NEWARK, NJ: Today, New Jersey families and community members came together at Military Park in Newark to demand an end to policies that harm children, seniors, and our families. Chants and signs of “Families not Billionaires” decorated the peaceful protest, a direct response to the Republican-led Congress’s cruel vote to kick 17 million people off their healthcare to line the pockets of greedy billionaires and corporations.

Speeches from Congresswoman McIver and other community leaders echoed the grievances of attendees, calling attention to the greedy and cruel power grabs of the Administration, from the tariffs that made everything more expensive to the ICE abductions of their neighbors.

A transcript of Congresswoman LaMonica McIver's speech:



"I'm going to continue to stand up for the people of New Jersey's 10th District, and I'm going to continue to stand up for the people of this nation. It doesn't matter, they can throw charges at me, they can tell me I'm going to be in jail, but I'm not going to stop doing the work that the people have elected me to do. This president, this administration, they are crazy. They are literally rolling us back to before 1965. To think about my daughter and these young people out here, my nine year-old, and your grandkids, and your children, they have fewer rights. They're trying to give them even lesser rights, restrict their rights, less rights than your grandparents.



I will not stand for it. I will not roll over. We will not roll over for them and allow it to happen. So our fights, our rallies, our voices, they're being heard. We're winning in courts. Even with some losses, we win some. We have to count these wins as our progress and our strength to keep pushing forward, to keep going. There are so many things on the line right now. I don't think I need to tell you, but I'm going to say it anyway: 17 million people without healthcare. Seventeen million people. And people don't get it. Sometimes, when you're talking to your neighbors, or you're talking to your family members, they're like, "Well, I still have healthcare." No, because they set it up in a way that it won't take effect until after the next midterm elections. That's how crooked they are. They don't want you to feel the pain of what is happening until they get re -elected again, and we cannot let people forget what is happening. When that time goes into effect, people are not going to have healthcare. People are going to die.



When people say, "Oh, well, I don't have Medicaid, I don't have Medicare, it's not going to affect me," news flash--it's going to affect you even if you're paying a private premium through your employer because Medicaid helps offset costs. So if doctors and these big health corporations can't get money from Medicaid, how do you think they're going to make up for the cost? They're going to start charging more on your premium even if you don't have Medicaid.



The president says, "You know, I'm tired of people freeloading off Medicaid. They're not going to work." Well our stupid president doesn't understand that there's something called the "working poor" in this country. They work every day but they still cannot afford health care, so they're on Medicaid. We have to teach that to a president and his administration. It's just honestly unlawful. It's just crazy to have to do that. But this is what we're up against.



People, families, losing their SNAP benefits. Many families who work every day rely on SNAP benefits, they offset costs because they have to choose between paying a high rent. Yes, the rent is high as hell: pay the high rent versus going to buy food. People rely on SNAP benefits. These are the things that we are up against, that are going to hurt families directly, that are going to hurt women directly. Many women are the head of their households and we just cannot stand for it. And all of this to do what? To get billionaires and millionaires tax breaks. How disgusting.



Then they tell us, well there's only "this amount" of millionaires here in this country. Well, they don't need a tax break. I don't care if you told me it was five of them. They don't need your money and money from the services that you benefit from and this country benefits from to get richer. That's the bottom line to it. There is a lot on the table. There is a lot in this "big, ugly bill" that they just passed that we must familiarize ourselves with. We must continue to talk about it. We must continue to get people to understand what is happening. There are so many people right now, y'all. I travel up and down the state, even in this country at this point, and people say, "well, you know, I don't do politics. That's not my thing." Well, politics is doing you each and every day and let me tell you, if you forgot, you have to educate and inform people on what is happening in this country. We cannot go to sleep.



The president says the days of "being woke is over." When they asked him why they charged me, he said, "Oh, well, the days of being woke is over." What does that mean? They'd rather for us to be asleep. They'd rather for us not to be aware of what is happening, what they're doing. We will not lay over and do that.



So, look, let's continue to do what we're doing. You can count on me. I will show up. Sometimes I show up in sneakers and jeans. I will show up. I will fight with you. I will fight for you in the halls of Congress and I plan to continue on doing that and nothing, nothing, nothing is going to stop me from doing that. So keep fighting with me. Let's keep fighting together. I love you guys. God bless you and Godspeed.