[Page H2183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GOP TAX SCAM HURTS WOMEN AND FAMILIES

  (Ms. TOKUDA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. TOKUDA. Mr. Speaker, when I first met Atalina, she was on the 
front lines of the pandemic, keeping families housed and fed. When 
fires ravaged Maui, she was there for the victims.
  Atalina is a pillar of her community and her church. She gives 
everything she has to others, but even angels need help.
  Atalina is the mother of five, soon to be six. Her husband, who is 
battling cancer and now severe back injuries, can't work consistently. 
Atalina still works full time and still serves her neighbors and 
community.
  ``If I put my entire family on my employer insurance,'' she told me, 
``it would cost more than half my paycheck.''
  Medicaid gave her family access to lifesaving care. SNAP made sure 
her kids didn't go to bed hungry. These programs aren't ``handouts,'' 
she says. ``They are lifelines.''
  Now, because her income barely crossed the threshold, she has lost 
SNAP. ``It doesn't mean we can suddenly afford groceries,'' she says. 
``It just means we sacrifice even more.''
  If we cut Medicaid and SNAP, we are not trimming fat. We are cutting 
hope.
  Let's be clear about the false choice we are being asked to make. Do 
we feed the greed of billionaires, or do we feed and care for families 
like Atalina's? We know who Republicans are choosing.

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