Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On The Need To Pass The Rest Of President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda To Lower Costs, Grow The Economy And Fight Inflation

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the urgent need to pass President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda to lower costs, grow the economy and fight inflation. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

I want to return to a comment made recently by the other side that crystalizes the difference between how the two parties see today’s challenges.

“A Gold Mine.” Those three words were used by my colleague, the Junior Senator from Florida, when talking about Americans struggling with rising costs. “A gold mine” for them.

If you want to know why Americans can get frustrated with Washington, look no further than the comments like the one from the gentleman from Florida. The Republicans—who voted for a giant tax break for millionaires and billionaires—don’t have any solutions for working families. But they see political gold in exploiting their struggles.

Families are still struggling to pull themselves out of a once-in-a-century economic crisis brought about by COVID.

They want to pay less for things like groceries, health care, prescription drugs, and child care.

They want us to find ways to make that happen. And that’s just what Democrats are doing with Build Back Better.

But unfortunately, Republicans appear more interested in politics than progress.

It’s simple: if we want to fight inflation, if we want to create more jobs, so many businesses are short of workers and if we want to lower costs and make sure families have more money in their pockets—the best thing, the best thing we can do is to pass Build Back Better. Seventeen Nobel-prize winning economists—and more from both sides of the political spectrum—have said that this bill will help relieve inflationary pressures over the long term.

And this morning, an exclusive by Reuters confirmed that, for all of Republicans’ howling at the moon about inflation, Build Back Better will not, will not increase inflation.

And here is what the leading economist at Moody’s said: “The bills do not add to inflation pressures, as the policies help to lift long-term economic growth via stronger productivity and labor force growth, and thus take the edge off of inflation.”

Stronger growth, less inflation. I’ll say it again: if you want to fight inflation—if you want to lower costs and grow the economy—support Build Back Better. If you want to fight inflation, support Build Back Better.

Build Back Better is going to help families save money by making child care more affordable.

It’s going to give parents a tax break so they can pay for diapers and groceries and gas.

It’s going to lower the costs of prescription drugs like insulin, and cancer treatments.

And it’s going to put more Americans to work, help our economy grow in the long term.

The American people want these things! Why won’t a single Republican come out and vote for them? Why do Republicans seem so intent on opposing lowering the price of insulin? Or giving parents a middle class tax break?

Given the choice between helping families afford child care and leaving them to fend for themselves, Republicans are telling families: you’re on your own.

Listen to the list of things I just mentioned: middle class tax breaks, lowering prescription drug costs, child care. These aren’t handouts! These aren’t luxury items! To so many families they’re daily essentials! And they’re just the beginning of what the BBB would offer.

While Democrats are fighting to pass legislation to lower costs, Republicans—who spent years under Donald Trump trying to repeal health care and give tax breaks to the ultra-rich—are opposing tax cuts to the middle class while rooting for prices to go up and up. A gold mine.

Americans won’t forget who in Washington is fighting for them, and who is spending their time trying to exploit their hardships.

###