[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 80 (Thursday, May 11, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Accomplishments of the Senate

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, before I do the wrap-up and lay down some 
stuff we are doing next week, I would like to talk about the week we 
just had.
  As Democrats here in the Senate work to continue to avoid default, 
the No. 1 issue affecting our country has also been a very productive 
week in the Senate. So much has happened around the country over the 
past few days that it may have overshadowed just how busy things have 
been in the Senate this week and the kind of productive week that we 
have had on many important issues that affect the American people. I am 
very proud of what we were able to accomplish.
  On the floor, with the return of Senator Feinstein, the Senate today 
advanced Bradley Garcia to serve as circuit court judge for the DC 
Circuit--one of the most important Federal courts in the country--and 
Members should be ready to vote on confirmation come Monday. That is 
probably the second-most important court in the country, and we are 
appointing a very good person as circuit court judge there.
  Off the floor, the Judiciary Committee was busy as well. The 
Judiciary Committee just reported out six more judicial nominees for 
lifetime appointments to the Federal bench. Judges were a top priority 
last Congress, and they remain a top priority in this Congress. We are 
hoping to move forward on many more judges.
  Also, yesterday, the Commerce Committee, under the able leadership of 
Maria Cantwell, also reported out the Railway Safety Act--sponsored by 
Senators Brown and Vance of Ohio--with bipartisan support. This is 
significant. After the derailment of East Palestine, the need for the 
rail safety reform became clear as day, and Americans are demanding 
that the Senate take action.
  The Railway Safety Act is a major step forward for avoiding accidents 
similar to the one in East Palestine and improving rail safety across 
the country. It is going to make all our railroads safer. We have all 
seen so many of these derailments, often because the railroads weren't 
doing what they were supposed to. This act is a big step forward in 
requiring them to do so. I look forward to working with both sides to 
bring the Railway Safety Act to the floor.
  And, today, the Senate Banking Committee also held a hearing, a big 
step on our bipartisan SAFE Banking Act that we have worked on 
together, Mr. President.
  The SAFE Banking Act would ensure cannabis businesses have equal 
access to critical banking infrastructure in States that have legalized 
cannabis. We have all heard the tales of small businesses, and even 
larger ones, walking around with a huge amount of cash because they 
can't do banking. SAFE Banking would change that and allow them to bank 
as other businesses because it is legal in many States.
  And I am working to ensure we include criminal justice provisions in 
SAFE Banking Plus--most importantly, the expungement of criminal 
records for certain low-level marijuana offenses.
  We have made a lot of good bipartisan progress on SAFE Banking last 
Congress. And after today's hearing, we hope there will be a markup on 
this bill in the near future. We are really moving forward in a record 
way on a very important issue.
  Finally, last, but certainly not least, the HELP Committee also 
advanced PBM and generic drug-pricing reform. It will reform the PBM 
system, which we know is one of the reasons the cost of drugs is so 
high. Hopefully, with the reform, the cost of prescription drugs like 
insulin for non-Medicare Americans will come down. We reduced insulin 
to $35 for those on Medicare, but we need to work on reducing insulin 
costs for everybody, and this bill is a major step forward in that 
direction.
  So it has been a busy week--significant progress on many issues: 
judicial nominees; rail safety; SAFE Banking reform; and PBM reform, 
which can lower insulin costs for millions of Americans. It has been a 
good, strong week. And I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle 
for moving forward.

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