Read the Bill

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARIDOPOLOS. Mr. Speaker, it is great to be here in the people's House once again.

Just a week ago, when I was celebrating with friends the July Fourth holiday, watching the fireworks go off and celebrating the freedoms we enjoy, many people actually came up to me in Palm Bay.

In fact, one mom came up to me and said: How can you vote to take away my child's Medicaid? He is disabled. For about 5 minutes, I talked to her at length, talking about what this bill is versus what people are talking about, especially the media, especially those right now on my right.

To her great happiness, I think, I told her that her child would not be left behind, that this bill keeps coverage for the most vulnerable, especially our disabled. I literally pointed it out to her, by looking at pages 630 to 633 in the bill. I even told her to simply read the bill and not believe some of the statements she read in the media or the scary texts that were coming out.

A few days later, I heard back from her. She said: You were right. It is in the bill. My son will still be protected.

That was a really happy day for me because people were seeing the true story. They were moving beyond some of the bogus headlines and to the truth. We owe it to those folks who are vulnerable to take care of them. We are a just and civil society that shows compassion, especially for folks who are in need.

When you read the bill closely on pages 630 to 633, it outlines: If you are a senior in a nursing home, you are protected; if you are a child of low-income parents, you are protected; if you are a pregnant woman, you are protected. Those are important items. We made those promises to our most vulnerable.

We also sent a very clear message that if you are able-bodied, get out there and work, be a part of the American Dream, the American experience, and make sure that we are all playing on a level playing field.

We were recently at a hotel. Can you imagine if you walked into a place, you had to pay the full freight for that hotel room, and someone else who made the exact same amount of money didn't have to pay a dime because they either lied on the application or maybe they no longer did a check to verify what their income was? That is not fair.

However, the good news is that with this new bill, there are incentives to get back into the workplace. The latest numbers that came out indicate 10 million Americans are going to be going back to work. The odds are they will actually get health insurance paid for by their employer or, because they are earning more money, they can afford to do so.

That is the American Dream. It is not to be a ward of the State. It is to live the American Dream. It is to be on this Earth because God wanted us to be active members in our community, not a ward of the State. These are commonsense ideas in which jobs matter and dignity matters. That is what we did in this bill.

The other overwhelming rhetoric I kept hearing over and over is, this is somehow a big tax cut for the rich. Again, for those people who don't know, the tax rate for the wealthiest Americans did not change. I want to make sure that it echoes through the next few years, that they recognize the folks who are working and happen to be earning the most money will stay at the same exact tax rate.

What we did do is help out folks who were hardest hit the last 4 years by higher prices: grocery stores, restaurants, their rent, and of course gasoline. Those were all up 20 and 30 percent, and people were hurting. There was no tax relief in 2021 or 2022. Now, they are saying suddenly they want to give tax relief to the middle class.

They had the trifecta back in 2021 and 2022. They chose to do nothing. We stepped up and said: If you earn tips, if you earn overtime, especially if you work for a lifetime and you earn Social Security, we are going to give you a tax cut. Some of those, in fact, are retroactive. That is real money in people's pockets. We are moving this country forward.

I am happy to be a part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to back up what we talked about on the campaign trail and to have a leader in our President who is willing to put it all on the line for people who are in an unfortunate situation. That is the American Dream, and that is why I am proud to support this bill.

I can't wait until a year from now when they see some of the mistruths that were stated on this floor come to reality, that we protected the most vulnerable, stimulated and grew this economy, and really took on the status quo in Washington, D.C.

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