Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Senate Democrats’ Continued Focus on Lowering Costs for American Families

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on Senate Democrats’ continued efforts to lower costs for American families. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Off the floor, Senate Democrats will continue this week focusing on helping American families lower their cost of living and reap the full benefits of the historic job and wage growth under President Biden.

Later this week, my colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee will hold an especially important hearing on the rising costs of prescription drugs, and hear expert testimony on what we can do to make medications more affordable.

Lowering prescription drug prices should be absolutely one of the most bipartisan priorities in Congress. Few things ignite the same frustration as making trips to the pharmacy and seeing the price on your receipt go up and up and up for basic, often lifesaving, medications.

Insulin is a particularly egregious example: according to some sources a 40-day supply can now climb north of $600 a month. For millions of Americans who rely on insulin to manage their diabetes, this is a five-alarm fire that demands Senate action. I expect we’ll consider next steps soon on some proposals already presented by my colleagues.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats will continue examining the disturbing trend of corporations reporting massive profits even as Americans face higher costs.

A headline from Yahoo Finance last month sums it up: “Corporate America's 2021 profits were higher than ever.”

Let me repeat that: Corporate America's 2021 profits were higher than ever.

It is deeply unfair and morally bankrupt for Americans to pay more for basics while many mega-corporations are making a killing. Last week I asked the head of the FTC to look into this trend in the area of energy prices, and corporations taking advantage of the American people should be on notice.

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