- 6/30/2025
On the Senate floor, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) torched the Big Beautiful Bill.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Senator from Washington.
00:01Mr. President, thank you.
00:03I think it's really important the discussion we had right now about the deficit and debt,
00:09but I want to talk a little bit more about this bill in general.
00:13You know, recent KFF polling shows that this Republican big ugly betrayal bill is overwhelmingly unpopular.
00:23In fact, this thing is more underwater than the Titanic.
00:27Nearly two in three Americans view this bill unfavorably.
00:33That goes up to nearly three in four when they learn it will kick millions, millions off their health insurance.
00:40And it goes up to nearly four in five when they learn it will choke off funding to their local hospital.
00:47In other words, the more the American people hear about what is actually in this big ugly betrayal bill,
00:54the more they dislike it.
00:56So with that in mind, I want to be here today to say a little bit more about what is in the Republicans' latest version.
01:04Spoiler alert.
01:05It is still big.
01:07It is still ugly.
01:08And it is an absolute betrayal of the people who sent us here to fight for them.
01:13The Republican plan is still going to mean over 16 million people losing health care.
01:21As patients get kicked off their ACA plans, kids and struggling families will get kicked off Medicaid.
01:30Rural hospitals are going to be forced to shut their doors.
01:33The Republican plan is still going to mean more starving families.
01:39New red tape is going to cut people off from their SNAP benefits that they need to put food on the table.
01:46And it is going to take away kids' school meals.
01:49The Republican plan still rips away support from the people in this country who are struggling the most
01:56to give away billions in tax breaks to billionaires who need help the least.
02:03In short, this latest version of Republicans' bill would still be one of the biggest transfers of wealth
02:12from the people at the bottom to the people at the top in our nation's history.
02:19When it comes to health care, this Republican abomination will cause millions of people to lose their insurance
02:27and see their costs skyrocket in one way or another.
02:31It will create mountains of new paperwork and bureaucratic barriers that are positively meant
02:39to kick people off their Medicaid and ACA coverage.
02:42And there is new sabotage to the ACA health care markets, which will mean more people losing their affordable coverage.
02:51Meanwhile, there is nothing, a big fat zero, when it comes to renewing the tax credits
02:58Democrats passed to lower your health care costs.
03:02That's right.
03:03While Republicans are showering their billionaire donors in new tax breaks,
03:07they will not lift a finger to extend health care tax credits that are saving millions of families,
03:14thousands of dollars a year on health coverage.
03:17Instead, they're going to make sure people lose health care coverage, including our seniors,
03:23people with disabilities, pregnant women, millions of patients who rely on Medicaid.
03:29And let's not forget, the cuts in their bill are going to shutter hospitals across the country,
03:36especially in our rural areas.
03:39Do you have Medicaid?
03:41Medicare?
03:42Employer-sponsored coverage?
03:44Regardless, Republicans have some pretty bad news for you.
03:48Because it hardly matters what insurance you're on when you don't have a hospital to get care anymore.
03:56In Washington State, we have 14 rural hospitals that are fighting to survive
04:01and would likely close under this bill, mostly in areas represented by Republicans, I should add.
04:08Not to mention, we have six rural labor and delivery units that could be forced to close their doors under this bill.
04:18And you know what the Senate Republicans did?
04:20They made that problem worse.
04:22They put even more pressure on our rural hospitals.
04:25I'm telling you, this betrayal is getting bigger and uglier by the day.
04:30And this cannot get lost.
04:32Republicans want to shut the doors of one of the biggest health care providers in the country.
04:39They want to defund Planned Parenthood that is wildly harmful and wildly unpopular.
04:49It would shutter at least 200 health centers that provide a wide spectrum of care,
04:55including cancer screenings, pap smears, birth control for millions of women.
05:01And let's not forget, Republicans are cutting nutrition assistance, too.
05:07This big, ugly betrayal would make one of the biggest cuts to SNAP in history.
05:15We are talking around a $200 billion cut over the next 10 years.
05:21Now, it should be obvious, but that would be devastating for our country and for our kids' future.
05:27And yet, Republicans are not giving up on taking dinner off the table,
05:32taking school lunch off kids' trays,
05:34all so they can shovel tax cuts at billionaires and wealthy corporations.
05:41And it is worth underscoring the new red tape in their bill
05:45is even targeted at some of our most vulnerable families
05:50because it expands work requirements to apply to seniors and parents with kids in school.
06:00Mr. President, when my dad, World War II veteran, got sick with multiple sclerosis,
06:06he lost his job.
06:08He lost his job.
06:10My mom was at home, seven kids she was raising.
06:14My dad lost his job.
06:16And they had to spend, my mom had to spend some time getting some new skills
06:21so she could go back to work and take care of our family.
06:23You know what, during that time?
06:25We had to rely on food stamps in my family
06:27to feed those seven kids in my family.
06:31But under this Republican bill today,
06:34because neither of my parents had a job during those few months,
06:39my family would not be eligible for SNAP benefits.
06:42We would not have even gotten food on our table
06:45at the worst time in my family's life.
06:47This is wrong.
06:49Thanks to those food stamps,
06:51my family did get through that rough patch.
06:54And all seven of us kids grew up to give back to our communities,
06:59whether as a firefighter or a middle school teacher
07:02or even here as a United States senator.
07:05So I can't emphasize enough.
07:07Republicans want to cut families from SNAP and Medicaid,
07:13programs that give people a hand up in hard times.
07:18Why?
07:19So they can give an enormous handout to the richest people
07:23and biggest companies in our country.
07:26Oh, and at the same time,
07:27they're making it harder to afford groceries and health care.
07:30I should mention they are also gutting energy investments
07:34in a completely chaotic way
07:37that is all but guaranteed to drive away jobs
07:40and drive up energy costs for all of American families.
07:44And at the same time, in this bill,
07:48they're giving billionaires billions of dollars.
07:51Republicans are going to give students the short end of the stick.
07:54This big mess of a bill would tear away programs and protections
07:59that make it possible for many students to pursue a higher education.
08:05It eliminates grad plus loans.
08:08It cuts families off from parent plus loans.
08:11It punishes students who go into public service
08:14or a medical residency and more.
08:18Meanwhile, they are tearing down the guardrails
08:20from gutting regulations that protect students
08:23whose universities commit fraud
08:25to opening a Pandora's box for Pell Grants
08:29with a new loophole that will let low-quality programs
08:33suck up our taxpayer dollars.
08:36These changes are especially going to hurt students
08:38from low-income families
08:40and first-generation college students and our veterans.
08:44Some of them will have no way to go to college
08:47when Republicans take their support away.
08:52Some will be driven into predatory private loans
08:56they can't afford.
08:58And some will get lured into low-quality programs
09:01that take their money, waste taxpayer dollars,
09:04and leave the student worse off.
09:06And if that wasn't enough,
09:07if the Secretary of Education wanted to try and stop
09:10this kind of fraud and protect students,
09:13Republicans will leave them about as much authority
09:15as a school hall monitor.
09:19Because in this bill,
09:21Republicans prevent any Secretary of Education
09:24from making regulations
09:26that carry added benefits for borrowers.
09:30And it hardly matters if that is a good impact,
09:33like saving students money
09:34or protecting taxpayer dollars from fraud
09:37or making higher education more accessible.
09:41Republicans are going to make problems worse
09:43and make fixing them even harder.
09:46Students in this country should be outraged.
09:50And I want to be perfectly clear about something.
09:53If Republicans charge ahead
09:55with this big, awful mess,
09:57which they seem intent on doing,
10:00they can kiss any last shred of credibility goodbye,
10:04as we just talked about,
10:05when it comes to pretending they care about
10:07balancing the budget
10:08or addressing the national debt.
10:10The idea was already laughable.
10:13For the entirety of the 21st century,
10:15the biggest driver of the national debt
10:19has been tax cuts that Republicans championed.
10:23But now, as we just talked about,
10:26they want to put at least $4 trillion,
10:29that is trillions with a T,
10:31on the national credit card.
10:34Why?
10:34So they can shower the richest people
10:36on the planet with more money.
10:38And then they're pretending all the math works
10:41and it's kind of easy peasy
10:42if they only just,
10:44they can do it if they kick people off health care
10:46or take enough meals away from kids
10:48or close enough hospitals
10:50or better still,
10:51use some absurd accounting gimmick
10:53to pretend,
10:54to pretend that billions of dollars
10:56in new tax cuts
10:57for their billionaire donors
10:59actually just don't cost anything.
11:02Well, I've got some bad news for Republicans.
11:05Your math is terrible.
11:06And so is this bill.
11:08This thing is very expensive
11:11and you don't have to take my word for it.
11:14Ask the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office,
11:18which just said the latest version of this bill
11:22will add $4 trillion, T trillion,
11:25to the debt just over the next 10 years.
11:29If Republicans want to ignore them,
11:32you can also ask the fiscal hawks
11:34at the committee
11:35for a responsible federal budget.
11:39They calculate that the House bill
11:41adds $5 trillion to our debt
11:44when you include interest payments
11:46and the cost of making temporary provisions
11:48in this bill permanent.
11:51And we are told the Senate bill
11:53is even less fiscally responsible.
11:56Everyone agrees this thing is not beautiful.
11:59But it is recklessly big
12:02and it won't just increase the debt.
12:04It will blow it up.
12:07Mr. President,
12:08this may very well be
12:09the most expensive bill in history.
12:13I say may
12:14because Republicans are still planning changes.
12:18We have not yet gotten the final bill.
12:21They already cut out even more taxes
12:23for multinational corporations.
12:25SNAP benefits,
12:26they're still on the chopping block.
12:28Healthcare,
12:29still on the chopping block.
12:30In fact,
12:31they want to cut Medicaid
12:32even more painfully.
12:35We may not know
12:36how expensive
12:38the Republicans will be
12:39in the end,
12:41but we know who is paying for it.
12:43Paying for it is you,
12:45working families.
12:47And it is important for people to know,
12:49as bad as this bill is,
12:50Republicans were trying to make it even worse.
12:54Now, Democrats have been fighting them
12:56every step of the way.
12:57And we have notched a few important wins
12:59by challenging every single provision
13:02we possibly could
13:03under the Senate rules.
13:05So I want to talk about
13:06some of the things
13:06Democrats were successful in getting out.
13:10Because if Republicans
13:11had to have their way,
13:12not only would this bill
13:14take away more food
13:15from our struggling families
13:16or shutter even more hospitals
13:18and kick even more people
13:20off their health insurance,
13:22it would have also sold off
13:23all of our public lands.
13:26And if,
13:26instead of just slashing CFPB funding,
13:29it would have completely shuttered
13:31the doors
13:32of a very important federal watchdog
13:34that protects Americans
13:36from getting scammed.
13:38If Republicans
13:39had have had their way,
13:41this bill would make it
13:42easier to buy gun silencers,
13:44harder to get your
13:45earned income tax credit
13:46or pay off your student loan.
13:49And effectively impossible
13:50to get insurance plans
13:52on the marketplace
13:53that cover abortion care.
13:55If Republicans
13:56had have had their way,
13:57this bill would have also
13:58given Trump more power
14:00to deny funding
14:01to our constituents
14:03on a whim
14:04and less power
14:05for the courts
14:06to stop him.
14:08We're talking about
14:09a whole smorgasbord
14:10of really awful,
14:11unpopular ideas
14:13and policies
14:13that would have hurt
14:14our families
14:15and weakened our democracy.
14:17Ideas that were this close
14:19to making it into this bill.
14:21But Republicans
14:22did not have their way.
14:24Democrats have been
14:25fighting back
14:26at every single step.
14:28We got those provisions
14:29tossed in the shredder.
14:30And we are still
14:31doing our darndest
14:33to send the rest
14:34of the bill
14:35to the shredder
14:36as well.
14:37Now, let's be clear.
14:39When we talk about
14:40how unpopular
14:41this bill is
14:42with the American people,
14:44the reason is simple.
14:46This bill
14:47polls
14:48like garbage
14:49because
14:50it is garbage.
14:52That's why
14:52it should go nowhere
14:53except a trash bin.
14:56Democrats
14:56are going to keep
14:57pushing back
14:58on this monstrosity
14:59with absolutely
15:00everything we've got
15:01at every step we can.
15:03We're not going to
15:04stand by
15:05as Republicans
15:06shutter hospitals
15:07so the richest people
15:08in the country
15:09can build
15:09another vacation home.
15:11We are not going to
15:12sit around
15:13and let Republicans
15:14kick millions of people
15:15off of their insurance
15:17and raise
15:18working families premiums
15:19so corporate executives
15:21can get a bigger bonus.
15:22And we are not
15:23going to be silent
15:24as Republicans
15:26take food away
15:27from struggling families
15:29so they can help
15:30billionaires
15:31fuel up
15:32their private jets.
15:33We are going to
15:34keep speaking up
15:35we are going to
15:36keep pushing back
15:37and we're going to
15:37make sure everyone
15:39everyone knows
15:40exactly what is
15:41going on here.
15:43This bill is
15:43deeply unpopular
15:45that much is clear
15:46but if Republicans
15:48keep pushing
15:48for this disaster
15:49buckle up
15:51because we are only
15:52going to keep
15:53getting louder
15:54and louder
15:55about how big
15:56this is
15:57how ugly it is
15:58and it's only
15:59going to get
16:00more unpopular
16:01with the folks
16:02back home
16:02as these provisions
16:04are enacted
16:04if the spill passes.
16:06I'm pretty astounded
16:07by how far
16:08some Republicans
16:09are trying to
16:10stick their heads
16:11in the sand on this.
16:12One Republican senator
16:14told their concerned
16:15constituents
16:16and I quote
16:17we're all going to die.
16:19Well maybe that's
16:20a better name
16:20for the bill.
16:21At least it's more honest
16:22because when you
16:24take health care
16:25away from people
16:26when you make it
16:27harder to get
16:28when you make
16:29it harder
16:29to afford
16:30when you close
16:31the only hospital
16:33for miles
16:33yeah you're right
16:35people will die.
16:37You'd think
16:37my colleagues
16:38would show
16:38a bit more
16:39concern about that.
16:40Instead that senator
16:41actually doubled down
16:42and in a response
16:43video she filmed
16:45walking through
16:45a cemetery
16:46I don't know
16:46how you get
16:47out of touch
16:47that much
16:47to misunderstand this
16:49but let me be
16:50clear about
16:51something to
16:52our Republicans.
16:54Whistling past
16:55the graveyard
16:56is a metaphor
16:57to stop
16:58ignoring dangers.
17:01It is not
17:01a literal
17:02messaging suggestion.
17:05And if you
17:06thought Republicans
17:06couldn't be any
17:07more dismissive
17:08to their own
17:08constituents
17:09this week
17:09another Republican
17:10senator
17:11who was speaking
17:12about people
17:13voicing their
17:14concerns
17:14about these
17:15Medicaid cuts
17:16said they will
17:17quote people
17:18will get over it.
17:20Mr. President
17:20I have news
17:22for every one
17:23of my Republican
17:24colleagues
17:24who is trying
17:26to deny
17:26the reality
17:27of this bill
17:28and pretend
17:29the fairy tales
17:30they are telling
17:30themselves are true.
17:32When someone's
17:33local hospital
17:34closes
17:35they don't
17:36get over it.
17:38When someone's
17:38kid is kicked
17:40off health care
17:40they do not
17:41get over it.
17:43And if Republicans
17:44don't want to
17:45take my word for it
17:46they can listen
17:47to the doctor
17:48I spoke with
17:49who warned
17:49when patients
17:51go uninsured
17:52they delay
17:54care
17:54and it
17:55increases
17:56costs
17:57for everyone.
17:59Instead of
17:59paying $10
18:00for diabetic
18:01medication
18:01we'll pay
18:03$10,000
18:03for an
18:04amputation.
18:05Or Republicans
18:06can actually
18:07read the
18:07countless
18:08letters I'm
18:08getting from
18:09my constituents
18:10sharing their
18:11stories.
18:12Quote
18:12my dad
18:13is a double
18:13amputee.
18:15He relies
18:15on Medicaid.
18:16Without
18:17Medicaid
18:17we couldn't
18:18get my
18:19kids
18:19anti-seizure
18:20medication.
18:21Or I'm
18:22a full-time
18:22caregiver
18:23for my
18:24daughter
18:24with cerebral
18:25palsy.
18:26Or my
18:26son
18:27with
18:27spina bifida.
18:28Or my
18:28elderly
18:29mother.
18:30And this
18:30bill threatens
18:31to kick
18:31them off
18:32their health
18:32care and
18:33the support
18:33services
18:34they rely
18:35on to
18:36survive.
18:38Or better
18:38yet
18:38Republicans
18:40can go
18:40out and
18:40talk to
18:41their own
18:42constituents.
18:43Because I
18:44have no
18:44doubt they
18:45will hear
18:46similar
18:46stories.
18:48They will
18:48even come
18:48to you.
18:49Advocates
18:49have been
18:49here in
18:50D.C.
18:50all week.
18:51I've seen
18:51them in
18:51the halls.
18:52I've heard
18:52them from
18:53my office.
18:54And now
18:55Republicans
18:55can listen
18:56to the
18:56people across
18:57the country
18:57who are
18:58warning them
19:00about this
19:00bill.
19:01And they
19:01can do
19:01the right
19:02thing and
19:03abandon
19:03this effort.
19:04Or they
19:05can keep
19:06ignoring
19:06them.
19:07But make
19:08no mistake,
19:09in the end,
19:10the American
19:10people will
19:11have their
19:12voices and
19:13their votes
19:13heard.
19:14Because at
19:15the end of
19:15the day,
19:15this bill,
19:17this monstrosity
19:18of a bill,
19:18is all
19:22in the
19:22goal of
19:23a tax
19:24break for
19:25multi-billionaires
19:26and corporations.
19:28And the way
19:28they pay for
19:29it is by
19:30taking away
19:31your health
19:31care and
19:33your nutrition,
19:34the things your
19:36family or your
19:36neighbors or
19:37people you know
19:38rely on.
19:39And that's just
19:40wrong.
19:40It's un-American.
19:41And we're
19:42fighting back.
19:43Thank you,
19:43Mr. President.
19:43I yield the
19:44floor.