[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S245-S246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Tonight, President Biden will come before a joint 
session of Congress and deliver his State of the Union to the American 
people. It is a chance for all of us to hear directly from the 
Commander in Chief about the tremendous progress we have made as a 
nation, the challenges we have overcome in recent years, and how 
Democrats are keeping our promises to make the lives of the American 
people better.
  I expect the President will make the case clearly and convincingly 
that today the United States is far better off than it was a year ago. 
Inflation is coming down; wages are going up; gas prices have eased at 
last; unemployment is near record lows; and the pandemic, after causing 
so much suffering, so much destruction, no longer dominates our lives. 
Our work is not finished, but today we can confidently say America is 
headed in the right direction thanks to President Biden's leadership 
and thanks to the work of a strong, unified Democratic Party in 
Congress.
  As Americans listen to President Biden, I am confident they will see 
the glaring contrast between Democratic unity on the one hand and 
Republican chaos on the other. Democrats remain laser-focused on 
delivering our people-first agenda. Every bill Democrats passed last 
Congress was written with average Americans in mind, from the American 
Rescue Plan to the infrastructure bill, to the Inflation Reduction Act, 
to gun safety, marriage equality, and so, so much more.
  Let's just take one example out of many. It is an important example 
but just one. Senate Democrats worked very hard to deliver a $35 
insulin cap for every American on Medicare, but, of course, we want to 
go further. We tried to get it for everybody before reconciliation, but 
the reconciliation bill only allowed us to pass, in the IRA, an insulin 
cap for some Americans. When

[[Page S246]]

an amendment was offered to add everybody in, unfortunately we did not 
get enough Republicans to vote for it. But this idea deserves new life 
and bipartisan cooperation in this Congress, and I look forward to 
hearing more from the President tonight.
  Very soon, Americans are going to feel the benefits of our agenda in 
their daily lives. Implementation is going to be a top priority for 
Senate Democrats in the months to come. Not everyone has the time to 
follow what happens in Congress day by day, but when we actually start 
doing things, implementing the bills, oh, it gets out.
  Just look at my home State of New York. After we passed 
infrastructure, many people didn't hear about it. To others, it was a 
line in the newspaper--oh, they have a bipartisan infrastructure bill. 
But last week, when the President came to New York to celebrate 
Gateway, you could feel the exaltation and excitement in the city. That 
is going to start happening again and again everywhere, in every State, 
in every community, as these large bills that helped American families 
are implemented and people see the actual results in their communities.
  So let me say it again. Democrats are proud we stuck together and 
delivered on an agenda that lowered costs, lifted America out of 
crisis, and helped lay a foundation for future prosperity. Our MAGA 
Republicans cannot claim the same. On the very first day in the new 
majority, House Republicans passed a bill not to help average Americans 
but, rather, that helps the ultrarich so they can avoid paying their 
fair share in taxes. The bottom line is, these people who are going to 
be added to the IRS are going to focus on all of those who are much 
richer than the average American but pay at a much lower rate. But the 
Republicans couldn't go for that. Those are the people they want to 
represent. Then they hardly stopped there. In just 1 month, the MAGA 
House majority has doubled down on their war on women, tripled down on 
their asinine national sales tax proposal, and Republicans continue to 
hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to their 
radical agenda.

  In the coming months, nothing will require more cooperation and 
serious-mindedness than lifting the debt ceiling. I was glad to work 
with both Presidents Biden and Trump to lift the debt ceiling over the 
past couple of years. We did it without political blackmail, without 
brinkmanship. But Speaker McCarthy and many of his House MAGA 
Republicans are taking the debt ceiling hostage and basically saying: 
Our way or the highway. Agree to cuts or we won't lift the debt 
ceiling.
  That is not going to work, plain and simple. History shows that those 
who try to threaten their way to an agreement end up losing.
  If Speaker McCarthy is insistent on spending cuts, which we Democrats 
will strongly oppose, he has an obligation to take the next step and 
actually say what those cuts are for. We will oppose tying the debt 
ceiling to these types of cuts. The debt ceiling is debts we have 
already incurred and should be paid without brinkmanship, without 
adding things to the agenda, which risks a great deal for the American 
people.
  So what are the Republicans asking for? They say they want cuts. What 
are they? Are Republicans going to ax Social Security or Medicare? We 
think it is not enough for the Speaker to just say he doesn't want to 
make those cuts, because Members of his own party, including some of 
the very MAGA Republicans he followed in the first week of his session, 
are saying otherwise, and they have shown--some of them--that they can 
get their way in the new majority. Speaker McCarthy needs to prove he 
won't cut Social Security and Medicare by showing us the plan, his 
plan.
  What about funding for national defense? Our military just shot down 
the Chinese spy balloon. Are Republicans seriously thinking about 
cutting defense on some bogus claims of fighting a ``woke agenda''? 
What the heck does that mean?
  Republicans, show us the specific cuts. Show us the plan.
  What about families and children who rely on nutrition aid? The 
chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee recently said they are 
still looking at cuts to SNAP benefits at a time when children are 
hungry and groceries are far too expensive. This is from the party that 
cut taxes for billionaires and mega corporations back in 2017. If 
making sure hungry children have enough to eat is part of the ``woke 
agenda,'' then we sure don't have the same definition.
  Look, I know it is not easy for this new majority. The 20 or so 
extremists who dictated the House rules package can now thwart whatever 
proposal the Speaker wants to come up with if they feel the cuts don't 
go far enough. So I am gravely concerned that things will be very, very 
hard for the Speaker to manage, if he can come up with a plan at all.
  All this brings us back to what Democrats have been insisting on from 
the very beginning: No brinkmanship. No hostage-taking. Let's lift the 
debt ceiling together. Let's pay the debts that Democrats and 
Republicans, including Donald Trump, already incurred without 
ultimatums.
  Tonight, I expect the President will make this very clear to the 
American people, and it will be the responsibility of House Republicans 
to show that they take the debt ceiling seriously before they create an 
unprecedented crisis that will wreak havoc on every single American.

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