'I Want To Tell You, Through My Constituents' Stories, How Detrimental This Bill Will Be': Peters

Forbes Breaking News

During debate on the Senate floor, Rep. Gary Peters (D-MI) tore into GOP cuts to Medicaid and voiced his opposition to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Transcript

00:00At the same time, our Republican colleagues are not making smart, sensible spending cuts

00:04to cover the costs that these billionaire tax cuts will mean.

00:09Instead, they're gutting health care for millions of Americans, including hundreds

00:14of thousands of Michiganders.

00:17It's reckless, and it is wrong.

00:20Medicaid is a lifeline for people in every single community across this country.

00:26It ensures that millions of Michiganders and Americans can have access to quality, affordable

00:32health care.

00:34And right now, folks across my home state of Michigan are scared, scared about what this

00:40bill will mean for their families.

00:43I've heard from thousands of my constituents from every corner of the state of Michigan

00:48on how these cuts are going to hurt them.

00:51So today I just want to tell you, through my constituent stories, just how detrimental this

00:55bill will be for most Americans.

00:59Take Isaac from Lansing, for example, who says Medicaid is the only lifeline he has to pay

01:04for the medicine that literally, literally keeps him alive.

01:09We've also seen how more and more Michiganders and people all across our nation have shouldered

01:14the burden of serving as a primary caregiver for an aging parent.

01:20It's the ultimate gift that we can give to the people who have raised us.

01:25But the cost of critical nursing home and assisted living care continues to rise.

01:31Medicaid has become an essential way for our aging seniors to pay for the care that they

01:37need.

01:38Take Gwen from Grand Rapids, who says she wouldn't be able to pay for an assisted living

01:43facility for her grandmother without Medicaid.

01:48Many of us know someone, or maybe even love someone, who lives with a disability.

01:54Thanks to Medicaid, people with disabilities can get the care that allows them to live healthy

02:00and independent lives.

02:04That is the case for Wanda from Westland, who takes medication for an eye condition.

02:09Without Medicaid, she would not be able to afford her medication and she could actually go blind.

02:18As too many of us know from personal experiences or from friends and loved ones, our country

02:24is facing a mental health crisis.

02:28Medicaid has become a saving grace for those who desperately need mental health care, but simply

02:34cannot afford it.

02:36Take Allen from Fort Gratiot, who says losing Medicaid would feel like losing the lives he's

02:45been given back through mental health care from Medicaid.

02:49Under this bill, rural communities will be especially impacted by cuts to Medicaid.

02:55In some counties in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, there's only one health care provider, meaning

03:02some Michiganders will have to travel up to 50 miles to get routine or emergency care.

03:09Medicaid helps keep these hospitals open.

03:13And if this bill passes, people in these rural communities are going to be cut off from

03:19basic health services.

03:22Medicaid also plays an essential role in making sure that children across Michigan get the

03:26care that they need.

03:28I heard from Gladys, a mother from Flint, who says Medicaid is the only reason her kids

03:34can get their asthma medication or have regular health checkups.

03:41Expecting mothers also reached out to share their concerns.

03:45While she is busy preparing to welcome a newborn baby into the world, Chelsea from Fenville is now

03:51afraid that she will lose her access to both pre- and postnatal care under this absolutely

03:58disastrous bill.

04:01I simply can't understand how my Republican colleagues would leave thousands, thousands

04:05of people across Michigan without the care that they need, all so they can give a tax break

04:12to billionaires.

04:14On top of that, my Republican colleagues are also proposing deep, harmful cuts to food assistance

04:20delivered through SNAP.

04:22SNAP serves as an absolute lifeline for millions of Americans, including children, seniors,

04:28people with disabilities and working families.

04:32So simply put, if this bill is passed, it will mean people in Michigan and all across our

04:37country will go hungry.

04:40They will not be able to put food on the table while billionaires pay less taxes.

04:46That is just wrong.

04:51But it also makes no economic sense either.

04:54Every dollar in SNAP benefits generates more than $1.50 in economic activity.

05:00This supports local grocery stores, farmers all across our country, and the entire food supply

05:05chain.

05:06So on top of jeopardizing families' ability to put food on the table to feed their children,

05:14these proposed SNAP cuts would also hurt businesses and jobs, particularly in rural America and

05:20in low-income areas.

05:23This bill produces the most amount of pain for the least amount of gain of any legislation

05:30that I can remember in all the years that I've had the privilege of serving here in the

05:34Senate.

05:35Mr. President, I can't believe that we are standing here debating this reckless, irresponsible

05:41bill.

05:42The harm this bill will do to the American people and to the people in my state of Michigan

05:47who are counting on Medicaid for health care and on food assistance to help feed their families

05:52is absolutely reprehensible.

05:56The damage this bill will do to our nation's economic security is not only reckless, it is

06:02unconscionable.

06:05This is not what our constituents want us to be focused on.

06:09They want us to help make their life better.

06:12But instead of focusing on that, here we are on the brink of passing a bill so irresponsible

06:18that it will destroy our country's economic health, harm millions of Americans, all so a

06:24handful of billionaires, the wealthiest of the wealthy, can have another tax break.

06:31Mr. President, I will never support such a reckless and catastrophic plan.

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