Chairman Aguilar: ‘We all are going to die’ is the Republican health care plan
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu held a press conference on Republicans telling the American people that “We all are going to die” in response to concerns that the Republican Budget, which will throw millions of Americans off their health insurance, may lead to unnecessary deaths.
CHAIRMAN AGUILAR: Good morning. Let me begin by saying our Caucus heard an update on the situation in Boulder, Colorado and the horrendous attack that injured 12 innocent people. Antisemitism has no place in American life. We stand with the Jewish community in this difficult hour and always.
Republicans in Congress don’t care if your health care is too expensive. And they don’t care if you can’t afford your medical bills. They voted for what Elon Musk called a “disgusting abomination,” a Republican Budget that throws millions of Americans off of their health insurance. Republicans don’t care that their tariffs are raising your prices across the board and making it harder to make ends meet. They voted to take away food assistance for families, seniors and veterans. And they’ll continue to reward billionaire donors who keep them in office with tax breaks, so they can hold on to power. They’re getting rich off stock trades while working people worry about losing their jobs. When confronted with the truth, they often just lie. Or they show their true colors, like one Republican Senator did, by dismissing concerns that Medicaid cuts might lead to unnecessary deaths as a result of their “disgusting abomination,” kicking millions off their health care. “We all are going to die,” she said. That is the Republican health care plan in a nutshell. And that’s why Republicans can’t be trusted to make health care, or anything else, more affordable for working families. Vice Chair Ted Lieu.
VICE CHAIR LIEU: Thank you, Chairman Aguilar. I also condemn the horrific terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado. About a dozen people were burned, some critically, because of a terrorist who threw essentially Molotov cocktails at a group of Jewish Americans. And let me just be clear: Hamas is a genocidal, homicidal, extreme terrorist organization who attacked Israel, not the other way around. And now, Jewish Americans in America are fearing for their safety because of folks who are committing brazen acts of antisemitism. We need to call it out when we see it, and I urge that the person be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law who committed this heinous terrorist attack.
I'd like to now talk about Senator Joni Ernst's statement that “we all are going to die.” She is correct that we all are going to die, but it shouldn't be at the hands of Republican legislation, and the Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill is going to cause unnecessary death. So then, Senator Ernst doubled down on her statement, and did a video of herself walking through a cemetery, again, talking about what she said. And then she ended by citing Jesus. So I'm just a simple Catholic, but let me just tell you I actually read the Gospels, and Jesus goes around healing people. That's what he does, right? He heals a woman who is blind, heals a person who had leprosy, he heals a person who is paralyzed, 41 acts of healing in the Gospel. That's what Jesus did in terms of acts. So it's exactly the opposite of what Senator Ernst is saying. And call me old-fashioned, but I think the goal of government is not to hasten the deaths of Americans, it is to make the lives of Americans better. And clearly, this Big Ugly Bill is not going to do that. And now we see some Republican Members who are opposed to it, because, guess what? They didn't read the bill.
So Marjorie Taylor Greene, yesterday, opposes a provision which is a 10-year moratorium on states regulating artificial intelligence. So I agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene, once every 100 years, this is that time. I agree that this 10-year provision is extreme. It's going to cause unnecessary harm. And look, I think the federal government is fine doing preemption when we preempt with something. You can't just preempt with nothing. This is a bad provision, and I hope the Senate will take out this 10-year moratorium.
Video of the full press conference and Q&A can be viewed here.
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