Republicans shut down live call from cancer survivor: ‘They want to cut you off'

Republicans forced Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) to end a phone call with a cancer survivor whom he was speaking to during his opening remarks.

At a Tuesday House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on changes to Medicaid, Veasey held up his phone to the microphone to allow a woman named Carla to speak.

"She's someone whose life was saved by Medicaid, but I'd rather have Carla share her story," the lawmaker explained.

"My name is Carla, and I am a seven-year lung cancer survivor," the woman could be heard saying before Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), the committee's chair, demanded Veasey end the call.

"You can't play a recording," Guthrie said.

"It's not a recording. It's a live call, Mr. Chairman," Veasey pointed out.

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"We don't allow other people to testify in your opening statement," Guthrie insisted.

"They want to cut you off," Veasey told the woman. "And I don't understand why they want to cut you off. I don't understand why they're afraid to hear from you. And I'm not sure why now all of a sudden they want to ignore voices like Carla."

"I have a lot more stories to tell. There's a lot more that came from, but I'm out of time," he added. "This is sad that we are doing this to the most vulnerable people in our country."

Watch the video below from House Energy and Commerce.