Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, let me first thank Richard Neal, the once and future chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, as well as Frank Pallone, Bobby Scott, all my colleagues in government on the Democratic side, and the Republicans who have joined us now to make sure that we extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits which are scheduled to expire at the end of this month.

For months now, Democrats have made clear that we have a broken healthcare system that Republicans continue to destroy. They have exacerbated our healthcare crisis month after month after month, including with the one big, ugly bill, with the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping healthcare away from 14 million Americans.

Hospitals, nursing homes, and community-based health centers are closing all across the country, including in rural America because of the Republican healthcare crisis.

Republicans, Mr. Speaker, continue to attack the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the FDA, and vaccine availability.

Republicans have launched an all-out assault on the healthcare of the American people, and it continues today with this toxic piece of legislation that will rip healthcare away from an additional 4 million people and jam junk health insurance plans down the throats of the American people.

Democrats are strongly opposed to this legislation, and the American people know Republicans have zero credibility on fighting to protect their healthcare.

In this great country of ours, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it should be the case, we believe, that access to high- quality healthcare should not simply be a privilege available only to the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected. Access to high- quality healthcare should be a right available to every single American. That is what House Democrats are continuing to fight hard to achieve.

One of the ways we can make sure that we strive to achieve that principle is to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which are scheduled to expire in 15 days. That means that tens of millions of Americans, working-class Americans, middle-class Americans, people in urban America, rural America, small-town America, suburban America, the heartland of America, Black and Brown communities all throughout America, tens of millions of people, Americans of every stripe, in every region, are about to experience their health insurance premiums increase in some instances by $1,000 or $2,000 per month. That is unacceptable.

Now, we have a bipartisan coalition here in the House of Representatives, at least 218 votes, to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for 3 years, to provide everyday Americans with the certainty they deserve in terms of being able to afford to go see a doctor when they need one.

Mr. Speaker, Republicans need to bring the Affordable Care Act tax credit extension bill to the floor today. Under no circumstances should we leave this Capitol this week before voting on an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax credit bill that we know will pass, that the votes exist, in a bipartisan way, to protect the healthcare of everyday Americans.

House Democrats have made clear we are in this fight until we win this fight, to cancel the cuts, lower the costs, save healthcare, and extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

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