Devastating Harm Caused By Trump Administration

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, it is like the changing of the seasons. There is a consistent pattern across our economy year after year. Democrats rescue and build an economy that empowers workers, that invests in American-made jobs, that invests in our infrastructure and our people just as we did in passing the largest bills in generations over the last several Congresses: the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which not only invested millions of dollars in communities all across the United States but created countless jobs and opportunities for our people.

Just like that, a President like the current President comes in, just as he has done twice, and drives up the deficit, borrows against our children's futures, and takes American taxpayer dollars to give billionaires permanent tax credits. Unemployment rises, families fall behind, and the damage is done. Then we are called upon to pick up the pieces once again, put people back to work, and restore stability to our economy.

If you are wondering what season we are in now, all you have to do is take a look at the headlines: ``Grocery inflation highest since 2022 as Trump tariffs pile on.'' Or this one: ``Poorer Americans hit hardest as tariffs fuel price rises.''

Mr. Speaker, it is a cold winter for families across America under Trump's America, under his failing economic plan, and tariffs that are not even legal and which this House of Representatives, under the GOP, voted yesterday on a rule with language to abrogate their constitutional authority to rein him in. I watched them flip the votes on the floor as they gave away our constitutional authority to hurt American workers.

Long-term unemployment is reaching heights we haven't even seen since the beginning of the pandemic. Grocery prices are more expensive than they have ever been. Inflation is forcing Americans to live on credit cards. Housing is so expensive that young people can't even move into their own homes. People can't access the most basic healthcare in this country right now. That is Trump's economy.

As we take stock of where this economy stands today, I think it is pretty damn clear why Donald Trump went bankrupt six times. He is literally bankrupting this country and the hardworking people that are its backbone. The livelihoods of our communities are on the line, not poker chips in one of his Atlantic City casinos.

These are farmers, ranchers, working people, families whose lives hang in the balance.

In New Mexico, our farmers are being crushed under the weight of these tariffs, losing export markets, watching the USDA programs, that once purchased homegrown, healthy foods to put into our schools and food banks, dry up.

Here is another headline: ``Farmageddon. Many U.S. farmers are warning that they are at a breaking point,'' a breaking point, just like our families, farmers who depend on reliable markets.

When the President imposes tariffs on our allies, depending on which way the wind is blowing on any given day, he forces hardworking people in this country into financial ruin.

The result is only the largest corporations and the rich get richer, driving the prices up, driving small farmers out, consolidating our food system, and pushing the American Dream, just basic dignity, further out of reach for our people.

For me, this is personal, Mr. Speaker, because I grew up in a working family where people in my family worked multiple jobs and still struggled to get by, where we didn't have access to healthcare, where we didn't always have access to reliable housing.

Mr. Speaker, this is personal. In New Mexico, there are thousands of families who are struggling just to make it to the end of the month.

I will say that, despite the darkness, New Mexico is leading the way and showing what it looks like to lead with integrity and invest in an economy that will make it possible for families to thrive.

In fact, in just a couple of weeks, on October 1, our State legislature will convene in the wake of Republicans' disastrous big, ugly bill, which will gut healthcare and food assistance programs, to actually shore up the programs that will save and support thousands of lives in our State. They will invest in food and healthcare programs and fix the public broadcasting funding that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle blew a hole through when the majority passed the rescissions package.

Perhaps the most consequential legislation and policies that New Mexico has announced in the last several weeks are that we are now officially the first State in the Nation ever in the history of this country to guarantee universal free childcare. That is going to put over $12,500 back into the pockets of every working family in New Mexico.

That is real money. That is money for putting a roof over your head. That is money for putting food on the table. That is money to go back to school. That is what it looks like when you invest in working families.

In addition to that, New Mexico is the only State in the Nation that guarantees free college. Whether you want to go to trade school or get a higher education degree in graduate school, in New Mexico, you are going to do it without debt because we understand that the future of our country, economy, and communities depends on investing in people, not taking away the vital programs that support them.

Every day, I am working on behalf of our communities to invest in early childhood education, entrepreneurial programs, bringing millions of dollars home for infrastructure, youth programs, healthcare, behavioral health, and clinics back in New Mexico because we know that that is how you deliver for real working people.

Mr. Speaker, the seasons may change, but we know this cycle is going to go on. Families in New Mexico and across the Nation are going to continue to pay the price for your billion-dollar tax breaks.

Americans literally cannot afford this economy. They can't afford this administration or the GOP's leadership here in this House.

That is why we are here to speak up, speak out, fight back, and stop the damaging programs that are eviscerating our economy and harming our communities. We know the season will change, and we know we will come back and invest in hardworking American families. Until then, we call upon our States, Tribal, and local leaders to do what they can. They should know that we are here in the fight for real Americans.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source