LEADER JEFFRIES ON HOUSE FLOOR: “WE’LL FIGHT UNTIL WE WIN THIS BATTLE FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”

Today, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke on the House Floor in opposition to the partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the healthcare of the American people and fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.

LEADER JEFFRIES: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the distinguished gentlelady, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, for yielding and for her steadfast leadership on behalf of working families, hardworking American taxpayers in the great state of Connecticut and all across America. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this woefully inadequate spending bill that fails to decisively address the Republican healthcare crisis and fails to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of Americans.

Mr. Speaker, before I say anything further, let me say to our men and women in uniform, to our active duty troops, to our hardworking federal employees, to our civil servants, to our TSA agents, to Capitol Police, to our staff here in the House of Representatives, to our air traffic controllers, thank you for your service. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you the work that you do on behalf of the American people each and every day. And it's our promise to all of you that we will continue to work hard to make sure that you are treated with the dignity and respect that you deserve in a year in which the Trump administration has gone after hardworking federal employees relentlessly, including firing more than 200,000 federal employees prior to the start of the Trump-Republican shutdown.
Republicans control the House, the Senate and the presidency. Donald Trump and Republicans made the decision to shut the government down, the longest shutdown in American history, would rather do that than provide healthcare that's affordable to working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and hardworking American taxpayers. All across the country, I'm certain that there are people in America asking the question, where do we go from here? House Democrats have a simple answer. We will continue to fight to lower the high cost of living. House Democrats will continue fight to address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created. And House Democrats will continue to fight to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for tens of millions of Americans.

This fight is not over. We're just getting started. We'll fight today. We'll fight tomorrow. We'll fight this week. We'll fight next week. We'll fight this month. We'll fight next month. We'll fight until we win this battle for the American people. That's our commitment as House Democrats. And there's only two ways that this fight will end. Only two ways, Mr. Speaker, that this fight will end. Either Republicans finally decide to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits this year, or the American people will throw Republicans out of their jobs next year and end the speakership of Donald J. Trump once and for all. That's how this fight ends.
Mr. Speaker, during this painful Trump-Republican shutdown what we've seen is two different philosophies in terms of how to govern for the American people. The Democratic Party philosophy is clear. We are ready, willing and able to find bipartisan common ground, anytime, anyplace, to enact spending agreements that actually make life better for the American people. But in order to do that, we need to have partners on the other side of the aisle who are actually willing to find a bipartisan path forward. But what we've seen from Republicans from the very beginning of this presidency is a my-way-or-the-highway approach. That's been the Republican philosophy, jam your extremism down the throats of the American people. That's what we've seen from day one of this presidency.

That's the reason why the government has been shut down by Republicans and Donald Trump for the longest period of time in American history. What have we seen from Donald Trump and Republicans during this shutdown? A consistent unwillingness to actually find common ground in order to make life better for the American people. Donald Trump, during this shutdown, found the time to play golf week after week after week. Donald Trump found the time to pardon serial fraudsters like George Santos and Rudolph Giuliani. Donald Trump found the time to meet with the Chinese Communist Party. Donald Trump found the time to destroy the East Wing of the White House. Donald Trump found the time to extort $230 million from the Department of Justice so he could line his pockets. Donald Trump found the time to bail out Argentina with $40 billion. Donald Trump found the time to rip away SNAP benefits from 42 million Americans. Mr. Speaker, these extremists are not like us. They're not like us. They have zero interest in fighting hard to make life better for the American people. Their philosophy: my way or the highway. Our response: get lost. We're gonna continue to fight hard on behalf of the American people.
In the midst of a healthcare crisis and a cost of living crisis that is very real, despite what Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party, has to say. He claims there is no affordability crisis in the United States of America. But why would anyone believe anything that Donald Trump or Republicans have to say on this issue? Because throughout 2024, before the election, Republicans in the House and in the Senate, and Donald Trump on the campaign trail, spent all of their time saying that costs were going to go down on day one. But costs haven't gone down. Republicans haven't done a damn thing to lower the high cost of living. Costs haven't down in this country, costs have gone up. Inflation is on the way up. Housing costs out of control. Grocery costs out of control. Electricity bills out of control. Healthcare costs skyrocketing out of control. And in the midst of this affordability crisis, seeing this, Democrats said we've got to fight to make sure that we extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits so that tens of millions of people, working-class folks, middle-class folks, people in rural America, working-class America, small town America, the heartland of America, Black and brown communities all throughout America don't experience premium increases that in some cases will go up by $1,000 or $2,000 per [month]. In many cases, month after month after month, $1,000 or $2,000 per month. Tens of thousands of dollars per year. Unacceptable in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world.
And this is in the midst of a Republican healthcare crisis. Republicans enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripped health insurance away from 14 million Americans. As a result of Republican policies, hospitals, nursing homes and community-based health centers are closing all across America, including in rural parts of this great country of ours. And now because of Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, tens of millions of Americans are at risk of being unable to afford to go see a doctor when they need one. In this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it can't be the case that healthcare is simply a privilege for the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected.
Mr. Speaker, that's the Republican perspective. We believe, as Democrats, that healthcare has to be a right and a right that's affordable and available to every single American in the United States. That's what this fight is all about. And that's what the fight will continue to be about as we move forward. Many of my Republican colleagues have suggested that they want to deal with the healthcare affordability issue, that they want to address the Republican healthcare crisis that's devastating people all across this country. Well, we have an opportunity for you to do so. There's a discharge petition connected to legislation that House Democrats have introduced to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits for three years because we believe that working-class Americans, middle-class Americans and everyday Americans deserve the same level of certainty that Republicans always provide to the wealthy, the well-off and their well-connected donors. Working-class Americans deserve that level of certainty. So join us in extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits. It's not too late. We're in the midst of open enrollment, but the tax credits expire on December 31st. And we will stay on this issue until we get this issue resolved for everyday Americans.
Mr. Speaker, as I close, you know I've had the opportunity, as many of us do, to serve in the United States Congress with legendary figures, too numerous to mention. Legendary Members, of course, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, the great Jim Clyburn, Maxine Waters, Elijah Cummings, Charlie Rangel, our own Marcy Kaptur, the longest serving woman in the history of the United States House of Representatives. We've all had the opportunity to serve with legendary Members, John Dingell, too numerous to mention. But one can't call that roll without calling the name of the great John Lewis.
I had the distinct honor of serving with John Lewis for several terms. Many of us here in the House of Representatives did. I'll never forget on my first day in the Congress, I had the opportunity to meet John Lewis for the first time in person. And he called me over to see him on the House Floor, and he just asked me a simple question. He said, 'Are you the new guy?' And I said, 'Yes, sir, Mr. Lewis, I am.' And he said, 'Well, we're colleagues now. You don't have to call me Mr. Lewis, you can call me John.' I said 'Yes, sir, Mr. Lewis, I understand.' And then he said to me, 'You're from Brooklyn, right?' Now, Mr Speaker, I got to be honest. I was tempted to say Brooklyn is always in the House. But instead, since my mother raised me with some sense, Laneda Jeffries, I said, 'Yes, sir, I'm from Brooklyn.' And then he said something to me that I've never forgotten. He said, 'Well, I hear some positive things about you from your predecessor. But Washington, DC, young man, can be a rough place. So I don't want you to get into any trouble unless it's good trouble.'.
And I just wanted to stop by on the House Floor to make sure it was clear to the American people that the spirit of John Lewis lives amongst House Democrats, and we will continue to get into good trouble to make their life better. That's our commitment to every single American all across this country, from this day and for every day moving forward. And it was John Lewis who said to us that ours is not the struggle of one day, one week or one year. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, and maybe even many lifetimes. And each one of us in every generation must do our part. Mr. Lewis, we love you, we were blessed by our opportunity to serve with you and House Democrats are here to do our part. We're in this fight until we win this fight for the American people.

Full remarks can be watched here.