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Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER.

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, another week has passed, and the Trump shutdown drags on because Republicans refuse to work with or even negotiate with Democrats in a serious way to fix the healthcare crisis in America.

Let's be clear. Republicans are demanding something that hasn't happened in previous negotiations. They are saying: Our way or the highway. No negotiation. No Democratic input.

This is a highly partisan bill, and they want us to pass this partisan CR that has zero bipartisan input, zero conversation, and, frankly, zero relief for so many Americans who are afflicted by the healthcare crisis, which grows deeper and deeper, that crisis, each day.

For the last month, the Republican leader's favorite number has been 13. He keeps citing 13 CRs that we passed when I was majority leader. Of course we did. What he fails to mention--I am not sure if he forgets or he is deliberately trying to ignore it--is that those 13 CRs were the product of bipartisan negotiation, of serious conversation. We had to make changes in those bills when our Republican colleagues suggested it. They were in the minority, but they had a right to be heard--a right that has been completely shut out for Democrats under this new Republican majority. It is a new way of doing things, and it has led to the Trump shutdown, aided and abetted by Senate Republicans.

Leader Thune talks about hostages. Yeah. The truth is that the hostages are the American people that the Republican majority and Trump are holding hostage because they won't help them with healthcare.

Americans are demanding that we do something, that we address this healthcare crisis. In terms of extending the ACA tax credits, 90 percent of Americans want them extended, 58 percent of Trump voters want them extended, and that is who is being held hostage by the Republican majority. Those are the unfortunate hostages--the American people and the crisis they face with healthcare.

The ACA crisis is looming over everyone's head. Yet Republicans seem ready to let people's premiums spike by tens of thousands. That is who the hostages are--the American people who need healthcare relief, who are demanding healthcare relief.

I will remind my Republican colleagues that open enrollment is in 2 weeks. That means that in 2 weeks, tens of millions of Americans are going to have to make life-changing decisions. Imagine getting a notice that your insurance is going to go up $15,000 each year, as so many of my constituents and people across America are getting, and having to make the awful, awful decision whether to have healthcare or not and then think: What if my kid gets sick, and I won't have healthcare? Well, what do I do? I can't afford $5- or $10,000 more a year.

That is the position Republicans are putting the American people in. That is the position Donald Trump is putting the American people in. And I don't know if Republicans don't comprehend it. I think they do.

Even when we went to the Oval Office, it seemed, when Leader Jeffries and I told President Trump about it, he was just beginning to understand the depth of the crisis.

But they either don't understand it or they are brutally callous--so interested in tax cuts for the very wealthy that they are willing to just savage healthcare for the American people.

Then a few Republicans, if they want to act on healthcare at all-- many of them don't want to do anything, particularly in the House, where they seem to hold Speaker Johnson in a frightened situation. He is so afraid to do anything about healthcare because his rightwing will attack him. But for those who want to act on healthcare, they think we can wait until the very, very last minute, but the reality is, it will be far too late for the American people, and many of them will be stuck paying outrageous amounts of money.

The vast majority of Americans who have healthcare, who have ACA healthcare and other healthcare, are going to have to make their decisions by November 1, not January 1. Yet, despite this crisis, despite the enormity of the increase in costs that Americans will have to pay for their healthcare, Republicans continue to dig in. They continue to say: We don't want to help on healthcare. We don't want to negotiate with Democrats on healthcare.

They say there is nothing to negotiate.

That has to change soon. It has to for the sake of the American people. Democrats want to reopen the government as soon as possible so people can get back to work, so government services are not interrupted, but we need to fix the ACA premiums right now.

If Republicans fail to act now to lower premiums, the American people will, correctly--wish it didn't have to happen, wish we could solve this--the American people will have to hold the Republicans responsible when they face financial ruin. No Kings Rallies

Mr. President, now on the No Kings rallies, in a few days, millions of Americans in cities and towns, villages, rural areas across the country will exercise one of the most fundamental rights under the Constitution, one of the greatest things about America: exercising the right to peacefully protest, exercising the right to free speech.

This weekend's No Kings rallies will be an affirmation about what America is all about. We are a democracy in America. We have no Kings despite the fact that Trump has even said he wants to become one and is acting in ways that are a threat to our democracy. In America, we do not have dictators, and we cannot allow Presidents to transform the Presidency into some form of dictatorship.

Now more than ever, for that reason, it is vital Americans from one end of the country to the other stand up for our basic freedoms because Donald Trump is eroding our democracy day by day by day.

So this weekend, I encourage Americans everywhere--Americans who love this country, who care about a democracy--I don't care if you are a Democrat or a Republican or Independent, a liberal or a moderate or a conservative--the vast majority of Americans want to preserve this democracy, and the No Kings rally says that in a very strong way, where millions of Americans--millions--will come together to say just that-- that we don't want Kings in America.

I will join the marchers to celebrate what makes this country so great.

I say to my fellow citizens: Do not let Donald Trump or Republicans intimidate you into silence. That is what they want to do. They are afraid of the truth.

Republicans are going apoplectic because Americans are exercising their right to free speech even though some of them--too many of them-- know that Donald Trump is threatening our democracy, and the American people are seeing just that.

That is the theme--the very appropriate theme--of this weekend's rallies: No Kings. No Kings.

So I urge Americans: Speak out. Use your voice. Exercise your rights to free speech.

And, of course, there should be no violence from either side.

I say to Americans: Show the world how much we love this country, how much we love our values, how much we love our democracy and want to preserve it, and don't be afraid. Trump and the Republicans want you to be afraid. They don't like free speech when it is free speech they don't want to hear. But we are not going to let them intimidate us.

For weeks, Republicans have tried to vilify these rallies. They call them the most ridiculous of terms--``Hate America'' rallies. These are love-America rallies. They call them ``terrorist'' rallies. That is just despicable. They are trying to scare people away from their basic right to free speech, but we will not be intimidated. These are not hate rallies, as some of the right wingers try to say; these are save- America rallies, love-America rallies, care-about-America rallies.

Not only is this a right to protest--which we all treasure or have treasured until recently, with this new administration seeming to not want rights to protest or even free speech when they don't agree with it--this is the right thing to do, a necessity when Donald Trump weaponizes the Justice Department to become his attack dog and go after his political enemies; when he attacks the courts; when he intimidates the free press and tries to tell networks they are going to lose their licenses if they say things he doesn't agree with; when people are arrested and put in jail--American citizens--with no real cause and not even identification of who is making the arrest.

I am so proud of Americans who will stand up peacefully. There is nothing--nothing--more American than exercising the right to free speech, especially the right to dissent, especially when our democracy is at risk because of what Trump and his Republican cronies are trying to do.

Remember the last No Kings rally. We saw millions of people--all backgrounds, all corners of the country--gathering peacefully. We saw American flags as far as the eye can see, and that is natural. The American flag stands for free speech. The American flag stands for the right to peacefully protest even if Trump and his cronies don't even understand that or don't want to understand that.

At these rallies, we saw people who love this country; we saw people who want to stand up for American values; we saw people who want to preserve our precious democracy. That, sadly, is what many Republicans want to silence. We will not be silenced.

Donald Trump and many Republicans in Congress are using intimidation, lies, and bully tactics to prevent people from standing up, speaking out, exercising our precious constitutional rights. But I say again to every American out there who wants to participate in these weekend rallies: Do not let Donald Trump or Republicans intimidate you into silence. That is what they want.

That is how dictators evolve--when good people of all different beliefs and backgrounds stay silent. No Kings day says: We will not stay silent.

I say to the American people: Do not be afraid to exercise your right to free speech. Be proud that you are doing it. Do not be afraid to peacefully protest against Donald Trump's eroding of our democracy, and do not be afraid to show how much you love this beautiful democracy--as the Founding Fathers called it, ``God's noble experiment.'' We have to keep this precious democracy. Young Republicans

Mr. President, now on the Young Republicans--another sad chapter in how the Republican Party has devolved over the last few years. It has been 2 days since POLITICO published a horrifying story revealing thousands--thousands--of private messages containing racist, sexist, and violent comments from prominent members of the Young Republicans organization. Yet President Trump and the Republican leadership have remained silent. There is nothing but radio silence from Republican leaders who seem to claim they worry about combating politically violent rhetoric.

The silence from Republican leaders in the face of Hitler jokes and gas chamber jokes is deafening. Where are they? When they don't like somebody who says something on the left, they are the first to criticize. Well, this is one of the nastiest, most vicious things that we have ever seen written--by Young Republicans, no less--and the Republican leadership, including President Trump, is silent.

As I said, Republicans never miss a chance to preach about violent rhetoric when it comes from the other side, and, of course, that should be condemned, but now that it is coming from their own ranks, they are silent.

Some Republicans seem to even excuse this vile behavior. This is amazing. The Vice President of the United States, no less, JD Vance, dismissed the messages as just a college group chat. Can you imagine if it was a group of people on the left saying some things, if he would say the same thing? A college group chat? Does JD Vance really think glorifying Hitler and gas chambers is just a silly joke? Imagine-- imagine--if it came from the other side. We all know that Vance would be losing his mind right now. He would be all over FOX News decrying it. But now, since it is coming from his own ranks, he is just excusing. Despicable. Disgraceful. Shameful.

No matter if you are a Republican or Democrat or in the middle, we all must condemn this nasty behavior and make it clear that this type of vicious rhetoric is unacceptable in America. Gateway

Mr. President, on Gateway, yesterday, President Trump and his administration ``terminated'' funding for Gateway. Gateway is the most important infrastructure project in America, period. It will keep our economy moving, our region connected, tens of thousands of union workers on the job. Donald Trump is trying to kill it again in pure spite and with sheer stupidity. It is petty revenge politics.

Who gets hurt? It is going to screw over hundreds of thousands of New York and New Jersey commuters, choke off our economy, and kill good- paying jobs.

It affects New Jersey. More people use it to commute from New Jersey than from New York. What Trump has done on Gateway is vindictive, reckless, and foolish. And if Donald Trump thinks he can use New Yorkers, use New Jerseyans, commuters, small businesses, union construction workers, and the first responders as political pawns, it will backfire on him spectacularly.

We will fight the President on this in every way to preserve this crucial, vital infrastructure project--crucial and vital to New York, New Jersey, the northeast economy, and the whole American economy.

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