MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Now that we've heard how the White House and Congressional Republicans are celebrating their big legislative win, let's hear from the Democrats. Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts is the Democratic whip, meaning she's the top leader just behind Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. And she's with us on the line now. Good morning, Congresswoman. Thank you for joining us.
KATHERINE CLARK: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a marathon speech against the Republicans' bill for more than eight hours yesterday. He called the bill disgusting, an abomination, which is an opinion, frankly, shared by many Democrats and some Republicans. And polls have found that more people oppose the bill than support it. And yet, here we are. The president plans to sign the bill today. Why do you think the Democrats weren't able to stop it when they had public opinion on their side?
CLARK: Because the currency for the House Republicans is they care about one constituent, and that's Donald Trump. And at the end of the day, despite all their misgivings, all the lies that have been peddled about the benefits of this bill, they put aside their very real concerns about kicking 17 million people off of health care, and they voted to show their loyalty to Donald Trump. And on the Fourth of July, when we celebrate our freedom and fighting for opportunity for everyone, the idea that they have shackled American families with a high cost of living and are going to further drive up their costs of health care and food and erode their public schools, and all the while adding $4 trillion to our national debt is just - it is such a cruel irony that they are signing this bill when we should be celebrating our independence.
MARTIN: So for clarity, the Congressional Budget Office, which is this nonpartisan group that scores the bill, said it was about 12 million people would be - would lose their health insurance at some point. And they added the deficit increases at about 3.3 trillion, which is still big. But just for clarity, those are the numbers that I think people have heard more often. And that Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York told All Things Considered, he thinks Americans will like the bill in the long run. Let's listen to what he said.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
MIKE LAWLER: When people are actually getting tax cuts, it will be extremely popular among the working class and the middle class and the folks who are going to benefit exceptionally well from the provisions within this bill.
MARTIN: So, Congresswoman, how are you going to deal with the fact that Americans will see tax cuts before next year's midterms and many of the cuts to their benefits only after the midterms?
CLARK: You know, there are some tax cuts, and we would have loved to have a discussion about how we can reform our tax policy so that it works for working people. But that's not what this bill does. There are some short-term tax cuts, but it will never offset the damage they have done. One trillion dollars out of Medicaid, half a trillion dollars after Medicare. Those were promises that Donald Trump and the Republican made to never touch those programs. And it goes so much deeper. I have heard from constituents. You know, there's one mom named Nancy (ph) and her son, Charlie (ph), who's dependent on Medicaid for Charlie's disabilities, to be able to have a wheelchair, to have aides. And with Medicaid's help, he is learning to walk. They have just ripped that away from that family and millions of other families.
And, you know, the cuts are not only to Medicaid, but to the ACA. Closing hospitals. There are 330 hospitals that they have just put in real jeopardy. That's not only access to health care, especially for rural America. Those are jobs. They're often the largest employer in a region. So this bill, overall, is - I cannot overstate the cruelty and what is going to happen to the American people as these provisions take place.
MARTIN: I understand. But what I'm asking you is, how are you going to talk about this going forward? Look, I understand that the Democrats are looking to the midterms as they logically would. I mean, the president's party has lost the House majority in - what? - four of the past five midterm elections, including the most recent three. So it's logical that the Democrats would look toward the midterms. But what I'm asking you is, how are you going to talk about that when the actual pain of this is unlikely to be felt before the midterms, where the benefits are likely to be felt, or may be felt?
CLARK: You know, I think that they are going to feel this. We're already seeing hospitals that are saying, looking ahead at Medicaid reimbursement, they are looking to close. We've already seen reports of that, and House Democrats are going to spend every day of the next 16 months talking to moms and dads and seniors and veterans so that they know that Republicans just took away their health care, raised their energy bills and hiked their grocery costs. And we're going to continue doing our shadow hearings, going into communities across this country, talking about this bill and what its impact is going to be. And our vision for Americans where we give them the tools for success so that they can build a life of dignity. That's what Democrats are going to be doing. This is not what the American people voted for, and they are not going to forget this outright betrayal.
MARTIN: Let me mention we've invited many Republican lawmakers to talk about the bill, especially members who came around to supporting it after first raising objections to it. I want to say that those invitations remain open. But to that end, a recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found Republicans largely approve of the job their own party is doing in Congress, while Democrats are evenly divided. Only 44% of Democrats said they approve of congressional Democrats. Why do you think that is?
CLARK: You know, I think we are living in a time where it is very difficult in Washington, that it is a winner-take-all system. And what we are doing, what we are building with the American people, is going out into their communities, holding the town halls, making sure that we are doing hearings that are there so that we can make the case for the American people, that we see you. We want you to have a fair shot at the American dream.
MARTIN: OK. That is House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark. She's a Democrat from Massachusetts. Whip Clark - Congresswoman Clark, I hope you'll come back and talk more about this. Thanks so much.
CLARK: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MAS AND HOFFY BEATS' "TIMEWAVE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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