VIDEO: Congressman Suhas Subramanyam Announces Guest for Joint Address to Congress – Medicaid Recipient with Stage 4 Cancer Whose Life Will Be Jeopardized by Trump’s Budget Cuts

Washington, DC – Congressman Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) spoke on the House floor and announced his guest for President Trump’s Joint Address to Congress, Susan Perri. 

Susan Perri is a retired special education teacher from Fauquier County. She worked for 16 years in Fairfax County and 12 years in Fauquier County. She has stage four Melanoma and is on Medicare and Medicaid. Her treatments have made it more difficult for her to speak. Within the last six months, doctors removed a 7-centimeter tumor from her adrenal glands.

Susan’s husband is a retired Postal Service employee who served for 44 years, worried about his retirement benefits getting cut. 

She has a 38-year-old son with cystic fibrosis who relies on Social Security Disability Insurance. He has benefited from NIH research and lifesaving medication approved by the federal government has improved her son’s lung function.

Over 98,000 people in Virginia's 10th district, including 51,000 children under the age of 19, are on Medicaid and risk losing their health care under the Republican budget plan. Additionally, 14,000 people use SNAP to put food on the table for their families and their benefits are also now at risk.

See below for a transcript of remarks as delivered.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Last week, the first speaker in line at my Town Hall was Susan Perri. 

You wouldn’t know it at first, but Susan has difficulty speaking. Within the last six months, she had a 7-centimeter tumor removed from her adrenal glands. 

But Susan is refusing to stay quiet. She made sure to be the first in line to share her story, and how the Republican budget cuts to Medicaid and research will impact her, her family, and the American people. 

And I could hear her loud and clear. 

And that is why I am honored that Susan will be my guest at tomorrow’s Joint Address, because we should all hear her voice too. 

Susan is a retired special education teacher from Fauquier County. Her husband is a retired Postal Service employee of 44 years, worried about his retirement benefits getting cut.

And her son has Cystic Fibrosis and has benefited from cutting edge NIH research and lifesaving medication approved by the federal government. 

As this Administration is cutting the very science that saves lives, Susan’s fight gives me hope that we can all make our voices heard and fight for change. 

So don’t underestimate Susan, and don’t underestimate the American people.

I yield back.