WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday joined Senate Democrats for a media availability following reports that President Trump will soon sign an executive order abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. Murphy slammed the plan as a dangerous move that would hurt families across the country and prioritize profits for the billionaire and corporate class over ensuring every kid in America has access to a quality education.

Murphy blasted the out-of-touch billionaires in the Trump Administration who are dismantling programs ordinary Americans rely on: “The billionaires that are in charge of our government right now send their kids to the most elite private schools, and if every public school disappears in this country, they will still be able to get their kids an education. And it’s consistent with the entire way they are approaching the first six months of this administration. Billionaires don’t need Medicaid. So, to them, it doesn’t matter if Medicaid disappears, and rural hospitals close and addiction treatment centers shutter their doors– because the billionaires will still get their healthcare. They talk about Social Security being a Ponzi scheme. They’re shutting down Social Security offices around the country because they don’t need Social Security. They’re billionaires–they’re never going to need a Social Security check – like millions of American seniors do – in order to put food on the table.”

Murphy tore into Trump and his corporate backers for prioritizing their tax cut over meeting the basic needs of working-class Americans: “All that matters is hoarding as much money – stealing as much money – from middle class and poor families in this country, so that they can pass that money along to the billionaires, the millionaires, and the corporations. Everything that they are doing is about making sure that they shrink the parts of government that help regular people, so that they can pass along more benefits and more help to their billionaire friends.”

Murphy condemned the administration for trying to sell off America’s public schools to the highest bidder at the expense of millions of families: “The voucher program that they are talking about, that they will be more easily able to implement if the Department of Education is gone, is really about just making it easier for the billionaire and corporate class to be able to buy up our schools, so that they can make money off of it like they make money off of the Medicare program, like they make money off of so many other aspects of our government. So if the Department of Education closes, it’s going to hurt millions of families in this country– it is just going to enable the theft of resources from regular families to pad the pockets of the billionaires – but is also likely to result in you waking up one day and finding out that your local elementary school that your kids go to is owned by a private equity firm on the other side of the country and is being run for profit instead of being run for the education of your kids.”

A full transcript of his remarks can be found below:

MURPHY: “Thanks, Chuck, for gathering us here today. So, nobody wants this. Nobody in America wants the destruction of public education. The plan to eliminate the Department of Education is wildly unpopular in this country except for a handful of people on the fringy right. So the question is, why are they doing it? 

“I think Bernie’s point is really important. Billionaires do not need public schools. Billionaires don’t understand the magic that happens in public schools. The billionaires that are in charge of our government right now send their kids to the most elite private schools, and if every public school disappears in this country, they will still be able to get their kids an education. 

“And it’s consistent with the entire way they are approaching the first six months of this administration. Billionaires don’t need Medicaid. So to them, it doesn’t matter if Medicaid disappears and rural hospitals close and addiction treatment centers shutter their doors– because the billionaires will still get their healthcare. 

“They talk about Social Security being a Ponzi scheme. They’re shutting down Social Security offices around the country because they don’t need Social Security. They’re billionaires–they’re never going to need a Social Security check – like millions of American seniors do – in order to put food on the table. So the billionaire mindset is just different than ordinary, average Americans. And that’s why, to them, public education doesn’t matter.

“But to Senator Schumer's point, here’s the other reason why: all that matters right now is the billionaire and corporate tax cut. All that matters is hoarding as much money – stealing as much money – from middle class and poor families in this country, so that they can pass that money along to the billionaires, the millionaires, and the corporations. Everything that they are doing is about making sure that they shrink the parts of government that help regular people, so that they can pass along more benefits and more help to their billionaire friends.

“But then here’s the last piece of the story of why. The billionaire class, the corporate class, the private equity class– they are sick to death that they don't have their hands inside the Department of Education treasury; that they can’t get their hands on our schools like they’ve gotten their hands into our healthcare system and every other aspect of our economy. 

“What they want to do is to sell off our public schools to the highest bidder. The voucher program that they are talking about, that they will be more easily able to implement if the Department of Education is gone, is really about just making it easier for the billionaire and corporate class to be able to buy up our schools, so that they can make money off of it like they make money off of the Medicare program, like they make money off of so many other aspects of our government. 

“So if the Department of Education closes, it’s going to hurt millions of families in this country– it is just going to enable the theft of resources from regular families to pad the pockets of the billionaires – but is also likely to result in you waking up one day and finding out that your local elementary school that your kids go to is owned by a private equity firm on the other side of the country and is being run for profit instead of being run for the education of your kids.

“So this is deeply unpopular, nobody wants the Department of Education eliminated, and it's really important for us to explain to the American people why it’s happening.”

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