-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, we are here today just about a month after the longest shutdown in American history. You all remember the 43 days that we went without a fully functioning Federal Government.

Let's remember why that happened. Plain and simple, it was because our Republican colleagues refused to take steps to save healthcare for millions of Americans. In large part--I don't know if it was an individual choice or simply because there was no direction from the White House to come in and do so. All I know is that our Republican colleagues in Congress refused to come to the table, refused to negotiate with Democrats, refused to acknowledge that we were literally weeks away from a crisis that will kick millions of people--millions of Americans--off their health insurance unless Congress acts.

That is the point Democrats are trying to make, and that is the issue we were trying to address during the shutdown because the appropriations process is the opportunity to address a crisis that is right around the corner.

Now, eventually, yes, a handful of my Democratic colleagues took the Republican majority at their word that after voting to reopen government, addressing this spike in healthcare costs was the next order of business.

At the time, I expressed my skepticism to go along with a promise to fix something later from a party that earlier this year enacted the biggest cuts in history to Medicaid. I find it hard to take the word of the Republican majority that they are committed to addressing healthcare costs and to expanding coverage to more Americans when they just kicked 15 million Americans off their insurance.

So, yes, just about a month after this longest shutdown in American history, we now find ourselves 3 weeks away from the expiration of the Affordable Care Act tax credits that so many of us are talking about.

Now, have hope because Democrats are here with a plan. We will ask this body to vote on a straightforward, 3-year extension of these lifesaving subsidies that we all support. The question will be, Are there enough Republicans that will join us in doing so? Keep people on their healthcare, and we can do the policy work and negotiation to address some of the genuine concerns that we have heard about over these last couple of months.

But don't let health coverage lapse for millions of Americans. This isn't a game. We are 3 weeks away from the catastrophic spike of costs in health insurance for so many. Over 20 million Americans are on the verge of seeing their monthly premiums not just increase but skyrocket. Four million Americans could be forced to give up their insurance altogether, including 400,000 in California, my home State.

The increase in premiums mean hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars more monthly--not annually but monthly--for working families, working families who are already having a tough time making ends meet as costs are rising all around them: cost of groceries, cost of energy bills, cost of housing, and now cost of healthcare too?

It is to the point that Americans are having to make these tough-- tough--choices: Do I pay the rent? Do I pay the water bill? Do I pay the light bill? Can I even afford health insurance next year for my family? That is a truly heartbreaking decision that is happening all across the country.

I know you are hearing from your constituents, and I am hearing from mine. I hear from people like Lisa, a single mom from Meadow Valley, CA, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in 1996. Thank God today Lisa is cancer-free, in no small part thanks to her regular checkups and the affordable healthcare plan that she can participate in because of these tax credits.

But in 2026, Lisa isn't just looking after herself and her own health, she is looking after her son. She is a single parent. She is looking after her parents as they are aging. They are now in their eighties, and she is wondering whether this lapse in tax credits might put her necessary treatments out of reach. So I am here not just speaking up, I am here fighting for her.

I hear from people like Lana, a small business owner in Oakland, CA, who has two kids in college--and college isn't cheap--and she says:

It is tough to be in the middle class right now.

Lana is so determined to give her kids a good education, but with less financial aid available--right, don't get me started on what else has been cut by this Republican majority in Congress--for her, it fundamentally means redirecting money that would otherwise go to her retirement plan.

So imagine that, having to choose between investing in your future retirement or your kids' education or your access to healthcare. While the subsidies for the ACA premiums still exist, she is able to make it work. Without those subsidies, she doesn't know what is going to have to go. Do you give up your healthcare? Do you have to start dipping into your retirement, putting your future financial security at risk, or do you give up your kid's dreams of higher education?

Again, that painful choice is the reality for so many families right now, and so I am fighting for them too. But I can go on and on with story after story, example after example. It doesn't have to be this way. That is why Democrats have put forward this serious, tangible plan to avoid this fiscal crisis, this healthcare cost crisis for families across the country.

And the fact of the matter is, our Republican colleagues don't have a serious plan. Look no further than to the fact that it is the eleventh hour now, and they have put forward a proposal that wouldn't lower premiums for a single American. In fact, it would make the problem worse. It would allow the tax credits to expire. It would increase premiums and deductibles for tens of millions of Americans. It will push many people into what may be referred to as the ``bronze plan'' or, in reality, a catastrophic plan, the least comprehensive coverage on the market with sky-high deductibles.

And some of these plans you get a thousand-dollar coupon. That doesn't do a hell of a lot when these drug plans are forcing families to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket before the insurance even kicks in, and it certainly won't protect people from financial ruin when they get truly, truly sick.

But, sadly, it is not surprising. It is not shocking. This is an eleventh-hour proposal idea coming from a party that for 15 years has been talking about repeal and replace--not just attacking the ACA. They vow to repeal and replace. Repeal and replace. No shortage of efforts to repeal the ACA, but in 15 years, they haven't come up with a plan to replace it, certainly not a better plan to replace the ACA.

So let's get real. We know that this will cause hardship, and the hardship and the pain that is so tragic is made worse because we know it is preventable.

So let's vote tomorrow and pass this clean 3-year extension of the ACA tax credits if we are to improve upon the policy and the plans that are in place.

It is not controversial, folks. The overwhelming majority of American people support extending the ACA tax credits and not just supportive of what we are doing, Americans are demanding that we do something about the cost of healthcare and the cost of living overall.

You have seen Trump's approval ratings on the economy, haven't you? I know you are well aware of the election results from last month when an overwhelming majority of Americans cast their ballots rejecting Trump and Republican policies that are putting billionaires over the needs of working families. They are fed up. They are demanding that their government do something to help them get by; to help them survive, in many cases; to address the affordability crunch, a true crisis that Donald Trump dismisses as a ``con job'' and as a ``hoax.''

So here we are on the eve of a truly consequential vote to prevent costs from rising for the American people, to prevent healthcare from becoming out of reach for too many families. Here is our chance as a body to truly do something about that.

So I urge everybody to vote yes, and let's help millions of Americans keep their healthcare come the new year because we know that a ``no'' vote will only rip that care away from millions of families.

The choice, the conscience, couldn't be any more clear.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source