Healthcare is Real

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, the President and the Congressional Republicans have passed a bill, the Big Ugly Bill and signed into law on July 4, 2025 that would cut more than 1.5 trillion dollars toward investing in our families, children, and seniors' healthcare. In addition, purging 15 million Americans from insurance coverage, denying Medicaid and SNAP benefits for the poor and needy and diminishing funds to Medicare for the elderly, the disabled, and the disease individuals who desperately need support to live.

As Americans face a Republican-manufactured health care crisis, skyrocketing costs from Trump's tariffs and a weakening economy, Republicans have refused to extend the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits for working class families, which will expire December 31, 2025. I include in the Record a note from a constituent named Shemeka who captures how devastating the loss of the enhanced tax credits will be for her family.

``I am a single mother with a daughter who has just begun her freshman year of college.

Access to healthcare is absolutely essential to me and my family. I am a full-time employee in the inner city of Chicago where wages are modest, however employer-paid healthcare is not offered. Because of this, we rely on the Marketplace for affordable health coverage. Even with a budget focused solely on basic necessities, we are still struggling to maintain affordable healthcare. The current federal tax credits are what make it possible for us to have even the most basic health insurance, and additional credits are truly needed.

Without these federal tax credits, we would be placed in an extremely vulnerable position. Accessing affordable healthcare would become almost impossible, and the stability of our lives would be at serious risk. These tax credits are not just helpful they are essential. It is unimaginable to consider life without them.

Thank you again for your leadership and for allowing me the opportunity to lift my voice on this critical issue.''

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