Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Democrats Continuing To Prioritize The American People In The 119th Congress
Washington, D.C. – Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor reiterating the commitment of Senate Democrats to prioritize the American people and their willingness to work in a bipartisan effort to do so. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
As the 119th Congress begins, our nation faces an uncertain future.
Americans still see high prices every time they go to the store, when they go to the pharmacy, when they refill their tank, and pay their cable and internet bills. We’ve done a lot of work over the last few years to slow inflation down, but the new Majority must continue the work we’ve begun.
Donald Trump and Republicans made a slew of very bold promises on the campaign trail to fix our country’s big problems. In some of these promises, they say they will fight for working people, despite decades of doing the opposite and proposing things that would hurt them.
Democrats will hold Republicans’ feet to the fire to ensure they are accountable to the American people. Promises to help working people sound nice, but they mean nothing without real results. And too many of Republicans’ promises, like tax cuts for the very wealthy, will actually make things worse for working people.
In the coming weeks, there will be one early sign that shows whether or not Republicans intend to keep their promises to fight for working people, and that is who they support through the nominations process.
These nominees are going to be the faces of the new Administration. They will be responsible for applying its policies. They will, in effect, be the ones responsible for following through day-to-day on the promises made on the campaign trail.
So the American people want to know: will the President-elect’s nominees follow through on cutting costs for the American people, or will they return to cutting sweet deals for mega-corporations and the wealthiest people in this country?
Will the President-elect’s nominees actually make communities safer, or will they protect the bottom line of special interests?
Will they help their corporate contractors, cozy up to foreign entities and oligarchs, all while undermining our national security? Will they spend time settling scores for President-elect Trump, or will they actually help keep Americans safer?
Will the President-elect’s nominees keep their promises to serve America, or are they just going to serve the swamp?
We remember what happened during the first Trump Administration – the swamp wasn’t drained so much as doubled and tripled and more. Even during this last campaign, Donald Trump promised oil executives huge tax breaks if he won. That would be the opposite of the promises he made to the people.
These are the kinds of things we need to know from the President-elect’s nominees. We need to be fair but thorough, and give every nominee a chance to make their case while also subjecting them to some tough scrutiny. That is, after all, what any reasonable job application process demands, whether you're an average person applying for a job or somebody being nominated for a very important cabinet position.
So that’s what we Democrats intend to do. That’s what we will do.
It’s no different than what we intend to do on the legislative side.
I will repeat what I said last week: Democrats are ready to work with anyone, regardless of party, to make life better for working people.
Let me mention one example from last week. On January 1st, because of what the Democratic Senate and the President did, the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap that Democrats passed in the Inflation Reduction Act went into effect.
Thanks to that policy, millions of Americans with Medicare Part D will save thousands of dollars each year on prescription drugs. If Republicans want to strengthen policies like these, and help Americans save millions more on health care spending, Democrats are open to working together.
But our promise to Republicans also comes with a warning: Democrats will not hesitate to fight back if Republicans use their new majorities to hurt working families of America.
If Donald Trump and Republicans use their new majorities to push the same old GOP policies of tax cuts for billionaires, cuts to health care, cuts to Medicare and Social Security, trickledown economics, Democrats will fight back.
If Republicans use their new majority to push policies that make life even more expensive for families, we will stand opposed.
If Republicans go after Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid or people’s paychecks, they will have to go through us.
The choice is now in the hands of our Senate Republican colleagues. They are now in the majority. They now have the responsibility. We and the American people will be watching.
###