Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
After two months apart, it’s nice to see the whole Committee meet together again. There is certainly a lot of work in front of us to meet the needs of the American people, combat the Republican affordability crisis, keep their health care costs low, and deliver good jobs, higher wages, and better, easier lives.
The American people have made it clear that the Republican agenda isn’t delivering for them. Month after month, the President’s trade war has driven prices through the roof, his policies are choking economic growth and hiring, and his disregard for the people’s health care has families scrambling as they look to fork over hundreds or thousands more, or forego coverage altogether. Republicans have enabled and rubberstamped this crisis all the way, showering the ultra-wealthy with cash as families squeeze from the pain of higher costs. And the President? He’s made it known he couldn’t care less. In fact, I haven’t heard a thing from the other side since the President lashed out at struggling Americans, deflecting their affordability fears as a ‘Democrat scam.’
This is the only Administration that has had to continuously create relief valves for their own policies. A $12 billion bailout for farmers buckling under the weight of a needless and illegal trade war? Has any Republican considered that this Committee, this Congress, should perhaps reassert its own Constitutional authority and mitigate the need for these bailouts with a vote to end the tariffs? These price hikes could be reversed with a single vote in this body!
We’re just weeks away from Republicans allowing the Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits to expire. Let’s be clear about the success of those credits: they put thousands of dollars back into people’s pockets and led to record enrollment in the marketplace. More Americans than ever are covered thanks to these Democrat investments that didn’t earn a single Republican vote. With the loss of these investments looming, I was hoping that with this markup today, we’d finally see the Republican plan to protect these cost saving measures. I hoped that maybe we’d finally consider the ever-evasive Republican plan on health care they’ve been promising for 15 years. That we’d get to see what Speaker Johnson has said over the last few weeks Republicans have been “working around the clock” on.
Unfortunately, the wait continues. Republicans found a way to squeeze tax relief into today’s markup, but not to keep premiums down or help families struggling with rising costs. Not content with cutting taxes on guns as part of their Big, Ugly, Law, they’re now pushing a bill to ease taxes on tasers. Imagine if Republicans showed even a fraction of that urgency when it came to lowering costs for families. Instead, with millions about to lose their health care, with every American paying for the President’s tariffs this holiday season and beyond, Republicans are only offering to stall, distract, and run out the clock.
They’ll move heaven and earth for tax cuts for the wealthy, but when it comes to governing for the American people, they come up empty every single time. The American people deserve better than that.
With that, I yield back.
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