FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 13, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT: 

e: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov

c: 202.913.0126

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke delivered the following remarks at the Committee on Energy and Commerce Full Committee Reconciliation Markup:

“I would like to begin by sharing a story of one of my constituents, David. This is David — one of the many faces of Medicaid. David is a 55-year-old Brooklyn resident who has been living with congestive heart failure since 2016. Once a full-time worker, his diagnosis sadly forced him to stop working and rely solely on Medicaid for his healthcare. Medicaid covers all aspects of his medical needs — including the daily medications he has to take, regular cardiac monitoring, and hospital-based care. His condition was so severe that during his first visit to the hospital, he remained admitted for nearly a full year, that extended hospitalization was entirely covered by Medicaid — and it saved his life. He was able to receive this life-saving care at SUNY Downstate, a vital hospital in my district, that also heavily relies on Medicaid dollars to provide high-quality care to their patients — just like most healthcare institutions across the nation, from rural to urban. 

The medical team there provided him with consistent, high-quality care in a community-based setting. Without Medicaid, David would lose access to his medications and to the physicians who have managed his condition for nearly a decade. David clearly said, ‘If Medicaid is cut, I will have no way to afford my care. No medication. No follow-up. No hospital. Without Medicaid, I will die prematurely.’ David’s story is a powerful example of how essential Medicaid is. It’s not just policy, but a lifeline for Americans in my district and across the nation.

“Let’s be crystal clear about what’s happening here. We are being asked to sit in this room today and pretend that gutting Medicaid is somehow a ‘necessary evil’ and ‘a tough decision’ made in the name of fiscal responsibility. But it’s not. It is a political CHOICE that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are choosing to make. It is a CHOICE that disproportionately targets low-income communities, communities of color, immigrants, and working-class families. It is a CHOICE that will impact hospital systems, especially in New York, that are still trying to recover from the devastating impacts of COVID-19. It is a CHOICE that will strip away life-saving healthcare for 17.3 million Americans — nearly 7 million, or 1 in 3, New Yorkers who rely on this program.

“In New York’s 9th District, this amounts to over 65,000 people over the age of 65, over 24,000 disabled children and adults, over 146,000 young adults, over 85,000 parents and caretakers, over 149,000 children, and over 11,000 pregnant women. MAKE NO MISTAKE — this Medicaid cut would hit Republican or red states the hardest. For months, House Republicans have lied about their plans to cut nearly $1 trillion from Medicaid — and now the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that their plan will kick millions of people off their health care. The only winners in the Republican budget scheme are their billionaire donors like Elon Musk.

“And yet, here we are ONCE AGAIN, witnessing Republicans playing political games with people’s lives, so their billionaire friends enjoy tax breaks and their private jets. ONCE AGAIN, they are here to feed their relentless obsession to dismantle the Affordable Care Act — which we’ve fought to preserve. Somehow we always find the money for tax breaks for the wealthy… but when it comes to health care for working people, suddenly we are out of money? This is boldface cruelty. Their goal is to shift federal support to their donors’ pockets. They are punitive, they are shortsighted, and they will devastate people — like David.

“So no, I will NOT quietly sit here so that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle can chip away at the health and dignity of the American people and call it ‘compromise.’ In one of the wealthiest and most advanced nations in the world, EVERYONE — no matter their political beliefs — deserves access to quality, affordable health care. This is not fiscal policy. This is a moral failure. And I reject this bill.

“Cruelty is the point!”

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