Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Historic Accomplishments Of This Senate Democratic Majority
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on this Senate Democratic Majority’s historic record of accomplishments for the American people. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:
As Americans are set to go to the polls in a little over a month, it is time to summarize the things that this Democratic majority has done in the past two years, and make clear the options that face the American people in this election.
When Democrats assumed the majority in 2021, I promised the Senate would address the challenges our country faces, head on, without delay. Not with timid solutions but with boldness, with courage.
Twenty months later, because of Democratic leadership, we have lifted our country out of a crisis. We have a lot of work left to do, but let’s take a look at some of the major accomplishments that passed through the Senate under this majority:
In the wake of the tragedies in Uvalde, Buffalo, and so many other shootings, we promised the time had come to break the grip of the NRA, so we passed the first gun safety bill America has seen in 30 years.
In the wake of high costs, dwindling tech jobs, and an emboldened Chinese communist party, we passed the CHIPS and Science Act to boost high-end American manufacturing here in America, to turbocharge America’s semiconductor industry, and secure the largest down payment in scientific research in decades.
After years of veterans waiting around for help to treat their cancers, lung diseases, and other ailments caused by toxic exposure, often from burn pits, we passed the PACT Act and secured the largest expansion of veteran health benefits in ages.
And finally, in the face of high energy costs and soaring health care costs, as well as the ravages of climate change, Democrats passed the groundbreaking Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower people’s energy bills, make prescription drugs more affordable, cap insulin costs for seniors on Medicare, and create millions of clean jobs for years to come, through the largest green investments in American history. The largest green investments in American history. It will reduce the amount of carbon that goes into the atmosphere by 40% by 2030, a huge accomplishment that will make the lives of every American, now and in the future, better.
Passing the Inflation Reduction Act along with ratifying the Kigali Amendment last week is the strongest one-two punch against climate change any congress has ever taken. I’m very proud of my caucus for sticking together. With 50 votes, it ain’t easy.
And this is only what we’ve gotten done since June.
To save our country from the worst of COVID, we passed the American Rescue Plan to put shots in people’s arms and checks in people’s pockets.
We passed the first Infrastructure law in years, to fix our roads, our bridges, our highways, to expand broadband to poor and rural communities, and protect our kids from the dangers of lead piping.
We reformed our postal service after decades of neglect. We re-instated VAWA, the Violence Against Women Act, to protect women from abuse after years of inaction. We took a stand on Asian hate crimes, and declared lynching a federal hate crime after a century of delay. We also unanimously ended forced arbitration for sexual harassment in the workplace. And we confirmed the first Black woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States when we confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Now, these are just some of the accomplishments of the Democratic majority. None have been easy in the longest 50-50 Senate ever, but I am confident that America will be a better nation because of all the things we’ve done in the last two years.
And the fight will keep going.
With every fiber of our being, Democrats will never back away from protecting a woman’s fundamental right to choose. MAGA Republicans, meanwhile, pushing national abortion bans, prosecution of women and doctors, and bans with no exception for rape or incest show the contrast between the parties; one moving forward, one looking backward and following the MAGA dictates to the far, far right.
Democrats will also lower costs and build ladders to help people get into the middle class, and give people the means to prosper in the middle class once they get there.
Republicans, meanwhile, have made already clear whose corner they’re in: the rich; the executive class; the mega corporations. Without missing a beat, Republicans gladly cut taxes for billionaires and for big business, while openly calling for Social Security and Medicare to go on the chopping block year after year.
And for good measure, while Democrats want to keep taxes low for working- and middle-class Americans, some on the other side have openly called for raising taxes on working families.
So the contrast here is not hard to grasp. The choices between the parties run deep; the consequences to our country enormous.
We have many challenges left to overcome as a nation, but the choice is now between a party that will build on all the progress we’ve made or one that will undo everything we’ve worked to accomplish. Between a party that will protect our freedoms and a party that will conspire to take them away. Between a party that believes America is at its best when we invest in all people, or to a party that will only look after the ultra-rich. Remember, their major accomplishment when they had the majority was tax cuts for the very wealthy.
I am confident that Americans will know which party is fighting in their corner. I want to thank all my colleagues for their excellent work over the past two years, and I look forward to building on all that work we have accomplished to set America on a path to prosperity in the 21st century.
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