fourth time.

Mr. President, we are at the table. We want to be here. We want to find a solution. We want to reopen the government. We want to prevent families' costs from skyrocketing. I hope Republicans decide they are ready to join us.

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