[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 41 (Thursday, March 7, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2249-S2250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       State of the Union Address

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, tonight, the President of the United 
States comes before Congress to deliver his State of the Union address 
to the American people. It is a chance for the Commander in Chief to 
tell the story of where our country stands today, to hear about the 
sacrifices we have made as a country, about the challenges we have 
overcome, and about the kind of future we can achieve if we work 
together.
  America has suffered immense challenge in recent years. When 
President Biden took office, over 3,000 Americans were dying of COVID a 
day; over 18 million Americans were on unemployment; our democracy was 
wounded, damaged, and battered after January 6; and inflation climbed 
to suffocating heights.
  But today, President Biden will make clear that after so much 
adversity, America's economy is growing, inflation is slowing, and 
Democrats' agenda is delivering. Our economy has added a record 15 
million new jobs--15 million new jobs--since President Biden took 
office, the greatest turnaround of any President. Last year alone, the 
economy created more jobs than in any year of the Trump administration.
  Less than 2 years ago, inflation was at a crushing 9 percent. But 
today, it has cooled to the lowest level since the start of the 
pandemic; and that means that over the last year, the prices of things 
like milk, eggs, appliances, car rentals, and airfare have all come 
down.
  Across the country, manufacturing and job creation is surging. 
Communities that have been long overlooked, especially in places like 
Upstate New York, are getting a second chance. It didn't happen on its 
own. It is the result of the Democratic agenda; a result of legislation 
like the American Rescue Plan, Infrastructure, CHIPS and

[[Page S2250]]

Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act, which I was happy to 
champion in a Democratic Senate as I was majority leader.
  But statics and data tell only part of the story. Today, I am honored 
to welcome five inspiring New Yorkers and one brave Ukrainian soldier 
as my guests for the State of the Union. These six individuals show 
better than any statistic how America is made stronger by the policies 
of the Biden administration and a Democratic Senate.
  You can look at the example of Andrii Chevozorov, a 25-year-old 
Ukrainian soldier who has risked his life and limb on the battlefield. 
After losing his leg in a mine explosion, he came to New York in 
January for prosthetics and rehabilitation treatment at Staten Island 
University Hospital.
  It is an honor to welcome Andrii, and the Senate thanks him for his 
sacrifice. He reminds us all about the stakes of the war in Ukraine, of 
the importance of passing the supplemental. And I will continue working 
as hard as I can to make sure we get it done. It is a historic moment 
for America. We cannot turn our back on Ukraine and our other allies 
and the menaces that we face in the world.
  You can also get a look at what is at stake through the story of Kate 
Farley of Hudson Valley, who is expecting her second child through in 
vitro fertilization. Without IVF, Kate could have never gotten 
pregnant. And it is both heartbreaking and enraging that extreme 
Republicans have made people like Kate worry this vital service will be 
curtailed. I am honored to welcome her today.
  I am also honored to invite my friend Kevin McCaffrey of Suffolk 
County, the proud president of Teamsters Local 707, as well as Deborah 
Hartman, a retired UFCW member who used to work at Tops supermarket.
  Kevin, of course, is the Republican leader of the Suffolk County 
legislature, but it didn't stop him and I to work to deal with the 
pensions that members of his local, Local 707, might have lost. Like 
many Americans, both Kevin and Deborah and their fellow workers faced 
the unthinkable prospect of their pensions drying up just a few years 
ago. Some workers had pensions cut by as much as two-thirds. People who 
put in money every 2 weeks, hoping, knowing, relying on the fact that 
their retirement would be secure--it wouldn't make them rich, but would 
make them secure--saw the rug pulled out from under them. And with 
Kevin from one end of my State and Deborah from the other, we were able 
to save those pensions. Republicans refused to offer relief. Democrats 
had to do it on its own.
  Thanks to the reforms in the American Rescue Plan, millions of our 
union brothers and sisters across New York and America have seen that 
critical pension relief. These workers who have saved their whole lives 
to retire with dignity have seen their dignity restored, something all 
Americans can be very proud of.
  I am also proud of New Yorkers like Van Robinson, who I have known 
for decades and have partnered with to combat gun violence, increase 
affordable housing, and reduce lead poisoning for underserved 
communities. Van has been one of the leading voices reconnecting 
communities divided by highways and for tearing down I-81 in Syracuse; 
and thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure law that I led in Congress, 
we are getting it done.
  Finally, I am delighted to welcome Kim Spica, an equipment Engineer 
Technician at GlobalFoundries. Kim's story shows what the future can 
look like for so many New Yorkers. She got her job after finishing a 
registered apprenticeship program at Hudson Valley Community College.
  Recently, GlobalFoundries received the largest preliminary award from 
the CHIPS and Science Act to date: over $1.5 billion, which will help 
them build a second chip fab for New York's capital region and create 
thousands of good-paying jobs like Kim's.
  I was proud to lead the way on CHIPS and Science because I knew what 
it would mean for New Yorkers like Kim in the form of new jobs, greater 
opportunity, and a more decent life.
  So if you want to see how far we have come as a country, these New 
Yorkers are a good illustration. These guests are the reason our 
Democratic majority fought so hard to pass the American Rescue Plan, 
pass infrastructure, pass CHIPS and Science, and pass the Inflation 
Reduction Act. I knew it would make an enormous difference for New 
Yorkers like the people who are joining me tonight.
  Democrats' agenda, of course, is paying off in other ways. Americans 
are paying less for insulin. Prescription drugs for seniors on Medicare 
have been capped. Student loan borrowers have seen hundreds of millions 
of debt forgiveness.
  So, tonight, the difference between the parties will be as clear as 
night and day. Democrats are focused on lowering costs, creating jobs, 
and putting money in people's pockets, but the hard right, which too 
often runs the Republican Party in the House and now increasingly in 
the Senate, is consumed by chaos, bullying, and attacking things like 
women's freedom of choice.
  The Republican front runner for President has made it abundantly 
clear that he is not running to make people's lives better but, rather, 
on airing his personal political grievances. Donald Trump's cynical 
power grab even destroyed the best change at border security that 
Congress has seen in decades--a bill that even a Wall Street Journal 
poll from this morning shows that Americans clearly supported. 
Americans wanted bipartisan border security. Congress had bipartisan 
security ready to go, and Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican 
followers are at fault for killing it in its tracks. That is shameful 
cynicism that once again hurts Americans.
  Ideologues cannot run the show here. We have to fight these things.
  So I thank President Biden for his leadership. The road hasn't been 
easy. The work is not yet done. But we have come far. We have overcome 
so much. And there is still so much on the line for American families, 
American values, and America's future. It is imperative we stay the 
course and finish the job we began 3 years ago.