Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Republicans’ Historically Dangerous And Radical Reconciliation Bill, Slashing Vital Programs And Raising Unnecessary Costs For American Families

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor after House Republicans passed their dangerously radical tax plan, which upends funding for programs vital to vulnerable populations and American families all to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

A few hours ago, while most Americans were fast asleep, House Republicans rammed their so-called Big Beautiful Bill through the House of Representatives.

In the dead of night, in the hopes that nobody would notice, House Republicans took a bill that was already rotten and made it even worse, to appease the most radical factions of their party.

It will bring deeper, harder, and even faster pain for the American people. It seems the hard-right over there wanted even quicker pain.

It’s truly jarring to watch House Republicans cheer and pat each other on the back while bond markets spiral and working families are left to worry about how they’ll make ends meet.

So this morning, let’s look at a few ways this bill got even worse as it has reached final passage.

We will surely learn more in the coming days, but let me share a few changes Republicans made that Americans deserve to hear.

First, this bill was already the largest cut to Medicaid in American history. But now these cuts have been rushed forward and will happen as soon as next year. 

Moving the timeline up now means hospitals, particularly rural hospitals, have even less time to prepare, and increases the chance that they will close and that hundreds in each county will lose their jobs.  

Up to 14 million Americans are in danger of losing their health insurance. This bill will shut down rural hospitals, community health centers, urgent care clinics, and more. But while hospital beds are closing, Republicans are prioritizing a repeal on tanning bed taxes.

And of course, at the last minute, the anti-choice radicals snuck in a new provision penalizing enrollees in private plans on ACA exchanges covering reproductive care.

Defunding Planned Parenthood wasn’t enough. The radicals got their pitchforks and added a provision to effectively ban every insurance premium on every ACA exchange for covering abortion.

This is catastrophic, and even increases the anti-choice provisions in the bill by a dramatic amount. Nearly 1 in 7 Americans have been insured through the ACA since 2014.

And while our communities get sicker, our kids will get hungrier.

Republicans weren’t satisfied with simply making four million kids go hungry.

They decided they needed to move up the timeline: cuts to SNAP will take effect as soon as next year. That makes it even harder for food pantries to adapt: more chaos, more hunger, and more closures among our food pantries and kitchens that serve the hungry.

Widespread hunger is now on a fast track. Republicans seem to be saying that the average person who needs food gets only $5 a day. A dozen eggs costs more than $5 a day.

And that’s the price Republicans accept so they can cut taxes on the wealthy.

Republicans are stealing from hungry kids, stealing from low income families, to give trillions in tax giveaways to the wealthy. This is not beautiful. It’s ugly. It’s revolting.

As this bill proceeds, perhaps the most dramatic changes that occurred overnight is the surrender of America's clean energy future to China.

Republicans are condemning Americans to higher energy costs and killing hundreds of thousands – even millions – of good-paying jobs.

Last night Republicans did something else too – they added a clean job kill switch.

At the very last minute, Republicans added a provision that says any project that doesn’t break ground within 60 days of this passage will lose the entire tax credit.

That’s getting rid of the tax credit. No project can start in 60 days. That's not how it works. They know that.

Republicans know that the clean energy tax credits are popular. They know the clean energy tax credits will reduce costs for American families. So, instead of saying to kill it outright, they say you must start within 60 days. That is saying kill it outright. Everyone knows that. And I saw that some of the hard-right people from the oil patch states were gloating that clean energy is gone.

It’s one of the most devastating things added at the last minute in this bill, snuck in in the dark of night. And we in the Senate – and I hope our Republican colleagues will join us in this – are going to fight this every step of the way.

Much of the clean energy industry will be dead. As I said, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs will be lost. And China ten years from now will be dictating what happens in our energy markets to our children.

To make matters even worse, of course, the bill also raises taxes on some projects that are already underway.

Donald Trump says he wants America to dominate energy, and then he does this? Taxing energy projects, raising costs for families? Nope. Donald Trump, what you're doing is absolutely stupid and counterproductive. You don't even know what you're doing.

Donald Trump just thinks, oh, clean energy, let's get rid of it. We'll rely on oil, gas, and coal. Well, there ain't enough oil, gas and coal to fuel the world, and it's more expensive to do it, Donald Trump. What the heck are you doing?

This is an American energy kill switch. Jobs vanish and wind manufacturing jobs go to China – the opposite of what the president says he wants – and people's electric bills go up.

America, when your electric bills start going up, talk to Donald Trump, talk to the Republicans in the House, and please talk to Republicans in the Senate and tell them not to move forward on this folly.

Republicans call their bill a tax break, but in reality what they just passed is a price hike and a job killer. Except for China, where it’s a job creator.

China wins, America loses.

In the coming days Americans will take a look Republicans’ Big, Beautiful Bill and discover it gets uglier and uglier the closer they look. The bill hopefully has a doomed future in the Senate.

Donald Trump told House Republicans that voting no on his bill would be the ultimate betrayal.

But the real betrayal this morning was Republicans voting yes – a betrayal of the American people.

Because there is nothing beautiful about the biggest cuts to Medicaid in American history.

Nothing beautiful about cutting SNAP benefits so children go hungry and can't learn or have productive lives.

Senate Democrats will oppose this morally bankrupt bill with every fiber of our being. Every fiber.

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