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Floor Speech

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Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I urge a ``no'' vote on Jim O'Neill to be the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

His nomination comes before the Senate as Republicans push ahead on an agenda that is going to cut Americans' healthcare by more than a trillion dollars and cause 16 million Americans to lose their health coverage.

The legislation is filled with ideas straight out of the for-profit insurance industry's playbook. Republicans are rolling out more redtape at a time when Americans are already sick of jumping through hoops so that insurance companies can continue to post profits.

The legislation, in my view, is also a disaster for America's senior citizens. A million low-income seniors are going to see their Medicare premiums go up by nearly $200 a month.

The legislation is going to make nursing homes less safe for frail, older people. In a word, they are going to start taking the nurses out of nursing homes. If Mehmet Oz has his way, nursing homes would replace staff with AI bots. That is not going to work for a senior who needs help getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

The legislation is going to hurt hundreds of thousands of seniors and kids with disabilities by reducing services for those who count on Medicaid to get care at home.

Americans have heard a lot about Medicaid in the bill, but the legislation is such a deficit buster that it is going to trigger $500 billion in Medicare cuts. This legislation is going to hit rural hospitals like a wrecking ball.

This comes on top of the Trump administration stepping back from tough negotiations with the big pharmaceutical companies that would lower the cost of medicine.

Here is the truth: Trump and Republicans are willing to kick millions of folks off their health insurance and hurt older Americans so there will be more tax breaks for corporations and the ultrawealthy.

I asked Mr. O'Neill in the Finance Committee to basically give us a straight up-or-down on whether he is going to oppose cutting Medicaid during his confirmation hearing. All he would do is repeat the same tired talking points about how only certain groups of people deserve healthcare.

The Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are simply unwilling to defend the bill. They know it is morally bankrupt. They basically won't even talk about it in public. I guess that is why we are not having an open-to-all Finance Committee discussion or markup of the bill because I guess the Republicans would rather just pretend to make up what the bill actually is all about.

Mr. O'Neill has gone out of his way to defend Robert Kennedy's disastrous approach to prevent infectious diseases like measles. To make matters worse, Mr. O'Neill expressed his support for Kennedy's appalling views about the livelihoods of Americans with autism.

As Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mr. O'Neill would be Robert Kennedy's right-hand man. That person needs to be willing to challenge the Secretary's worst impulses, which the American people have now seen on full display. I see no evidence Mr. O'Neill is that person.

Each day, Americans turn on the TV, pick up a newspaper, or turn on radio stations and podcasts only to hear that Donald Trump and his Republican cronies are ripping away basic healthcare for millions of Americans who are just trying to get by. These families are worried sick about what will be next on the chopping block.

I want to make it clear. I don't think it makes sense to support a nominee who would do whatever Robert Kennedy says, including destroying Medicaid and the rest of the American healthcare system.

I urge my colleagues to vote no on the O'Neill nomination.

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