DEFENDING SOCIAL SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

On 2025-04-08, Representative Julie Johnson (D-TX-32) delivered a floor speech titled "DEFENDING SOCIAL SERVICES AND PROGRAMS" in the House.

DEFENDING SOCIAL SERVICES AND PROGRAMS

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 63 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 63 (Tuesday, April 8, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1499-H1502] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] DEFENDING SOCIAL SERVICES AND PROGRAMS (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Mrs. Ramirez of Illinois was recognized for 30 minutes.) General Leave Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the subject of my Special Order hour. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor). Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Illinois? There was no objection. Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I take to the floor today to raise the alarm for the people of Illinois' Third Congressional District. Today, I am standing here for the 197,569 people, including 94,806 children and 22,000 seniors, whose Medicaid is at risk of being taken from them. I stand here for the 69,000 people in Illinois-03 who count on SNAP benefits and could be losing them. I stand here for the 28,000 people who receive coverage under the Affordable Care Act and may see their average premium go up by $820 a year, a 40 percent increase. Mr. Speaker, the working people of my district rely on Federal programs and services, and they also rely on the essential organizations in Illinois-03 that provide federally funded social programs and services. Mr. Speaker, I stand for the 11 federally funded health centers with a presence in Illiois-03 that leverage $78,954,648 in Federal investments for 624,770 patients. I also stand here in the people's House for CEDA, which provides LIHEAP assistance to 179,082 working people in Cook County to weather extreme temperatures. I stand here for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center under the leadership of Jose, the AIDS Foundation, La Casa Norte, and so many in Illinois-03 serving organizations that meet the needs of our diverse constituents who are facing uncertainty about Federal funding in this precise moment. My colleagues and I are standing here because my Republican colleagues have bowed down to the whims of an unelected billionaire and a wannabe dictator. The majority is stealing from the American people so that Republicans can enrich billionaire bosses and expand their wealth at the expense of our working families. Consider that for a moment. The richest man in the world is demanding cuts in the services that working families rely on. The richest man in the world, who could be making contributions to end hunger globally, decides that we should be cutting program services for working families, many of which my colleagues will talk about today. Mr. Speaker, as we stand here today in the people's House, I want to be very clear about something. I will not betray working families by supporting a budget that harms working families to make the rich richer. We have to stand up in this precise moment in the people's House. Republicans must also stand up to their billionaire bosses and do what is right, what they were elected to do: represent their constituents. We must protect and defend the federally funded social programs and services that the American people rely on. Mr. Speaker, I will yield to my colleagues who will share about the programs and services that their constituents rely on and that they were sent to Congress to defend. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Kennedy). Mr. KENNEDY of New York. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I recognize Representative Ramirez for her leadership on this important issue. I rise today not just as a Member of Congress, but as a healthcare practitioner. Like so many of my fellow healthcare workers, I became an occupational therapist to help people. Before entering public office, I spent over a decade working with seniors and children to help them achieve independent, full lives. Last week, the Trump administration made it harder for our healthcare providers to deliver the services that Americans rely on by terminating 10,000 hardworking members of the Department of Health and Human Services workforce. Under this administration, a total of 20,000 HHS employees have been illegally fired, putting Americans at risk every day. These cuts do nothing for the people in western New York or anywhere else across the country. They are a means of giving tax cuts to the ultrarich and powerful, those who never have to worry about access to reliable healthcare. These cuts are more than numbers on a balance sheet. These are lives that hang in the balance. For western New York, this will make it harder for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center or the University of Buffalo to advance their lifesaving work. These cuts mean delayed treatments, denied cures, stolen hopes from patients battling cancer, Parkinson's, ALS, Alzheimer's, and so many other devastating diseases. I felt the pain and hope of patients, grandparents, mothers, fathers, and children who are counting on the next clinical breakthrough to survive. These cuts say to them: Your health doesn't matter. Your life doesn't matter. President Trump, unelected billionaire Elon Musk, and Secretary Robert Kennedy are more concerned with cutting services and pushing an antiscience agenda than they are with supporting and improving our healthcare system. By walking away from practitioners and patients, the Trump administration is abdicating its duty to our most vulnerable and signaling to the world that the United States is no longer the global leader in scientific research. As someone who spent years treating patients, I know that abandoning our scientists, our research institutions, our doctors and nurses, and, worst of all, our patients puts our entire community and country at risk. Mr. Speaker, I urge this body, Democrats and Republicans, to stand up for our healthcare heroes, invest in breakthroughs that millions of lives are depending on, and restore the funding and workforce our Nation's healthcare system depends upon. Mrs. RAMIREZ. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Kennedy) for his comments. Mr. Speaker, I have the opportunity and honor to serve with the gentleman on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Every day, I see the work that he does to uphold the work that is necessary to protect the benefits of our veterans. I am so grateful for the ways that the gentleman continues to show up for his constituents in New York and for the entire Nation. It is truly an honor to serve with the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, this past Saturday, the Speaker saw constituents from every single State in the country come out to protest and rally. The Speaker saw children and saw people who are probably closer to 100 years of age walking through streets, going to the parks, and asking other Members of Congress: Have you forgotten about the people who sent you to Congress? Mr. Speaker, I say as we are standing here in the House of Representatives that New York, Michigan, Texas, and Chicago have Members of Congress who are unwilling to accept the idea that we would slash the very same programs that we promised to protect for the American people. Today, I am grateful that I get to be here with Members of Congress not just from New York, but also with a colleague of mine who continues to ring the alarm for the safety net programs that our constituents here and in Michigan need and deserve. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib). [[Page H1500]] Ms. TLAIB. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the leadership of Congresswoman Ramirez, who has led with her own lived experiences and her compassion. She leads with compassion, which I think is sometimes missing here in this Chamber. Mr. Speaker, Republicans are advancing, as we all know, a budget that includes $880 billion in cuts to Medicaid to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. These are folks who do not fully understand what it means to live paycheck to paycheck. Mr. Speaker, 60 percent of our residents in our country live paycheck to paycheck. Just so we are clear, the $880 billion cut to Medicaid is the largest Medicaid cut in American history. There are 72 million people who rely on Medicaid for healthcare in our Nation, including 40 percent of people in Speaker Johnson's own district. Mr. Speaker, for families, seniors, and people with disabilities who rely on Medicaid, it is the difference between life and death. Yet, right now, the future of Medicaid is under threat. I have heard many of my Republican colleagues in this Chamber try to gaslight the American people and claim that the budget does not make cuts to Medicaid. Senator Hawley, as we know, just offered an amendment to the same legislation right now that came through this Chamber to strip the $880 billion in Medicaid cuts out of that bill. It was voted down by Members of his own party. The amendment literally said: To strike the section related to reconciliation instructions to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives to cut $880 billion from Medicaid. The Senator's Republican colleagues in the Senate voted it down, so let's be honest with the American people. If Republicans are going to cut their healthcare, be honest about it. Don't gaslight and try to pretend. Those who rely on Medicaid aren't just a number. They are our neighbors. They are our friends. They are our families. They depend on Medicaid for health services, treatment, and medication that they simply cannot afford due to our broken healthcare system. Make no mistake. Republicans want to give away trillions of dollars, Mr. Speaker, let's be honest, to the richest people in our Nation, like Elon Musk and all of President Trump's friends, and let children and seniors die from the lack of healthcare coverage. As the chair of the Congressional Mamas' Caucus, I need to bring this to light because thi