[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 50 (Thursday, March 21, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2482-S2483]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Republican Study Committee Budget

  Mr. President, on the RSC budget, yesterday, as President Biden 
announced tens of thousands of new jobs to take our country forward, 
House Republicans released a budget plan that would take us backward. 
The Republican Study Committee's fiscal year 2025 budget plan reads 
like a wish list for Donald Trump and the MAGA hard right, and it sure 
is a loser for the American people.

[[Page S2483]]

  Remember, the RSC is hardly a small group. It is made up of over 170 
House Republicans--80 percent--80 percent--of the House Republicans, 
including Speaker Johnson and his entire leadership team. The budget 
plan is the Republican agenda, plain and simple.
  By releasing this budget, the vast majority of House Republicans are 
calling for cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Do you hear that, the 
folks in America? The vast majority of House Republicans want to cut 
Social Security and Medicare. Beware of what they want. They want to 
threaten IVF access. They want to deny healthcare to people with 
preexisting conditions. They want national abortion bans, and they want 
to sabotage any hope of lowering prescription drug costs. The list 
could go on and on.

  The Republican Study Committee plan is cruel; it is fringe--way out 
of line with what most Americans want--but, unfortunately, it is what 
the House Republicans envision for our country. It speaks volumes that, 
on the very same day President Biden and Democrats announced tens of 
thousands of new jobs to increase U.S. microchip production, the 
Republican Study Committee called for over $1.5 trillion in cuts to 
Social Security.
  It is just like former President Donald Trump, who recently said, 
``There is a lot you can do,'' regarding cuts to Social Security.
  The RSC's budget also doubles down on Republican efforts to threaten 
in vitro fertilization access.
  Republicans can pretend all they want to sound moderate on women's 
choice now that they have created so much backlash, but this budget 
plan makes it clear they are the same old anti-choice, anti-woman 
party, and I have no doubt--should they get into power in the House, 
Senate, and Presidency, which I don't think will happen and hope and 
pray won't happen--choice will be clearly at risk.
  That is not all. The RSC's budget would gut the Affordable Care Act 
and CHIP, the Children's Health Insurance Program, which means ripping 
away health coverage for millions of American families and people with 
preexisting conditions. The RSC's budget, of course, includes trillions 
of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthiest few and large corporations, 
leaving working-class people--middle-class families--to pick up the 
tab.
  The Republican agenda released yesterday is dangerous and disastrous 
for America and the American people. The contrast could not be clearer. 
While Democrats invest in the American people, the Republican agenda 
released yesterday is dangerous--disastrous--for the American people.
  I yield the floor.