“Let’s look at the facts. Yesterday, the Census Bureau reported median household incomes grew by 5.2 percent last year. That’s the single largest annual income gain ever recorded. Ever in history. Isn’t America great?”

“These incredible statistics show how much progress we’ve made in spite of the obstacles, the filibusters. And it shows how much Americans would have to lose from a Trump presidency that works solely for the rich and completely ignores the middle class, because Donald is rooting for failure, as are his Republican adherents.”

“I hope my Republican colleagues will take this opportunity to stop being the party of Trump, to stop being the ‘party of no’ and work with us to build on this progress we have already made.”

Washington, D.C. – Nevada Senator Harry Reid spoke on the Senate floor today about recent Census data showing the American economy is improving, despite false claims from Republicans. Below are his remarks:

By now, most Americans are well-acquainted with Donald Trump, but especially Donald Trump’s head-scratching campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” He has his little hat he wears when he doesn’t want his hair to be messed up.

That slogan offers us a peek inside the minds of Donald Trump and his Republican followers in Congress. These Republicans want to believe our country isn’t great. They want to believe that this nation is foundering. They do not listen to the facts; they just follow Trump.

Earlier this year, Speaker Ryan echoed Donald Trump when he said in criticizing President Obama: “We think that the president’s policies aren’t working. …We have flat wages.”

Why do Republicans spend so much time rooting against economic growth and ignoring millions of newly insured Americans getting access health care? Why do they root against America? Because they say anything to convince their radical base that President Obama is failing, even though the facts are contrary.

But despite what Donald Trump or Congressional Republicans say, we know that America is great already. And because of Democratic policies, we are improving it every day, in spite of the obstacles –  filibuster, filibuster, filibuster, obstacle, obstacle, obstacle.

Let’s look at the facts. Yesterday, the Census Bureau reported median household incomes grew by 5.2 percent last year. That’s the single largest annual income gain ever recorded. Ever in history. Isn’t America great?

Every major income bracket in our country saw an increase in earnings, with the lowest 10th percentile seeing the biggest gains. This is real progress for all Americans. Really, isn’t America great?

These remarkable income gains hold true across racial lines as well. In just one year, Hispanics saw a 6.1 percent increase in earnings. African Americans experienced a 4.1 percent jump in income. Isn’t America great?

This is the kind of wage growth we should celebrate. But Republicans have been totally silent because they want America not to be great. For the first time since 1999, we are moving in the right direction on income, health care coverage, and poverty indicators. Household incomes are rising and the poverty rate is falling. That’s good. Isn’t America great?

We are finally regaining the ground we lost during the great recession which hit at the end of the Bush Administration, although it started really a couple of years after he became president.

In 2015, the official poverty rate dropped more than a full percentage point. That means 2 million Americans were lifted out of poverty. Real average weekly earnings have risen at their fastest pace in 15 years. Isn’t America great? Yes it is.

These incredible statistics show how much progress we’ve made in spite of the obstacles, the filibusters. And it shows how much Americans would have to lose from a Trump presidency that works solely for the rich and completely ignores the middle class, because Donald is rooting for failure, as are his Republican adherents.

Yesterday’s census data also contradicts Republicans’ false narrative on the Affordable Care Act, on Obamacare. Because of Obamacare, more Americans have health insurance than ever before this nation’s history.

According to the Census Bureau, the uninsured rate has plummeted in almost every state. California saw the biggest drop, with a decline of 8.6 percentage points in its uninsured rate. Nevada was second with 8.4 percentage-point drop. Really, isn’t Obamacare great?

And, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the Republican leader’s home state of Kentucky had the third largest reduction in the number of uninsured people – a decrease of 8.3 percentage points. Isn’t Obamacare great?  If other Republican governors would follow the lead of the Republican governor of Nevada, they would have the same statistics.

The Republican leader loves to come to the floor and bash Obamacare – he was here yesterday doing just that. It is curious how the senior senator from Kentucky picks and chooses what he says about the Affordable Care Act. He refuses to acknowledge the newly-insured Kentuckians who have access to health care because of this law.

Kentucky has 4.4 million people. 500,000 of the Republican leader’s constituents have health insurance because of Obamacare. That’s more than 11 percent of his state’s population. Obamacare is great. The Affordable Care Act is helping the people of Kentucky and the people of America, regardless of what Republicans say here on the Senate floor, and they are rooting for failure.

To no one’s surprise, this new census data also shows that the states that refused to expand Medicaid are the ones falling behind in health coverage. There are 19 Republican governors doing just that. States that expanded Medicaid have insurance premium rates that are 7 percent lower than states that rejected Medicaid expansion. The states that did not expand Medicaid – states with Republican governors and Republican legislatures – have an uninsured rate nearly twice as high as states that used Obamacare to expand coverage. This is no coincidence – we know these policies work. But Republicans simply refuse to listen.

This is the attitude that led to Trump: Republican leaders insisted that no matter what President Obama suggested, it would not work. And we have got the filibusters to show that. We now know the truth. Thanks to the policies of President Obama and Democrats, we have emerged from the terrible recession. We are seeing record wage growth. We are making a great nation even greater.

We do not hear about the successes as much as we should. Unfortunately, the press is often times more interested in something more scandalous. But as all of this census data shows, we have moved our country forward, and we did it despite Republican opposition. It’s a shame that Republicans didn’t help. They were too interested in opposing President Obama on everything.

But we still have a lot to do. We need to do more for the middle class, more to give Americans a livable wage and more to ease the burden of student loan debt. We need to work together to improve upon the many successes of the Affordable Care Act. If we had a token of an effort from Republicans, we could make the health care law even better, even stronger.

We must address the issue of gun violence and take steps to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals. And we must do something about campaign finance reform. We must protect America from those who would turn it into a Russian oligarchy.

I hope my Republican colleagues will take this opportunity to stop being the party of Trump. The party of Trump whose pal is Putin. He’s even gone so far obviously to suggest that maybe we should be an oligarchy also. So I hope my Republican colleagues will take this opportunity to stop being the party of Trump, to stop being the “party of no” and work with us to build on this progress we have already made.