[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3562-S3563]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        INFLATION REDUCTION ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, on the IRA anniversary--when we passed 
the Inflation Reduction Act last year, I said here on the floor that it 
would endure as one of the defining legislative feats of the 21st 
century. Just 1 year later, the IRA is paying huge dividends for the 
American people, for our economy, and for our environment.
  The Republicans claimed the IRA would make inflation worse. One of 
our Republican colleagues claimed the IRA would cut jobs and fuel 
inflation. But since we passed the IRA, inflation has gone not up but 
down. We are lowering costs day by day for the American people with the 
passage of this legislation. Inflation is now half of what it was a few 
years ago.
  Across the board, costs are coming down for the American family. For 
the first time ever, we made it possible for Medicare to negotiate the 
price of prescription drugs, helping Americans save at the pharmacy. 
Because of the IRA, vaccines are free for Medicare beneficiaries, and a 
cap on out-of-pocket drug spending--no senior will have to pay more 
than $2,000 a year for drugs--is coming very soon.
  What a relief for people, lowering costs on one of the things that 
bothered them the most--the high cost of prescription drugs. That is 
what we Democrats are doing, while over there in the House, the 
Republicans are just racing to the bottom.
  We also capped the price of insulin for seniors on Medicare to $35 a 
month, spurring major companies like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to 
follow suit. Millions of people who buy their health insurance on the 
ACA exchanges are now saving hundreds--hundreds--of dollars each month.
  Indeed, we are lowering costs. That is what we promised to do.
  On top of these savings, I also said the Inflation Reduction Act 
would kick-start the era of affordable clean energy and create 
countless good-paying, green jobs. The Inflation Reduction Act has done 
just that too.
  From the new wind turbine facilities in New York to the solar 
facilities in Arizona, the IRA is paving the way for America to lead in 
clean energy manufacturing. Eighty new clean energy

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manufacturing facilities have been announced across the country, 
employing thousands and thousands of people--and not just in junky, 
low-wage jobs but in good, high-pay, high-skill jobs, with training to 
boot. Again, these new facilities mean even more good-paying jobs for 
years to come in construction, manufacturing, clean energy, and so much 
more.
  As the new jobs are being created, wage growth continues to go up. It 
is now exceeding inflation. So the amount brought home in your paycheck 
has gone up more than the cost of goods has gone up. That is a new 
thing. It only happened in the last few years.
  The policies that we have passed here in the Senate--that Democrats 
have passed here in the Senate, frankly--are making a huge difference. 
Of course, we are only getting started. As we continue implementing the 
IRA, the American people will see more evidence of the Democratic 
agenda working for them.

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