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Floor Speech

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Mr. CRAPO. Everybody knows the reconciliation bill cannot deal with adjustments to the Social Security trust fund.

As to efforts to try to deal with the management of the Social Security Administration, I recommend that what we do is to confirm the President's nominee to run the Social Security Administration, who stated in our committee hearing that he was going to be focused on making sure that Social Security worked efficiency and effectively so that it delivered the proper benefits to all beneficiaries. That is what we ought to do, is to expeditiously move President Trump's nominee to be the next Administrator of the Social Security Administration.

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Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, once again, we have the politics of threatening that some dire consequence is going to occur as a result of this legislation, or at least these instructions.

Once again, President Trump has been clear: Any reforms to Medicare or Medicaid must not reduce patient benefits.

In fact, section 3003 of the budget resolution reaffirms this commitment. The budget resolution gives the Senate maximum flexibility to meet this objective. This amendment is unnecessary, and I urge my colleagues to vote no. Vote on Amendment No. 1693

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Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, once again, I would urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.

Once again, it is a list of dire consequences that are not happening and are not in this legislation. The creation of such a point of order is outside the jurisdiction of the Budget Committee and, therefore, not an appropriate item for inclusion in a budget resolution.

Adopting this amendment would jeopardize the privilege of the budget resolution. It is another example of the kind of things that are being brought up that are not included in the bill.

I urge my colleagues to vote no. Vote on Amendment No. 1661

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Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, once again, President Trump has repeatedly stated he opposes cuts to Social Security. Section 3003 of this resolution also underscores Republicans' commitment to protect and preserve Social Security. The phone line issue is one related to scammers seeking to fraudulently obtain Social Security benefits to continue using their tactics unabated.

The SSA needs to continue adapting as well. Based on stakeholder feedback, the SSA is taking steps to ensure its efforts to prevent fraud do not impede Social Security beneficiaries from receiving the benefits they have earned.

President Trump's nominee to lead the Social Security Administration has also committed to improving the Agency's phone service and ensuring that individuals can interact with the SSA. What we need to do is to stop delaying the nomination and move forward.

I urge a ``no'' vote. Vote on Amendment No. 1529

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Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, President Trump has been clear: Medicare and Medicaid must not reduce benefits in this bill. Section 3003 of the resolution confirms that commitment.

I urge a ``no'' vote.

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Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, unfortunately, my colleague's amendment is not necessary. We have the maximum flexibility in this resolution to do the appropriate tax policy once we are able to get these instructions. I look forward to working with her to get the right kind of tax policy into the bill as we move forward in working on it. Because of that, this amendment is unnecessary, and I urge my colleagues to vote no. Vote on Amendment No. 1602

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Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, once again, a long list of fearful, dire consequences that aren't in the bill. President Trump has been clear that any reforms to Medicare and Medicaid must not reduce patient benefits. Section 3003 of the budget resolution reaffirms this commitment.

I urge my colleagues to vote no. Vote on Amendment No. 1989

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Mr. CRAPO. Madam President, you have heard it before. It is probably fitting that we end on this today before final passage. But contrary to what you have heard today, extending the Trump tax cuts would prevent a multitrillion-dollar tax hike on millions of middle- and working-class Americans. To be clear, if the Trump tax cuts expire at the end of this year, taxes will go up on families and small businesses across the entire income spectrum, hitting middle-income earners hard.

The reality is the Trump tax cuts reduce taxes for the overwhelming majority of Americans, and middle-class households receive the largest proportional benefits of the cuts. The highest income earners, actually, pay a greater share of the total taxes than they did before.

Because of that, I urge my colleagues to vote no on this amendment. Vote on Amendment No. 2152

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