Business Before the Senate

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, the last time we observed Mother's Day, most of the country could not spend time with their parents or have their kids spend time with them. Standing outside of a window and waving to mom was the closest you could get. I remember that. So this year, I was beyond grateful to celebrate with my mother and my daughters in person. I know the same was true for Americans across the country. As COVID-19 continues to recede--and more than half of eligible adults have received at least one shot of the vaccine after a very painful and difficult year--it was another sign that our country is turning the corner. Praise God.

Now, as we begin this work period, the Senate will continue working to help the country recover and build back stronger than ever. That includes filling vacancies in the executive branch with highly qualified public servants.

This week, the Senate will consider the nomination of Andrea Palm for Deputy HHS Secretary and Cynthia Marten, a teacher of 17 years, to serve as the next Deputy Education Secretary. There will be additional nominations on the floor as the week goes on. At the committee level, at least half a dozen other nominees will have their markups.

There will be plenty of legislative action off the floor as well. Discussions continue on a potential, bipartisan infrastructure bill, gun safety legislation, and policing reform.

On Wednesday, the Senate Commerce Committee will begin to mark up the Endless Frontier Act, bipartisan legislation that would invest in our scientific and technologic capabilities and help the United States outcompete China and other nations in a number of emerging industries. There have been extremely constructive bipartisan talks over the last week, and I am fully supportive of the product that will be considered in Wednesday's committee meeting.

In addition, a number of other Senate committees are working on bipartisan legislation to improve our competitiveness and make the United States a world leader in advanced manufacturing, innovation, and supply chains.

It is my intention to have the full Senate consider comprehensive competitive legislation during this work period.

This week, the Senate Rules Committee will also mark up S. 1, a bill to strengthen our democracy, increase transparency in our campaign finance system, and make it easier for all Americans to vote. The Senate Democratic majority named this bill ``S. 1'' because it is a very top priority. The majority gets to name the first five bills of any new Congress. We picked the For the People Act to be S. 1 for a reason. Make no mistake, we are moving forward with S. 1 in the Rules Committee this week. I will attend the markup tomorrow.

As a reminder to my colleagues, I have committed to bring S. 1 to the floor of the Senate. As the Rules Committee prepares to amend and advance S. 1, our Republican colleagues face a critical choice between working with Democrats in good faith to pass law to protect our democracy or siding with Republican State legislatures that are orchestrating the largest contraction of voting rights in decades. There is no reason our two parties can't work together on S. 1. In fact, the legislation has already been updated and improved. It now includes input from election officials across the country, including Republican election officials.

I am sure we will see additional amendments to mark up tomorrow. For example, I understand my colleague from Georgia, Senator Ossoff, will offer an amendment to ban States from restricting volunteers from giving food and water to Americans waiting in line to vote. You would think such a provision would be unnecessary, but, sadly, giving voters food or water while they are waiting in long lines has just been criminalized by the State of Georgia.

Look, we know our Republican colleagues don't like every aspect of S. 1, but will they work in good faith to improve it? Will they offer revisions or new ideas to protect voting rights, or, through uncompromising resistance to commonsense voter protections, will they side with Republican legislatures across the country that are restricting the voting rights in a way that hurts African Americans, Latinos, and younger and poorer Americans? The choice is theirs.

Two final points on this. No. 1, Donald Trump spread the ``big lie.'' We all know it was a big lie that there was massive fraud in the elections. Instead of resisting that lie--so harmful to our democracy because when people don't have faith in the electoral process, it withers faith in our very democracy--so many Republicans in State legislatures and here in the Senate, unfortunately, are spreading that lie.

Second, what has been the tradition of America? It has been to improve the right to vote. At the time of the Constitution, in many States, you had to be a White male Protestant property owner to vote. We have improved on that. We have improved on that beginning in many different ways through the years. What the Republican legislatures are taking is a giant setback--a giant step back in the progress we have made to making this a more perfect union.

Will the Republican Senate, in the Rules Committee tomorrow and later on the floor of the Senate when they bring the bill forward, participate in improving on democracy or in helping, aiding, and abetting the big lie and the giant step backward?

Finally, on State and local aid, today the Treasury Department launched a $350 billion program to deliver aid to State and local governments--funding that Democrats in Congress provided through the American Rescue Plan. After fighting this pandemic on the frontlines, State and local governments in New York and across the country needed help, and they needed it quickly to keep frontline workers on the job and prevent brutal service cuts. Thanks to the American Rescue Plan and the Treasury Department's announcement this morning, we can finally say that help is on the way to State and local governments.

Eligible State, territorial, city, county, and Tribal governments will be able to access funding directly from the Treasury Department in the coming days. State and local governments now need to file applications with Treasury. Once they are processed, money will begin flowing. Let me say that again. State, local, and Tribal governments should prepare to file applications with the Treasury Department for assistance, and I am told the assistance will be quickly forthcoming.

And, State and local government, it is not only available, it is flexible. The Biden administration deserves credit for providing clear guidance in broad categories for spending the money, letting States make their own decisions about how to allocate funds to recover from the pandemic and address immediate needs. Whether it is to support public health systems, small businesses, necessary infrastructure, hard-hit industries like tourism, or premium pay for essential workers, States can use the funding we passed in the American Rescue Plan to help their constituents and their economy recover in a variety of ways.

The Treasury Department's announcement today begins the process of delivering the resources our States and municipalities need to prevent layoffs, keep essential services running, and boost Main Street businesses from one end of the country to the other.

I was proud to successfully push for robust State and local funding in the American Rescue Plan, and I will continue to work with the Biden administration as this funding is distributed.

No, I don't yield the floor. I finished my speech, but I have another activity or two to do.

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