Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Republicans Choosing To Move Forward With Their “Big, Ugly Betrayal,” Gutting Healthcare And Good-Paying Jobs All To Give Tax Breaks To Billionaires

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on Senate Republicans choosing to proceed with their disastrous bill, that would slash taxes for billionaires at the cost of programs like SNAP and Medicaid, justifying this move with non-existent, budgetary hocus pocus. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Today, Senate Republicans have to decide, choose the American people or bow down to Donald Trump and his coterie of billionaires.

Because this bill, as we have said for months, steals people’s healthcare, jacks up their electricity bill, take away their jobs—all to pay for tax breaks for billionaires.

All month, Senate Democrats have put this bill on trial in the court of public opinion.

We've exposed how it steals Medicaid from more than sixteen million Americans.

We’ve exposed how it takes away food benefits from millions of hungry kids.

We've exposed how this bill increases the debt by three and a half trillion dollars to bankroll billionaire tax breaks.

We've shown how this bill increases the debt a trillion dollars more than the House bill.

We've shown how this bill cuts Medicaid even more than the House bill.

We've shown how this bill kills climate jobs even more than the House bill.

With every re-write, Senate Republicans have made their bill more extreme, pro-billionaire, and more hostile to people’s healthcare and livelihoods. Why do they do that?

There’s a small group on that side of the aisle, MAGA hard-right wingers who are dictating what's happened, and all the rest of the senators on the Republican side, who know it's wrong, go along.

A small group, they don't represent more than 10% of the American people, but they're dictating what this body does—A: because of the rules we have, a simple majority, but, also B: because our colleagues on the Republican side lack the courage of their convictions to do the right thing for the American people.

It’s outrageous: cutting people’s health care, causing people to get sicker—and to even die—cutting people's healthcare so that it's certain almost that more people will die, just to give tax breaks to billionaires.

It is so destructive for Republicans to pass a bill like this, at a time when people pay more for groceries, when people pay more for rent, pay more for child care, pay more for medication—it makes no sense to reward the billionaire class and special interests at the expense of everyone else.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with being wealthy!

But they don’t need another tax break. And they certainly shouldn’t get a tax break by taking away food from the mouths of hungry children.

How outrageous, how cruel, how mean, how heartless, how uncaring, all to help the billionaires who they're enthralled to.

And no surprise, make no surprise about it, many Republicans themselves don't seem all happy about the bill in front of them.

We all heard what our colleague from North Carolina had to say about this bill.

My guess is about half, maybe even more than half of the Republicans in the Senate totally agree with him. But he had the courage to speak the truth. The backbone to speak the truth. But not our other colleagues.

Senator Tillis spoke candidly. He was of the few truth-tellers on the other side.

The bill devastates his state and will devastate so many others. But make no mistake about it, it will devastate the state of almost every Republican here. And year and month, week after week, month after month, year after year when this bill passes, the destructive detritus will be all over their states, people losing their job, people's costs going up, people not getting healthcare, hungry kids not getting food.

It's a piece of legislation that Senator Tillis can't sell back home. And you won't be able to either, my Republican colleagues.

How can any Senator go home and tell their constituents “I'm sorry! I took away your healthcare! Because I wanted to give tax breaks to billionaires!”

And yet, Republicans are dead-set on walking off a cliff by passing a bill they know will be ruinous to their own constituents.

That’s why Senate Democrats forced this chamber to read the bill cover to cover.

That’s why we debated all day yesterday.

And now it's the Republicans' turn to vote.

Later this morning, very soon, we will begin the vote-a-rama process.

Senate Democrats will bring one amendment after the other, again and again and again, to put Republicans on the record.

We’ll begin this morning, with a motion to appeal the ruling of the chair, to try and reverse Senate Republicans’ brazen attempts to deceive the American people about the true cost of the bill.

Republicans are doing something that has never been done before in the Senate by deploying fake math and budgetary hocus pocus to make it seem like their billionaire giveaways don’t cost anything. That’s obviously outrageous, and it’s absurd the Budget Chair is taking the Senate down this fact-free road.

Every senator will soon have an opportunity to reject this nonsense, and vote for commonsense budgeting - Americans will be watching. 

And later this morning, I will offer a very simple amendment to send this bill back to the Finance Committee so that we can get rid of any provision that raises healthcare costs for families and small businesses to pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

And my colleagues will offer many other amendments here too, and we will see once and for all if Republicans really meant all those nice things they’ve been saying about “strengthening Medicaid “and “protecting middle class families,” or if they were just lying. The American people will find out in a few hours.

Republicans have said that they don't want to cut Medicaid.

Today, we'll give you the chance!

Republicans say they want to prioritize the middle class.

Today we’ll give you the chance!

Our amendments will give Republicans so many chances to defend Medicaid and SNAP and good-paying jobs and clean energy that if they say no they’ll regret it long after this debate is done.

Finally, to my Republican colleagues, let me offer a warning in good faith:

You all know that Donald Trump makes things up.

He has no regard for the truth. When he talks about this bill, he is lying.

When Donald Trump says this bill won’t cut Medicaid, he’s lying.

When he says this bill will grow the economy, he’s lying.

When he says this is the best thing Congress could pass for our country, he’s lying.

So what are my colleagues on the Republican side going to do?

Listen to someone who just makes things up?

Listen to someone who peddles lies and fantasies?

Follow Donald Trump off a political cliff, by passing a bill that will be disastrous for people back home?

Or will my colleagues stand up for the American people?

Stand up to protect healthcare, good-paying jobs, middle class families? The American people will not forget what Republicans do in this chamber today.

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