The Senator’s full remarks can be viewed here.
Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor urging her Republican colleagues to protect and defend Medicaid. Her speech comes just hours after House Republicans passed a bill that would take away healthcare for millions of Americans, including 40,000 Delawareans. The Senator shared stories from Delawareans and continues to actively empower constituents to share their stories through her “Share Your Story” portal, which she launched following the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
The story bank has received over 200 responses from Delawareans concerned by how this administration could set them and their families back. As Republicans try to kick over 7 million people off Medicaid, make receiving hard-earned social security benefits that much harder, and dismantle the government, the Senator has continued to empower Delawareans to contact her office, share their personal testimonies, and center the voices of the people. The portal receives submissions regularly, with a plurality of stories being on cuts to Medicaid, and what’s at stake should Medicaid be gutted.
Below are her remarks as delivered:
Mr. President, according to Secretary Kennedy, the Trump administration is committed to building the most compassionate Department of Health and Human Services in the history of the United States.
So, I went to the dictionary and looked up the term ‘compassionate’. It means a sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
Yet, the proposed Republican budget [bill] would make historic billion-dollar cuts to the programs real Americans rely on.
Instead of alleviating distress, this ‘Big Bad Bill’ would actually exacerbate it.
Late last night, House Republicans added even more distress to their Medicaid cuts. Changes that would cut care and prevent access to care for millions of Americans. Changes that would cut funding that ensures safe, healthy births for newborns. Changes that will endanger our partners and grandparents who live in nursing homes.
So, I rise today and seek true compassion from my colleagues and ask in the words of the famous song, “Where is the love?” I rise today because I have been getting call after call, e-mail after e-mail, meeting with person after person all worried sick about cuts to Medicaid, and I want to share some of their stories today.
I want my colleagues to hear their names and understand the tradeoffs they are making to support tax cuts for the wealthy while failing to shrink the national debt. Here are their stories.
Emmanuel lives in Sussex County. When I met with him recently, he told me that if we pull the thread of Medicaid, his whole life would unravel. Emmanuel calls himself a C.P. warrior, and he doesn’t let Cerebral Palsy, or his wheelchair stop him. For Emmanuel, Medicaid is more than prescriptions and doctors’ appointments, it is about freedom and independence, participating in Medicaid allowed him to get and keep a job.
Access to Medicaid is how he went from being homeless to being employed, housed and financially secure. It is what enables his wife to be his primary caretaker while also allowing them to live together as husband and wife.
He struggles to plan for his future and that of his family because his life depends on decisions that we make here in this body.
Joy lives in Wilmington with her 34-year-old son who she says is severely autistic. He received amazing services from the Delaware Autism Program when he was in school and now attends their day program at Point of Hope. And, you guessed it, Point of Hope is funded through Medicaid.
Joy is literally terrified of what could happen if these cuts close that program. She doesn’t know where her son will end up if they lose the support that Medicaid provides, and she can no longer take care of him.
Nancy. Nancy lives in Dover with her 19-year-old son, Christopher, who was born prematurely. Christopher coded in the NICU and suffered a brain injury and as a result he [has been] on a Medicaid waiver since he was 8 months old. For the last 19 years, Nancy has advocated for her family as well as countless Delawareans. She built her life around caring for Christopher in their home versus an expensive long-term care facility.
Medicaid covers the equipment to keep Christopher alive and for those who take care of her son and give her respite. Nancy told me that Christopher’s life depends on this budget. In her words, the debate about funding cuts feels like the rug is being pulled from under her.
Emanuel, Joy, Nancy, Christopher – these are just many of the stories that I’ve been told since our Republican colleagues started their crusade against care. These are real people with real needs that Medicaid fills. Real people who we shine the light on and not ignore. And I want my colleagues to hear their names.
I want them to remember the names of the people in their own states who are imploring us to stand up and protect their access to care.
The Emmanuels, the Joys, the Nancys, the Christophers. So, whether you are a person of faith or just somebody who cares about your neighbor, now is the time to move from the Golden Rule of treating others as you would like to be treated to the Platinum Rule, to treat others the way they want to be treated with real compassion and to start with protecting Medicaid. Thank you, and I yield back.
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Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester represents Delaware in the United States Senate where she serves on the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Environment and Public Works; and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.