Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The 118th Congress
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor about the 118th Congress, addressing the major bipartisan accomplishments the Senate has made throughout the term. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:
The work of the 118th Congress comes to an end. The Majority in this chamber will soon change hands.
I would like to take a moment to thank my colleagues for their outstanding work over the past four years. This was the most productive, ambitious, and historic four years the Senate has seen in decades. I am proud that many of our biggest accomplishments were bipartisan, something I hope the incoming majority embraces as a model.
And the accomplishments speak for themselves – they’re enormous. I was so proud to lead the Senate when we did so much for so many people. And, as I said, so much of it bipartisan. It started at the beginning in 2020, when COVID was at its worst, we passed the American Rescue Plan, sending checks to every mailbox and shots in every arm. It helped reduce the problems with COVID so quickly, more quickly than people ever felt.
We passed a once-in-a-generation bipartisan infrastructure law. You see it in all parts of America right now. Infrastructure is being rebuilt, people are being employed, our country is getting more efficient, which it always does when you have better infrastructure. And it rebuilt America’s roads and bridges and highways, and provided our kids with safe drinking water. Rural communities, urban communities, got access to broadband which they had never had before, so essential in the 21st century.
We brought manufacturing jobs back to our shores and revitalized American innovation through the CHIPS and Science Act.
We took on the NRA and won, by passing the first gun safety law in thirty years.
We passed the greatest expansion of veterans care in a generation, to ensure that no veteran is denied treatment related to toxic exposure and burn pits.
And in almost every one of these issues, it was the Senate that led the way. It was bipartisan – senators got together with one another and passed legislation that then the House followed and the President signed. But make no mistake about it, we were the cauldron, we were the place where it all got put together and melded together. And I'm proud of the job that I did as Majority Leader, but I'm so proud of our senators on both sides of the aisle who got so much done.
And there were other things we did as well.
We stood with our friends in Ukraine as they defend their country against the brutality of Vladimir Putin.
We took a stand to protect marriage equality.
Through the Inflation Reduction Act, we made insulin $35 a month for millions of seniors.
We empowered Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for the first time.
The IRA was also the most ambitious clean energy bill in American history. The effects are happening all over the country. Our kids are going to breathe cleaner air, our communities will see less pollution, and future generations are going to see millions of new good paying jobs, as we compete for wind and solar and nuclear, and all the other parts of the bill.
The list goes on and on. And our legacy in these past four years, when we were in the majority, is just large. It's grand. I'm proud of it.
We also – let's not forget – we confirmed 235 highly qualified and historic judges to the bench—more than a quarter of all active judges.
We are so proud of this ambitious record.
Years from now, when Americans drive on better roads, buy cleaner cars, make faster chips, have better-paying jobs, save on prescription drugs…it will be thanks to the work of this Majority.
In conclusion, I want to thank all the staff here in the Senate who work behind the scenes to make this chamber come to life.
The incredible floor staff sitting here who do incredible work every day. Thank you to the miracle-workers of the cloakroom. They always find everybody, wherever they are. You say someone is missing, and there they are.
Thank you to the Senate doorkeepers, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Senate Sargent at Arms. To the Pages, and support staff, and to all of those who make this place function.
And a special thanks to my staff. What an amazing, hard-working, dedicated, smart, compassionate, caring group of people they are. I know this for sure: without my staff, none of this would have been accomplished. They keep me going. Sometimes when I veer off course, they get me back on course. Sometimes when I'm doing too much, they sort of limit me. But all too often they find the better way to get to yes. So they're great. I love them. And I'm grateful to them as well.
So there will be much to do in the year to come. The work will continue, the challenges will be great, and we will no longer be in the majority, we'll be in the minority.
But our north star will not change: working every single day to serve the American people, and reward the trust they have placed in us.
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