Washington, DC- Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a member of the House Budget Committee, a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations, issued the following statement on the #NoTrumpCare Bill that was passed by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives:

“Today we witnessed the greatest attack on America’s health care that we have seen in decades. This was an undermining of the most important civil rights law of the 21st Century. The Affordable Care Act opened the doors to all people no matter what their region, rural or urban, their race or religion, to provide them with health care.

“The vote was 217 in favor and 213 against. Just two votes could have stopped this devastating legislative debacle that will undermine people with pre-existing conditions while drastically spiking premiums for persons over 50 to where they may no longer be affordable.

“The #NoTrumpCare Bill takes $880 billion from Medicaid and stops the Medicaid expansion for any state that is contemplating it or needs it now. Basically, it says that if you are poor we do not have health insurance for you. It says to a working family working for an hourly wage with no health insurance, ‘we do not care.’ And $600 billion is just going to be used to give fat cats tax cuts.

“What Republicans in Congress just passed is really a bill for the uber rich. The bill has not yet been scored by the Congressional Budget Office meaning we do not yet know how much it will impact the budget and grow the nation’s deficit.

“What saddens me most is that while Republicans and the President gloat, more than 24 million people will lose their health insurance. That is why I will continue to fight to protect the Affordable Care Act and make it better for people who run small businesses, for seniors, for working families and for young people.

“While Republicans on Capitol Hill celebrate, the American people are angered and will not forget what just happened. And I am also committed to resisting this heartless assault on hard working American families.”