James A. Himes

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24 held · 7 searchable for James A. Himes. The searchable lines are below in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account.

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1. “Let's leave that fantasy behind. My colleagues are voting this week on what kind of future, if any, Conner can expect and what kind of future, if any, 80 million Americans who rely on Medicaid will have. My colleagues must take seriously the pain that is about to be caused to some of the most vulnerable Americans out there as they think about their vote, as they think about what they are trying to achieve, as they think about what they aspire this country to be. ____________________”

   House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗

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2. “Conner's medicines, the medicines that have kept him alive, cost thousands of dollars a month. A middle-class family can't pay that. Medicaid does. His lung function is compromised, so he needs a $12,000 machine to breathe. He needs help in school. He wants to go to college, but he needs a little help because he is severely handicapped by this terrible disease. Conner comes to my office almost every year to tell me about his aspirations and to beg that we keep funding not just the research that may provide him with a normal lifespan but those things that give him a reasonable quality of life, a shot of achieving that dream of going to college. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues are not voting on numbers this week, although there are billions involved. My colleagues are certainly not voting on waste, fraud, or abuse.”

   House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗

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3. “It turns out that people don't wear signs around their necks saying: ``I am committing waste, fraud, and abuse.'' No, it is hard to identify this stuff. It exists, but it does not exist in any conceivable number that the Republicans are talking about cutting out of the Medicaid program. That number is almost $100 billion a year, $100 billion out of roughly $600 billion in spending. Mind you, that is not trimming. That is taking a wheel off the car. Here is what is going to happen. As I said, Medicaid covers 80 million Americans with health insurance. It also provides the funding that allows grandma to stay in an assisted living facility after she has run out of assets. What I really want to do is tell you about Conner Curran. Conner is a 14-year-old from the town of Ridgefield, which I have the honor of representing. His mom is a teacher.”

   House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗

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4. “The problem is this comes with a cost, and that cost will be paid, as the Republicans have laid it out for us to see, by the Medicaid program and by the addition of trillions of dollars to the United States debt. Let's talk for a second about Medicaid because it serves about 80 million Americans. Not all Americans have experience with it, but an awful lot do. We are told, and the fantasy is, that the money can be saved by identifying waste, fraud, and abuse. Make no mistake, that is a fantasy. If you are rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse, you hire more people, investigators, and auditors to go after it. We are doing the exact opposite. Elon Musk and DOGE are firing the people who go after waste, fraud, and abuse.”

   House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗

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5. “Mr. Speaker, in this Chamber, as early as today, we may be passing legislation that is explicitly designed to maintain historically low tax rates on the Nation's wealthiest people. The richest people in America will be served by this institution so that they can pay the lowest tax amounts possible. The corporations in this country must have their record-low tax rates maintained.”

   House of Representatives8 April 2025Source ↗

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6. “Mr. Speaker, it is evident to me that 2 weeks into the new administration, we no longer have a Congress and that we no longer take care that laws be faithfully executed. We passed a law that says TikTok must either be sold or be shut down, but that doesn't matter. It will not be shut down. The Constitution of the United States says that birthright citizenship is a fundamental constitutional right, but that doesn't matter.”

   House of Representatives4 February 2025Source ↗

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7. “Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material in the Record.”

   House of Representatives23 January 2025Source ↗

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