At a rally on Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) slammed the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill, which ultimately passed early Thursday morning.
00:00Do we deserve a country that puts families over billionaires?
00:12Are you ready to help us stop Donald Trump's one big ugly bill?
00:18Are you ready to make sure that we crush this GOP tax scam?
00:24What an honor and a privilege to be here with all of you.
00:27So thankful that you've come out even with this light rain because you understand that the stakes are incredibly high
00:35as we stand up for the health care of the American people
00:39and all of the things that are being threatened by this dangerous GOP tax scam.
00:46We got several messages.
00:48Democrats have been battling all day, all night in the Rules Committee.
00:53They started the Rules Committee meeting earlier at 1 a.m. in the morning.
01:00They didn't expect for us to show up.
01:03Democrats have been showing up for the last 14 hours with hundreds of amendments,
01:10flooding the zone with righteous legislation on your behalf and delivering the message,
01:19delivering the message that Congress is a separate and co-equal branch of government.
01:26We don't work for Donald Trump.
01:29We don't work for J.D. Vance.
01:31We don't work for Elon Musk.
01:34We work for you, the American people.
01:37And because we work for you, we've got to do everything possible.
01:42It's all hands on deck to stop this aggressive and egregious overreach
01:50from seeing the light of day legislatively in the House
01:54and certainly preventing it from ever getting to the current president's desk at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
02:03Why do we oppose this bill?
02:05It represents the largest cut to Medicaid in American history.
02:11Take away health care from millions of people.
02:14Families will be hurt.
02:15Children will be hurt.
02:17Women will be hurt.
02:19Everyday Americans with disabilities will be hurt.
02:23Hospitals will close.
02:24Nursing homes will shut down.
02:26People will die.
02:29The largest cut to health care in American history.
02:34And on top of that, the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history.
02:40They literally, these extremists want to take food out of the mouths of children, veterans, and older Americans.
02:49And they're doing all of this to enact the largest tax break for billionaires in American history.
02:59It's unacceptable, unnecessary, unconscionable, unpatriotic, and un-American.
03:07And together, we're going to do everything to bury this GOP tax scam in the ground, never to rise again.
03:15And make sure we always put families over billionaires.
03:22We're going to stand up for families.
03:24Stand up for children.
03:26Stand up for veterans.
03:27Stand up for Medicaid.
03:29Stand up for nutritional assistance.
03:31Stand up for Medicare, which is also under attack in this bill.
03:35Stand up for the American dream.
03:38Because we believe that in this great country of ours, we've got to fight for it.
03:43But in this great country of ours, when you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to provide a comfortable living for yourself and for your family.
03:56Have a good paying job.
03:58Educate your children.
04:01Purchase an affordable home.
04:03Have access to high-quality health care.
04:08And, of course, one day retire with grace and dignity.
04:12That means protecting your Social Security and your Medicare at all times.
04:19Those aren't entitlement programs.
04:23They are earned benefits.
04:25And in this bill, they're going after Medicare, attempting a $500 billion cut.
04:33And so we've got to do everything that we can to push back against these extremists to bring the American dream to life for every single person in this great country.
04:45And always put families over billionaires at all times.
04:51And so lastly, you're going to hear from a great number of speakers from the House and from the Senate, all of whom are dedicating everything we have to stopping this bill in its tracks.
05:07And so our message to the Republicans, the message that we will carry as I cross the street and go back into the House of Representatives is keep your hands off our Medicaid, keep your hands off Social Security, hands off Medicare, hands off our veterans, hands off our children, hands off our seniors, hands off the least,
05:33hands off the lost, hands off the left behind, hands off the poor, hands off the afflicted, hands off the sick, keep your hands off everyday Americans, hands off the American way of life, hands off today, hands off tomorrow, hands off this week, hands off next week, hands off this month, hands off next month, hands off this year, hands off next year.
06:01Keep your hands off the American people forever and always put families over billionaires.
