[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 38 (Wednesday, March 2, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S922-S923]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the State of the Union, last night, 
before a joint session of Congress, President Biden made the case to 
the Nation and to the world that in the face of immense challenges, the 
United States remains strong and ready to meet the tests of our time.
  In an hour-long speech delivered before a Chamber that was much 
fuller than last year, President Biden demonstrated, yet again, the 
kind of leader he has been all of his life: optimistic, unifying, 
decent, and honest. He is honest about where we are today and where we 
must go. I applaud President Biden for laying out a bold, strong, and 
comprehensive vision that will resonate with the vast majority of 
Americans.
  In particular, I was glad the President focused on three important 
things. First, he united the parties in supporting Ukraine and against 
Putin. Second, he showed how under Democratic leadership America has 
turned the corner on COVID. Third, he confronted the urgency of 
lowering costs for American families, something our caucus has been 
focusing on.
  First, I was glad that President Biden united the room, the country, 
and the world in opposing Vladimir Putin and his savage assaults on 
Ukraine. It is obvious that the President has done an incredibly good 
job in unifying the Europeans and the West as a united front against 
Putin. That was felt by people on both sides of the aisle.
  When the President called on the Chamber to stand up and applaud 
Oksana Markarova, the Ukrainian Ambassador, the feeling in the room 
reminded me of the unity we all felt after 9/11. But just like on 9/11, 
that unity comes with the sobering recognition that the scale of 
Putin's brutality in Ukraine is worsening. Ukraine's State Emergency 
Service reported this morning that more than 2,000 civilians--2,000 
men, women, and children--children--have now been killed as a result of 
Putin's savage brutality.
  What is happening in Ukraine is carnage, and the blood of every one 
of those innocent people falls on the hands of Vladimir Putin and on 
his band of crony oligarchs. This evil man must be stopped.
  As an important step, last night, the Senate unanimously passed 
bipartisan legislation that will protect America, our government, and 
our critical infrastructure from cyber attacks. Finally, the holds were 
lifted from the other side of the aisle, and we passed unanimously this 
cyber legislation. It is more important now than ever before because 
Putin is brandishing a cyber weapon.
  Cyber warfare is truly one of the dark arts perfected by Putin's 
authoritarian regime. It is a weapon he is happy to employ around the 
world. When our authorities in government know of these attacks, they 
can prepare against future attacks. They will know who is attacking, 
where they are attacking, how they are attacking, and that will allow 
them to strengthen our defenses against future cyber attacks.
  Many in the industry--at times, I believe even the Chamber of 
Commerce--were not for this legislation, but with the urgency of the 
moment--the need to protect ourselves from cyber attacks--finally, the 
Senate rose to the occasion. So I thank Senators Peters and Portman for 
getting this bill done.
  The passage of this bill was little noticed because it came right 
before Congress adjourned for the State of the Union, but it is a giant 
step forward to protecting ourselves, and I am glad that we got it done 
last night. But, of course, we must do more.
  The Senate must keep working on a bipartisan basis to pass a robust 
aid package in the upcoming omnibus so we can send an unmistakable 
message to Ukraine that we stand with them and a message to Putin that 
we stand against him. The quickest way we can assure that aid reaches 
Ukraine is through the omnibus, which needs to get done next week; so I 
am glad that we seem to be having bipartisan support to get that done.
  Second, I was also glad President Biden showed how the country under 
Democratic leadership is turning the corner in the fight against COVID-
19. By passing legislation last year to fund vaccines, expand testing, 
and support our healthcare workers, we are beating this disease.
  What the President said last night was absolutely correct in that we 
cannot--we cannot--have COVID control our lives anymore, but neither 
can we let our guard down. Right now, as cases are dropping across the 
board, Congress must pass more funding for vaccines, testing, and 
therapeutics.
  ``Therapeutics'' is a word for medication that helps alleviate the 
virulence of COVID. Very few people who take the therapeutics have to 
be hospitalized. We also have to ensure that our doctors and nurses and 
healthcare workers are prepared in case another variant comes this way 
so that we can stay as close to normal as possible even if another 
variant arrives. We have to have an ample supply of vaccines, of 
therapeutics, and of testing ahead of time. We cannot wait. Some of our 
Republican colleagues seem to be saying: Oh, we don't need this now.

  We do need it now while we still have the chance. If Congress waits 
until another variant arrives, it will be too late.
  Let me say that again. Even as cases drop across the board, we cannot 
be complacent against COVID. Congress must pass more COVID funding now 
so we can be ready by funding vaccines, testing, therapeutics, and 
supporting our healthcare workers. If Congress waits until another 
variant arrives, it will be too late. So we need our Republican 
colleagues to join us in a bipartisan way, just as they are joining us 
on Ukraine.
  Finally, I am glad that President Biden zeroed in on cutting costs 
for American families. A year into the President's first year, the 
economy is surging and creating an unprecedented number of jobs. But 
people are struggling because costs are also going up. Your wages are 
going up, but if the costs keep going up, it eats up those wage 
increases.
  Now, why are costs up? Costs are up because of supply chain 
disruptions stemming from COVID and pent-up demand, as people during 
COVID didn't buy a lot of things. All the while, Americans are watching 
incredulously as some of our largest corporations are raising prices 
despite growing profits. In some cases, executives are seeing lavish 
pay increases, and in the end, Americans are footing the bill.
  Senate Democrats will not stand for this, and we are working with the 
President to lower costs and build upon the wage growth we have seen 
over the past year. We are laser-focused on reducing America's costs, 
from lowering the costs of insulin so no one pays more than $35 a 
month, to lowering the cost of all prescription drugs, to lowering the 
cost of meat at the grocery store, to fixing our ocean shipping lines 
so the bottlenecks don't raise their costs. Shipping costs have gone 
way up, as the President mentioned.
  Do you know what else we can do to lower costs? We can innovate. 
Congress should continue working to finalize our bipartisan, bicameral 
jobs and supply chains bill so we can boost American manufacturing, 
solve our chip crisis, and make our country less dependent on foreign 
tech companies.
  In short, despite everything the world faces, President Biden 
reminded supporters and critics alike why the American people entrusted 
him with

[[Page S923]]

the Presidency. He didn't shy away from our challenges but, rather, 
advanced an optimistic and unifying plan for how to meet the moment.
  Senate Democrats will continue working with the President to 
precisely move our country forward on lowering costs, on addressing 
COVID, and on defending our democracy in this hour of peril.
  I thank the President for his leadership. Let us continue in our 
work.
  I yield the floor.

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