Press Releases

(As prepared for delivery)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m disappointed that even though we are considering some bipartisan bills today, there may have been space for more agreement had we had the opportunity for consultation. And I’m also disappointed because the majority has yet to offer any meaningful solutions to the most pressing issues for the American people.

The Committee meets today for the first time since President Biden successfully staved off the Republicans’ manufactured default crisis. Thankfully, Democrats prevented their most draconian cuts, and spared not only Medicaid, but also Social Security and Medicare. It was just over a month ago when my colleagues on the other side voted to strip up to 21 million Americans of their Medicaid coverage, disproportionately jeopardizing people of color, rural Americans, and people with disabilities. They also voted to cut the Social Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection’s budgets by 22 percent.

That exercise illustrated that Republicans only want solutions on the backs of the people who make our country what it is: workers. When President Biden suggested closing tax loopholes as a means for deficit reduction, Republicans balked. They are fine pushing the burden to the poorest and the most vulnerable among us, while going to any length to help the wealthiest shield more of their income from its rightful taxation.

Some of these bills under consideration today are benign, but none of them address kitchen table issues. That’s all we did last Congress! We were laser focused on investing in workers and their families, growing the economy from the bottom-up and the middle-out. And the results are historic. More jobs have been created during President Biden’s time in office than any other president has created in a full four-year term. My colleagues spent months hoping for a recession, but you can’t bet against the American worker. 13 million jobs have been created, thanks to our investments.

Getting into the bills under consideration, starting with Social Security. Let’s be clear. Republicans are nervous that the public is coming to understand their deep hostility to Social Security and their unrelenting goal of cutting Americans’ earned benefits.

So, they are hoping to change the topic by taking up these modest, non-controversial bills on identity theft. But they can’t really hide, and they haven’t changed their tune. Just last week, the Speaker called for another closed-door commission to fast-track cuts in Social Security. Passing today’s bills will not take Social Security off Republicans’ chopping block.

For over a decade, Republicans have been sabotaging the Affordable Care Act, and used high deductible health plans and health savings accounts to undermine comprehensive care. What’s under consideration today will do very little for the average American, and a whole lot for those with enough wealth to stash money in a triple tax-preferred HSA. It’s part of their grander plan to shift more burden onto consumers while guaranteeing fewer protections and delivering the most benefit to high-income people.  

If you can’t afford to go to the doctor, you aren’t able to save money in an HSA. But if you’ve got the cash, an HSA is a tax-preferred way to buy a boat one day!

And if there wasn’t enough going on in this markup, they also snuck a tax and trade title in at the last minute. Without any hearings on the topic, Republicans want to rubberstamp rules that encourage airlines to nickel and dime passengers with even more fees, and while they were at it—they threw in an earmark as tribute to Republican Leadership.

Finally, I’m happy to say the quiet part out loud, this markup is a buffer. It’s putting space between “the deficit cut” argument of last week, and the “deficit busting” legislation on the horizon. It won’t protect Social Security, or give families more breathing room, but it’ll kill time before their tax cuts for the wealthy are ready.

With that, I yield back the balance of my time.