00:00finance with instructions. I have some further reading of the motion be dispensed with. Without objection. I want to know if my colleagues on the other side of the aisle believe that there are some Americans so wealthy that perhaps they don't need a tax break at the expense of health care and food for our most vulnerable constituents. So I'll kick off this dialogue by raising a common sense idea. We can save health care for millions of Americans if we strip out tax giveaways
00:29for individuals making more than 10 million dollars. Yes or no? President Trump claims to fight for the working class yet we have before us a bill that gives tax breaks to the top 1% that will be paid in cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and more. Programs that serve hardworking Americans. So I ask do you want community hospitals or another giant mansion for billionaire? Should we save health care and nutrition assistance
00:59for millions of Americans by stopping giant tax giveaways at 10 million dollars? If my colleagues on the other side want to put their money where their mouth is then they'll say yes. I yield.
01:14Mr. President. Thank you Mr. President. Well Senator Kennedy talked about Scooter and Senator Scott talked about Bubba. I want to talk about Jolly Roll.
01:26It turns out in a committee hearing with Jolly Roll, the country music rock singer, he grew up in Antioch, Tennessee. And I said do you remember Countryside Village? He said well they call it Countryside Meadow. I said I used to live there. He said I did too. It's a trailer park and it's still standing on Richards Road in Nashville, Tennessee.
01:49Back in the late 70s and early 80s I was living in that trailer park and I was living with a family on the economic bubble. And I remember back then when President Reagan came in and he offered tax cuts that everybody characterized those tax cuts as cuts for the rich.
02:08But let me tell you all, when we saw those tax cuts implemented, Tom Tillis and Jelly Roll ended up finding opportunities beyond our wildest imagination.
02:20So it turns out that those so-called tax cuts for the rich back then lifted me out of that situation into a high-tech career and now standing here before you in the U.S. Senate.
02:32This and several other amendments are amendments that are standing in the way of other people getting lifted out of that same trailer park.
02:39So ladies and gentlemen, on our side of the aisle and those over there, I hope you will join us, shout loudly no. Thank you, Mr. President.
02:50The question is on the motion. All in favor say aye.
02:54Aye.
02:55Opposed no.
02:56Opposed no.
02:57No.
02:58Nose appear to have it.
02:59Nose appear to have it.
03:00Nose do have it.
03:01Nose do have it.
03:02Motion is not agreed to.
03:03Motion is not agreed to.
03:08Senator from Arizona.
03:10Mr. President, I have a motion to commit at the desk.
03:14Clerk will report.
03:16The Senator from Arizona, Mr. Kelly, moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the Committee on Finance with instructions.
03:23I ask that further reading of the motion be dispensed with.
03:28Without objection.
03:29Mr. President, I don't think we're looking to take any money out of Jelly Roll's pocket here.
03:37But giving a tax break to the richest people and most profitable corporations is a choice.
03:48And paying for it by kicking 17 million Americans off their health insurance is a choice.
03:57None of this is set in stone.
03:59Every one of us gets a vote here.
04:03A choice.
04:06We can help parents be able to take their kids to the doctor.
04:11We can keep seniors in their nursing homes.
04:15Or some rich guy, not Jelly Roll, can get another private jet.
04:24We can save health care for millions of Americans if we strip out tax giveaways for individuals making more than $100 million a year.
04:39Yes or no?
04:42Senator North Carolina.
04:45The reality is, let's fast forward now to 2017.
04:48I was in this chamber when we passed TCJA.
04:51And after we passed this, again, everybody was arguing this was all tax policy for the rich.
04:57But we unleashed an American economy that we have not seen in our history.
05:01In fact, it was better than the tax cuts of the Reagan era.
05:05Ladies and gentlemen, we need to get every bit of what we did in 2017 back on the books because people are not understanding the pro-growth nature of this tax policy.
05:17I hope my colleagues will vote loudly yes once again.
05:21No.
05:22No.
05:23Once again.
05:24The senator's time has expired.
05:29The question is on the motion.
05:32All in favor say aye.
05:33All in favor say aye.
05:34Aye.
05:35All opposed, nay.
05:36No.
05:37The no's appear to have it.
05:39The no's do have it.
05:40Clerk will report.
05:41The motion is not agreed to.
05:42The motion is not agreed to.
05:43Clerk will report.
05:44No.
05:45Clerk will report.
05:46Clerk will report.
05:50The Senate from Connecticut.
05:52Mr. President, I have a motion to commit at the desk.
05:55Clerk will report.
05:57Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Murphy moves to commit the build h.r. 1 of the committee on finance of the Senate with instructions to report back
06:05the same to the Senate in 3 days, not counting.
06:09I'd ask that the, uh, further reading of the motion be dispensed with.
06:12without objection. Mr. President, at the foundation of this bill is something very simple. The most
06:19massive transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich in the history of the country. That's
06:26essentially what we're talking about here. That's really bad policy. But just as importantly, it is
06:31also deeply, deeply immoral. This bill is going to ruin people's lives. There are going to be
06:37moms who are going to watch their kids go hungry because of the cuts in SNAP. People are going to
06:42die when 17 million people lose their health care. And for what? To give an average quarter
06:48million dollar tax cut to the wealthiest families in America. We have tried to convince our colleagues
06:53to throw less people off their health care or to make the nutritional cuts a little bit easier to
07:00stomach. But they won't do it. So now we're just trying to address the other side of the immorality.
07:04This amendment would just say no tax cuts for people making over $500 million a year. If you
07:14are going to ruin people's lives by kicking them off their health care or cutting their food stamps,
07:19don't make the moral injury even worse by padding the pockets of the richest people in the country.
07:25Tax cuts for people making over $500 million a year while you throw 17 million people off their
07:32health care. Yes or no. Senator North Carolina.
07:38Mr. President, I'm guessing, well, they're probably focused a little bit less on me because I've made
07:43an announcement this weekend. But you can already tell that this narrative is about how we're all
07:49about the wealthy. And I've already stipulated I have concerns with the Medicaid bill. You all know
07:55where I am on that. But we're talking about the tax bill. And there is nothing in this tax bill
08:00that I think is that that is fall short of extraordinary opportunity for economic growth
08:07that lifts up the very people that I grew up with. And for that reason, once again, I hope you will vote
08:14loudly, no. Question is on the motion. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed, no. No. The nos appear to have it. The nos do have it. Motion is not agreed to.
08:27Mr. President. Senator from Maine.
08:31I respond. We can solve this problem and solve the problem of people in in trailer parks by limiting the tax cuts of people making four hundred thousand dollars a year and less.
08:45That would cut the cost of this bill by 60 percent. It would also obviate the necessity of kicking people, 17 million people off of health care and thousands and thousands of young people and people across the country from SNAP.
08:58You can do this and give tax relief to the middle class without the unnecessary tax relief in this bill that goes to the richest people in our country.
09:08So my amendment is really simple. If you think people making a billion dollars a year need and deserve a tax break.
09:15And also, if you want to give a really good add to these guys in November of 2026, vote no on the amendment and say that billionaires, not, no, not billionaires, people earning a billion dollars need and deserve a tax break.
09:30I urge a yes vote.
09:34Mr. President. Does the senator wish to call up his motion?
09:36I have a motion to commit at the desk.
09:39Click report.
09:40The senator from Maine, Mr. King, moves to commit the bill H.R. 1 to the committee.
09:44Yes, that further reading of the motion be dispensed with.
09:46Without objection.
09:48Mr. President.
09:49Senator from North Carolina.
09:50Mr. President, in truth, you can see this sort of upping of the ante.
09:54These are the gimmicks that we play when we want to get a show vote, especially with somebody who may be running for reelection, for reelection.
10:06We know that this isn't going to materially change things.
10:09Now, my friend from Maine knows where I am on health care, and I hope that we get things fixed.
10:15But this exercise, by virtue of it being a voice vote, tells you all you need to know about this process.
10:23And for that reason, I would suggest just one more loud no vote.
10:28Question is on the motion.
10:31All in favor, say aye.
10:33Aye.
10:33All opposed, no.
10:35No.
10:36The nos appear to have it.
10:37The nos do have it.
10:38Motion is not agreed to.
10:43Mr. President.
10:44Senator from California.
10:46I have a motion to commit at the desk.
10:49Clerk report.
10:50Senator from California, Mr. Padilla moves to commit the Bill H.R. 1 to the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
10:56I ask that further reading of the motion be dispensed with.
10:58Without objection.
11:01Colleagues, on the other side of the aisle, I know that you take great pleasure in criticizing the federal deficit under Democratic administrations.
11:12But the numbers don't lie.
11:15The biggest driver of the ballooning national debt has been Republican tax cuts for the wealthy and large corporations.
11:26And despite the parliamentary gymnastics that are being played here, our Republican colleagues know that this bill is adding an additional $3.5 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.
11:42Why else would they have included a piece of the bill to raise the debt limit by $5 trillion if this bill saved money as they claim?
11:56So if Republicans really do want to balance the budget or reduce the deficit, let's start by guaranteeing that this measure is at least deficit neutral.
12:07That's exactly what this amendment would do.
12:11I ask sure I vote and reserve my time.
12:16Senator of South Carolina.
12:18Yes.
12:19CBO tells us if we adopt current policy for taxes, we will save $507 billion.
12:26The deficit will go down by $507 billion if we do this.
12:30In 2012, I was here.
12:32The Bush tax cuts were going to expire in December of 2012.
12:35President Obama sat down with Republicans and they came up with a way to extend those tax cuts by not passing a new law.
12:42They called it the alternative fiscal scenario that CBO said is basically current policy.
12:48So alternative fiscal scenario in Latin means current policy.
12:53So we're doing what they did then.
12:55We're just doing it without any help from y'all because y'all will never do anything to make sure taxes go down.
13:02So we're going to make sure they go down forever.
13:05Current policy is good tax policy.
13:08Stick with the bill we wrote.
13:10You're going to be happy to reduce the deficit and make sure people's taxes don't go up tomorrow, the next day, forever.
