Chris Van Hollen Slams GOP's $9 Billion Rescission Bill After 'Exploding The National Debt' With BBB

Forbes Breaking News

During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) spoke about the Republican rescission package.

Transcript

00:00Senator from Maryland.

00:02Thank you, Mr. President.

00:04You know, it was just a few weeks ago right here on this Senate floor

00:08that our Republican colleagues on a straight party-line vote

00:13cut millions and millions of dollars, billions of dollars,

00:19back from investments in health care like Medicaid.

00:23And as a result, millions and millions of Americans

00:27are going to lose access to health care.

00:31And for what?

00:33All for a giant giveaway, tax giveaway,

00:37that disproportionately benefits the very wealthiest in America.

00:42They called it the big, beautiful bill.

00:45It was beautiful if you're a billionaire.

00:48For everybody else, it came at your expense in one form or another.

00:53Now, here today on the floor of the Senate,

00:58we have Republicans bringing a partisan bill once again,

01:03this time to cut $9 billion in important investments,

01:10including from public radio and public television.

01:14And as my colleague Senator Murphy just indicated,

01:18from very important foreign assistance programs

01:22that are essential to American diplomacy

01:27and ultimately to American power and interests around the world.

01:33This is not America first.

01:35This is America in retreat or President Trump surrendering.

01:41So, to add insult to injury,

01:47these cuts are coming after Republicans in this very body

01:52and the House of Representatives passed

01:57and President Trump signed into law

01:59provisions that included the very programs

02:04that we're talking about cutting today.

02:07In other words, this is a total switcheroo

02:12where one day Republicans vote for a package

02:16that includes essential investments

02:20and the next day they turn around on a party-line vote

02:23and erase the investments that were just signed into law.

02:29So, that will undermine the entire appropriations process.

02:38Now, I've been listening to comments

02:41from some of my Republican colleagues

02:43and they say this is about reducing the national debt.

02:48Well, I am all for reducing our deficits and our debt.

02:53But I asked my Republican colleagues

02:56if you really cared about fiscal responsibility

02:59and deficits in the debt,

03:02what happened two weeks ago on the floor of the Senate?

03:06Because Republican senators polled all-nighters

03:10in order to pass legislation

03:12that resulted in the largest debt increase in American history,

03:16throwing away trillions of dollars

03:21to in part pay for tax cuts for billionaires.

03:26That bill that passed the Senate just two weeks ago

03:29will add $4 trillion to our national debt.

03:35Why is that?

03:35Because even after they made cuts to Medicaid,

03:39which will throw millions of Americans off their health care,

03:42even after that, the tax cuts

03:44that disproportionately benefit wealthy people

03:47were so big

03:48that it's still going to explode the deficit

03:51by $4 trillion.

03:55And now here they come two weeks later

03:58to pass this rescissions bill

04:00that cuts very important services

04:02and very important components of our foreign policy

04:05for $9 billion.

04:06Mr. President, that is 0.23 of 1%

04:13of the debt that the Republican senators

04:17voted to increase just two weeks ago.

04:21So nobody's fooling anybody

04:24when senators come down to the floor

04:27and say, we've got to do this

04:29because of our national debt,

04:30having exploded the national debt

04:32by $4 trillion just two weeks.

04:35two weeks ago.

04:38And so what does this package include?

04:42Well, it includes cuts to public radio.

04:48That includes NPR, includes PBS,

04:52also public television is cut.

04:55So we explode the debt by $4 trillion

04:58two weeks ago,

05:00and this week we're coming after Big Bird.

05:02That is their solution

05:04to dealing with the national debt.

05:09If you look at the cuts to public radio,

05:13they can have very harmful impacts

05:17around the country

05:19because in many rural areas especially,

05:22people do use access to public radio

05:24to get alerts about natural disasters.

05:31So this would put those communities at risk,

05:33and this is part of a pattern.

05:35It's part of a pattern we're seeing

05:37in the funds being withheld

05:38by this Trump White House

05:40that we've already passed.

05:41Here we're talking about cutting funds

05:44through this partisan process,

05:45but the Trump White House

05:48is also unilaterally withholding

05:50important funds for disaster relief.

05:52We learned after the tragic flooding in Texas

05:55that claimed so many lives

05:58that FEMA failed to answer

06:00nearly two-thirds of the calls

06:02on its disaster assistance line

06:04because the Trump administration

06:08had cut so much of the FEMA staff.

06:12In my state of Maryland

06:13a number of months ago,

06:14we witnessed terrible flooding

06:16in the western part of our state.

06:19In fact, some of you may have seen

06:21the images of elementary school students

06:24being evacuated from their school on boats.

06:28Fortunately, no one died in that flood,

06:30but the damage was extensive,

06:34and we're still waiting

06:36on the Trump administration

06:38to answer our state request

06:41for some help for those families

06:43and small businesses that were hit.

06:48Now, this is a pattern

06:50that goes beyond just disaster relief.

06:54In Maryland, we've also seen cuts

06:57to FEMA programs designed

06:59to protect communities

07:01and let them have the resources

07:03to put in place protections

07:06like higher walls

07:07so that they are not victims

07:11of natural disasters.

07:14Those funds were cut.

07:16So we see those cuts

07:20to those essential programs.

07:24We're also seeing this across the board

07:27when it comes to global health.

07:31And I'm not going to go through

07:32all of those cuts.

07:33Some of my colleagues

07:34have identified those.

07:38I will just say

07:39that our foreign assistance

07:41is not charity.

07:43Our foreign assistance,

07:45as colleagues have said,

07:46has been an essential element

07:48of our overall foreign policy.

07:52And if you talk to wise generals

07:55at the Defense Department,

07:56they will tell you

07:57that our national security

08:00and foreign policy strategy

08:01rests on three pillars.

08:03Yes, of course, defense

08:04and military power,

08:06but also diplomacy

08:08and development.

08:09And when you make

08:12these deep cuts

08:13that are impacting

08:15diplomacy and development,

08:17including, by the way,

08:18the 1,300

08:20Patriotic State Department employees

08:22who were just fired last week,

08:24when you do that,

08:26it's our adversaries

08:27who benefit.

08:29And it's the American people

08:30who lose,

08:31along with our allies.

08:34Because those are not

08:37giveaways, those investments.

08:38You know,

08:39if your neighbor's house

08:40is on fire,

08:42you don't just sit

08:44in your house

08:44and let your neighbor's

08:46house burn.

08:48You go help them out

08:49because they're your neighbor

08:50and it's the right thing to do.

08:52But it's also

08:53the smart thing to do

08:54because that fire

08:55may be heading

08:56to your house next.

08:59And when it comes

09:00to issues like global health

09:01and the spread of disease

09:02around the world,

09:03it's the same story.

09:05We save millions

09:07of lives,

09:08including millions

09:09of kids' lives,

09:10when we help.

09:12But we also prevent

09:13those diseases

09:13from jumping over the oceans

09:16and coming to hurt people

09:18right here

09:19in the United States

09:21of America.

09:22But this administration

09:23doesn't care.

09:26If you look at a Lancet study,

09:30they've estimated

09:31that the cuts

09:32that the Trump administration

09:33has made

09:35in the area of global health

09:36and other important investments

09:38will cost 14 million lives

09:41by the year 2030,

09:43including 4.5 million children

09:46who will die.

09:48We just saw a story

09:51in the Atlantic

09:51that revealed

09:52that the Trump administration

09:53is paying to incinerate,

09:54to light on fire

09:55500 tons of emergency

09:57nutritional biscuits

10:00that could go

10:00to feed hungry kids.

10:04So, Mr. President,

10:06I really urge my colleagues

10:09to take a step back

10:11and not move forward

10:13with these cuts.

10:15As I said,

10:16the notion

10:17that this is somehow

10:18their contribution

10:19to reducing

10:21our national debt

10:22when they exploded

10:22our national debt

10:23by $4 trillion

10:24over 10 years

10:25just two weeks ago

10:27is ludicrous.

10:29But I will close

10:29since I see

10:30the vice chair

10:32of the Appropriations Committee

10:34on the floor

10:34with just a final point

10:37that does deserve repeating,

10:39which is we've had

10:42a bipartisan

10:43appropriations process.

10:45We've done our very best

10:46to preserve that tradition.

10:49But when you take an action

10:53on one day

10:54and we vote

10:56on a bipartisan basis

10:57for important

10:59American priorities,

11:00whether in public radio

11:01or addressing

11:03global health issues,

11:05when we do that one day

11:06and the President

11:08of the United States

11:08signs that into law

11:10and then we run down here

11:13a few months later

11:14and said,

11:15you know what?

11:15We didn't mean it

11:17with respect

11:17to these programs.

11:19And we,

11:20on a partisan basis,

11:22are going to yank them away.

11:26That undermines trust

11:28and confidence

11:28in this entire system.

11:31So,

11:33both for the American people

11:34and the important investments

11:37that we did make

11:38and which they will now lose,

11:40but also

11:42for the future

11:43of this institution

11:45and the power of the purse,

11:48I urge my colleagues

11:50to vote against

11:52this bill.

11:54And I yield the floor.

11:55and I yield the floor.

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