Boyle Slams Republican Budget Bill at 1 AM Rules Committee Meeting

WASHINGTON, DC — During a 1 AM Rules Committee meeting, Congressman Brendan F. Boyle, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, delivered a forceful warning against the House Republican budget bill.

In his opening remarks, Ranking Member Boyle cited two new analyses from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), both prepared at his request:

• CBO confirmed the Republican bill would take from the poorest Americans to hand even more tax breaks to the wealthiest.
• CBO also found the bill could trigger over $500 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare, under the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) law—cuts that many Republicans would be happy to see happen behind closed doors.

Remarks as delivered and video are below:

(Click for video of remarks as delivered)

Ranking Member Boyle's opening remarks as delivered:

When I was a teen, my late mother would often say nothing good happens after midnight. Now I know what she meant.

This big bill for billionaires will truly hurt working Americans. And let me highlight some of the major points. First, it will bring about, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the greatest loss of health care coverage in American history. It does it in several ways. First, by providing and instituting the biggest cut to Medicaid in American history.

Second, by launching devastating cuts to Obamacare. Those two combined will result in a loss of health care for about 14 million Americans, but that's not all. Just tonight, a few hours ago the bombshell came out. The nonpartisan CBO's official numbers show this bill will bring about an over $500 billion cut to Medicare, one of the largest cuts to Medicare since the program was created in 1965.

So the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, devastating cuts to the Affordable Care Act, and one of the largest cuts to Medicare in American history. And why? To help subsidize tax cuts that mostly go to the top 1%. And of course, those cuts I highlighted to health care aren't the only cuts that are in here.

We also have included the largest cuts to nutrition assistance and food programs in American history. Cuts to all sorts of education programs, and the list goes on and on and on. And does that in the end mean most working Americans will be better off? No, because also out from CBO just tonight are the distributional effects of this bill in its entirety. What does it show?

The bottom 10% of Americans will actually be poorer as a result of this bill with the biggest benefit going to the top 1% of Americans. What is also quite clear is that this bill is not entirely paid for. Even after all of those cuts to Medicaid, all of those cuts to Medicare, all of those cuts to the Affordable Care Act and nutrition assistance and on and on. They don't come close to paying for the cost of the tax cuts.

So how's the rest paid for? It isn't. Just tacking on more and more to our national debt. No wonder just on Friday evening, Moody's delivered the third credit downgrade this nation has ever received.

This is truly, I think all sides will agree with this, a significant piece of legislation, frankly, I think one of the most consequential in our lifetimes. Sadly, though, I believe the consequences for my constituents and most working Americans will be absolutely devastating. I urge you to reject it. With that, I yield back.

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