“Medicaid has been essential – providing essential care to those who need it most in the midst of a crisis or a chronic diagnosis.”

“Republicans who gave their vote and their endorsement to this horrific “Big Ugly Bill” should be ashamed. They voted against their neighbors. They voted against their constituents. They are complicit in wholesale harm.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) rallied with advocates from Caring Across Generations, Care Can’t Wait, and partner organizations to protest Trump’s and Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill that proposes disastrous cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and other essential programs and would leave communities sicker, poorer, and more vulnerable. The Congresswoman made it plain that Medicaid is a lifeline, and the support it provides is critical to everyone’s livelihoods – from those care taking for their loved ones to those needing medication for chronic conditions.

A transcript of the Congresswoman’s remarks, as delivered, is available below, and the full video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley Rallies Against “Big Ugly Bill,” Demands Protection of Medicaid and Life-Saving Care

Upper Senate Park

June 11, 2025

Hey, movement family!

And we are truly one movement and one human family, and that’s why you’re all here.

When you could have been anywhere else, you chose to be here because you recognize that our freedoms and our destinies are tied.

Thank you to our advocates and our partners in good. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for never losing sight of what is necessary in the work and the fight for our shared liberation and our collective humanity.

You know, every day in Congress, I sit across the aisle from Republicans, and I’ve asked myself – since all around us is callousness, contempt for every person that calls this country home, and I’m going to say cluelessness – you know, we’ll stick with that C theme there – chaos, callousness, contempt and cluelessness.

Because I wonder if they’ve ever sat at the bedside of a loved one in their final days.

I wonder if they ever rushed a toddler to the emergency room with a fever.

These are basic human experiences: grief, worry, care, concern.

So either my colleagues across the aisle are some sort of extreme anomaly, and they’ve never experienced these moments, or they simply don’t give a damn.

Maybe they believe if the language you speak is different, or your bank account is lighter, your heart just doesn’t break the same way.

But you and I know that’s not true.

Again, we are part of one human family.

Brother James Baldwin reminds us that, “The children are always ours, every single one of them, all over the globe; and I’m beginning to suspect that whoever is incapable of recognizing that may be incapable of morality,” said Baldwin.

Well, Medicaid is a lifeline to both our elders and our babies.

It’s NICU care, it’s blood pressure medications, it’s cancer treatment.

There is no moment, in my view, more basic and human than trying to take care of and keep safe your loved ones.

In America, far too often, for far too many, we come up short.

But that is not on our caregivers. That is on a broken system. And in the midst of broken systems and broken promises, programs like SNAP, food stamps have been essential.

The difference between a family going hungry or being able to stretch those groceries until pay day.

You know, being poor is not a character flaw, and being poor is one of the hardest, most expensive – one of the hardest jobs you’ll ever have, and one of the most expensive conditions.

Medicaid has been essential – providing essential care to those who need it most in the midst of a crisis or a chronic diagnosis.

Republicans who gave their vote and their endorsement to this horrific “Big Ugly Bill” should be ashamed.

They voted against their neighbors. They voted against their constituents. They are complicit in wholesale harm.

And these programs, as I said, they are essential. They are core to the basic functions of government. We’re not talking about nice-to-haves.

We’re talking about programs that determine who lives, programs that determine who dies, programs that determine who survives, programs that determine who thrives.

But this is not an inevitability.

And this extremist march towards fascism – what history has taught us time and time again is that appeasement never works. Silence never works.

What they want is a citizenry that is ignorant and uninformed. They want a citizenry that is indifferent to the suffering of their neighbors. They want a citizenry that is inactive.

But in this moment today, we assemble, we come together to reject and resist the vision of Donald Trump’s America.

And let me just say, for those that think that you can inoculate yourself or you are exempt from this harm, this harm is coming for everyone.

Your whiteness will not keep you safe. Your wealth will not keep you safe. This hurt and harm is coming for everybody.

I just wish I had some colleagues that were more concerned with doing a job than keeping it.

That’s what has them complicit in this cult of cowards and wholesale harm because of this culture of grievance and political retribution that the occupant of the Oval Office moves with.

What happens in the weeks to come will determine the lives and livelihoods of families for decades to come.

Look, y’all, movement family – this is not just about how do we get through the next four years. This moment is going to determine and shape the next 100.

And the Senate must act accordingly and listen to the people and stop this bill in its tracks.

The consequences cannot be more severe. I’m appealing to people – this is bigger than Democrat and Republican. This is about right and wrong. This is about good and evil.

I’m appealing to people of conscience to stand united against this bill, to raise your voice and share your stories.

And to the Republicans who are all too eager to green light a handout to billionaires on the backs of the most vulnerable: if you won’t act in good faith, at least act to save your own job, because we will not forget where you stand in this moment.

The people deserve better, and we can stop this Big Ugly Bill.

So movement, family, I love you.

We won’t back down, we won’t back down, we won’t back down, we won’t back down, we won’t back down, we won’t back down.

I love you, movement family.

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