[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 191 (Thursday, December 8, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7044-S7045]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Democratic Caucus

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, earlier this morning, the Senate 
Democratic caucus held elections to determine party leadership for the 
118th Congress. With gratitude and humility, I am happy to say I have 
been unanimously elected, once again, as the Democratic leader.
  I want to thank every Member of my caucus for entrusting me with this 
awesome responsibility. My admiration and affection for every Member of 
my caucus is really limitless. They are my friends, my compadres, my 
companions. We work together. We are an amazing unit. With only 50 
votes ranging, of course, from Joe Manchin to Bernie Sanders, we have 
compiled one of the greatest legislative sessions in this century and 
even the last one in what we have done. And next year we will continue 
to try to do great things for our country in the next 2 years.
  I also wish to congratulate and thank my colleagues who form our 
caucus's leadership, especially Senator Schatz for becoming its newest 
member. I also want to thank Senator Murray for her incredible work as 
assistant Democratic leader in the 117th Congress and congratulate her 
on becoming President pro tem-designate, succeeding Senator Leahy, who 
will soon retire.
  I also wish to thank my staff. They are the greatest. They are just 
the greatest. They have advised me and guided me over the last 2 years 
and helped me prepare for the Congress to come.
  I would not want to go through a 50-50 Senate with anyone but them. 
They are remarkable, hard-working, brilliant, and just fine human 
beings, as well, who really care. It has been such a privilege, honor, 
and joy to work with them. We must now look to the future. Our focus in 
the Congress to come shall be no different from our focus in the 
Congress that concludes: getting things done for the American people.
  We want to keep this Chamber active, alive, and busy, as much as 
possible. I make a clarion call to my Republican colleagues: reject 
MAGA and work with us in the years to come. We have made huge strides 
this Congress, and I hope we can build on that because the problems of 
our country are many and run deep. When Americans saw us working on 
real issues this year, they responded positively and trusted this 
majority with 2 more years at the helm.
  Now, it is clear that many on the other side of the aisle, our 
Republican friends, are unhappy with the way their party has been doing 
business. Some of the Republicans want to pull the party even more in a 
MAGA direction. That is a recipe for disaster, for their party and the 
country. But there are many others who know driving down the MAGA road 
is like following Thelma and Louise off the cliff.

  We very much want to work with that group that understands that we 
have got to get things done in a bipartisan way and just railing and 
shrieking and decrying with no solutions and pure anger ain't the way 
to go, and it is not the way the American people want us to go.
  So I urge my non-MAGA Republican colleagues to reject extremism, 
reject MAGA, and embrace bipartisanship. Don't just block bills next 
Congress for the sake of gridlock. Let us come to the table and find 
ways to move forward together.
  Our differences run deep. Our disagreements are frequent. But that 
does not diminish the importance of working alongside one another when 
necessary to improve the lives of the American people.
  I have no doubt that if we give it a good-faith effort, we can be 
very successful--successful beyond what anyone would think right now.
  To the skeptics and the naysayers all I have to say, when you say we 
can't do this, I say look at the record of the last 2 years. In a 50-50 
Senate, both sides found ways to pass the most ambitious legislative 
agenda, as I mentioned before, in a very long time--one of the most 
ambitious in decades and decades.
  We got infrastructure done. We reformed the post office. We 
reauthorized VAWA. We ended forced arbitration for sexual harassment. 
We passed anti-lynching legislation and helped our shipping supply 
lanes. After the shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, we defied the NRA and 
passed the first major gun safety bill in over 30 years. Together we 
approved the CHIPS and Science Act, passed the PACT Act, ratified the 
accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO, and stood with our friends 
in Ukraine. And a few weeks ago, we came together to pass the Respect 
for Marriage Act, which the House is set to approve today.
  Of course, when we do not agree, Democrats will go at it alone, as we 
did for the Inflation Reduction Act. I know both parties fiercely 
disagree on the role of the government in tackling these problems, such 
as environment and prescription drug costs. But even

[[Page S7045]]

then I hope the other side would agree that lowering costs for seniors, 
lowering energy costs for families, and finding ways to preserve the 
planet are worthy causes that merit the attention of responsible 
legislators.
  So let me say it again: I urge my Republican colleagues who are tired 
of MAGA, who know it is a formula for disaster, who know that it is, 
while embraced fiercely by a small group of extremists, it is not where 
the majority of Americans or even where the majority of Republicans 
want to go.
  We have been reminded again and again that the extreme MAGA agenda is 
not only toxic but dangerous to our democracy. It condones and 
sometimes lies right in bed with those who urge violence to hurt 
America and destroy our democracy.
  But, thank God, the American people have rejected that. If there is 
any lesson to derive from the midterms, that is certainly one of them. 
The American people don't like MAGA. They don't like hard-right 
nastiness. They don't like threats to democracy.
  Look, I know the other side will not rid itself of MAGA overnight. 
And, unfortunately, some on the other side are hell-bent on doubling 
down on MAGA, but for the sake of the country and for the sake of the 
future of the Republican Party, we need to find ways to work together.
  To borrow from a quote attributed to Sam Rayburn, anyone can kick a 
barn down, but it takes a good carpenter to build one back up. He, 
supposedly, used slightly more colorful language. I won't repeat that 
here, but you get the point.
  I hope that good carpenters exist on both sides because there is 
still a lot of rebuilding to do across this country, and new building, 
new frontiers to launch bravely toward. As majority leader, I will do 
my best to find opportunities for both sides to work together.
  So let us move forward together with fearlessness, with clarity of 
purpose, and with a ceaseless hunger to reward the trust that Americans 
have placed in all of us.
  I thank my Democratic colleagues for the trust they have placed in 
me. I congratulate every single member of the leadership, and now let's 
roll up our sleeves and get back to work.