WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) released the following statement after voting against the Republicans’ disastrous and cruel budget bill:
“What Republicans did here is simple: they voted to kick 16 million people off health insurance while giving massive tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, and managed to still raise the debt by a staggering $5 trillion. In Minnesota alone, nearly 200,000 people will lose their health insurance. Rural hospitals will be forced to close. Planned Parenthood will lose its funding and have to shutter clinics.
“I’ve heard from tens of thousands of Minnesotans, and they all tell me, no matter who they voted for, they don’t want to take health care away from veterans and working families and seniors. And they didn’t vote to make it harder and more expensive for working families to put food on the table.
“Now it’s up to all of us to continue the fight. As this bill returns to the U.S. House of Representatives, make your voices heard. We say no to the largest role back in health care in our nation’s history, and the biggest transfer of wealth in modern times.”