Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Senate’s Bipartisan Commitment To Making Progress On Artificial Intelligence Legislation

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the immediate need to work together in a bipartisan way to pass artificial intelligence legislation. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

As we begin the New Year, one of the Senate’s top priorities will continue to be legislating on artificial intelligence.

2023 was a year to remember in the world of AI, with the popularization of technologies like generative AI. It is impossible to predict what 2024 will bring, so we must act and act quickly to ensure the US keeps leading the way.

Thankfully, thanks to our Bipartisan AI Insight Forums – and the leadership of our committees – the Senate has come very far in understanding how AI works, and what we should do. We’ve listened to experts in tech, labor, business, academia, civil rights, and more. We have discussed everything from AI’s impacts on democracy, on our workforce, on national security, and thorny but technical issues like transparency, explainability, bias, and more.

AI for sure will be one of the most difficult issues that the Senate has ever faced, but if there has been any consensus so far in these forums, it’s that Congress must intervene to promote safe AI innovation.

So, AI is going to be a big focus for many senators this year. My colleagues in the bipartisan AI gang – Senators Rounds and Young and Heinrich – agree that the Senate will work in tandem with the regular order committee process, using the findings and insights that our AI Insight Forums have uncovered. Our committees have already done great work and I thank all the chairs and ranking members for their continued leadership.

And I want to emphasize, underline, underscore that our work on AI remains wholly bipartisan. Both sides recognize the need to get something done on AI.

So, I thank my colleagues on both sides for their work on AI, and I look forward to making more progress on this very difficult issue in the months to come.

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