[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1499-H1502]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEFENDING SOCIAL SERVICES AND PROGRAMS
(Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mrs.
Ramirez of Illinois was recognized for 30 minutes.)
General Leave
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order hour.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor). Is there objection to the
request of the gentlewoman from Illinois?
There was no objection.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I take to the floor today to raise the
alarm for the people of Illinois' Third Congressional District.
Today, I am standing here for the 197,569 people, including 94,806
children and 22,000 seniors, whose Medicaid is at risk of being taken
from them.
I stand here for the 69,000 people in Illinois-03 who count on SNAP
benefits and could be losing them.
I stand here for the 28,000 people who receive coverage under the
Affordable Care Act and may see their average premium go up by $820 a
year, a 40 percent increase.
Mr. Speaker, the working people of my district rely on Federal
programs and services, and they also rely on the essential
organizations in Illinois-03 that provide federally funded social
programs and services.
Mr. Speaker, I stand for the 11 federally funded health centers with
a presence in Illiois-03 that leverage $78,954,648 in Federal
investments for 624,770 patients.
I also stand here in the people's House for CEDA, which provides
LIHEAP assistance to 179,082 working people in Cook County to weather
extreme temperatures.
I stand here for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center under the
leadership of Jose, the AIDS Foundation, La Casa Norte, and so many in
Illinois-03 serving organizations that meet the needs of our diverse
constituents who are facing uncertainty about Federal funding in this
precise moment.
My colleagues and I are standing here because my Republican
colleagues have bowed down to the whims of an unelected billionaire and
a wannabe dictator. The majority is stealing from the American people
so that Republicans can enrich billionaire bosses and expand their
wealth at the expense of our working families.
Consider that for a moment. The richest man in the world is demanding
cuts in the services that working families rely on. The richest man in
the world, who could be making contributions to end hunger globally,
decides that we should be cutting program services for working
families, many of which my colleagues will talk about today.
Mr. Speaker, as we stand here today in the people's House, I want to
be very clear about something. I will not betray working families by
supporting a budget that harms working families to make the rich
richer. We have to stand up in this precise moment in the people's
House.
Republicans must also stand up to their billionaire bosses and do
what is right, what they were elected to do: represent their
constituents. We must protect and defend the federally funded social
programs and services that the American people rely on.
Mr. Speaker, I will yield to my colleagues who will share about the
programs and services that their constituents rely on and that they
were sent to Congress to defend.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Kennedy).
Mr. KENNEDY of New York. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I recognize
Representative Ramirez for her leadership on this important issue.
I rise today not just as a Member of Congress, but as a healthcare
practitioner. Like so many of my fellow healthcare workers, I became an
occupational therapist to help people. Before entering public office, I
spent over a decade working with seniors and children to help them
achieve independent, full lives.
Last week, the Trump administration made it harder for our healthcare
providers to deliver the services that Americans rely on by terminating
10,000 hardworking members of the Department of Health and Human
Services workforce. Under this administration, a total of 20,000 HHS
employees have been illegally fired, putting Americans at risk every
day.
These cuts do nothing for the people in western New York or anywhere
else across the country. They are a means of giving tax cuts to the
ultrarich and powerful, those who never have to worry about access to
reliable healthcare.
These cuts are more than numbers on a balance sheet. These are lives
that hang in the balance. For western New York, this will make it
harder for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center or the University
of Buffalo to advance their lifesaving work.
These cuts mean delayed treatments, denied cures, stolen hopes from
patients battling cancer, Parkinson's, ALS, Alzheimer's, and so many
other devastating diseases. I felt the pain and hope of patients,
grandparents, mothers, fathers, and children who are counting on the
next clinical breakthrough to survive. These cuts say to them: Your
health doesn't matter. Your life doesn't matter.
President Trump, unelected billionaire Elon Musk, and Secretary
Robert Kennedy are more concerned with cutting services and pushing an
antiscience agenda than they are with supporting and improving our
healthcare system. By walking away from practitioners and patients, the
Trump administration is abdicating its duty to our most vulnerable and
signaling to the world that the United States is no longer the global
leader in scientific research.
As someone who spent years treating patients, I know that abandoning
our scientists, our research institutions, our doctors and nurses, and,
worst of all, our patients puts our entire community and country at
risk.
Mr. Speaker, I urge this body, Democrats and Republicans, to stand up
for our healthcare heroes, invest in breakthroughs that millions of
lives are depending on, and restore the funding and workforce our
Nation's healthcare system depends upon.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Kennedy) for his comments.
Mr. Speaker, I have the opportunity and honor to serve with the
gentleman on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Every day, I see the
work that he does to uphold the work that is necessary to protect the
benefits of our veterans. I am so grateful for the ways that the
gentleman continues to show up for his constituents in New York and for
the entire Nation. It is truly an honor to serve with the gentleman.
Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday, the Speaker saw constituents from
every single State in the country come out to protest and rally. The
Speaker saw children and saw people who are probably closer to 100
years of age walking through streets, going to the parks, and asking
other Members of Congress: Have you forgotten about the people who sent
you to Congress?
Mr. Speaker, I say as we are standing here in the House of
Representatives that New York, Michigan, Texas, and Chicago have
Members of Congress who are unwilling to accept the idea that we would
slash the very same programs that we promised to protect for the
American people.
Today, I am grateful that I get to be here with Members of Congress
not just from New York, but also with a colleague of mine who continues
to ring the alarm for the safety net programs that our constituents
here and in Michigan need and deserve.
Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman
from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).
[[Page H1500]]
Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the leadership of
Congresswoman Ramirez, who has led with her own lived experiences and
her compassion. She leads with compassion, which I think is sometimes
missing here in this Chamber.
Mr. Speaker, Republicans are advancing, as we all know, a budget that
includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for
billionaires. These are folks who do not fully understand what it means
to live paycheck to paycheck. Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of our residents
in our country live paycheck to paycheck.
Just so we are clear, the $880 billion cut to Medicaid is the largest
Medicaid cut in American history. There are 72 million people who rely
on Medicaid for healthcare in our Nation, including 40 percent of
people in Speaker Johnson's own district.
Mr. Speaker, for families, seniors, and people with disabilities who
rely on Medicaid, it is the difference between life and death. Yet,
right now, the future of Medicaid is under threat.
I have heard many of my Republican colleagues in this Chamber try to
gaslight the American people and claim that the budget does not make
cuts to Medicaid. Senator Hawley, as we know, just offered an amendment
to the same legislation right now that came through this Chamber to
strip the $880 billion in Medicaid cuts out of that bill.
It was voted down by Members of his own party. The amendment
literally said: To strike the section related to reconciliation
instructions to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives to cut $880 billion from Medicaid.
The Senator's Republican colleagues in the Senate voted it down, so
let's be honest with the American people. If Republicans are going to
cut their healthcare, be honest about it. Don't gaslight and try to
pretend.
Those who rely on Medicaid aren't just a number. They are our
neighbors. They are our friends. They are our families. They depend on
Medicaid for health services, treatment, and medication that they
simply cannot afford due to our broken healthcare system.
Make no mistake. Republicans want to give away trillions of dollars,
Mr. Speaker, let's be honest, to the richest people in our Nation, like
Elon Musk and all of President Trump's friends, and let children and
seniors die from the lack of healthcare coverage.
As the chair of the Congressional Mamas' Caucus, I need to bring this
to light because this is important when we talk about Medicaid.
Mr. Speaker, Black Maternal Health Week begins on April 11, and
Michigan has one of the highest Black maternal mortality rates in our
Nation. Medicaid plays a critical role in supporting maternal health,
covering a significant portion of births in our country and providing
access to healthcare for pregnant women and postpartum individuals,
including prenatal care and postpartum services.
Black women, we know, are three times more likely to die from
pregnancy-related causes than White women. This is absolutely
unacceptable. We must address it at the Federal level. Yet, here we
are, Mr. Speaker, because we have systems right in place and
institutions have failed our folks, but here we are saying: We are also
going to take away your healthcare coverage.
Cutting Medicaid, again, is going to be a life-or-death situation for
our families, including birthing women. It is a result, of course, we
know, of different broken systems.
Yet, at this moment, when we know we have a crisis in the mortality
rate, we have a crisis of Black maternal health, and we have a crisis
in our healthcare system, it is a broken system. It is sick care, not
healthcare. Here we are watching, again, folks choose billionaires over
the people who elected them.
We must raise our voices, and I am glad and so incredibly happy to be
serving with my sister in service, Representative Ramirez. We must
raise our voices again because we have to defeat this dangerous
Republican budget. Again, our residents deserve better.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of Congresswoman
Tlaib. The gentlewoman is absolutely right. Our constituents do, in
fact, deserve better.
As I go back to the district and I look at the emails and the phone
calls that are coming through, our constituents are asking: What are
you doing to defend me? What are you doing to protect the programs that
we depend on to stay alive? You need to do more.
{time} 1800
One of the things that we have said in our townhalls, on the calls,
on the emails as constituents come to D.C. demanding that we protect
these critical programs is that we have to use every single
opportunity--be in committee, be in the conversations we are having
with colleagues, and every moment we can get to the House floor and
talk about what is at stake in this precise moment.
We have to make sure that everyone hears we are doing everything we
can to protect these critical programs because many of our constituents
in this moment are feeling that they are being gaslighted by the very
same people that they sent to Congress.
It is important to hear from the champions that are taking a stand.
With us today is one of our newer Members of Congress. She is someone
that yields from the great State of Texas where there are champions for
justice who are fighting to protect Social Security, who are fighting
to protect Medicaid, who are fighting to protect the very same programs
that are critical and have made this country great.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Johnson).
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding and hosting this important Special Order hour on a topic that
impacts many of my constituents in north Texas.
Since day one, the Trump administration has targeted essential social
services that make government unreliable for all Americans: veterans,
people with disabilities, seniors, and our children. All of these
people and more rely on government to survive and all President Trump
wants to do is cut, cut, and cut.
Let's call it what it is: It is a full on assault of the most
essential lifelines millions of Americans count on, especially Social
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They are right in the crosshairs of
this administration.
The Trump administration and Republicans in this House are pushing
cuts to the programs that Texans rely on every day. These aren't just
numbers in a budget; they are difference between stability and
catastrophe for hundreds of thousands of my constituents.
In Texas alone, more than 4 million people rely on Medicaid for
healthcare, including half of the children in our State. Let me remind
you, this is a State of 32 million people. Half of the children in our
State rely on Medicaid, one out of every two kids in Texas.
When Trump proposes gutting it, he is not just slashing spending, he
is taking away critical healthcare from children, from seniors in
nursing homes, and people with disabilities who depend on it to
survive.
Today, in the Capitol, one of my dear friends is here visiting who
runs a hospice company. They provide dignity of care to people at the
end of their life. They provide necessary comfort for families as they
are trying to deal with these situations. End of life care is the most
expensive part of our healthcare system. Companies like hospice
companies provide a necessary but much more affordable access to the
end of life with dignity for families, and they rely on Medicaid. They
rely on Medicare to stay in business to help families and so many
people in need.
We still have to talk about Social Security. Over 4 million Texans,
retirees, veterans, widows, and people with disabilities rely on Social
Security to keep the lights on, keep food on the table, and pay their
bills. It is not a luxury; it is a promise this country made to working
people. If you pay in, you can retire with dignity, but Trump's budget
says otherwise.
He is talking about entitlement reform. That is Washington speak for
cuts. Cuts that would hit rural communities, communities of color, and
low-income seniors the hardest.
Let me be crystal clear: Texas already ranks 43rd in the Nation in
access to healthcare. It is a statistic I am not proud of from my
State. We lead
[[Page H1501]]
the Nation in uninsured adults. We also lead the Nation in maternal
mortality and infant mortality, two statistics the Republicans in our
State should be embarrassed of.
Now, Trump and Republicans want to make it worse. It is cruel, it is
reckless, and it is dead wrong.
This isn't about balancing a budget; it is about priorities. Donald
Trump's priorities are tax breaks for his buddies while working
families are told to tighten their belts. We should be expanding care,
not slashing it. We should be protecting retirement security, not
playing games with the futures of people who worked their entire lives.
Texas families are watching and we will not let this administration
destroy the programs that protect our health, our security, and our
basic dignity. I urge my colleagues, especially my Republican
colleagues, you represent the same people I do, hardworking folks
trying to make ends meet, trying to provide a life for their kids.
If you went to your townhalls, you would see people standing up,
speaking out. They don't want this. The people in this country don't
want this. My message to you is that Democrats are standing up. We are
doing everything we can to protect you, your family, and your kids in
the right for safety, justice, and your right to pursue the American
Dream.
Mr. Speaker, Texans and all Americans deserve better.
Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman for her remarks.
She is absolutely right. Our constituents deserve better.
I will talk a little bit about what is at stake. You have heard
already my colleagues talk about Medicaid. You have heard them talk
about Social Security. You have heard them talk about how their
constituents are living in constant fear.
I will talk to you about community health centers, which also are
incorporated in the Medicaid funding that my colleagues, the
Republicans, want to slash. I will start by saying to you
unapologetically and very loudly that I believe to my core that
healthcare is a human right.
No one should have to choose between getting the care they need,
accessing their medication, or paying their mortgage, but I can tell
you from personal experience growing up in a family where the insurance
company they pay into constantly makes it difficult for them to be able
to get healthcare. Knowing that my mom and dad have had to choose
often, do they get the medication, or do they pay for the mortgage?
You see, my parents worked their lives in this country and my father
today has Medicare and my mother up until a year ago had Medicaid
because, unfortunately, the wages that she worked were not large
enough, were not equitable enough. They weren't living wages, but the
Medicaid system that we have that we know isn't working for everyone,
that we should be expanding, not cutting, made it difficult for my mom
to continue to get Medicaid.
I think about the challenges and the struggles that so many American
people are living here. I will tell you that in the short tenure, we
have seen that this administration has not talked about making Medicaid
better. What they are talking about is cutting Medicaid. What they are
talking about is announcing executive orders that target immigrants and
the social service providers that work in strong immigrant communities.
Immigrants that, by the way, pay into Medicaid that they never get.
What they are doing is undermining local governments and local
agencies who know best what their communities need. You see, community
health centers exist to serve an entire community, regardless of their
income, regardless of insurance status, and regardless of immigration
status. Many of the services they provide, like emergency care, like
vaccinations, and public health outreach serve the public good.
Providing these services broadly in our communities keep us all
healthy.
Community health centers also make a profound economic impact on our
communities, creating jobs, not taking jobs like this administration is
doing, over 340,000 jobs and generating $118.4 billion in local
economic activity.
Republicans have chosen to defund healthcare so that they can provide
their billionaire bosses with more tax breaks. They want you to go
without healthcare so the top 1 percent of Americans can get a $314,000
tax cut.
Let me say that again. They don't think that you deserve healthcare.
They want to take your healthcare away, frankly, let you die, so that
their billionaire bosses can get $314,000 in tax cuts. That is what
they want to do. They claim to care for working people and our economy,
but their actions show us just how terrible and in your face their
hypocrisy really is.
There are no other words for those who knowingly would put tax
benefits for the wealthiest Americans over the working families who
depend on Medicaid for their basic healthcare.
In Illinois, 772,233 adults are enrolled in the ACA Medicaid
Expansion. If Republicans cut Medicaid, these constituents would lose
their healthcare. We have the obligation to remain defiant in our
position that everyone independent of citizenship status, ZIP Code, or
age has a right to a dignified, healthy life.
Now is the moment to remain united in our commitment to healthcare
for all, courageous in our resistance, and undeterred in our fight
against this administration's authoritarian agenda.
Mr. Speaker, I will talk to you about immigrants because apparently
my colleagues here do everything they possibly can to vilify them every
single day. It is almost as if they forgot that their grandparents also
crossed borders and shores to get here, but let me say to you, you may
have forgotten your roots, you may have forgotten that your parents or
your grandparents or your great-grandparents were immigrants, but I
haven't.
I am the proud daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, the wife of Boris,
who until recently, was a DACA recipient, and I am the niece of a man
who has contributed to this country and paid taxes for more than 30
years and put four boys through college.
This body considers, once again, a budget that leaves working people
behind. I will for a moment talk about immigration and our economy
because what these colleagues of mine, the Republicans, will tell you
is that immigrants are taking from the American people. Immigrants are
taking your jobs. Immigrants are taking your housing. They are taking,
taking, taking, so let me clarify facts here.
The reality is that Republicans are pushing for a billionaire budget
that gives $4.5 billion in tax breaks to the ultrawealthy like Elon
Musk and Jeff Bezos, while cutting trillions of dollars in programs
like Medicaid and SNAP. That is not immigrants doing that. That is
Republicans doing that.
Republicans have the audacity to tell us that they are doing all
these cuts because we are broke. Well, Mr. Speaker, like I said to
Chairman Green in the Homeland Security Committee, we wouldn't be broke
if the ultrawealthy would pay their fair share.
Fair taxing could fund a budget that centers working families. It
could fix our tax system. It could create opportunity for policies that
work for working people. Let me also say to you, immigration reform
could unleash the full economic power of our immigrant communities to
fully participate in a fair tax system.
Undocumented immigrants paid $96.7 billion in State, local, and
Federal taxes in 2022. Mr. Speaker, $96.7 billion is what they paid.
On top of that, undocumented immigrants pay an average rate of 5.27
percent in Federal taxes. That is a rate higher than most of the United
States' wealthiest billionaires or megacorporations. Yet, while
Republicans give another billion-dollar company another tax break, they
are telling us that it is immigrants who are taking from the community
and from the people. Well, that is a lie.
It is a lie because we understand that 23.6 percent of all
entrepreneurs are immigrants. Some undocumented, some are legal
permanent residents, and some are naturalized citizens. Mr. Speaker,
$1.7 trillion in spending power is what immigrants bring to this
economy.
Every time they tell you that immigrants are taking from us, let me
be very clear: Immigrants contribute every single day.
[[Page H1502]]
As I am wrapping up, I will say that there are many reasons to be
concerned, but it is also important to remember that there are reasons
to celebrate. I will take a moment to recognize a reason to celebrate.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 111th anniversary of the
Village of Elmwood Park and to celebrate the 25,500 Illinois' Third
Congressional District constituents who call this village home.
Elmwood Park is a wonderful place to live, to shop, and to do
business. They have built unique intergovernmental and cross-sector
partnerships, and I am proud that our commitment and collaboration with
President Saviano, Village Manager Volpe, and Senators Durbin and
Duckworth have secured $13.1 million for a transformative project that
included grade crossing improvements to enhance resident safety in
Elmwood Park.
I thank all the hardworking employees of the village whose public
service enables residents to access critical services and programs. I
remain committed to continuing to deliver the resources our communities
need to improve public safety, create well-paying jobs, and expand
economic opportunity for Elmwood Park and across Illinois' Third
Congressional District.
Mr. Speaker, I congratulate Elmwood Park for these 111 years of
community. I look forward to many more years of partnership and to
continue to fight in the Halls of Congress for every constituent in my
district.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________