Democratic Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Start Of The 119th Congress And Senate Democrats’ Priorities
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor following the start of the 119th Congress, welcoming new members, recognizing leadership transitions, and reaffirming Democrats’ commitment to fighting for working families and advancing policies that improve everyday life for Americans. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
Welcome to all my colleagues to the 119th Congress. I hope everyone had a blessed and happy start to the New Year, full of family and loved ones. I was lucky enough to have just that.
Today, the Senate begins a new chapter in its distinguished history.
We begin our work at a moment of crossroads for our country. We convene at time of uncertainty for American democracy, for America’s economy, and for the future of American leadership on the world stage.
The challenges we face as a nation are great, and so must be our resolve.
Let me first begin by acknowledging my friend and colleague, the former Republican Leader, Senator McConnell. For as long as I’ve served as Democratic Leader, he has sat opposite me across the aisle. As he transitions away from leadership – which is nice, seeing him in that seat over there, where he didn’t have to get up all the time – I’d like to thank him for those important occasions when we worked together, despite our many fierce disagreements.
Let me also congratulate another colleague, the new Republican Leader, John Thune. Leader Thune and I have served in this chamber for a long time, and I know he is a good and decent American, someone who loves this country, as we all do.
I know he just became Leader moments ago, so I hope he doesn’t mind if I offer some unsolicited advice. The Majority Leader sets the tone. And that tone determines to a large extent how successful we will be moving forward. If we look back at all the bills we passed in 2021 and 2022, most of them originated in the Senate, because both parties found ways to reach across the aisle.
I want to work with the new Republican Leader to keep that bipartisan streak going in the New Year. I don’t expect we’ll agree on everything or even many things, but there are still opportunities to improve the lives of the American people, if we’re willing to work together.
So today, I congratulate Leader Thune and look forward to serving alongside him in the 119th Congress.
Let me also congratulate all our returning colleagues and new colleagues who have just taken their oaths of office. It is a great honor to serve in this chamber with you.
The work we do in this chamber has the potential to create enormous prosperity for millions of American people if we do our jobs right.
So I challenge our new members – as my new colleagues – to make the most of the next six years. It’ll go by faster than you’d think.
On the Democratic side, it brings me great joy and excitement to welcome our six new colleagues to the Democratic Caucus. I have spent the last year or so getting to know every single one of them as candidates, and seeing them finally raise their hands, take the oath, and walk amongst us as colleagues fills all of us with pride.
Now, every time Democrats welcome new members to our caucus, it is an exciting day. But I am particularly excited to get work with this uniquely talented new class. I expect we will accomplish many good things for the American people, and prevent bad things from being done to them.
This year’s class is distinct in two ways: they are not only unusually experienced, but many of them are also making history by taking the oath of office.
First, I’d like to welcome Senator Ruben Gallego from the great state of Arizona.
Senator Gallego arrives to the Senate as a veteran legislator, both literally and figuratively. He served our country as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, and served the people of Arizona as a longtime member of the House. Now that he has taken the oath of office, the people of Arizona have a Hispanic senator representing them for the first time ever.
From the state of Delaware, I’d like to welcome Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester.
Many of us know Senator Blunt Rochester well, because, like many of our new colleagues, she was a longtime member of the House. Five of our new six colleagues were House members so they have a lot of great experience. She climbed up the ranks of leadership to become Assistant Whip while serving on the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce. Like the other history-making members of this class, Senator Blunt Rochester is the first woman and first person of color ever to represent Delaware in the Senate.
Let me welcome our new colleague from Maryland, Senator Angela Alsobrooks.
Born and raised in Prince George’s County, she was the youngest person and first woman ever elected as the top law enforcement officer of the county she grew up in. So, she has immense experience fighting crime, standing up for victims of abuse and violence, and helping working class Americans as County Executive. And she now becomes the first African American senator ever from the state of Maryland.
From the state of Michigan, we are excited to welcome Senator Elissa Slotkin – another deeply experienced public servant.
She’s another longtime veteran of the House and one of America’s top national security experts. At a time when Americans demand bipartisanship, Senator Slotkin knows how to do it: she served in the CIA under President Bush and in the Department of Defense under President Obama.
And finally, I’d like to acknowledge two more colleagues who have already taken their oaths but deserve special recognition on this special day: Senator Adam Schiff from California and Senator Andy Kim form New Jersey.
A longtime member of the House, Senator Schiff is a well-known leader to many of us, admired for his thoughtfulness, his eloquence, and fierce love of democracy.
And last, but certainly not least, I’d like to congratulate our newest colleague from New Jersey, Senator Andy Kim.
He boasts an impressive record as a longtime leader in the House, a top national security expert and diplomat, and is the first Korean American from any state to serve in the Senate.
So to our new colleagues, we say welcome. We’re excited to work with you. We’re ready to help you.
And as you find your bearings, we urge you never to lose sight of the great responsibility you carry as a member of this body.
The election season is behind us. It’s time to look to the future.
Now begins the hard work, the important work, the solemn work of rewarding the trust that the people have placed in us.
Very soon, a new Administration will be sworn into office alongside the new majorities in Congress. But for the first time in a long time, the next president will be someone we’ve seen before – President-Elect Trump will return to the Oval Office.
In this first day of the 119th Congress, I’d like to take a moment to talk about how Senate Democrats will approach the next two years.
It can be summarized like this: Democrats stand united, not because of who we fight against, but because of who we are fighting for – the American people.
We are here to fight for the American people. We are here to fight for the working class of this country. We are here to build ladders of opportunity to the middle class.
Democrats aren’t a monolith – we come from many different states, have many different opinions.
We grew up in places as varied as Brooklyn, New York, and Atlanta, Georgia, and the West Coast and the East Coast and the industrial Midwest and everywhere in between.
And we sometimes disagree, just as any tight-knit family disagrees.
But Democrats are united – fiercely united – when it comes to fighting for working Americans, for working families.
In the months and years to come, Democrats will show where our values lie through our actions and words and through the policies we push in this chamber.
Democrats are here to tackle the biggest problems that face our country.
Democrats are here because we need to make housing more affordable for the millions struggling to keep a roof over their heads.
We need to make sure Americans earn higher paychecks, keep more of their paychecks too.
Democrats are here because we want to lower the cost of childcare, an outrageously high expense for too many American families who struggle to give the best lives to themselves and their children.
Democrats are here to defend a woman’s right to choose. To defend our fundamental liberties, and to defend the wellspring of our democracy.
We want to help our small business owners thrive and function as the engines our America’s economy.
We want to help Americans save more money when they go to the grocery store, when they go to the pharmacy, when they pay their cable and internet bill. We want to make sure Americans aren’t ripped off by giant corporations through hidden fees and predatory behavior.
Democrats stand ready to make lives better for the American people. We want to work with anyone, and hold the line whenever necessary, to achieve that goal.
The time to get to work is now. It’s a new day, a new Congress, and Democrats stand united and ready to fight and deliver for the American people.
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