Raja Krishnamoorthi Slams Witness Over Climate Change Denialism: Your Position Is ‘Increasingly Fringe’

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During a House Oversight Committee hearing before the congressional recess, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)  questioned witnesses about climate change and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Lieberman, you work for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, CEI, right?

00:12You have to audibly answer? Yes. Okay. And CEI's website, we went on to the website, it says,

00:18CEI has been instrumental in fighting decades of climate alarmism. That's what it says, right?

00:24Yes. Okay. And in a paper that you wrote, you said, quote, global warming is clearly not a crisis,

00:33right? Sounds like me. That sounds like you. Yeah, because it is you. Let me tell you what some other

00:40folks around here say. Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said, climate change is real, it is

00:46happening, it is now. You don't dispute she said that, right? No. Senator Lindsey Graham said in a

00:51panel moderated by CNBC that, quote, climate change is real. You don't dispute that he said

00:57that either, right? No. And even the Pope, Leo, from Chicago, has said it's time to move from words to

01:05action. You don't dispute he said that. Same as the last Pope. Mr. Lieberman, with members of both

01:09parties increasingly in agreement, worsening disasters. We had a grapes of wrath dust storm

01:16in Chicago just this past weekend. And even the head of the Catholic Church sounding the alarm,

01:24your position and CEI's position sound increasingly fringe. Let me turn to the next topic. Dr. McBride,

01:32on May 8th, NBC News reported that on a phone call with Speaker Johnson, President Trump suggested

01:39raising the tax rate for those making $2.5 million or more. You don't dispute that NBC reported that.

01:46No, I don't. And just this morning, and by the way, this, this, there is no tax increase in the

01:56reconciliation bill, correct? On people earning more than $2.5 million? That's correct. Okay. And just

02:04this morning, this is what Donald Trump told the GOP conference. He tells the House GOP conference not

02:12to F around with Medicaid. You don't dispute he said that, do you? Well, that's news to me, but I believe

02:20you. And Dr. G, there are cuts of hundreds of billions of dollars in the reconciliation bill to

02:30Medicaid, correct? That is correct. This is a reverse Robin Hood bill that will give tax cuts to the rich

02:35while cutting over $600 billion from Medicaid and $300 billion. I think they are violating,

02:42the House GOP conference is violating, I think, what Donald Trump is trying to convey in this

02:47headline. Look, the CBO estimates that the debt of this bill will total at least $4 trillion.

02:55Isn't that what the CBO has scored, Dr. G? That's correct. It will add trillion dollars to the

03:01debt and even more if temporary provisions in the bill for tax breaks. And at the same time that

03:06Republicans are adding trillions in debt, Moody's, the major credit rating agency, downgraded America's

03:13credit rating, citing the deficit. You don't dispute that, Dr. McBride, do you? No, I don't. That's

03:20correct. And this is the first time all three major credit rating agencies have downgraded America's

03:25debt, correct? That's correct. So instead of taxing the wealthiest among us, as Donald Trump has

03:32suggested, and contrary to his suggestion not to F around with Medicaid, which he just said this morning

03:39to the House GOP, the House Republicans are instead slashing Medicaid, slashing SNAP, adding trillions to

03:47debt, and in the process hurting America's credit. Let me turn to another topic. Dr. G,

03:55just to reiterate, Republicans are planning to cut at least $625 billion from Medicaid. The level of

04:02cuts will be absolutely devastating to the health care system. In fact, let me just show you a map

04:09of rural hospitals throughout the country that will be at immediate risk of closure. As you can see in

04:17Illinois, there are eight rural hospitals that will be immediately at risk of closure. And Mr.

04:24Growthman, in Wisconsin, there are five hospitals that are at immediate risk of closure. And Mr.

04:31Burleson, there are nine in Missouri. Now, when rural hospitals close because of these massive cuts

04:38to Medicaid, Dr. G, those closures will lead to layoffs, correct? That's correct. Loss of health care

04:46jobs, as well as other jobs in communities. And when those hospitals close, not only will people with

04:51Medicaid be denied access to medical care, but people with private insurance as well as Medicare

04:57will also be denied care, correct? That's correct. And so we'll be creating medical deserts

05:01throughout the country, right? That's correct. Thank you. People will have to travel further

05:05to emergency rooms or to deliver babies or be seen for trauma. Thank you, and I yield back.

05:11Thank you very much,ale. Thank you, Mick. Thank you very much.

05:25Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Please, tão

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