Boyle Leads House Floor Debate, Slams Republican Budget Bill That Does Nothing to Lower Costs
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (PA-02), Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, opened debate on the House floor by slamming Republicans for advancing another partisan reconciliation bill that does nothing to lower costs or help the American people.
A fact sheet on the Republican reconciliation bill is available here.
Remarks as delivered and video are below:
(Click for video of remarks as delivered)
Ranking Member Boyle's remarks as delivered:
I want to start by reminding the American people that last year Republicans passed Reconciliation 1.0, what President Trump and my Republican colleagues proudly boasted at the time was, and I quote, "The Big Beautiful Bill."
Notice you don't hear much about it anymore. Why? Because the American people figured out what was in it. The bill became one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation to pass Congress in decades, with disapproval more than two to one over approval. And the reason is simple: because it hurts America's families.
The bill cut health care for 15 million Americans and raised health care costs for millions more. It made the largest cuts to food assistance in American history. It added trillions of dollars to the national debt, and all to help pay for the largest tax breaks for billionaires in our nation's history.
That is the Republican record. They cut health care, they cut food assistance, they raised costs on working families, they exploded the debt, and then they handed the biggest benefits to billionaires. At the same time, this administration has failed miserably on the economy.
We all remember Donald Trump campaigning in my home state, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and across this country, promising the American people he would, quote, "lower prices on day one."
Well, here we are, just past day 500, and costs are higher than ever. President Trump's reckless tariff taxes have driven up costs for families and businesses. And as if that wasn't bad enough, his war of choice in Iran has helped send gas prices soaring, a more than 50 percent increase in just a matter of months.
Families are paying more at the pump. They're paying more at the grocery store. They're paying more for health care. And so with that, you would think that in Reconciliation 2.0, the Republican majority might actually want to do something to fix that situation, to fix the mess they created. But no, this bill does not include one dime to help American families pay for the crushing costs that they bear.
And on top of all of that, we have the President who is continuing to openly say he wants to give billions of taxpayer money to January 6th insurrectionists. And even though a vast majority of the American people oppose that obnoxious notion, there is nothing in this bill to prevent that from happening.
Madam Speaker, the American people deserve better than a bill that does nothing to lower costs, nothing to help families, nothing to stop Donald Trump from rewarding violent criminals who attacked our Capitol. We deserve better.
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