Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Today’s Confirmation Of President Biden’s First Judicial Nominees And Senate Vote On The U.S. Innovation And Competition Act
Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding today’s votes on confirmation of Julien Neals and Regina Rodriguez, the first of President Biden’s judicial nominees, as well as today’s final vote on the bipartisan U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:
The Senate today will achieve an important milestone for the session: we will confirm the first of President Biden’s judicial nominees. The first, but certainly not the last, not even close. We will soon confirm Julien Neals to be a Judge for the District of New Jersey, and afterwards, we will turn to the nomination of Regina Rodriguez to be a Judge for the District of Colorado.
I greatly look forward to confirming what will be the first of many judicial appointments during the Biden Administration.
Later today, the Senate will take a final vote on the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, paving the way for the largest investment in science and technology in generations.
After three months of bipartisan negotiations, after the hard labor of six Senate committees, after considering over twenty amendments from both sides of the floor, we should— and we will—pass this historic bill, today.
When all is said and done, the bill will go down as one of the most important things this chamber has done in a very long time—a statement of faith in America’s ability to seize the opportunities of the 21st century.
The ambitions of this legislation are large but the premise is simple: If we want American workers and American companies to keep leading the world, the federal government must invest in science, basic research, and innovation, just as we did decades after the Second World War.
Technology firms currently make up a quarter—a quarter—of the global stock market. Whoever wins the race to the technologies of the future is going to be the global economic leader, with profound consequences for foreign policy and national security as well. Whoever harnesses the technologies like AI, quantum computing, and innovations yet unseen, will shape the world in their image.
Do we want that image to be a democratic image? Or do we want it to be an authoritarian image, like the one President Xi would like to impose on the world?
Either we can cede the mantle of global leadership to our adversaries, or we can pave the way for another generation of American leadership. That’s what this bill is all about. And I look forward to joining my colleagues in finally passing this bill later today.
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