Enhancing Social Security

Floor Speech

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Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, in New Mexico, we care for our elders. It is a part of our culture. It is a part of who we are because our elders are the people who birthed us, who raised us, who cared for us. They are our grandparents and our parents, our aunties and our uncles, our veterans, the people who carry our histories, our cultures, our languages, and our traditions.

That is why it is so outrageous to me as a New Mexican that the House GOP would even consider, no less propose, to gut the critical programs that support our elders--Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

In New Mexico, thousands of New Mexicans depend on Social Security-- our seniors, our elders, people living with disabilities. Over 450,000 New Mexicans depend on Medicare. That is over 20 percent of our State's population. New Mexicans depend on these programs to access lifesaving healthcare, to provide for their families, to put a roof over their head, to put food on the table.

Before Social Security, our elders were left with nothing. Before Medicaid and Medicare, our seniors and our low-income families could not access lifesaving healthcare.

In New Mexico, over 12 percent of our seniors are considered low- income and living below the poverty line. Thousands are struggling to maintain housing, to have basic services, to have a roof over their head, and to put food on their table.

Let me be clear: these programs save lives, and they have secured our elders for generations.

New Mexicans and all Americans should be able to live without fear that politicians here in Washington are going to use their lives for political gain, but here we are on the House floor. The GOP is playing politics with the lives of our seniors proposing to gut the fundamental programs that have supported them for generations.

We already know what happens when Federal programs are cut. Hospitals close, food insecurity rises, and critical programs disappear. That is why we are fighting as House Democrats and the Biden administration to protect our seniors, to protect these programs, and to ensure that they are there for generations to come.

That is why we are fighting to protect Social Security and our healthcare services. It is why we took on Big Pharma 2 years ago and won. It is why we passed the Inflation Reduction Act which has the largest single expansion of Medicaid since the passage of the Affordable Care Act. It is why we fought to lower prescription drug costs. It is why we capped insulin prices for every American, and it is why I fought in the State legislature to end State taxes on Social Security benefits in New Mexico.

I ask my colleagues: Is this how you care for your elders?

Is this how they taught you and raised you?

Are these the values that you were raised with?

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that is not how we treat our elders in New Mexico because we know they depend on these programs and because we know about the lifesaving care and support that are necessary. We know that we cannot break the promises to those who cared for us and raised us.

Democrats understand, just like New Mexicans, that we must care for our seniors. That is why we are fighting back and working every day to make sure that we secure their well-being.

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