[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 99 (Wednesday, June 12, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4025-S4026]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Republican Party Platforms

  Mr. President, now on the meeting with Speaker Johnson, later today, 
Senate Republicans will meet with Speaker   Mike Johnson to lay out, as 
has been described, the ``large-scale'' and ``far-reaching'' agenda 
Republicans

[[Page S4026]]

plan for America, should they regain control of government. I will 
spoil the ending right now. If there is one thing Republicans 
absolutely love to do in Congress, it is passing tax giveaways for the 
very wealthy. That is what they plan on talking about today, using 
reconciliation to gut as much of the Democrats' middle-class agenda as 
possible, while passing another round of costly tax breaks that cater 
to wealthy elites.
  I understand that, nowadays, it is tempting to think about elections 
just in terms of personalities, but that is a grave mistake. Look at 
the agendas. Look at what Republicans say they want to do. Republicans 
say their biggest priority, their North Star, is undoing all the things 
that President Biden and we Democrats have passed these past few years, 
while recycling the same Trump tax cuts that proved to be a dud 7 years 
ago.
  Remember 2018? They couldn't even run on these things because 
Democrats had made a strong message that these weren't tax cuts for the 
middle class; these were tax cuts to help benefit the very, very 
wealthy.
  So they are not going to be able to sustain this argument, but their 
rightwing ideologues pushed them in a direction that many of them 
probably know is wrong.
  It also means, if they want to repeal everything the Democrats did, 
it means repealing $35-a-month insulin for people on Medicare. That is 
what Republicans want.
  It means stopping Medicare from negotiating the price of prescription 
drugs. That is what Republicans want too. It is also, by the way, what 
Big Pharma wants.
  It means cutting programs that feed kids during summer breaks; that 
feed seniors, like Meals on Wheels; that fight congestion on our 
streets and pollution in our air. To Republicans, these things are like 
their version of ``greatest hits.''
  It means cutting all the clean energy investments we have passed that 
create good-paying jobs and protect our environments. Republicans are 
in the pocket of Big Oil, which will always oppose efforts to grow 
clean energy.
  And remember what Donald Trump said to oil executives recently at 
Mar-a-Largo: If they back him, he will do as much as possible to repeal 
our climate agenda, starting on day one. So anyone who cares about the 
climate and sees the changing weather and the tornadoes and the 
hurricanes and all the bad weather--the cold waves and the heat waves--
well, our Republican friends want to undo the great progress we have 
made in the IRA and will try to do it in reconciliation. That is a real 
threat.
  Finally, it also means--as much as Republicans try to avoid saying 
it--putting vital programs like Social Security and Medicare on the 
chopping block and telling seniors that the Social Security retirement 
age is going to go up.
  I know Republicans writhe in pain whenever people bring this up. But 
look at the platform released by the Republican Study Committee, which 
covers over 180 House members. And let's not forget, if they keep 
control of the House--which I think they won't, don't believe they 
won't--they are going to set the agenda, and then Senate Republicans, 
even those who know better, will just blindly follow. And they, in the 
Republican Study Committee--180 of the 220-some-odd Republicans--
endorsed not only a national abortion ban but cuts for Social Security 
and Medicare. So that is what they are going to do.
  And who here remembers the campaign platform that our colleague from 
Florida released back in 2022? He is now running for leader over here. 
He thought it was a good idea for Republicans to run on tax hikes for 
the middle class, while putting programs like Social Security and 
Medicare at risk.
  What a shock that this message didn't work with the American people. 
I don't think they are working with the voters of Florida either.
  And speaking of tax cuts, let me add this: According to the 
Washington Post, Republicans not only plan to do another round of 
Trump's tax cuts for the very rich, they want to go even further. They 
want even lower rates for corporations. They want even lower rates for 
those making over a billion dollars a year, while making it easier for 
tax cheats to get away without paying their fair share.
  Donald Trump's message to donors has reportedly been pretty simple: 
Support me. I will get you a sweet tax deal in return.
  Republicans love to claim that they are the party of fiscal 
responsibility, but that goes out the window whenever they start 
salivating over the thought of deep tax cuts for the high-end people in 
America.
  The CBO has pointed out that extending the Trump tax cut alone would 
add a whopping $4\1/2\ trillion to the deficit.
  So you want to cut spending when it comes to feeding kids or 
educating kids or helping kids pay for college? You want to cut the 
deficit, rather, and that is your way of cutting the deficit, by 
cutting money to feed kids or educate kids or to avoid the high cost of 
college? But the deficit doesn't matter when it means tax cuts for the 
very, very wealthy.
  It is utterly callous. When it comes to funding things like nutrition 
or healthcare for kids, they scream and holler that we can't add to the 
deficit. But when it comes to sweeping tax cuts for the ultrarich, 
suddenly, the deficit doesn't matter.
  The old cliche says that ``the more things change, the more they stay 
the same.'' Republicans today have been totally transformed by the cult 
personality of Donald Trump, but if they are given control of the 
government, they will continue to give middle-class Americans the same 
raw deal Republicans have pushed for years: tax giveaways for the 
ultrarich and crumbs for everyone else.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.