00:00Representative Moore, my classmate, you are recognized.
00:04Thank you, Madam Chair, Fox, and Ranking Member McGovern.
00:09I'm a little congested here today, so it won't be possible for me to be my loud self.
00:16But, you know, I'm really glad to be the last one to speak on this distinguished panel,
00:23because I think that you've heard two different arguments here.
00:27On one hand, you hear about people getting $11,000 more tax breaks at the lower end of the income spectrum.
00:38You know, all these benefits.
00:40And on the other hand, you've heard members talk about the draconian cuts
00:44and the impact that it will have on hospitals and on poor people.
00:51So whose report do you believe?
00:53And I think that this is the conundrum for the American people.
00:58Well, given my, in my own faith tradition, I look toward Matthew 7, 16, which says,
01:07by their deeds, you will know them.
01:10And no matter what, I know many of us have been here for many years, Madam Chair.
01:15More years than you and I have been here.
01:17And people have already decided what their legacy in this place will be.
01:22But no matter what you think your legacy was, today will seal your legacy.
01:31Your legacy will be sealed in the next 36 hours by virtue of how you vote on this bill.
01:38And I think that the American people are now seeing the soul of the formerly grand old party.
01:48This Republican Party is nothing like the GOP.
01:53You know, the Committee on Ways and Means was asked to increase the U.S. debt by trillions of dollars.
02:02And boy, did we meet that mark with this bill.
02:07We done good with regard to meeting that mark.
02:11And what did the American people buy with the $4 trillion in debt?
02:19Massive tax goodies for billionaires at the cost of 17 million Americans losing health care coverage
02:27and more hungry school children, by their deeds, you will know them.
02:34This is the moment for all of us to stand on the shores of the Rubicon,
02:40where you can never go back on your legacy.
02:44As Senator Tillis from the great state of North Carolina,
02:53he has decided that he cannot go back.
02:56Whatever happens in North Carolina, that he would rather resign than to go back on his values as a human being.
03:06So as we once again consider the billionaires' bonanza bill,
03:12which, of course, the Senate made worse.
03:14I mean, it's hard to imagine, but they did.
03:16The Republican senators found a way to provide more debt, more lost health coverage,
03:26and stifling clean, renewable energy of the future.
03:30You know, our nation's founding fathers entrusted this House of Representatives to tax and spend.
03:36They felt that the House would act more responsibly with this awesome power because we are responsive to the people.
03:45And yet, this legislation is nothing short of a total betrayal of the founding fathers' faith in this body.
03:56You know, I take particular, and I'm representing the Ways and Means Committee.
04:01We take particular offense at the characterization of millions of citizens as cheats, fraudsters, and wastes in order to justify the cuts.
04:16The dehumanization of people has been extraordinary in order to create the narrative.
04:25You know, because this bill, in fact, will make this country sicker, less educated, hungrier, and deeper in debt.
04:36And for what?
04:37So that billionaires and corporations can have more and more and more.
04:42By their deeds, Madam Chair, you shall know them.
04:46Back in May, when we went through the paces on this bill, we had a bill that handed out billions and billions of dollars to millionaires.
04:53In fact, when we looked at this bill, on average, a person making over a million dollars got a tax cut of $81,500.
05:03The bill in front of us, sent back by the Senate, has an average tax cut for a person making over a million dollars at $96,000.
05:12That's right.
05:13The United States Senate took our house bill and said $81,000 in tax cuts just isn't enough for millionaires.
05:22We got to give them even more tax cuts.
05:26Now, let's check in on the average Americans who are teaching our children and building our roads in Milwaukee and Greensboro and New Brownsville and Rock Hill or Bloomington.
05:36In May, we learned that on average, a household that makes under $50,000 got a tax cut of just 73 cents per day.
05:48That was about $247.
05:51Spend it wisely, America, because it's going to cost you your health care and your child's education.
05:57By their deeds, you will know them.
06:01And by the deeds of the United States Senate, we saw that we provided even more and more and more to millionaires and billionaires.
06:11The Senate saw that that 73 cents a day that we were providing the average American was just too much, so they clawed back a nickel.
06:24That's right.
06:25If you made under $50,000 on average, you were getting 68 cents a day.
06:30That's not even enough to buy a Snickers.
06:35And that's what the Senate did.
06:36They took away the 73 cents a day and made it 68 cents a day.
06:41By their deeds, you shall know them, American people.
06:46When we were here in May, we learned that in just 2027 alone, the top one-tenth percent, not one percent, one-tenth percent,
06:55the riches of the rich, that is, people making over $2 million a year, the people who we are told pay the most taxes,
07:06well, they got $50 billion in tax cuts just in 2027, $50 billion with a capital B.
07:16That was a House bill.
07:17But you know what?
07:19That $50 billion just wasn't enough for the Senate.
07:23They thought that because they objected to it not making enough cuts,
07:29so they decided to squeeze more and more and more from the old, infirm, and children.
07:36So they moved that number to $60 billion that they gave tax cuts to.
07:41That's right.
07:42In 2027 alone, the top one-tenth percent got $60 billion in tax cuts.
07:51Now, imagine the need in this country for better schools, child care, and job training.
07:58Imagine the needs we could address with the money.
08:00Nope.
08:01Republicans want to give a stimulus boost to the super yacht market.
08:06Madam Chair, back in May when we were here,
08:08I expressed my deep sadness that in order to, quote-unquote, pay for these tax cuts,
08:17Republicans were kicking millions of the most vulnerable Americans off health care.
08:22Well, you heard it here from this panel.
08:25The Senate upped that number to 17 million people.
08:29What will we do?
08:30What will the Americans in nursing homes do when that money is moved from health care to the banks of the wealthy?
08:38Put them into the streets and hope for the best?
08:40Maybe they can get online and do a GoFundMe for all their health care needs.
08:45By their deeds, you will know them.
08:48Finally, Madam Chair, when we were here last May, we had a bill that the CBO said would blow up the deficit by $2.4 trillion.
09:02And when you add interest costs to that, you get $3 trillion.
09:05I know we have a lot of people among our Republican colleagues that don't like debt, but for some reason, they like this debt.
09:14And the Senate saw this, and they were thinking, gee, $3 trillion in debt?
09:20We can afford a little bit more debt.
09:23Why don't we just juice that number and make the debt number $4 trillion?
09:28Yep.
09:28So I don't know what it means to be a fiscal hawk, because if you vote for this bill, you're adding $4 trillion to the debt.
09:39You know, I know that Republicans have gone on TV for months and months and months solemnly insisting to the American people
09:49that this bill is going to cut the debt, that this will not hurt anybody on Medicaid,
09:55just those lazy bums and, you know, unworthy people.
10:02They've given us fantastical growth projections coming out of the White House.
10:07They're going to look at revenue from tariffs that are going to save the country and generate all these savings.
10:16Well, by their deeds, you're going to know them.
10:19Maybe this is what the Senate was thinking when they said that trillions of dollars in tax debt,
10:32we don't know the exact number yet, but somewhere between $4 trillion to $5 trillion in tax debt equals zero.
10:40I got three great-granddaughters.
10:42I don't know how in the world I'm going to teach them that math.
10:45So, Madam Chair, I'll close with this.
10:47I know that sometimes here we're prone to exaggerations.
10:51I've heard a lot of exaggerations here today about how, you know,
10:55people are going to get $7,200 more in income and all these tax breaks.
11:03I don't know, a lot of drama around here.
11:06But I'm not being dramatic when I say that this lipstick on the pig
11:11is the worst bill I've seen since I've been in Congress.
11:15Showering millions on millionaires and billionaires with tax cuts they don't need.
11:22Sticking our grandkids with the tab.
11:24Kicking 17 million people off health care.
11:27Cutting the neediest off of SNAP benefits.
11:31Cutting off our energy, clean energy future.
11:37The moral feelings of this building are just too many to count.
11:40And yet, rather than step back and ask ourselves,
11:45is this really what we want to do?
11:48We're barreling toward an arbitrary deadline.
11:52And I'll tell you, the American people will not be celebrating on the 4th of July.
12:03They'll be looking at us.
12:06And when they ask me, what's the difference between Democrats and Republicans?
12:12I will refer them to H.R. 1, the Senate Amendment to H.R. 1,
