Chuck Schumer Decries Healthcare Cuts In BBB, Shreds RFK Jr. For Promoting 'Crackpot Nonsense'

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about the Republican budget.

Transcript

00:01Finally, Mr. President, no discussion of Donald Trump's incompetence and lies would be complete without talking about health care.

00:10Now, what is Donald Trump's signature domestic accomplishment? Tell me, what is it?

00:18He would say it's undoubtedly the so-called big, beautiful bill, but Americans are learning every day.

00:25More and more Americans learn that it's nothing more than a big betrayal.

00:30Big betrayal. The biggest cuts to health care and food assistance and good-paying jobs in American history.

00:36Donald Trump's signature feed in office is throwing people off Medicaid. Can you imagine?

00:41To make life better for those at the very, very top.

00:46He's destroying the ACA marketplace, ascending costs skyrocketing for millions of Americans.

00:51They're going to learn about this as early as next month.

00:55And who are we kidding? We know that Medicare is next.

01:00We all know his Treasury Secretary gloated that they found a way to hurt Medicare in the so-called big, beautiful bill.

01:10I was in New York last month, and I spoke with countless New York doctors and hospital managers and nurses and parents and patients

01:19who are frustrated and worried that hospitals will close, costs will go up, people who need coverage won't be able to get it.

01:27The mom who has a daughter with cancer and can no longer get help and watches that child suffer, and the mom suffers too.

01:37Thanks to Donald Trump and Senate Republicans, health care costs are going to increase for every American in the country.

01:43And it's not just, you know, you say, well, I'm not on Medicaid, I'm not on Medicare, and the ACA.

01:52Even people with private insurance will see their costs go up and go up significantly.

01:58Rural Americans will see their hospitals close.

02:01It's happening already in states like Nebraska and Maine.

02:04And this isn't theoretical, it's real.

02:07And meanwhile, while all this devastation is going on, we have an HHS secretary, instead of looking out for the health care of American people,

02:16he's firing thousands of federal workers, he's canceling medical research,

02:19and he's promoting cod liver oil supplements to treat diseases like measles.

02:25This is crackpot nonsense.

02:29My Senate colleagues know that, they know that what RFK Jr. is doing is dangerous.

02:38The damage RFK Jr. is causing right now will be felt for generations, and so many of our kids and grandkids will suffer.

02:46More of our kids will die from preventable diseases.

02:48The damage will be long-lasting.

02:51Donald Trump should fire RFK Jr. immediately.

02:55Senate Republicans should come out of hiding and demand Trump fire RFK too.

03:00They see the damage.

03:02They read the insane things he says day after day after day.

03:05They know the immense harm RFK poses to our kids the longer he stays in place.

03:11Every second that RFK is running our health care system is a health care crisis of its own,

03:17and he cannot be allowed to continue to lead this agency.

03:22So, Mr. President, in conclusion, the challenges I've mentioned today are just a few that plague America.

03:32They are a result of Donald Trump's pathetic leadership and his incessant lies.

03:37And I lay all of this at the feet of my Republican colleagues.

03:42They could stop it.

03:44I ask my Republican colleagues, will you join us in making things right,

03:48in putting a stop to Donald Trump's madness, in protecting our kids, in lowering costs,

03:53in setting America back on the right track, in making our neighborhoods safe,

03:57or will you keep bowing down before the throne of Donald Trump, the erstwhile king?

04:05We ask you not to turn your back on the vision of our founders,

04:13not to let America slide down the road to autocracy.

04:17And that is an expensive autocracy, for that matter,

04:21where Americans pay more and more and more for rent, electricity, groceries, things like that.

04:27Senate Republicans can't pretend they're helpless against Donald Trump.

04:30The majority in this chamber, the majority, could very easily undo what he does.

04:39They have the power to rein in his worst impulses.

04:43Republicans just need to make the decision for themselves to act, to stand up,

04:48to put the needs of people back home ahead of Donald Trump's narcissistic wishes.

04:53We have an opportunity this month, this month,

04:56to start setting things right by advancing common-sense legislation

05:02to protect our health care, to hold the line against Trump's abuses,

05:05and to reverse the immense harmful Medicaid cuts

05:08that Trump and Republicans pushed in the summer.

05:13Will Senate Republicans continue to kowtow to a leader

05:16they know is dragging the country down,

05:19they know is a pathological liar,

05:22or will they, as the founding fathers intended, stand up to him?

05:26Will they help us fight America's slide into authoritarianism?

05:31Will they help us give the American people some hope in the future

05:37and prevent their costs from continuing to rise?

05:42This month, this month will tell us in which direction they choose.

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