[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 98 (Monday, June 9, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3277-S3279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we are rapidly approaching floor
consideration of our reconciliation bill, and Democrats are melting
down. I am pretty sure the Democrat leader was on the floor every day
last week bemoaning the bill and emphasizing how Democrats are going to
fight with everything they have got. That is right, with everything
they have got. Democrats are going to use every resource at their
disposal to fight against extending tax relief for American families.
They are going to fight against funding to secure our border. They
are going to fight against funding to equip our military. They are
going to fight against unleashing American energy. And they are going
to fight against all our efforts to make America safer, stronger, and
more prosperous.
And I guess it is not that surprising. After all, Democrats' previous
pledges not to raise taxes on anyone not making less than $400,000 a
year often felt a little bit begrudging.
When you are constantly looking to expand government, I guess it
makes sense that you would be more interested in raising taxes than in
allowing Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money.
And if the Biden border crisis taught us anything, it is that
Democrats have, essentially, no interest in securing our borders at
all. And speaking of President Biden, after years of Biden budgets that
deemphasize investing in our military, I guess it is no surprise that
filling the gaps in our readiness is not a Democrat priority.
Democrat hostility to conventional energy is also well-known. And so,
again, I guess it is no surprise that Democrats are opposed to
unleashing America's energy resources. But it is worth thinking about
the essence of what Democrats are endorsing by fighting against this
reconciliation bill.
They are endorsing a $2.6 trillion tax hike on Americans making less
than $400,000 a year--$2.6 trillion. Without our bill, a typical family
of four making $80,000 will be sending an additional $1,700 to Uncle
Sam next year--$1,700. Apparently, Democrats are OK with that.
Democrats are also implicitly endorsing a continuation of President
Biden's lax policies at our border, along with an increasing--and
increasingly dangerous--erosion in our military capabilities.
The Air Force has the smallest fleet in its history, and a large
proportion of that fleet is not mission ready. Our Navy fleet is
already smaller than China's, and without new investment, that problem
will only get worse in the next few years.
And in the defining technologies of tomorrow's wars, space, AI,
hypersonics, and cyber, China is gaining quickly or already has an
edge. On top of that, we are falling seriously behind when it comes to
maintaining an adequate supply of munitions. But none of this--none of
this--seems to matter to Democrats.
In fact, nowhere in the hysteria that they are fomenting over this
bill is any perceptible recognition of the importance of the priorities
our bill is addressing--from securing our border to bolstering our
national defense to preventing a massive tax hike on American families.
Indeed, judging from the Democrat leader's speeches last week,
Democrats' biggest concern right now is ensuring that illegal aliens
and able-bodied adults who refuse to work can stay on Medicaid.
The leader certainly didn't put it that way, of course, but his
obsession with the Medicaid provisions of our bill certainly suggests
it.
I think it is fair to say the Democrats lost last November because
they didn't speak to the concerns of voters who were tired of the Biden
inflation crisis and the Biden border crisis and Democrats' focus on
far-left ideologies.
And judging by Democrats' opposition to our bill and their complete
lack of interest in the issues our bill addresses, I think it is fair
to say the Democrats haven't learned much since.
Americans are looking for the things our bill will provide, from the
economic benefits that will come with continued tax relief to a secure
border and a secure, stable, and affordable energy supply.
Republicans are going to deliver, no matter how hard Democrats fight
to stand in the way.
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 executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. 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.
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, what is the hurry? What is the big hurry
on this Big Beautiful Bill that President Trump wants to see the
Congress pass?
Well, the hurry is to make sure we don't stop and read it. It is
1,000 pages. And as we read it, we discover things included in that
bill that passed the House of Representatives which may not be
appealing to the people across America. The House of Representatives
passed this bill by one vote.
It ends up having a direct impact on many people across this country.
Just imagine this, if you will. They are considering a bill, a tax
bill, that will eliminate health insurance coverage for 16 million
Americans. More people and families will lose health insurance coverage
by virtue of this Big Beautiful Bill than any legislation we have
passed in modern memory. In fact, just the opposite has been true. I
have been here under the Affordable Care Act with President Obama when
we expanded the reach of health insurance. Now, President Trump has us
going in the opposite direction.
Some Republican Senators, like Josh Hawley in my neighboring State of
Missouri, have criticized this because he realizes how many people he
represents count on Medicaid, the basic government program for health
insurance. Senator Hawley says, even as a Republican, he can't support
that provision. No one should support that provision.
If you ever lived in a moment in your life with a sick child--
seriously sick child--and no health insurance, you will never forget
it. I know. I have been there. To think that 16 million families would
lose their health insurance is impossible to imagine.
We received a report from the Congressional Budget Office just last
week. They are neutral. They are not Democrats; they are not
Republicans. They revealed that the Republican proposal would cost 16
million families their health insurance coverage, the biggest cut to
healthcare in American history.
No wonder then that Republicans want to move this bill quickly. They
don't want to talk about the impact it is going to have on the Medicaid
Program. Medicaid, of course, is a program that provides health
insurance based on a person's income. Lower income individuals qualify
for it; those in higher incomes don't.
The facts are coming out now that many of the Republicans in the
House are saying: Well, we didn't read the bill when it went through
there. They have
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a chance to read it now. Republican and Democratic Senators have a
chance to read it here. To make sure that the Senate Republicans don't
make the same mistake as the House, here is a more detailed breakdown.
With this analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, we have new
estimates on how this bill impacts each and every State. Two hundred
ten thousand people in my neighboring State of Missouri, Senator
Hawley's State, could lose their health insurance coverage--210,000. In
Iowa, nearly 100,000 people can lose their health plans. And our
neighbor Indiana, 250,000 Hoosiers could lose the peace of mind that
comes with having health insurance. It is the same story coast-to-
coast: 40,000 people in Maine, 26,000 Alaskans, they are all going to
be victimized.
You say to yourself, What is it that is so compelling that the
Republicans feel they can stand up and tell 16 million people in
America you lose your health insurance? What will they use that money
for? What will they take it to the bank for? For something very basic,
tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America.
Oh, there they go again, Democrats talking about tax cuts. Many of
the Republicans deny that this is going to happen, but the facts are
there. They estimate that the top 0.1 percent of wage earners in
America under the Republican plan that passed the House will get an
annual tax break of $400,000. Republicans quickly add: Go ahead and
tell the rest of the story. Everybody gets a tax break.
OK, let's go down to the other end of the spectrum: $400,000 for 0.1
percent wage earners. What about those making minimum wage? What will
they get as a tax break? Twenty dollars a month. Twenty bucks a month
while the cost of healthcare goes up and the cost of their margins go
up--$20 a month. This, to me, is absolutely indefensible.
Friday, I visited a hospital in Chicago. It is a special hospital. It
is La Rabida, a children's hospital on the South Side of the town right
on Lake Michigan. It is a wonderful hospital. Ninety percent of the
families that bring their children to La Rabida Hospital qualify for
Medicaid. These are families of limited means, and they turn to this
highly professional hospital which has a reputation of caring for the
poorest kids as well as the richest kids. They treat them all the same,
and they treat them well.
When I visited the hospital, they told me a story of one of their
patients. Her name is Leyone. She was born prematurely, 26 weeks. When
she was born, she was only the size of the palm of your hand. She was
given just days to survive. She needed a ventilator, tracheotomy tube,
central line, an IV-like device that brought medicine to her heart, and
much, much more.
Today, Leyone is 4 years old. It is a miracle. Thanks to the
incredible care provided by La Rabida and the love of so many people,
she is here.
Leyone's family was covered by Medicaid, the most highly targeted
program for cuts in this Big Beautiful Bill.
Ninety percent of the patients that come through the doors of La
Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago are on Medicaid.
What is going to happen to that hospital? I will tell you what the
hospitals tell me. Many of them are barely getting by, barely--not just
in the city of Chicago but my downstate areas as well. They came out to
see me 3 weeks ago, 20 hospital administrators from downstate Illinois.
On their own, they wanted to tell me the story that the bill that
passed the House of Representatives--the big beautiful Trump bill, the
tax bill we are talking about here--will be devastating to these
hospitals. Some of them won't survive.
What does it mean to a small- or medium-sized city that is lucky
enough to have a good hospital and lose it? Well, the obvious: If you
need emergency medical care, it is a longer drive. If that baby is
about to be born, it is a longer drive.
When it comes down to treatment, these hospitals provide the first in
urgent care, and if that hospital closes, what happens? Well, it takes
longer to get that care. In addition to that, it also means that a
major part of the local economy is gone--gone. How are you going to
attract a business or keep a business when you lose your hospital? That
is what is at stake here because of the cuts in the Medicaid Program.
So the Trump Big Beautiful Bill is designed to cut the program that
these hospitals rely on most--the Medicaid Program.
Now it turns out that because they add so much to the deficit--
trillions of dollars to the deficit--for this tax cut, you are also
facing the possibility of something called sequestration. What that
means is that there will be less coverage for Medicare.
Medicare is a program created in the 1960s under President Lyndon
Baines Johnson that provides for families who are elderly and need some
help in paying medical bills. It worked miracles. People started living
longer and being healthy and being able to survive. But now they want
to cut back on Medicare as part of sequestration. This would be
devastating to the many people who count on it.
It is not just La Rabida that would face devastating consequences
under these Medicaid cuts; red States and blue States will also suffer.
When you cut $800 billion out of Medicaid, hospitals that are on the
edge close. Already today, 26 rural hospitals in Kansas--26 hospitals
in Kansas--and 9 in Missouri are at risk of immediate closure. This Big
Beautiful Bill could push them over the brink.
According to America's Essential Hospitals, uncompensated care costs
for hospitals will increase by $42 billion in a single year under this
Republican Big Beautiful Bill. For the rural hospitals that are hanging
by a thread, this bill could permanently close their doors.
Hospitals are not the only ones. The Medicaid Program provides for
help in paying the bills of over half of the people who are in nursing
homes. So if your parents or grandparents are in a skilled care
facility or in a nursing home and you are happy with where they are and
you want to keep them there, you have a new challenge. If the Big
Beautiful Bill providing tax cuts for the wealthiest people in America
passes, the compensation to that nursing home will go down. When that
goes down, many of these nursing homes are going to close, and the
choices for someone you love in your family will be limited.
As if an increase in healthcare premiums isn't enough, the cost of
basic goods will skyrocket under this Republican plan. The ``Big
Beautiful Betrayal'' will raise energy bills up to $400 a year for
families and 10 percent for businesses. Remember what I told you the
tax break was for people who are on a basic income in this country--20
bucks a month? Well, it turns out $400 a year, which is dramatically
more than 20 bucks a month, is going to make it even harder. It will
increase costs by hundreds of dollars a year for 80 million households,
all while giving $400,000 to Elon Musk and the wealthiest Americans.
If housing weren't already too expensive, many Americans will see
their mortgages increase by $600 a year. Want to follow your passion
and start a business? Small business loans are estimated to increase
under the Big Beautiful Bill by $1,000 a year. Tariffs are estimated to
raise costs for American households by around $2,500.
If this last election were about the cost of living and giving
families a fighting chance to survive paycheck to paycheck, this bill
is devastating for those who aren't the wealthiest in America. I urge
everyone to learn the facts and know what effect this Republican tax
bill will have on families across my State and others.
This year, for the Fourth of July, the most American thing we can do
is, on a bipartisan basis, stop this disaster. What does it take to say
pause? stop? We don't want to cut Medicaid. We don't want to take
health insurance away from 16 million people. We don't want to see the
expenses of families going up. What does it take? It takes four--four--
Republican Senators who will step up and say: This is a mistake.
Donald Trump is trying to rush us into something which is not good
for American families. It is good for billionaires. If you happen to be
in that category, this is a great day for you. But for ordinary
families who are struggling with their regular bills they have to pay,
the Big Beautiful Bill is a big, beautiful betrayal of American
families.
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