[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 94 (Wednesday, June 3, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2507-S2508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO SERGEANT ERIC LEVASSEUR
Mrs. MOODY. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a true hero with the
Florida's Finest Award. It is so important that we as Members of
Congress recognize those who bravely step up to serve and in their own
way, whether personally or professionally, preserve our democracy and
preserve this Nation's commitment to the rule of law. Certainly, as the
wife of a law enforcement officer, I have always been so proud to do
this and recognize some of our bravest among our Florida heroes--
Florida law enforcement.
Back in December, Port St. Lucie police sergeant Eric Levasseur--a
27-year veteran of the force--was brutally shot twice in the face when
responding to a residence where a suspect emerged, armed with a rifle,
and opened fired on him. This happened back on December 6. It was a
routine response to a call for help, a call for service. That call
stemmed from a neighbor dispute, and it involved a mental health issue.
Certainly, as police officers are called upon every day to show up in
neighborhoods and answer these calls for service, he had no idea what
awaited him. When Sergeant Levasseur and other officers arrived at the
scene, they encountered an armed male suspect. The police report shows
that when they arrived on scene, this person emerged from the garage,
hoisting a gun and firing shots immediately. He attempted to run at and
flank them--covering them with bullets.
Sergeant Levasseur was struck twice--one bullet near his nose and
another just beneath it. They are one-in-a-million injuries that
narrowly avoided major arteries and brain trauma.
Other officers on scene subdued the suspect, but Sergeant Levasseur's
journey to recovery was just beginning. He underwent five surgeries--
two on his eyes to remove shrapnel and three others on his face. From
the beginning of those recovery efforts, he repeatedly said--again,
this is someone who is a 27-year veteran on the force. He said
repeatedly that he was looking forward to getting back to work to
continue to serve his community, to show up for others when they call
for help.
In March, he was surrounded by family, friends, and fellow officers
when he received a law enforcement Purple Heart from the Port St. Lucie
Police Department for his service.
Since that tragic day, Sergeant Levasseur's courage and sacrifice
have been repeatedly recognized by people throughout his community and
even across our Nation.
Earlier this year, he was honored with a Valor Award from the First
Responders Foundation, which was a fitting tribute to an officer who
demonstrated extraordinary bravery in the face of danger.
Another really meaningful gesture and recognition came from a fellow
American who understood sacrifice in a deeply personal way. A local
veteran in Florida, SSgt Thomas Mateo, chose to present Sergeant
Levasseur with one of his own Purple Heart medals--a distinction that
he earned through his service to our Nation. Mateo had also served in
law enforcement and had earned six Purple Hearts over two deployments
to Vietnam in the 1960s. Two weeks after Sergeant Levasseur was shot in
action, Mateo placed one of his own Purple Hearts in a box and
presented it to St. Lucie police chief Leo Niemczyk to give to Sergeant
Levasseur.
The Purple Heart, as the Presiding Officer knows, is one of our
Nation's most revered symbols of courage and sacrifice. For a veteran
to entrust and present his own medal to Sergeant Levasseur was a
profound recognition of the selflessness he displayed while protecting
his fellow officers and the community he serves.
It takes a very special person to become a law enforcement officer. I
can tell you that, having served as a prosecutor, as a judge, and as
the wife of a law enforcement officer, I have watched those who sign up
and say they will put their safety behind the safety of others. It
takes someone willing to face uncertainty, as was realized here, and
not knowing what ultimately a shift may bring. It takes someone with a
family who will back them to do that. Not everyone is cut out for it.
For those who swear the oath and wear the badge to protect and serve,
we are so grateful for their service and sacrifice.
Sergeant Levasseur's 27 years of service, his courage under fire, and
his determination throughout recovery show that he is truly cut from a
different cloth.
It is my privilege to recognize Sergeant Levasseur today on the
Senate floor with the Florida's Finest Award in recognition by this
Congress and to share my gratitude and appreciation for his dedicated
service to not only his community but to our great, free State of
Florida. It is people like him who truly make Florida the envy of the
Nation and a stronger and safer State.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
TAX CREDITS
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, look at this card. Whoa, talk about
something of convenience. I can go down right now and buy some coffee
and put a chip. Boom, I have got my coffee. The money just goes out
like that.
I can go online to Amazon and order something, click in my number.
Boom, I get that good delivered. It is so easy and so seamless.
Now, this which makes our lives so much better--so much better--can
be perceived as a lifeline for a family struggling to pay their bills
because they can swipe and pay the bill when they don't have the money
in the account to cover with a check.
Now, the problem is, that lifeline can become a noose around the neck
and drag them to the bottom of the ocean--an ocean of debt. This is not
a theoretical.
We know that debt is a major driver of marital problems. They can't
agree on money; the young couple breaks up. They have a child; the
child grows up in a broken home. Money debt can just drive a wedge into
a marriage with generational effects upon how future generations do.
Now, it is convenient, and it is a weight. So let's talk about
whether this is theoretical or not. The typical middle-income family in
our Nation has an average of almost--somewhere around--$10,000 of
credit card debt.
Now, if we are speaking about a family making $80,000 a year, which
is kind of an average income, and they have got $10,000 of credit card
debt, they are not paying off that debt every month. They are sitting
on that, paying 18 to 22 percent in interest. They are the ones who are
suffering with that noose that gets tighter and tighter and tighter.
So where does the debt come from? Some of it is groceries. Some of it
is gasoline. A lot of it is medical expenses.
Somebody who has a health insurance policy with a $6,000 deductible,
they would have to pay 6k. They don't have 6k, and they use their
credit card, and that credit card debt mounts up.
Mr. President, 60 percent of personal bankruptcies have to do with
medical
[[Page S2508]]
bills. Think about that. Nearly half of credit card debt is related to
money spent taking care of a family's medical expenses--half. And then
that leads to that 60 percent personal bankruptcy.
Now, we have got to do something, and Congress can't do it by itself.
The executive branch can't do it by itself. It is something that we
must do together.
Whenever I see the executive branch put out another Executive order,
I kind of smile. Executive orders will be repealed by the next
President of a different party, who will do a word search and, boom,
every one is redone. And the family who thought they were getting
relief gets no relief whatsoever.
It has got to be something that we in Congress do, but we can only
get something done if the executive branch engages.
Now, Mr. President, I am not speaking to you just a second. I am
speaking to President Trump.
Mr. President--Mr. President Trump--get engaged. Mr. President, too
many people have this debt--$10,000 on their credit card, related to
paying, in part, for things such as medical expenses, and they are
going down. That is something that we, Mr. President--you, the
President, and we, as Congress--must engage upon.
And, by the way, Mr. President, I just so much want to work with you
on that. If you invite me to the White House to bring a plan, which I
am about to describe, to work with you to have your impression upon it,
let's do it.
We may have differences. I have no difference with anyone who wants
to truly help the American people and who truly acknowledges that they
are putting expenses on this because they don't have the money in their
banking account, and then they are paying 22 percent in interest.
Mr. President, let's do it together.
Mr. President--Mr. President Trump--your instincts were correct as we
were debating the extension of the enhanced premium tax credits. You
said we should not send money to insurance companies; we should send
them to the patient. I am all with you on that, Mr. President. Right
now, I am all with you because, right now, we are sending taxpayer
money to the insurance companies, and premiums are going up.
The employer is paying more to provide employer-sponsored insurance
for the employee, who is paying higher premiums but the deductibles are
higher.
Hospitals are doing well. Insurance companies are doing really well.
Mr. President Trump, it is the consumer, the patient, the employee at
the firm who is doing poorly. And it is the employer who can't afford
to hire more workers because the employer is putting more and more
money into benefits--not into salary, not into raising wages--into
paying higher premiums to the insurance company.
We can do better than that.
So the idea I have, I call it the MVP Plan--the Money and Value for
Patients Plan. And just like that, Mr. President Trump, you argued in
the debate over the enhanced premium tax cut renewal: Let's give money
to the individual, not to the insurance company, because if you give
money to the insurance company, they take at least 20 percent of it for
profit and overhead.
If you give it to the patient, 100 percent goes to the care they know
they need. It takes power from the bureaucrats and middlemen, and you
give it to the patient.
I am a physician. I learned long ago: You give power to the patient,
and the patient does better. Let's give the power of the purse to the
patient.
And we call it the V because you can have price transparency. And
there are people in the private sector right now coming up with apps,
and you scan your phone: urgent care center near me. It will tell you
where that urgent care center is that is the best value for your
dollar, because they have been able to figure out how much these urgent
care centers charge.
By the way, we are working in the Health Committee, the committee
that I chair, to improve the power of price transparency so the patient
will have even more information.
So money in the pocket with value to the patient--that is the MVP
Plan.
What is happening now? Well, we send money to the insurance company.
As we said earlier, the employer is paying more, the patient is paying
more, and insurance companies are making more money. Indeed, at some
point, it seems like the patient is the excuse for profit for those
providing the care, not the reason for the care in the first place. We
have got to do better by the patient.
Now, in this part, giving money to the patient, we acknowledge that,
right now, the Federal Government heavily subsidizes insurance
premiums. What both the employer pays on behalf of the employee and
what the employee pays toward his or her policy is heavily subsidized
by the Federal Government. We change that subsidy so that money goes
into a health savings account.
And for those who are not familiar with a health savings account, it
is like money in your wallet. You may have a card, but the card pulls
away from your bank account.
And when you go to your phone and say, ``Give me the best place to
take my daughter with an earache,'' and they tell you this place is $50
and that place is $150, you go to the place that charges you $50, you
swipe your card, and it is paid for. It doesn't go on a credit card. It
comes out of your account, but your account has been prefunded by this
mechanism.
This, Mr. President, is a way to give immediate relief to a family
who is currently struggling with the cost of living. We can do this in
this Congress and get it ready for next year. That is what we must do.
And, one more time, instead of putting more money toward an insurance
company, which takes 20 percent for profit and overhead, we are giving
money to the patient so that she can use 100 percent for the care she
needs.
By the way, when we give somebody a policy with a $6,000 deductible
or a $3,000 deductible, families don't have $3,000. That is why they
are putting it on their credit card.
No, this gives them money up front to pay for that upfront expense,
and that is the value in the MVP Plan. We give the power to her, to the
mom, who is taking care of her family. We give her the power of price.
We give her the power of knowing where the most value is.
And, one more time, this echoes what President Trump advocated in the
debate about enhanced premium tax credits.
Mr. Presiding President and President Trump, we can help people from
using this credit card as a financial lifeline, which ultimately drags
them down to death in an ocean of debt into bankruptcy. We can give
them the power.
Mr. President, I stand ready to meet with you or your administration.
Mr. President, let's do it together. If we don't do it together, it
won't be done. If it is not the President and the Congress working
together, we will not save the American people with $10,000 of credit
card debt, on average, going into medical bankruptcy.
Mr. President, show that you care about the people.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Banks). The Senator from West Virginia.
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