Neal Opening Statement at Markup of Views and Estimates Letter to the Committee on the Budget

(As prepared for delivery)

This is the most important committee in Congress. The room where Medicare and Medicaid were born, where the promise of Social Security was drafted. It is within these walls that we took leaps to achieve health care for all with the Affordable Care Act and saved our economy during the pandemic. 

We can still do big things in this committee that will help lift people from poverty and afford medicines they need. That’s what Democrats used it for. But Republicans have chosen to go at it alone and use their legislative authority to strip millions of their health care and funnel bags of cash to the wealthiest among us. They have abandoned their Constitutional role by capitulating to Trump’s illegal tariffs and have turned a blind eye as DOGE put the people’s data in jeopardy. The American people deserve better.

This letter outlines the Committee’s commitment to lowering health care costs, fighting for the uninsured, and pursuing strong and fair trade that protects American workers. In order to accomplish those goals, Republicans must change course, stand up for their constituents who are buckling under Trump’s policies and facing unaffordable price hikes, end the health care crisis they’ve unleashed, and put a stop to the President’s corrupt grifting.

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