Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer Delivers Weekly Democratic Address
“We can protect our
constitution and do things average working families need at the same time,”
said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. “And Democrats are intent on
pushing for working families. From the very beginning, Senate Democrats have
been committed to doing the people’s business. And while the Democratic
majority in the House of Representatives has passed hundreds of bills dealing
with health care, infrastructure, gun violence and much, much more, the
Republican Leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has turned our chamber, the
Senate, into a legislative graveyard… So as Congress comes back into session
next week, Senate Democrats have a plan to jolt the Senate into action on
several important issues.”
Washington, D.C. – As Senators prepare to
return to Washington, DC next week, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
delivers this week’s Weekly Democratic Address. In the address, Leader
Schumer discusses the recent evidence that President Trump pressured a foreign
leader to investigate one of his political rivals and notes that this offense
warrants a full investigation by Congress. Leader Schumer highlights that as
all the facts are revealed in the House of Representative’s formal impeachment
inquiry, Senate Democrats will continue to focus on doing the people’s business
of conducting congressional oversight to preserve our democracy and fighting
for average working families. He emphasizes that from the beginning, Democrats
have been dedicated to lowering health care costs, raising wages, rebuilding
American infrastructure, combatting gun violence, securing our elections and
fighting climate change, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has allowed
dozens of bipartisan House-passed bills to languish in his legislative
graveyard. Leader Schumer closes by announcing that Senate Democrats will jolt
the Senate back into action next week by forcing the full Senate to vote on to
address the climate crisis, safeguard protections for Americans with
pre-existing conditions, and protect middle-class families from a burden
induced by the Trump tax cuts. Leader Schumer also says that Senate Democrats
will demand that Senator McConnell take up legislation in the Senate to protect
the hard-earned pensions that millions of workers are at risk of losing.
The Weekly Democratic Address is available in both AUDIO AND VIDEO FORMAT. You may
download the audio of the address HERE and the video
of the address HERE.
Senator Schumer’s remarks as
delivered follow:
“My fellow Americans…
“Over the past month, evidence has
emerged that the President of the United States pressured a foreign leader to
investigate one of his leading political rivals.
“It is an offense serious enough to
warrant a full investigation by Congress, and that is exactly what the House of
Representatives has decided to do by beginning a formal impeachment
inquiry.
“We have a responsibility now to see
that all the facts get out, and to consider those facts with the best interests
of our country, nothing else, in mind.
“When I studied our constitution in
high school and college, when we learned that one of the greatest threats our
Founding Fathers feared was foreign interference in our elections – I said at
the time, ‘Why did they care about this? This hasn’t happened in any real
sense.’
“But of course, once again, we have
learned how the wisdom of the Founding Fathers is relevant to this very
day.
“If a foreign country can actually
affect our elections, Americans will lose faith in our democracy – this grand
and wonderful democracy.
“So we must guard against that, but at
the same time we have to do two things at once. We can protect our constitution
and do things average working families need at the same time. And Democrats are
intent on pushing for working families
“From the very beginning, Senate
Democrats have been committed to doing the people’s business.
“The price of health care is too high,
incomes are too low.
“Our infrastructure is crumbling, gun
violence is an epidemic.
“Too many Americans have trouble
voting, and our elections remain vulnerable to foreign interference.
“Climate change is an existential
threat to the planet that demands bold and far-reaching action.
“Over the course of his presidency –
long before the House investigation – President Trump has failed to offer
serious proposals to address any of these issues.
“In many cases, his policies have made
things worse.
“And while the Democratic majority in
the House of Representatives has passed hundreds of bills dealing with health
care, infrastructure, gun violence and much, much more, the Republican Leader
of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, has turned our chamber, the Senate, into a
legislative graveyard.
“Not one of those bills has even
received a vote in the Senate: no vote to save protections for people with
pre-existing conditions, no vote on bipartisan background checks, no vote on
bipartisan election security legislation, no vote on the Violence Against Women
Act.
“So as Congress comes back into
session next week, Senate Democrats have a plan to jolt the Senate into action
on several important issues.
“Over the next few weeks, we will
force our Republican colleagues to vote on whether to protect Americans with
pre-existing conditions or not; to protect middle-class families from a tax
hike or not, to protect our climate or not.
“And we will also demand that our
Republican colleagues take up legislation to protect hard-earned pensions for
millions of workers, and they are in danger of losing it right now.
“As we continue to fulfill our solemn
constitutional duty to hold the president accountable, Senate Democrats will
never, never stop putting pressure on Leader McConnell to get the Senate back
to work for the American people.”
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