Senate
Democrats
Speeches
Schumer Floor Remarks On The Need to Protect Deputy AG Rosenstein And Special Counsel Mueller, And The Increase In Stock Buybacks As A Result Of The GOP Tax Law
April 12, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the need to pass the bipartisan legislation protecting Deputy AG Rosenstein and Special Counsel Mueller, and the stock buybacks that have resulted from the GOP Tax Law. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:Mr. President, over the past two weeks, we’ve seen increasingly worrisome signs that President Trump is willing to fire the Special Counsel in charge of the investigation into Russian more...
Schumer Floor Remarks On Speaker Ryan’s Decision To Leave Congress And The Need For Legislation To Protect Special Counsel Mueller
April 11, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer spoke on the Senate floor regarding Speaker Ryan’s decision not to seek re-election and the need to pass legislation that would protect Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:Thank you, Mr. President. Before I get into the substance of my remarks, I’d remind our dear friend, our Majority Leader that the vast majority of the benefits of this tax break - this tax cut -- went to the wealthiest more...
Schumer Floor Remarks On President Trump’s Response To The FBI Raid Of His Personal Lawyer And The Need To Protect Special Counsel Mueller
April 10, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the need to protect Special Counsel Mueller in the wake of the FBI raid of President Trump’s personal lawyer. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:Mr. President, yesterday, FBI agents, at the direction of the US Attorney of the Southern District of NY, seized information from President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen.It was reported that the referral to the US Attorney’s office more...
Schumer Floor Remarks Calling on Administrator Pruitt to Resign, New Deficit Projections from CBO
April 9, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding scandals within the EPA and new deficit projections from the CBO. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:Mr. President, let me welcome back my fellow senators after a productive state work period. And let me also welcome our newest senator, Cindy Hyde-Smith, the Junior Senator from Mississippi. She is the first woman to represent the state of Mississippi, and I welcome her warmly to this more...
Schumer Floor Remarks On The Retirement Of Senator Cochran, The Omnibus Spending Bill, And Trade Sanctions On China
March 22, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the retirement of Senator Thad Cochran, reaching an agreement on the omnibus spending bill, and the president’s trade sanctions on China. Below are his remarks.Mr. President, I have a few items to address this morning, but first I’d like to recognize our dear friend from Mississippi, the senior senator, who will be delivering his farewell speech today. Senator Thad Cochran has served in more...
Schumer Floor Remarks On The Omnibus Spending Bill, Standing by Puerto Rico, And The GOP Tax Bill
March 20, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding omnibus spending bill negotiations, the need to stand by Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the ongoing issues with the Republican tax bill. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:First, on the omni I agree with the Leader. Hopefully, we can come to an agreement and pass this week. It has some things no one likes and it has some things not everybody likes, but most people like. It was more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Tax Reform and the Trump Administration’s Lack of Action on Russia
March 15, 2018
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding tax reform and the Trump administration’s lack of action Russia. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:
Mr. President, since the Republicans jammed through a massive corporate tax cut in December, hardly a day goes by that we don’t read about a corporation using the savings to purchase its own stock. Now the average citizen may ask, ‘What’s that all about?’ Well, when a company purchases its own stock, it’s sort of artificially making less stock, buying it back and raising the prices of the shares. Why do they do that? Two reasons: both to benefit the corporate CEOs, but not the workers. Number one, corporate CEOs have a lot of the stock themselves, so they make money and number two, they look better when the stock price goes up. But the stock price isn’t going up because the company sold more goods or been more productive or bought new machinery or found a new product. The stock simply goes up because they’ve decreased the number of shares. It’s a scam in a certain sense. Helping corporate CEOs, helping shareholders, 80 percent of the stock market’s value is held by the top 10 percent so it doesn’t really help average Americans and that’s including 401K’s, but it doesn’t hurt the worker. All the claims we’ve heard from our Republican friends ‘Pass this tax bill and the workers will benefit.’ Well, now we see who’s really benefitting, just unfortunately as we’ve predicted. It’s the corporate CEOs and the wealthiest Americans.
Just recently, the total amount of share buybacks surpassed $220 billion, this year. According to market data firm TrimTabs, share buybacks in 2018 averaged $4.8 billion a day, double the pace for the same period last year.
For a few weeks, right after the president passed his tax bill, what happened? They had these companies announce bonuses for average workers. Very few Americans saw those bonuses, a lot of hoopla, but not much else. And the bonuses – not wage increases or new hires, but one-time, annual bonuses and anyone who gets them, God bless them, it’s just been so few --they’re being overwhelmed by a deluge of corporate share buybacks, which do not benefit the average worker, but benefits the CEOs and the heads of the companies.
According to an analysis by Just Capital, listen to this folks, only 6% of the capital allocated by companies from the tax bill savings has gone to employees, while nearly 60% has gone to shareholders. Again, the corporate CEOs who own those shares. The wealthiest of Americans who own the vast majority of shares. Ten times more capital is going to shareholders than workers. So, this bill, poorly structured, aimed at the wealthy, ain’t working. And the more Americans that see it, you know there was an initial thrust, ‘Oh, we like the tax bill.’ First it was unpopular, we talked about it here on the floor. Then with these bonuses and the stock market going up, popularity went up a little, now it’s flattening out and even heading down. Last three polls, fewer people like this tax plan and that’s going to keep happening, my Republican friends, because they know what it was aimed at. You know what it was aimed at, the corporate CEOs who came to lobby you, the wealthy individuals who came to lobby you.
So it’s no wonder the American people are starting to turn on the Republican tax bill. Polls have shown its popularity is underwater and trending downward, not up. This idea that tax cuts would be a political panacea for Republicans come November is losing altitude, fast. Remember, that’s what our Republican friends said. ‘Well, maybe people are upset with the President’s tweets and maybe this and that are not going so well. Maybe they’re not accomplishing much, but now with the tax bill, we’ll win the election.’
Well, look at just the Pennsylvania election, where a Democrat won the district which President Trump carried by 20 points. And this is the kind of district that our Republican friends need to carry. It’s the Republican suburbs and blue-collar southwest Pennsylvania. Early in the race, what did Republicans do?
They tried running ads about the tax bill to help candidate Rick Saccone. During the first few weeks of February -- and these are the super-PACs, the Koch brothers and all these others who benefit hugely from the tax bill and somehow they believe because they benefit, somehow everyone’s going to believe they benefitted -- ran these ads, two-thirds of the ads mentioned taxes. Two-thirds of all Saccone’s ads, both by the Koch like super-PACs and by Saccone himself. The next week, 36% mentioned taxes and guess what? After two weeks of these taxes, they tested it out on Republican friends, they got rid of taxes as an issue, wasn’t working. Wasn’t working with fairly well-off, middle-class Pittsburgh suburbanites or blue-collar members of Green County, Westmoreland County and Washington County in southwest Pa. areas with people who all voted for Trump.
It’s eerily similar, folks to the governor’s race in Virginia, same thing. Now, that was before the bill passed, but still Ed Gillespie started his campaign, Republican candidate Ed Gillespie started his campaign on a tax plan similar to the Republican tax plan. He had to give it up, wasn’t getting traction, the American people are smart about this. They are smart, they know what’s going on. They know the vast majority of this goes to the wealthy. They know that the amount that’s going to them is small. They know that they’re tax break is temporary and corporate tax break is permanent. Most of all they know that we’ve created a huge deficit. How are some of our Republican friends saying pay for the deficit? Cut Medicare, cut Social Security, cut health care. That is not what the American people want. Poll after poll shows health care is far more important to the American people than tax cuts. You know why? You get break on your taxes for $20 dollars a week and your premiums go up several thousand dollars in a month, or several hundred dollars in a month. That little increase is wiped away and our Republican colleagues, even in their tax bill, caused premiums to go up by monkeying around with their healthcare.
So
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Schumer Floor Remarks In Solidarity With National Student Walkout for Gun Safety
March 14, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the tragic consequences of gun violence. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:Mr. President, at this very moment, all across the country, students are walking out of school for 17 minutes in memory of the 17 Americans who died at Stoneman Douglas High School one month ago today.Here on the floor of the United States Senate, I join with those students in remembering the fallen students of more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Gun Safety Reform, Action on Qualcomm Bid, and GOP House Intelligence Committee’s Decision to End Russia Probe
March 13, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding gun safety reform, action on the Qualcomm bid, and the GOP House Intelligence Committee’s decision to end the Russia probe. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed Here:Mr. President, let me thank my friend from Illinois. There has been no more passionate, effective, strong, and consistent voice for the Dreamers, for those beautiful young people who simply want to become Americans and contribute to more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on President Trump Bowing to the NRA and the Need for a Response to Russian Election Interference
March 12, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding President Trump’s insufficient gun safety proposal and the need for a strong response to Russian interference in our elections. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:Madam President. after the deadly shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, the American people are wondering if Congress can do something meaningful to curb the epidemic of gun violence - an epidemic that has gone on far more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Trade Tariffs and the GOP Tax Bill Leading to Huge Stock Buybacks
March 8, 2018
Schumer Floor Remarks on Trade Tariffs and Senate Democrats’ Plan To Rebuild Infrastructure & Roll Back Tax Giveaways To the Wealthy
March 7, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding trade tariffs and Senate Democrats’ plan to rebuild infrastructure and roll back tax giveaways to the wealthy. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here: Mr. President, President Trump’s instincts on China are correct, but his execution is poor. He should stick with those instincts, not let those who label anything we do to protect America against China’s rapacious policies as protectionist. more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Stock Buybacks and Net Neutrality
March 6, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding stock buybacks and net neutrality. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here: Mr. President, when the Republican Majority forced through a $1.5 trillion tax cut to big corporations and the richest Americans, a big question was: what will those companies do with the money? Roughly $1 trillion of that $1.5 trillion bill was aimed at the big corporations.Republicans promised that more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Lack of Gun Safety Debate in Senate and the Republican Tax Bill
March 5, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the need for gun safety legislation and the effects of the Republican tax bill. Below are his remarks which can also be viewed here:Thank you, Mr. President. It has been nearly three weeks since the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and still, unfortunately, the Majority Leader has not committed to any floor time for a debate on the issue of gun safety.No time to debate more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Gun Safety Legislation, President Putin’s Efforts to Interfere in American Elections, and Judicial Nominations
February 28, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding gun safety legislation, President Putin’s efforts to interfere in American elections, and judicial nominations. Below are his remarks which can also be viewedHere:Thank you, Madam President. Now, yesterday, I met with a group of survivors from the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. Two weeks after losing classmates and friends and teachers, these kids have not given themselves over more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Gun Safety Legislation, Net Neutrality and the GOP Tax Bill
February 27, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding gun safety legislation, net neutrality and the GOP tax bill. Below are his remarks which can also be viewedHere: Mr. President, after Columbine, Sandy Hook, Charleston, Orlando, Las Vegas, and too many more to name, the nation convulsed, and we talked about reforming our gun safety laws to help prevent more names and places from being added to the list. Each time, we talked, but the Senate, the House, this more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on Gun Safety Legislation and Net Neutrality
February 26, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding gun safety legislation and Congress’ opportunity to restore net neutrality. Below are his remarks which can also be viewedHere:Mr. President, in the wake of the horrific shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook, there has been a national conversation about the epidemic of gun violence in this country. It’s being led by a group of brave high school students, more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on the Florida School Shooting and the Immigration Debate
February 15, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the school shooting in Parkland, Florida and the immigration debate. Below are his remarks: Mr. President, I rise this morning with a heavy heart for the people of Parkland, Florida and Stoneman Douglas High School, where yesterday, 17 Americans were killed in the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook.It was the 18th school shooting this year, Mr. President. We’re only halfway through February.Again, more...
Schumer Floor Remarks on the Immigration Debate and Taxes
February 14, 2018
Mr. President, as we enter the second day of debate on immigration, everyone should be focused on finding a bill to protect the Dreamers and address border security that can get sixty votes. That’s the ball game.
Schumer Floor Remarks on Immigration Debate, President Trump’s Infrastructure Plan and Budget Proposal
February 13, 2018Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding the immigration debate and President Trump’s infrastructure plan and budget proposal. Below are his remarks which can also be viewedHere: Mr. President, last night, the Senate took up a neutral bill on immigration to begin debate on legislation to protect the Dreamers and provide additional border security. It is a debate upon which the lives of the Dreamers depend. They were brought to this country as more...
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