Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Urging Senate Republicans To Reject Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” That Would Slash Healthcare Coverage And Raise Costs For Millions Of Americans

Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor to urge his Republican colleagues in the Senate to reject Donald Trump’s disastrous tax bill that would slash healthcare coverage and benefits for serval million Americans. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Over the past few days, Donald Trump bent over backward to try and sell his so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill” with a new lie.

He said no one will lose health care coverage.

He says no benefits will be slashed.

He says the bill won’t harm a single recipient.

He is lying.

This is all total nonsense. Senate Republicans need to reject Donald Trump’s snake oil sales pitch.

I implore my Senate Republican colleagues: tread carefully with your “Big, Beautiful Bill.”

If you pass this bill, it won’t be Donald Trump’s soothing words that will be enacted in your states, but rather deep and devastating harm to your constituents. And your constituents, Senate Republicans, will hold you responsible for going along with Donald Trump’s ruse.

If you go down this road, you will take away coverage from kids, from seniors, from parents, from moms.

You will put doctors and nurses out of work. You will put rural hospitals in particular in jeopardy, since they depend on Medicaid, Medicare, and government help to stay going. And they're often the biggest employer in your rural counties, Senate Republicans. They're often the only source of health care.

And when Americans see the ultra-rich getting even richer, they’ll know that it was this nasty bill that made it happen.

Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” is “repeal and replace” by another name.

Here are the facts: under the bill, millions – over 14 million – would lose health care coverage.

And as bad as the bill is, we just got news that it will get even worse.

CBO will announce today that it is not just 14 million people kicked off, but more. Estimates are as high as 15 million.

The Republican bill will kick even more people off health care than we originally thought, not only by attacking Medicaid but by destabilizing the ACA, private insurance, and now even Medicare.

The estimates of how many people will lose their health care coverage goes up and up and up each time we read the fine print.

The closer and closer people look at this bill, the worse and worse it gets.

Tens of millions of Americans who otherwise qualify for health care would be mummified in new red tape, shortened enrollment periods, higher premiums, weaker coverage.

People would fall through the cracks, and get phased out of coverage in the coming years. It’s death by a thousand paper cuts, and that’s no accident: that’s the intention of the Republican bill.

And let’s talk about fraud. Donald Trump says, well, it's just knocking out fraud.

Democrats would love to work with Republicans to eliminate fraud and waste in health care.

But the bill Republicans have right now does not accomplish that. It's aimed at real people – real people who need health care, taking that away.

This “Big, Beautiful Bill” uses the fraud boogeyman as an excuse to kick people out of health care who otherwise qualify – including people with jobs, including people with kids.

The only fraud happening right now is the fraudulent sales pitch coming from Donald Trump and his statement that his plan won’t boot anyone from coverage. That's the fraud here – the fraud of the lies Donald Trump is telling Republicans about this bill, that people won't lose coverage. That is a lie. That is the fraud.

Republicans should know that, and reject this awful “Big, Beautiful Bill” before it’s too late.

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