'It Should Not Matter... What Kind Of Deal Your Senator Made': Jahana Hayes Swipes At Lisa Murkowski Over BBB

During debate on the House floor, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT) ripped into the Big Beautiful Bill as House Republicans attempted to pass it.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, Mr. Speaker.

00:02I rise today against the Republican Reconciliation Bill, which would put 42 million Americans

00:07at risk of losing their SNAP benefits.

00:09These policies are untested, they are dangerous, and they are arbitrary.

00:13Congress did not engage in a thoughtful process to make these changes to SNAP.

00:18The majority has not held a single hearing on the Nutrition Subcommittee on the cost-sharing

00:23provisions or the impact of this legislation.

00:27They have not solicited feedback from stakeholders or experts on what these changes would mean

00:32to states and hungry families who rely on SNAP.

00:36The Republicans did not examine these policies closely because they knew it would take food

00:40away from hungry families, and they didn't care.

00:43They have chosen to provide tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals.

00:48They know these changes will devastate state budgets.

00:52In my home state of Connecticut, we could have to pay up to an additional $221 million

00:57dollars per year for SNAP benefits and an additional $39 million for administrative costs.

01:03Connecticut, like most states, will have to come up with these funds or deny basic services

01:08that they need for other things like education, public safety, health care, and just providing

01:14for our roads and bridges in our states.

01:17Notably, not every state will be subject to this change.

01:20Late into the night, the Republican majority jumped through hoops to exempt non-contiguous

01:24states from these policies to pass cruel legislation.

01:28That is why we're up here, writing legislation on the fly to protect some Americans while going

01:34after others.

01:36No one should go hungry, whether they live in Connecticut, Alaska, Hawaii, or anywhere.

01:41It should not matter where you live or what kind of deal your senator made.

01:46Everybody deserves to eat.

01:48I urge my colleagues to reject this irresponsible legislation, and I yield back.