Durbin Slams Republicans For Failing To Address Affordability Concerns As Americans Are Paying Sky-High Prices For Gas, Groceries, & Health Care

I listened to my colleague from Wyoming, my friend, Senator Brasso, talk about the benefits of the Trump policies when it comes to American families. I don't know the situation in his home state of Wyoming, but let me tell you the situation in most states of the union, including my home state. American families are struggling. They don't believe the Trump policies is giving them any relief from what they face on a day-to-day basis.

I wonder when the last time was that members of the Senate filled up a tank of gasoline in their home states and realized the dramatic increase in cost is working a real hardship, particularly on working families in lower to middle income jobs. They're struggling to get by paychecks to paychecks, and now they've got gasoline bills that they never anticipated. There's no end in sight. To talk about relief for American families and ignore the cost of gasoline is really to ignore the obvious.

Same thing is true when it comes to utility bills. In my state, utility bills are up 15% this year over last year. There are a lot of reasons for it, and they've been explained over and over on the floor. But the bottom line, there is no Trump policy addressing this issue, particularly no policy that really is moving us toward renewable and sustainable sources of energy for generations to come.

How about the price of groceries? The tariff policies of this administration have led to a protest by farmers across the United States. These tariff policies hurt their ability to compete on the world market. That's why the president recently went to the Midwest in the hopes of salvaging his reputation with farmers in rural communities. For the senator from Wyoming to come to the floor and talk about the benefits to American families is to ignore the increased cost of groceries that people put up with every day.

What the senator didn't mention as well is that the big, beautiful Trump budget bill also made some dramatic changes when it came to the cost of health care for American citizens. The idea of cutting $1 trillion out of the Medicaid program over the next several years is not only going to create a hardship on people with illness, but it's also going to create a hardship on providers. Already in my state, where many rural hospitals and inner city hospitals struggle to keep their doors open, the notion of these cutbacks in Medicaid mean not only fewer treatments for those who are sick and need medical care, but it also means when it comes to these hospitals and clinics that are really a life and death proposition, their survival is in doubt.

Talk about the future for American families. The future starts with health care that is quality health care that you can afford. Do you recall when the Republicans in their big, beautiful budget bill decided that they were going to cut back the tax benefits for people to help pay for their health insurance premiums? How can that be of any lasting positive value for families across America? It creates a real hardship that they have to deal with.

So I think coming to the floor and talking about tax policies in decades to come is interesting and worthy of note, but it certainly doesn't address the reality of what American families are facing in Illinois, Wyoming, and across the United States. That's the reality.