Maxine Dexter: “I am grateful to be here. I appreciate the opportunity from my colleague from California (Mr. Garamendi). I rise today…”

“I am grateful to be here. I appreciate the opportunity from my colleague from California (Mr. Garamendi). I rise today to join my Democratic colleagues in voicing our unwavering commitment to protecting the vital programs that Americans rely on, prioritizing the working families that I represent over millionaires and billionaires. Last night, I stood with every single Democrat in this House to vote against a devastating budget advanced by House Republicans to enrich the ultrawealthy at the expense of our working families. {time} 1800 I grew up in a working-class family. I am the first and only person still to have gone to college and graduated in my family. A union job offered me the opportunity at 16 to pay my way with rent and food costs in the city of Seattle, and then to go to college. There is absolutely no way that anyone in my district can do that with a part-time job at an entry-level grocery store position. House Republicans' plan is to pay for $4.5 trillion, with a t, in tax giveaways for the Elon Musks of the world to gut the programs that allow Oregonians to afford healthcare, put food on the table, and keep a roof over their heads. As a physician, I know that access to healthcare is literally a matter of life and death. I am terrified about what it means for my district, where 200,000 people are at risk of losing their healthcare. Many of them are children, disabled members of our community, and our seniors.…”