PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders on The Worst Bill in Modern U.S. History

Editor’s note: The following statement was made in advance of the anticipated debate and then vote on the Senate floor.  Since this time, the bill has been advanced out of the Senate and it now goes to the House.  You can read the full text of the bill here (the first sub headers talk about nutrition assistance abd HEAP changes, which help the most vulnerable Americans to eat and heat their homes. These programs are to be severely cut.  According to the timeline, this bill is ready for the president’s signature.  You can also see the amendments themselves here.  

According to the Guardian: “The changes made to the bill in the Senate would pile trillions on to the nation’s debt load while resulting in even steeper losses in healthcare coverage, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said in a new analysis, adding to the challenges for Republicans as they try to muscle the bill to passage.”

Watch the video featuring Senator Sanders’ remarks here. His updated statement follows the remarks below: 

WASHINGTON – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today gave remarks on the floor of the Senate opposing President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” which is a gift to the billionaire class while causing massive pain for working families.  The bill with amendments now returns to the House for another vote.

Sanders remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched HERE:

M. President: President Trump’s so-called “Big, Beautiful Bill,” now on the floor of the Senate, is the most dangerous piece of legislation in the modern history of our country. It is a gift to the billionaire class, while causing massive pain for low income and working class Americans.

Actually though, M. President, I’m wrong. This is not a gift to the billionaire class. They paid for it.

This bill is an absolute reflection of a corrupt campaign finance system that allows billionaires to buy elections. And when billionaires spend hundreds of billions of dollars trying to elect a president, or a senator, or a member of Congress, they’re not making that investment just for the fun of it. They want something in return. This legislation is what they are getting in return.

So what is in this bill they invested in?

Well, if you are in the top 1%, you and the class you represent will receive a $975 billion tax break – at a time when the richest people in this country have never had it so good.

Further, if you are among the wealthiest 0.2%, you will be able to pay zero taxes on your $30 million inheritance. All of you folks out there who are waiting to inherit at least $30 million, today is a good day for you. Collectively, you will receive approximately $211 billion in tax breaks. For the top 0.2%, congratulations. You hit the jackpot.

If you are a large corporation and you want to throw workers out on the street and replace them with artificial intelligence or you want to shift your profits to the Cayman Islands or other tax havens, you are going to get a $918 billion tax break. Congratulations to the CEOs of large, profitable corporations.

But while the rich and large corporations make out like bandits in this bill, what does it do for low-income and working families? Let me say a few words on that.

If you are concerned about health care, this bill throws over 16 million people off of the health insurance they have, according to the Congressional Budget Office, by cutting Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act by over $1.1 trillion.

In other words, the top 1% are getting a $975 billion tax break, and that is coming directly from throwing 16 million people off of the health insurance they have.

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This bill, for the first time, forces millions of Medicaid recipients who make as little as $16,000 a year to pay a $35 co-payment each time they visit a doctor’s office.

What is the impact of all of that?

This is not my view — this is what the Yale School of Public Health and the University of Pennsylvania determined based on a study that they did. And this is the result. It is almost so horrific, so grotesque, that it is difficult to speak about. But they estimate that if this bill goes through with all of these cuts in health care — if 16 million people are thrown off the health care they have — over 50,000 Americans will die unnecessarily every year.

Fifty thousand Americans will die unnecessarily in order to give tax breaks to billionaires who don’t need them. In other words, this bill is literally a death sentence for low-income and working-class Americans.

Further, if this legislation is enacted, rural hospitals all over the country that are already struggling are going to shut down or aren’t going to be able to provide the level of services they do today. In other words, this bill would be a disaster for rural America.

It would also make massive cuts to community health centers and nursing homes, who are very heavily dependent on Medicaid funding.

The bottom line is that this legislation is the most significant attack on the health care needs of the American people in our country’s history.

We already have a health care system which is broken and dysfunctional, and instead of addressing it — instead of doing what every other major country on Earth does: guarantee health care to all people — we are throwing 16 million people off the health insurance they have. But it’s not just health care.

The future of America rests with our children. And yet, in a nation which now has the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on Earth, this bill wipes out nutrition assistance for millions of hungry kids in America.

We are literally taking food out of the mouths of hungry kids to give tax breaks to Mr. Bezos, Mr. Musk, Mr. Zuckerberg and the other multi-billionaires.

If we understand that if we’re going to compete effectively in the global economy, we need to have the best education system in the world, this bill makes $350 billion in cuts in education with the result that working class kids will find it much harder to get the higher education they need to succeed in life.

If you are concerned about the existential threat of climate change, this bill decimates investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy like wind and solar and moves us in exactly the wrong direction when it comes to energy.

If you are concerned about our role in never-ending wars, this bill makes a bad situation even worse by handing out another $150 billion to the Pentagon – a 15% increase in an already bloated Pentagon budget.

We don’t have enough money to feed hungry children. We don’t have enough money to make sure that people continue to have the health care that they need. We don’t have enough money to make sure that kids can get a decent education. But somehow, the military industrial complex is going to get another $150 billion.

M. President: In my view, nobody in the Senate or the House should vote for this legislation. And I applaud all of the Democrats for voting against it. And I want to congratulate two Republicans — Senator Paul and Senator Tillis for voting against it — for different reasons than I have.

But I do find it interesting that when one of those senators, Senator Tillis, voted against it because he thought it was not a good bill for the people of his home state, North Carolina, suddenly the President of the United States went after him in a very vicious way. And today, he announced that he will not be seeking reelection.

It appears now that the Republican Party has really become the party of the cult of the individual. The only thing you have to do now as a Republican is say, “I agree with President Trump,” “I love President Trump,” “President Trump is right all of the time.” Hey, that’s all you have to do now to be a good Republican.

There was a day when Republicans and Democrats understood that they were elected by their constituents. There was an understanding that they were elected to represent their constituents and not simply to pay homage and bow down to every wish and whim of the president.

M. President, during the vote-a-rama, I will be offering several amendments which I hope will win support.

At a time when 22% of our nation’s seniors are trying to survive on less than $15,000 a year, my first amendment would fundamentally improve their lives in two significant ways:

Number one, it would cut the price of prescription drugs under Medicare in half by making sure that our nation’s seniors don’t pay more than the Europeans or Canadians pay for the same exact drugs.

And number two, with those savings, we’re going to expand Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing. In other words, instead of throwing people off of health care, we’re going to expand Medicare to provide a number of services that seniors desperately need and want.

Secondly, at a time of massive wealth and inequality, my second amendment would eliminate the $211 billion estate tax break for the top 0.2% that is included in this bill.

And lastly, at a time when we spend more on the military than the next nine nations combined, at a time when the Pentagon cannot account for trillions of dollars in assets, we are going to end the provision that allows the Pentagon to receive another $150 billion.

The bottom line, Mr. President, is this country faces many crises — a high rate of childhood poverty, kids going hungry, an education system in deep trouble and a health care system that is completely broken. And in virtually every single area, this bill takes us in precisely the wrong direction.

When the wealthiest people in this country have never ever had it so good, it is totally insane to be offering them $1 trillion in tax breaks so that we can cut health care, education and nutrition.

This bill is not what the American people want, and I hope very much we can defeat it.

Following is Senator Sanders’ detailed statement of the impact this bill will have on real people with real lives

Doctors and other healthcare professionals provided their statements to his office to facilitate the understanding of Americans of the direness of the situation: 

Sanders Releases New Report Detailing Devastating Impact of Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” on Health Care in America

For Every Millionaire Household that Gets a Tax Cut, 19 Americans Lose Their Health Insurance Under Republican Bill that Doubles Uninsured Rate in Many States

WASHINGTON, June 25 – As Senate Republicans attempt to ram through legislation to cut health care for 16 million Americans in order to give tax breaks to billionaires without a single hearing or substantive debate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today released a new report detailing how Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” would create a national health care emergency, drawing on responses from more than 750 health care providers across 47 states and the District of Columbia.

Specifically, the report finds that the bill would increase the number of uninsured Americans in every state in the country and nearly double the uninsured rate in some states — including Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Washington. The legislation would kick 19 people off their health insurance for every millionaire household that receives a tax cut. The full state-by-state analysis of how uninsured rates will skyrocket available here.

“This report makes it abundantly clear that the reconciliation bill that Republicans are attempting to ram through the Senate this week would be a death sentence for working-class and low-income Americans throughout the country,” Sanders said. “Not only would this disastrous and deeply immoral bill throw 16 million people off of their health care and lead to over 50,000 unnecessary deaths every year, it would create a national health care emergency in America. It would devastate rural hospitals, community health centers and nursing homes throughout in our country and cause a massive spike in uninsured rates in red states and blue states alike. That’s not Bernie Sanders talking. That is precisely what doctors, health care providers and hospitals have told us.”

Earlier this month, Sanders, alongside every Democratic member of the HELP Committee, sent a letter to committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) urging him to schedule hearings with patients and health care providers to hear about the legislation’s disastrous impact on the health and well-being of the American people and markup this bill before it reaches the Senate floor for consideration. Cassidy declined.

In today’s report, Sanders asked health care providers across the country to share what the bill would mean for their patients. Here are some of the responses from health care providers:

• A doctor in Texas — where the uninsured rate will reach 20%, the highest in the U.S. — said, “These cuts will cause rural hospitals in Texas to close entirely. As a neurologist, I am terrified that the closest hospital for many rural folks may then be hours away. During an ischemic stroke, there is only 3 hours of precious time . . . the increased travel time may cause unnecessary cases of paralysis and death.”
• A doctor from Florida — where the uninsured rate will surge to almost 19% — said, “Plainly said, children will die as a result of these cuts. Hospitals will cut back on ICU doctors, doctors will leave because of salary cuts, critical ancillary services will be reduced, more medical students will avoid going into pediatric residencies.”
• A rural health group from Louisiana — where the uninsured rate will nearly double to over 12% — said, “Louisiana’s rural hospitals and healthcare providers are already operating on razor-thin margins, struggling to keep their doors open while serving some of our most medically vulnerable communities. In Louisiana, 38% of hospitals operate on negative margins and 27% are currently vulnerable to closure. Medicaid cuts would worsen these losses, putting more hospitals at risk of shutting down entirely.” Another doctor from Louisiana added: “If Medicaid is cut, my patients will die. I realize I am being dramatic. It is a dramatic situation.”
• A social worker from South Carolina — where the uninsured rate will reach over 13% — said, “These changes would dramatically increase the administrative burden on our care team. We would likely need to hire at least 1–2 full-time administrative staff just to track patient eligibility, navigate complex documentation requirements, and assist families with enrollment or appeals. This would divert already limited funding away from clinical care and impose new costs on our department.”
• A doctor working at a community health center in Missouri – where the uninsured rate will increase to over 10% — said, “We may not be able to keep the doors open. We would potentially have to stop caring for many of our patients.”
• A doctor from Ohio — where the uninsured rate will rise to over 9% — said, “If the proposed bill is passed and [my patients’] Medicaid insurance is cut, it doesn’t mean their asthma will go away. It will mean that in most cases they will not receive preventative care, and as a result, their asthma will worsen . . . . Worse yet, they would be seen in the emergency room more often and admitted to the hospital. This care is more expensive, and less effective, than preventative care, and some children will die of their asthma.”
• The CEO of a hospital in Idaho — where the uninsured rate will rise to over 10% — said, “Our margin last year was -31%, burning through cash to see patients, the majority of whom are on Medicare or Medicaid. If they lose Medicaid, we’ll still take care of them because that’s what we do, but the bills won’t get paid.”

“We cannot allow Republicans to take health care away from 16 million Americans in order to pay for more tax breaks to billionaires,” Sanders concluded. “As the Ranking Member of the HELP Committee, I will do everything that I can to see that it is defeated. Health care must be a human right for all, not a privilege for the wealthy few.”

Read the report here.

Read estimates of the increase in uninsured rates by state here and below.

Banner Image: Healthcare. Image Credit – National Cancer Institute