Warren Unveils Budget Bill Amendments to Protect Funding for Medical Research, Education in Massachusetts
Senate to vote on Republican tax plan paving way for $7 trillion in tax handouts for billionaires and billionaire corporations
“...Are we going to hand our country over to co-presidents Donald Trump and Elon Musk and a handful of other billionaires and make everyone else pay for it?...That is the fight in front of us, and that’s the fight I’m fighting every single day for families in Massachusetts and all across this country.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) delivered a speech on the Senate Floor, slamming President Trump and Elon Musk’s chaotic cuts to programs and charting the path forward to fight back on behalf of Massachusetts. Senator Warren announced she is filing amendments to the Republican budget bill to protect federal funding for Massachusetts medical research institutions and health care providers; undo cuts to the National Institutes of Health; and protect education funding in Massachusetts, including for Head Start.
Transcript: Floor Speech on Fighting Back for Massachusetts Against Trump and Musk Chaos
U.S. Senate Floor
April 4, 2025
As Delivered
Senator Elizabeth Warren: Now, Republicans in Congress are putting forward a proposal to deliver these tax cuts for the wealthy and well-connected, and they’re asking us to vote on it tonight.
This bill — and Trump and Musk’s cruel agenda — isn’t good for Massachusetts and isn’t good for our country. I’m hearing from families at home in Massachusetts who are feeling the pain right now.
Start with medical research. Medical research powers the economy in Massachusetts and is the reason we’ve had incredible breakthroughs like vaccines and cancer drugs that save lives. So, how did Donald Trump and Elon Musk thank the doctors and researchers who are doing this work? By canceling tens of millions of dollars in federal funds that support medical research at Massachusetts hospitals, universities, and health care providers on everything from clinical trials to pandemic readiness. And they did it just weeks after Trump tried to cut the funding that keeps the lights on at our community health centers.
So, to anyone who believes in science and believes in investing in cures for horrible diseases, now is the time to fight back. That’s why I’m filing amendments to the Republican bill to keep up federal support for Massachusetts’ medical research institutions and health care providers — including our community health centers. And it’s why I’m filing another amendment to fight back against Trump and Musk’s National Institute of Health funding cuts — because we are a country that believes that we should invest in finding a cure for Alzheimer’s, for diabetes, for cancer, and other diseases.
And on education. Education levels the playing field. It gives every kid a fighting chance in this country. Doesn’t matter to Trump and Musk. This week, they slashed millions in funding for K-12 education in the Commonwealth. Shut down a regional office in Boston that helps administer Head Start. Canceled millions of dollars in funding that was helping to pay for kids’ school lunches. To them, that was the cherry on top of Trump’s executive order to, quote, “abolish” the entire Department of Education, throwing schools across the country into crisis.
So, to students, parents, and teachers, now is the time to fight back. We are fighting for an America where it's not just the kids of billionaires who get a good education but every kid in every community all across our Commonwealth. It’s why I’ve got an amendment to the Republican bill to protect education funding in Massachusetts and protect services like Head Start that lift up our kids and make sure we’re not leaving families hanging out to dry.
And I’m fighting for our workers. Last week, Donald Trump signed an illegal executive order attacking federal unions and stripping workers of their rights. It’s the definition of union-busting — and it is an attack on the workers who make sure our food is safe to eat, who make sure it’s safe for us to fly in airplanes, who make sure that we take care of our veterans, who try to help us and protect us from viruses and disease, and so much more.
So, to workers in Massachusetts and across America, now is the time to fight back. We need to amend this Republican tax cut bill to affirm federal workers’ right to unionize and collectively bargain because the labor movement is bigger than Donald Trump and his unelected billionaire co-president. And we believe that every worker deserves the freedom to join a union and negotiate for a fair contract.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are sawing through the programs that help working families breathe a little easier every day. And they’re doing it so that their billionaire buddies and giant corporations get trillions of dollars in tax giveaways, paid for on the backs of everybody else.
So here’s the big question: are we going to hand our country over to co-presidents Donald Trump and Elon Musk and a handful of other billionaires and make everyone else pay for it? Or are we going to be a country that says, “No, we want to make these investments so that everyone in this country gets an opportunity.” Everybody's at least got a chance to build something for themselves. That is the fight in front of us, and that’s the fight I’m fighting every single day for families in Massachusetts and all across this country.
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