[Pages S2958-S2959]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         BUDGET RECONCILIATION

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, let me tell you a story. It is one of the 
oldest in our country. It is the story of the American dream. It is one 
of perseverance, where anyone, regardless of their background or 
circumstances, can achieve success and upward mobility through hard 
work and determination. It means a job that pays a fair wage, a school 
that prepares our kids for a better life, a doctor who sees you when 
you are sick, and a roof over your head at night.
  We are now in the midst of debating soon a ``reconciliation'' bill. 
For those not familiar with the term, it is basically a special budget 
bill. If you consider this a legislative organization or body--and I 
do--if we were accused of legislating this year, I am afraid there is 
not enough evidence to convict us.
  We have been in session now for 5 months. We passed five bills--one a 
month. If we were being paid for piecework, we would have been left 
behind for the last 5 months.
  But now comes this reconciliation bill that tries to do everything at 
once. It is starting over in the House of Representatives. Assuming it 
passes there, it will come over here.
  What does it do, this reconciliation bill, this spending bill, 
budget-cutting bill? It dismantles the American dream, and it strips 
our institutions of essential services that help the most vulnerable 
people of our country--all so that the ultimate goal can be served. And 
what is that goal? To give larger tax breaks to wealthy people.
  If you don't have time to read more than a thousand pages of these 
cuts in this reconciliation bill, let me give you a shortened version. 
It isn't pretty. Billionaires will win; American families will lose.
  President Trump asked Republicans in Congress to provide a massive 
giveaway to the richest Americans. They want to use programs like 
Medicaid, food and nutrition programs, and medical research funding as 
a piggy bank for these tax cuts for wealthy people.
  Let's take Medicaid for example. Medicaid insures one in four people 
in my home State of Illinois. One out of four--3.4 million--people are 
on Medicaid, including 1.5 million children.
  How important is it? Medicaid is a program, an insurance program, 
that covers nearly half of all births in our State. Two-thirds of 
nursing home residents receive Medicaid assistance. That is your mom, 
your dad, your grandparents. The majority of patients with mental 
health counseling count on Medicaid. A majority of the money for mental 
health counseling comes from that program. It is a lifeline for 
children's hospitals. It is a lifeline for rural hospitals.
  Knowing how unpopular it is to deprive Americans of healthcare, for 
months, the Republicans have said: Democrats have it all wrong. We are 
not cutting Medicaid benefits. We are simply focusing on waste, fraud, 
and abuse.
  If there is a program that is wasteful and fraudulent, put me in line 
to do something about it. I don't want to see any taxpayers' money 
wasted. But that is not what would happen here, and I am afraid my 
colleagues on the other side of the aisle know it.
  With their plans, Republicans are taking a chain saw to our 
healthcare system and ripping health insurance away. At the end of the 
day, their reconciliation proposal will remove Medicaid insurance from 
14 million Americans.
  Mr. President, if you have ever lived in a circumstance where you had 
no health insurance, it is a sobering, unforgettable experience. I have 
been there--a sick child and no health insurance. It is something you 
will never forget.
  The reconciliation plan of the Republicans buries elderly patients in 
complex paperwork requirements that will wrap them up in so much 
redtape, they will never get the care they need.
  Just think, if you have illness in the family, a serious illness, you 
have to go through a high-stakes government-redtape gauntlet--another 
government form, another telephone recording when you need a helping 
hand.
  It decimates the funding system for Medicaid, which will force rural 
hospitals to cut services or close altogether. Three weeks ago, 20 
hospital administrators from my State came. Most of them were from 
downstate, where I live, where I grew up. They told the story of what 
the reconciliation bill means to them--cutting services in communities, 
closing down critical hospitals.
  Instead of 20 minutes for that pregnant woman, with her first baby, 
to get to the doctor, to get to the hospital--instead of 20 minutes, it 
will be an hour and 20 minutes. Does it make a difference? How would 
you like to be driving in the car under those circumstances? You will 
never forget it.
  Republicans are also targeting food and nutrition programs like SNAP. 
Forty million Americans rely on these programs to put food on the 
table, including nearly 2 million in Illinois. They are looking to cut 
food and nutrition benefits by as much as $290 billion--the largest cut 
to anti-hunger funding in our Nation's history.
  I was home in Springfield over the weekend. My wife came back from 
the grocery store, and she said, ``I can't believe these prices.'' 
Prices are too high, and they keep going higher. What do the 
Republicans want to do? Cut the benefits to pay for this food that the 
people need to put on the table. It will take food assistance away from 
6 million Americans.
  How much money do people receive? Well, it turns out the average SNAP 
recipient--the food nutrition program at the Federal level--the average 
recipient would be paid $5 a day. Try to live on $5 a day. Imagine what 
their life must be like.
  That is right--the Republican reconciliation bill will take food off 
the tables of seniors and children so they can pay for these 
billionaire tax cuts. If that sounds like an exaggeration, it is not.

[[Page S2959]]

  As Republicans strip Americans of their healthcare and SNAP benefits, 
millionaires and billionaires will continue to see tax breaks coming 
their way. In their bill, Republicans give huge tax breaks to 
multibillion-dollar corporations. They exempt up to $28 million in 
taxes from estates that the wealthiest Americans pass on to their 
children.
  In the same breath, they fail to expand the child tax credit, which 
is one of the most effective tools to reduce poverty and put money back 
in the pockets of working families. Remember, it was Democrats who 
expanded the child tax credit in the American Rescue Plan, which led to 
a historic reduction in poverty in the United States. Research showed 
that child poverty fell immediately and substantially to the lowest on 
record--5.2 percent.
  So who needs a tax break--working families or the wealthiest people 
in our country? For me, the answer is obvious.
  Republicans are also planning to eliminate the clean energy tax 
credit enacted in the Democrats' Inflation Reduction Act, which would 
derail efforts to strengthen U.S. energy security and lower costs. This 
would hurt American families and small businesses by hitting them with 
higher energy bills and the loss of nearly 800,000 jobs over the next 5 
years. Some States could see double-digit percentage increases in 
electricity bills, which means hundreds of dollars out of Americans' 
pockets each year.
  Just a few hours ago, the White House claimed their reckless plan 
``does not add to the deficit.'' Someone said that with a straight 
face. But in reality, it explodes the deficit under the guise of fiscal 
responsibility. The White House and Republican reconciliation plan 
would add $3.3 trillion to the Nation's deficit over the next 10 years 
for tax breaks for wealthy people. President Trump's recordbreaking 
deficit in his first term will reach new depths of debt to pay for 
billionaire tax cuts.

  Donald Trump is claiming that his sprawling trade war will somehow 
pay for this bill, but no one buys that, and no one can even explain it 
the way he does. America's small businesses, workers, farmers, and 
families are hurting because of this administration's tariffs, while 
the President continues to weaken America's credibility and alienate us 
from our biggest trading partners.
  If all of this wasn't bad enough, Republican Speaker Johnson cut a 
deal for Members of the House Freedom Caucus over the weekend in order 
to move this bill. It is reported that they discussed accelerating the 
plan to condition Medicaid health coverage on redtape requirements--
these were originally set for 2029; they now want to end people's 
insurance as soon as possible, maybe by the end of next year--as well 
as a quicker phaseout of clean energy tax credits that were put into 
law as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
  That is right--the package isn't bad enough for conservative 
Republicans to support, so they are considering making it even worse 
for American families.
  Americans of all political affiliations rely on the critical services 
that Republicans plan to cut, not just Democrats. Slashing lifesaving 
healthcare and cutting food and nutrition benefits for mothers trying 
to feed their families will hurt Americans in blue and red States.
  I heard my colleagues give speeches about tough choices. Let me tell 
you, choosing to line the pockets of people like Elon Musk while 
cutting lifesaving medical research isn't tough, it is shameful.
  American families aren't asking for special treatment. They are 
asking for a fair shot at the American dream. They are asking us to 
remember that this country works best when we invest in its people.
  We need four Republicans with good sense to join Democrats and say no 
to this disaster. Two have already stepped forward. We need two more. 
The sooner the better.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Husted). The Senator from Colorado.

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