In remarks on the Senate floor Monday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke about President Trump's executive order on prescription drugs.
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00:00chaos. A few hours on drug pricing. A few hours ago, Donald Trump signed a new executive order
00:07he claims will, quote, almost immediately bring down the costs of prescription drugs.
00:12Americans should hold their applause because Donald Trump's announcement is little more than
00:17a photo op masquerading as reform. Just as he said he'd bring down costs on day one and it
00:23didn't happen, same thing here, almost immediately. Give me a break. In case Donald Trump is forgotten,
00:30this announcement is like what he already tried to do in 2020, with little success. So Americans
00:38are right to be skeptical until they actually see their prescription drug costs go down more.
00:44Donald Trump can say he's doing an executive order, but we all know the odds are overwhelming
00:49that that executive order will fail. The real way to make drug crisis reform happen is to do what
00:56Democrats do and what Donald Trump is loathe to do. Roll up your sleeves and do the hard work of
01:02passing legislation. That's what we did. That's why insulin, $65, $35 for senior citizens. That's why
01:1120 of the most widely used drugs, prices have plummeted because we've negotiated with Medicare.
01:17Medicare. That's why no family pays more than $2,000 total for all their prescription drugs. We worked hard,
01:25we legislated, we got prices down. Donald Trump does a photo op, says it's going to come down immediately,
01:31but obviously this is a half-baked political stunt that is unlikely to bring any meaningful change.
01:39Today's announcement is so typical of Donald Trump's presidency. He promises a golden age,
01:46but in reality, Americans get fool's gold. On the recon bill text. Yesterday, Republicans released
01:56the text of their plan to eviscerate Medicaid while cutting taxes for the ultra-rich. The bill is as
02:02toxic as we all feared. With a straight face, Republicans are telling the American people they
02:08want to cut taxes for the ultra-rich by trillions of dollars and pay for it with the biggest cuts to
02:14Medicaid ever. The biggest cuts to Medicaid ever. If this bill becomes law, nearly 14 million Americans
02:21will lose their health insurance. Again, the biggest cut to Medicaid in American history.
02:2914 million people losing their health insurance. Hospital after hospital will have to lay off
02:36tens of thousands of workers. Many of them may be forced to close, particularly in rural areas.
02:43Republicans promised for months they would protect Medicaid, but now Americans know the truth.
02:50Republicans never intended to keep that promise, and this confirms it. Almost 14 million Americans
02:56lose insurance. Millions more see their premiums go up. Hospitals from one end of America to the other
03:03will close. Thousands will lose their jobs. Millions will lose their access to health care.
03:08kids will suffer. Seniors suffer. Health care workers lose their jobs. Americans with disabilities get
03:14hurt. Rural Americans are left to fend for themselves. Hospitals and nursing homes will
03:21shutter. States will scramble with their budgets. American families are left out to dry. And why?
03:29tax cuts for the billionaires. That's what happens when Project 2025 takes over the Republican mainstream.
03:37But the cruelness doesn't stop there. Later today, we also expect Republicans to unveil their plan to cut
03:44SNAP, which feeds about 40 million Americans in need. If the Republicans are to be believed, Republicans plan to cut
03:52federal food assistance by hundreds of billions. That's, if the reports are to be believed, that's what the Republicans plan to do.
04:02Kids will go hungry. Parents will suffer. I just got back from Buffalo and Albany in upstate New York, meeting with food banks and religious leaders,
04:12church leaders who are on the front lines of the fight against hunger. The priests and nuns I met spoke of the obligation that
04:22Scripture imparts on us to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty. But right now, Republicans want to rob the least of our neighbors to make it better for those at the top.
04:34SNAP should not be a partisan issue. It should not be a political issue. It's a moral question. Are we going to let kids, veterans, senior citizens and others go hungry?
04:47This is about taking care of the most vulnerable in society, especially the children, making sure every child in America is afforded basic dignity.
04:57If a kid goes to bed hungry, they can't learn the next morning in school. They can't get along with their friends. They're off to an awful start.
05:09So SNAP has been one of the great things that America has done until now in a bipartisan way, but not with these MAGA people running the show
05:17and not with the Republicans here in the Senate and in the House being supine to what they know is wrong and vicious and mean and counterproductive.
05:26I urge House Republicans to oppose these devastating cuts to SNAP, particularly those New York Republicans whose constituents I've met over the past couple of weeks.
05:37I was in or near the districts of two of them today and the outrage against what they might do was palpable.
05:45Given the narrow margins in the House, these swing districts in New York have the power to stop these cuts to SNAP.
05:53These Republicans can do it. They can make sure no kid goes to bed hungry. I urge them to stand up and hold the line.
06:01When you put it all together, there's no other way to put it. This bill is a grotesque betrayal of working and middle class families.
06:12And a few moments ago, Republicans released their next phase of their plan, hiking taxes on electricity and raising energy costs for seniors and families.
06:23Republicans are so captured by the hard right ideology that they're willing to cede America's energy future to China and tank domestic industries that will need to keep energy costs low in the future.
06:35Not a single Senate Democrat will support this destructive piece of legislation.
06:41Instead of calling this one big beautiful bill, Republicans should tell the truth.
06:47This bill is a big fat grift. And it's the American people who are getting ripped off.
06:54Finally, I want to say a little about last week. There are those on the other side of the aisle now shedding crocodile tears that last week the minority asserted its right not to proceed to a bill that has zero legislative text.
07:08Imagine. Imagine, they said, the nerve of the Democrats not voting for a bill when there's no text. How crazy can they be?
07:18We asserted our rights very simply to continue the legislative process to allow time to allow time to reach agreement.
07:26The majority, in an act of political stubbornness, but also stupidity, asked people to vote on a bill they had never seen.
07:37They tried to force a vote before senators even had text to know what they were voting on.
07:43And then they get upset that we all voted no. They shouldn't be surprised.
07:48Least of all, my good friend, the Republican leader, who said in his first speech as majority leader, said,
07:54one of my priorities as leader will be to ensure that the Senate stays the Senate.
07:58Well, in the Senate, we've always had a text to bill before we vote on it.
08:02I'd say that to my friend, the majority leader. Democrats were perfectly, perfectly appropriate, fair and correct
08:12in asserting our rights. If this Senate is to work, the majority must allow it to work.
08:18Yield the floor.
08:21Okay.
08:22Let's go.
08:24Okay.
08:25Let's go.
08:26Keep going.
08:28Let's go.
08:30g-
08:31Okay.