Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Historic Economic Recovery Under President Biden And The Need To Build On That Success By Passing Legislation To Strengthen Our Supply Chains And Lower Costs

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the historic recovery of the U.S. economy under President Biden and Senate Democrats. He also discussed the work the Senate is taking to strengthen domestic supply chains and lower costs. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

As our country continues to recover from the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, last week we received a remarkable bit of news: the U.S. economy grew 5.7% in 2021.

Let me say it again: last year, the U.S. economy grew by 5.7% – the largest single-year growth rate in about forty years.

Last year’s economic growth did not happen on its own: faced with a historic crisis, Democrats took unprecedented steps in 2021 to give American families and businesses the support they needed to make ends meet and stay healthy. And though we have more work to do to lower costs and expand opportunity, we are undeniably better off today than we were one year ago, when we first took office as a Majority Senate.

It is frightening to merely remember how bad things were at the start of 2021: we were entering the very worst of the pandemic, the economy had its worst year since World War II, and eleven million people were out of work. More than three thousand Americans were dying each day from COVID-19.

But Democrats responded by passing the American Rescue Plan two months into the President’s term. We later passed a historic infrastructure package that’s putting people to work fixing our roads and our bridges and our highways.

And thanks to the heroism of health workers, the leadership of the Biden Administration, and action taken by Congressional Democrats, over 200 million Americans have now been vaccinated.

Because of these steps that Democrats took last year, unemployment has plummeted faster than many forecasts predicted a year ago, to below 4%. The economy added the largest number of manufacturing jobs in three decades. And as wages keep climbing, layoffs are near record lows.

Make no mistake: this economy is in the midst of a historic turnaround thanks in large part to swift action by Democrats in the Congress and in the White House.

But of course the work is far from over.

We must keep working to lower costs for American families. We need to help businesses struggling with strained supply chains, particularly the chip shortage affecting everything from auto manufacturing to household appliances. And workers need protections to ensure they share in our continued economic recovery.

That’s why Congress must keep working on legislation like the US Innovation and Competition Act, which the Senate passed last year with strong bipartisan support.

This week, the House will hold a vote to pass their counterpart to this bill, the America COMPETES Act. I am glad the House is taking this important step in the right direction, and when the America COMPETES Act passes, the House and Senate can begin the bicameral process of resolving the differences in each bill and send a final product to the President’s desk.

With historic investments in science, technology, and American manufacturing, the policies of USICA represent the boldest steps in decades to secure America’s economic future. By bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. from overseas, it would strengthen domestic supply chains help address our country’s dangerous semiconductor shortage that has driven up prices in everything from cars to microwaves. All this would not only relieve rising costs – by making us less reliant on foreign manufacturing – it would also advance our national security.

For months, months, I’ve spoken with both my Republican and Democratic colleagues about finding a way to get this bill to the President’s desk.

Now, I am glad that the House will take action later this week on their version of this legislation, and I look forward to working through this bill so that President Biden can finally sign this landmark manufacturing and innovation bill into law.

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