LEADER JEFFRIES: “THE REPUBLICAN LEGISLATION THAT WILL BE ON THE FLOOR THIS WEEK DOES NOTHING TO KEEP HEALTHCARE AFFORDABLE”

Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries held a press conference with Whip Katherine Clark, where they made clear that Democrats are the only ones committed to driving down the high cost of living and fixing the Republican healthcare crisis that is devastating everyday Americans across the country.

LEADER JEFFRIES: In just two weeks, tens of millions of Americans are going to experience dramatically-increased health insurance premiums because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. From the very beginning, Republicans have made their intentions clear. They don't want to see the Affordable Care Act tax credits extended because they don't support providing affordable healthcare to everyday Americans. The Republican legislation that will be on the floor this week does nothing to keep healthcare affordable for everyday Americans and they know it, which is why there's an internal revolt amongst House Republicans, who apparently can't even get an amendment made in order that would extend the tax credits that are about to expire.

There are 214 Democrats who have signed a discharge petition that would force an up-or-down vote on extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits to make sure that tens of millions of Americans don't experience increased health insurance premiums that will prevent them from being able to go see a doctor when they need one. All we need are four House Republicans to join us. There are 220 of them. All we need are four, and we can extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits in a straightforward fashion, in a manner that we know also has a bipartisan majority in the United States Senate as was just demonstrated last week. The bills that are going to be on the floor this week, put forward by House Republican leadership, do nothing to lower the high cost of living. They believe, these Republican extremists, that the affordability issue is a hoax. It's not a hoax. It's very real. The economy has gotten worse under Donald Trump's policies. Life has become more expensive. And Democrats are the only people in town who are committed to driving down the high cost of living and fixing our broken healthcare system.

Full press conference can be watched here.

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