LEADER JEFFRIES ON HOUSE FLOOR AHEAD OF RECONCILIATION VOTE: “REPUBLICAN EXTREMISTS APPARENTLY HAVE MONEY FOR WARS, BUT CAN’T FEED THE POOR”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke on the House Floor in opposition to the Republican budget resolution, where he emphasized that House Democrats are committed to using taxpayer dollars to meet the needs of the American people over increasing funding for Operation Epic Failure in the Middle East.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this America Last Republican budget that will provide billions of additional dollars to Operation Epic Fury in the Middle East, which has been a complete and total disaster for the American people. Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice in Iran has skyrocketed gas prices on everyday Americans who are already suffering from the failed Republican economy and drowning in its poor management.

Now, Donald Trump has made several promises to the American people upon his return to the White House, all of which, it appears to me, he's failed to keep.Donald Trump promised to lower the high cost of living on day one, but costs in America haven't gone down. Costs have gone up, in part as a result of the reckless Trump tariffs that have increased costs on everyday Americans by thousands of dollars per year. Donald Trump promised to 'love and cherish Medicaid,' but instead turned around and, as a result of the Republicans' One Big Ugly Bill, cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars, costing more than 14 million Americans access to health insurance and causing hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health centers, particularly in rural America, to close. Donald Trump promised the American people that ICE enforcement would be focused on the worst of the worst and would only target violent felons. That's not what has happened. Donald Trump and his violent mass deportation machine are spending billions of dollars for ICE to brutalize and kill American citizens or to violently target law-abiding immigrants, as we just saw in Maine and in Houston.

Donald Trump, of course, promised that he was elected not to start endless wars in the Middle East, but to stop them, and then turned around and has gotten us involved in a potentially endless war in Iran. A reckless war of choice that has made life more expensive for the American people while making us less safe, with Iran being stronger now, having a stranglehold over the Strait of Hormuz. A stronger Iran now than they were before Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice. So I stand in strong opposition to this America Last reckless Republican budget, this effort to waste tens of billions of dollars more on Operation Epic Failure in the Middle East.

Mr. Speaker, we express our heartfelt condolences to the additional family members of those soldiers and members of the armed forces who have lost their lives needlessly in the Middle East. And we all have a responsibility to continue to stand with them in their time of mourning and their time of great need, but simultaneously to make sure that no additional heroic, patriotic, brave American servicemen or women need to die overseas in Donald Trump's reckless and costly war of choice. So we stand in strong opposition to this America Last budget.

One of the most important things, as Members of Congress, who are solemnly given by the Framers of the Constitution the responsibility to determine issues of war and peace, one of the most important things that we can do is stand against this reckless war of choice in the Middle East, so no more service members have to be sent home dead to their families who have been left behind.What we should be doing in this Congress is actually using our taxpayer dollars to make life more affordable for the American people. And that's our commitment as House Democrats.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump and our Republican colleagues don't share that commitment. That's not a hypothetical. It's not hype. It's not hyperbole. Look at their own words. Donald Trump, of course, who has said because we're fighting wars, we can't prioritize things like daycare, Medicaid or Medicare. That's exactly what's happening right now. Republicans, in their One Big Ugly Bill, enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripping healthcare away from more than 14 million Americans all across the country-in rural America, urban America, small-town America, the heartland of America, Black and Brown America.

No one has been untouched by the Republican assault on healthcare.And why is this happening? So that Donald Trump can fund this reckless and costly war of choice in the Middle East. And the reality is-his own words-he doesn't give a damn about the economic well-being of the American people. How do we know that? Donald Trump, in his own words, said, 'The affordability crisis is a hoax.' Donald Trump, in his own words, said, 'I don't think about the personal financial situation of the American people.' Donald Trump, in his own words, said, 'I love the inflation.' And so we don't have to wonder why things aren't going well for everyday Americans in the United States right now. It's because, in my humble opinion, President Trump and Republicans in this House continue to act indifferent to the economic well-being of the American people and to actively do things that are hurting everyday Americans financially, like this reckless and costly war of choice, which is why we stand aggressively against it.

On issue after issue, throughout this Congress, Republicans have adopted extreme policies to make life worse for everyday Americans, to actively hurt the American people. The Trump tariffs actively hurting the American people, raising costs, including on farm country, by thousands of dollars per year. The refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits raising health insurance premiums on everyday Americans, more than 20 million people across this country, some by as much as $1,000 in additional expense per month.

People are suffocating, drowning in this Trump economy. Donald Trump and Republicans in the One Big Ugly Bill enacted the largest cut to nutritional assistance in American history, a $186 billion cut, at the same time that they're funding this reckless and costly war of choice. Republicans have literally ripped food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors and veterans to sustain the Trump war machine. Republican extremists apparently have money for wars, but can't feed the poor. But our message to the American people is don't lose faith. Help is on the way.Regime change is coming to the House of Representatives in November, so keep ya head up.

Full Floor remarks can be watched here.