2027 PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUEST WILL MAKE LIFE HARDER

On 2026-04-21, Representative Luz M. Rivas (D-CA-29) delivered a floor speech titled "2027 PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUEST WILL MAKE LIFE HARDER" in the House. The speech addressed healthcare and also covered taxes, the environment. It referenced legislation: S2027.

2027 PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUEST WILL MAKE LIFE HARDER

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 70 (Tuesday, April 21, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 21, 2026)] [House] [Pages H3029-H3033] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] 2027 PRESIDENTIAL BUDGET REQUEST WILL MAKE LIFE HARDER (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mr. Garcia of Illinois was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.) General Leave Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Illinois? There was no objection. Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with my colleagues from the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Assistant Democratic Leader Joe Neguse to call out the many ways that Donald Trump's 2027 budget request will make life harder for our neighbors and constituents. I will start with the fact that families across the country are already hurting because of Republican policies. Last year, Trump's budget bill made drastic cuts to healthcare and food assistance, and 17 million people will lose healthcare coverage as a result. Yet, that wasn't enough for Trump because his 2027 budget proposal cuts even more. For example, the President's budget request eliminates $4 billion of affordable housing investments, wiping out programs that help families find housing, stay in their homes, and get back on their feet. My district has suffered from severe floods over the last 2 years, and some of my constituents were displaced from their homes. As rents rise, Trump wants to cut programs that are designed to help keep a roof over their heads. The President's budget also eliminates LIHEAP, a program that helps 5 million families afford their utility bills, leaving them unable to cool their homes in the summer or pay heating bills in the winter. When you combine that with surging prices at the gas pump because of Trump's illegal war with Iran, Trump is making the American people suffer twice. As if this wasn't bad enough, Trump's budget proposal also calls for deep cuts to food assistance like SNAP and WIC. [[Page H3030]] These are programs that help mothers and young children afford fruits and vegetables. With all of these cuts, what is Trump increasing the budget for? One word: war. As he proposes to cut $73 billion for housing, food, education, and health, he is asking for $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon, a record- shattering amount that demonstrates just how detached Trump is from our constituents' needs and priorities. Trump started a cruel, illegal, deeply unpopular war that costs billions of dollars every day, sent gas prices skyrocketing, and triggered a global fuel crisis. This budget request would enable him to do more destruction with more money, while lining the pockets of his defense contractor friends. This makes us all less safe. {time} 1620 Just last week, Trump said: ``It is not possible'' to help Americans afford healthcare or childcare because ``we are fighting wars.'' Through this budget request, Trump isn't just waging illegal wars abroad. He is waging war on working families here at home. I thank my colleagues for joining me to talk about how Trump's proposed budget request would make a tough situation even worse for working families. Mr. Speaker, I now yield the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Neguse), the Assistant Democratic Leader. Mr. NEGUSE. First, Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the distinguished gentleman from Chicago, Illinois, for his friendship, for his partnership, and for articulating so well today the stakes. Since returning to office, as my colleague from Illinois referenced, President Trump has made life harder for everyday Americans. He has made life less affordable for everyday Americans, certainly for the working families that I represent in northern and western Colorado. Let me give you a sense, my colleague from Illinois, about what the last 16 months have been like for my constituents, the folks that I have the privilege of serving in Colorado. President Trump has denied not just one, but two major disaster relief requests for massive fires that took place last year in Western Colorado, the Lee and Elk fires, and devastating flooding in Southwest Colorado. These are communities that are conservative, rural communities that President Trump denied disaster relief to them all the same. He has gutted childcare support for Colorado families. Childcare centers across Colorado--Larimer County, Adams County, Western Slope, Southern Colorado--are closing because of this President's policies. He slashed Medicaid, the largest cut to SNAP in the history of that program, families going hungry across our State and across our country, chaos for our farmers and our ranchers, record-high bankruptcies for America's farmers, including in Colorado. He fired thousands of workers at our Federal laboratories, in our national parks, and in our national forests. He has--again, the gentleman said it so well--increased costs on everything. Everything is more expensive. Groceries, medicine, car insurance, health insurance, you name it, it has all gone up. Now, given all that I just described, the President has the audacity, the gall to propose a $2.2 trillion--trillion with a t--wish list in the form of his budget request that would implement historic cuts to education, to housing, to health programs, all while creating a $1.5 trillion slush fund for the war that he has unconstitutionally declared. In my view, it is reprehensible, and it is not consistent with the needs of the American people. We need this administration to get serious about helping everyday Coloradans and Americans afford healthcare and afford the basic needs that they have. We need them to get serious about an economic agenda that actually makes life better for working people. Unfortunately, this budget proposal is anything but that--quite the opposite. Now, the good news is that Republicans here in Congress don't have to follow the President's budget. It is not a requirement. I know that may come as a surprise to some folks who are observing the proceedings here in Washington, D.C., because, for the last 16 months, House Republicans have capitulated to virtually every whim, every request, and every demand that this President has made. But they don't have to do that. In fact, they are expected by our Framers and our Founders not to, to instead jealously guard the powers of our branch of government under Article I. Democrats and Republicans can work together through the appropriations process to advance a proposal that would actually lower costs for everyday Americans. That to me ought to be our North Star. I hope our colleagues are listening today. I thank the gentleman from Chicago and so many of my House Democratic colleagues who I know will be speaking this evening for making the case in such an impassioned way. Let's hope it doesn't take my colleagues too long to ultimately do what is right. Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I now yield the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler). Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Garcia and Mr. Neguse for organizing this Special Order hour about President Trump's budget request for next year. The one saving grace of the President's budget is how clearly it demonstrates the failed policies and misplaced priorities of the White House and the Republican Congress. While proposing a massive increase in defense spending to support a reckless war of choice in Iran and supporting numerous policies to protect the billionaire class, the Trump budget would slash programs that provide healthcare, education, and housing to working Americans and would do nothing to lower gas prices or make groceries more affordable. While there are too many outrages contained in this budget to mention all of them, I want to focus on one program in particular that highlights the senseless cruelty represented by this budget: the President would completely eliminate support for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS, or HOPWA, program. HOPWA provides critical housing support to hundreds of thousands of individuals and their families across the country. Housing is one of the greatest needs for those living with HIV/AIDS, and it is among the strongest predictors of access to treatment and health outcomes. Unstable housing or homelessness is linked to late or limited access to care, higher viral loads, increased hospitalizations, and premature death. HOPWA was created in 1990 to respond to the HIV crisis, and it has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades. It has led to dramatic improvements in healthcare and reduced mortality for people living with HIV and AIDS. Yet, this President wants to cut HOPWA to the bone, leaving people with HIV and AIDS vulnerable to more HIV transmissions and a spike in homelessness. Congress established HOPWA--under a Republican President, I might add--because of illegal discrimination in the private housing market against people with HIV and AIDS. As for public housing, many individuals with HIV and AIDS on the waiting list for housing tragically died while waiting for an open unit. HOPWA changed that. A study from 2010 found that HOPWA has been tremendously effective in improving the physical health and housing status of enrollees. These gains did not come overnight. They came from funding this program year by year for over 30 years, and Donald Trump wants to gut all of it. I was proud to lead 107 of my colleagues in supporting HOPWA funding for fiscal year 2027 appropriations, and I am outraged at the President's disregard for vulnerable Americans. We must protect HOPWA and stand up for all Americans in need. Mr. GARCIA of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I now yield the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano). {time} 1630 Mr. TAKA