In Early Morning Floor Speech, Pressley Made Final Appeal to Republicans to Reject Bill That Would Make Millions Poorer, Sicker, Hungrier, and More Vulnerable

Bill Would Rip Away Healthcare and Food Assistance from Millions, Harm Everyone in America to Fund More Tax Breaks for Billionaires Like Elon Musk and Donald Trump

Floor Speech (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) issued the following statement on the House’s passage of Republicans’ cruel reconciliation bill, which would gut Medicaid and SNAP, and rip healthcare and food assistance away from millions of people, including in Massachusetts. In an early morning speech on the House floor, Congresswoman Pressley made a direct, final appeal to her Republican colleagues to oppose this cruel and harmful bill.

“Today, under the cover of night, House Republicans rammed through a cruel, callous, and morally bankrupt bill that would gut Medicaid, slash food assistance, and kick 14 million people off their healthcare—all to shower toy spaceship billionaires like Donald Trump and Elon Musk with hundreds of billions more in tax giveaways. This legislation would make communities in the Massachusetts 7^th and across the country poorer, sicker, hungrier, and more vulnerable.

“This bill would rip food out of the mouths of families already struggling to put meals on the table. It would decimate healthcare in America and worsen our maternal health crisis. It would gut mental health funding under SAMHSA and cut cancer research, putting lives at risk and turning its back on people struggling with addiction, mental health crises, cancer diagnoses, and much, much more. 

“This bill is a shameful betrayal of our shared humanity. I urge the Senate to stand with the people and reject this heinous legislation. This is a somber day, but this fight is not over.”

Across Massachusetts, over 955,000 Medicaid enrollees are at risk of losing healthcare coverage under MassHealth, the Commonwealth’s Medicaid program, due to the bill’s work reporting requirements for Medicaid. In the Massachusetts 7^th Congressional District, approximately 135,000 enrollees would lose coverage.

Republicans’ extreme budget plan also threatens the approximately 1,216,000 people in the Commonwealth who depend on SNAP to put food on the table, including 187,000 people in the Massachusetts 7^th Congressional District.

Congresswoman Pressley has been an outspoken critic of this harmful legislation since its inception.

• Rep. Pressley delivered a floor speech in which she slammed the bill’s proposed Medicaid cuts, which would decimate reproductive healthcare in America and worsen maternal health outcomes.
• Rep. Pressley co-hosted a press conference with Color of Change to oppose the Republicans’ cruel and harmful budget reconciliation package, which would gut critical programs like Medicaid and SNAP.
• Rep. Pressley rallied with caregivers, advocates, and fellow lawmakers at a 24-hour vigil to protect Medicaid from Republicans’ cruel budget cuts that would devastate communities across this country.
• In the House Oversight Committee’s markup of the Republican reconciliation bill, Rep. Pressley demanded Republicans answer to the families who would go hungry by way of this reconciliation bill – and she was met with silence.
• In the House Financial Services Committee’s markup of the Republican reconciliation bill, Rep. Pressley condemned the bill’s proposed cuts to Medicaid and shared the story of Mary Marinelli, a 70-year-old hospice nurse from a Republican district in Michigan whose family depends on Medicaid to care for their autistic son.
• In an impassioned speech on the House floor, Rep. Pressley slammed Republicans’ cruel and callous budget resolution that would slash Medicaid and other critical government services to pay for trillions of dollars in tax giveaways for Donald Trump’s billionaire donors.

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