Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The State Of The Union Address And How Investments Made By Senate Democrats Are Paying Off For The American People

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on tomorrow’s State of the Union address, and highlighted the positive impacts of legislation passed by Senate Democrats. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

When President Biden comes before the Congress to deliver his State of the Union this week, Americans will hear a clear theme: America’s economy is accelerating, inflation is decelerating, and the investments Democrats made in the past few years. I was proud to be Majority Leader during probably the most successful, productive Congress in 30 years – and these investments are really paying off.

Today, for example, many Americans are paying less for insulin than they did a few years ago, thanks to reforms we’ve made in the IRA.

Seniors on Medicare have a cap on prescription drug spending. No longer does a serious illness mean seniors on Medicare spend $10,000 or more in prescription drug expenses.

Consumer sentiment is way up compared to two years ago.

And despite so many naysayers who were sure there’d be a recession, inflation has slowed to more normal levels without causing a recession.

In fact, manufacturing construction is at an all-time high – nearly triple its highest point during the last administration, the Trump Administration.

And these are just the accomplishments of the past year. The IRA, the Inflation Reduction Act, is projected to create another 1.5 million jobs over the next decade.

But today, I want to point out another part of our agenda delivering beyond anyone’s wildest expectations: the surge in America’s clean energy and the jobs it creates. The New York Times put it best in a recent article when they noted that "Clean energy manufacturing is booming."

Thanks to investments Democrats made in the Inflation Reduction Act, in the CHIPS and Science Act, and other bills, clean investments just last year reached over $230 billion.

For context, that’s triple the investment levels of 2019, just five years ago. Many companies who invested towards clean energy have said legislation like IRA and CHIPS and Science made their decisions easier.

And while $230 billion can seem hard to visualize, the practical impacts of these investments are plain as day.

Americans see these investments at work through new EV battery plants, new construction sites, new good-paying jobs that will stick around for years. Our economy has added nearly 30,000 jobs in power generation and supply, a stark turnaround from years of decline during the previous administration.

New Yorkers see these investments through the surge of onshore wind and solar energy production and through all the factory openings we’ve seen across the state, particularly in Upstate New York, an area in the past that has lost jobs – manufacturing jobs – is now growing again. It’s great news, makes us all very happy.

Consumers will see these investments at work through cheaper EVs.

And in time, Americans everywhere will see these investments pay off through less pollution, cleaner air, fewer kids getting sick from asthma and other illnesses. That’s something we are very proud of.

Sometimes it can take a while for the effects of an ambitious agenda to take root. We saw this happen with the ACA.

But today, the evidence is pouring in: the work that President Biden and Democrats put in over the past few years, the investments are paying off in a big way for our country. And Americans are beginning to take notice.

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