    [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 2025)]
    [Senate]
    [Page S1023]
    From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                             Budget Reconciliation

      Tomorrow, we are going to begin to consider a budget resolution that
    creates the framework for providing those tax cuts to the very wealthy
    at the expense of all Americans. I serve on the Senate Budget
    Committee, and last week, we had a preview of all of this. We
    considered the budget resolution.
      Those of us on the committee had an opportunity to propose amendments
    that would at least put up guardrails to protect the American people
    from deep cuts to services that are important to them to pay for tax
    cuts for the wealthy. And so I offered a number of those amendments.
    And we will have a chance on this full Senate floor to consider these
    amendments in the coming days.
      One amendment I offered is very straightforward. It says:

           It shall not be in order in the Senate to consider any
         bill, joint resolution, motion, amendment, [or] amendment
         between the Houses . . . that cuts funding to Medicare or
         Medicaid benefits.

      So if there is abuse going on in the Medicare or Medicaid Programs,
    absolutely go for it. But that is not what we are talking about here.
      We said: Don't cut benefits to the American people. We had a vote on
    this in the Senate Budget Committee, and it was party line. Every
    Democratic Senator voted to protect Medicare and Medicaid. Every
    Republican Senator voted against it. I am sure we are going to have a
    chance to vote on this again on the Senate floor.
      I would point out, I think it was this morning or last night,
    President Trump said that Medicaid would not be cut. He said Medicare
    would not be cut. I hope since the time my Republican colleagues voted
    against this in the committee and the vote we will have in the next
    couple of days, we will have a unanimous consent vote on this bill to
    protect Medicare and Medicaid because President Trump just said he has
    absolutely no intention of doing that. Let's see what happens.
      I also offered an amendment in the Budget Committee to make sure that
    Medicare continued to have the authority to negotiate lower drug prices
    for people on Medicare. We had a fight for decades to allow the
    Medicare Program to negotiate lower drug prices for the American
    people. The pharmaceutical companies have fought it tooth and nail, but
    we got it done a few years ago.

      As a result of what we did, this year, Americans on Medicare, seniors
    on Medicare, will have no more than $2,000 of out-of-pocket costs for
    prescription drugs because we finally gave Medicare the authority to
    negotiate drug prices, just like insurance companies have that power.
    Medicare is a big insurance entity in one way. Yet they were prohibited
    by law from negotiating lower drug prices for the Medicare Program and
    the American people.
      But we changed that. We gave them the authority to negotiate those
    lower drug prices. And guess what. It saved the Medicare Program money
    and it saved American seniors money because they now have lower drug
    prices on a couple of classes of drugs and they are continuing to move
    forward on that.
      I had an amendment in the Budget Committee simply to say it shall not
    be in order in the Senate to consider any proposal that undermines and
    undoes and destroys the power of Medicare to negotiate for lower drug
    prices.
      Again, the vote was all Democrats in the Senate Budget Committee
    voting yes to protect the ability of Medicare to negotiate lower drug
    prices. Every Republican Senator voted no.
      I had a couple of other amendments as well. Another one was an
    amendment to prohibit cutting. Again, these are cuts that a lot of us
    don't want to make because they are important to many working families,
    and we certainly don't want to make these cuts to clear the way for tax
    cuts for the very wealthy.
      So I also proposed an amendment that it not be in order to consider
    any legislative vehicle that would cut funding from the National School
    Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. These are very
    important programs to make sure that every child in the classroom has
    the nutrition they need in order to succeed.
      It is pretty basic: Let's make sure every kid in the school has the
    nutritious meal they need simply to sustain themselves and be able to,
    therefore, pay attention to what the teacher is saying rather than pay
    attention to an empty stomach.
      So I thought, surely, our colleagues would agree that we shouldn't
    cut that program to make way for tax cuts for the very wealthy, but,
    unfortunately, the result on the vote was the same. Every Democratic
    Senator voted to prohibit these cuts, and every Republican Senator
    voted to green-light these cuts going forward.
      I know our colleagues will have a chance to vote on this on the
    Senate floor in a couple of days because Senator Hirono and I will be
    offering that amendment.
      Just to close and summarize, it was 30 days ago that just down this
    hall, President Trump was sworn in. He said he was going to usher in a
    great golden age for America. Of course, sitting right behind him were
    the people he was talking about providing a golden age for--Elon Musk,
    already the richest man in the world, and other billionaire tech
    titans. And what we have seen in the 30 days since is that great
    betrayal.
      President Trump is not focused on reducing prices or costs for the
    American people. No, he is focused on implementing the plan that he
    disavowed on the campaign trail--Project 2025. That is what he is
    focused on, the plan he knew would be very unpopular. And what that
    plan does is call for very deep cuts and slashing very important
    services that matter to the American people, including Medicaid, in
    order to make room for tax cuts for the very wealthy.
      So this is what the Elon Musk operation is all about, and it is all
    about the great betrayal. People around the country from all parties
    are waking up to this--not just Democrats, Republicans, Independents,
    people who voted against Donald Trump, and also those who voted for him
    thinking that he was going to deliver on those promises to cut costs--
    only to wake up and realize for the last 30 days that something very
    different is happening in America; that he is slashing and illegally
    slashing all of these important investments for the American people in
    order to take care of those people who were sitting right behind him on
    Inauguration Day--Elon Musk and the billionaires.
      That is a betrayal.
      I yield the floor.
      The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.