Melanie Stansbury: “I rise as a fierce defender from New Mexico to support this amendment to defend our Social Security and our Medicare. As…”

“I rise as a fierce defender from New Mexico to support this amendment to defend our Social Security and our Medicare. As our colleagues across the aisle are trying to gut Social Security and Medicare, Democrats are looking for long-term solutions not only to expand these lifesaving programs but to ensure that they are solvent for generations to come. These programs are lifelines for people in New Mexico. In fact, in New Mexico, we have the highest share of individuals who are on Medicaid by population in the country. That is 873,000 New Mexicans who depend on Medicaid. Our children in New Mexico depend on Medicaid. Over half of our children are on Medicaid. These programs save lives. I ask my colleagues: What kind of cruel ransom note are they putting forward that would gut these programs, that would gut programs that feed our children, and that would gut our environmental programs in the name of raising our debt ceiling? Mr. Speaker, I ask: What is it that we are actually trying to do here today? That is why I oppose the underlying bill that we are debating today and why I support this amendment. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to defeat the previous question and to return to the work of the people who elected us.”