OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

Healthcare

Floor Speech

Date: Dec. 2, 2025
Location: Washington, DC

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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on healthcare, let me start with a shockingly candid quote from a senior House Republican on their plan to fix healthcare. This senior House Republican, when it came to healthcare, said about the Republicans in the House:

We're nowhere on healthcare.

That is what a senior House Republican said. It is a grim thing to say, but it is the truth. There has never been a clearer divide on what Democrats want on healthcare and what Republicans want on healthcare.

Democrats want to lower healthcare costs for families. We want to make healthcare cheaper, more effective, more accessible. We are united on that issue from one end of the party to the other.

Republicans, meanwhile, are a total mess when it comes to healthcare. Republicans don't know what to do. One day Trump floats a so-called healthcare plan. The next day, Speaker Johnson forces him to shoot it down.

Some Republicans say they want to dismantle the ACA--probably a majority of them in the House and a large number in the Senate--just dismantle it altogether. Other Republicans seem more focused on eradicating reproductive care in every State than helping people afford healthcare.

The bottom line is, Republicans are in total disarray on healthcare. And while Republicans continue the infighting, who is paying the price? The American people, the people whose premiums are going up by $500 to $1,000 a month. These people know that Trump and the Republicans are to blame.

America, we all know, is in a healthcare crisis, and Republicans are only adding fuel to the fire.

Democrats have been clear from the start: The first step--the first step--to solve this crisis is extending the ACA tax credits. Democrats are ready to do so. We are united, and we are committed to lowering the cost of healthcare.

Republicans, however, by their own admission, are nowhere on healthcare, and that is a disastrous message to send to the American people who are suffering from skyrocketing healthcare costs.

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