Senator Murray: “The bottom line is my priority is getting a strong bill to President Biden’s desk that will lower Washington state workers and families’ costs”
Senator Murray: “I am hopeful about the state of our union and the work we can get done in the coming year to help Washington state workers and families continue to rebuild from this pandemic, make our economy work for working people and not just those at the very top, and continue our fight for a stronger, fairer future for our kids and generations to come.”
***WATCH SENATOR MURRAY’S REMARKS HERE***
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a virtual, video media availability ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union Address.
During the media availability, Senator Murray outlined her current legislative priorities to lower everyday costs for families, highlighted how the American Rescue Plan and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have helped families in Washington state, and discussed what she hopes to hear from President Biden during his address to Congress and the nation.
“I’ve said often, and believe very strongly, that we need an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthiest Americans and the giant corporations. That’s especially true coming out of this pandemic. And that’s why one of my very top priorities in Congress right now is passing legislation that is going to lower everyday costs for working people in a big way. Because one of the things we really saw is that while workers and families lost jobs, income, and stability, huge corporations and the very wealthiest actually did even better than before,” said Senator Murray. “The bottom line is my priority is getting a strong bill to President Biden’s desk that will lower Washington state workers and families’ costs, and take some of that stress off. And by the way—these policies are all paid for by asking major corporations and the very wealthiest to finally pay their fair share.”
“I am hopeful about the state of our union and the work we can get done in the coming year to help Washington state workers and families continue to rebuild from this pandemic, make our economy work for working people and not just those at the very top, and continue our fight for a stronger, fairer future for our kids and generations to come.”
Senator Murray has been a leading voice for Washington state communities in Congress and has been keenly focused on lowering everyday costs for families—authoring a major federal proposal to lower child care costs and expand child care assistance and offer parents the option of free pre-K for three-and-four-year olds, fighting to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit, working to lower the cost of prescription drugs, expand access to affordable, high-speed internet, and more.
Read Senator Murray’s remarks as prepared for delivery below:
“Thank you all so much for joining me.
“I’m looking forward to talking with you about what I hope and expect to hear from President Biden in tonight’s State of the Union address about his plans to continue dealing with the economic effects of the pandemic, like inflation and gas prices, take some stress off workers and families by lowering costs for things like quality child care and health coverage, and prescription drugs, and keep working toward stronger, fairer future for our state, our country, and our democracy.
“I’ll start by saying this: I’ve been talking to people across our state since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And I know, as a mother, grandmother, and a U.S. Senator—the last two years have been some of the toughest I can remember in our state.
“If you’re a parent like McKyndree, one of my virtual guests tonight, you’ve been struggling to figure out school and work and child care and keeping everyone safe, with the ground constantly shifting under you.
“If you’re a small business owner like the restaurant owners in Spokane and Seattle I talked to last week, it’s been a two-year-long fight to keep the doors open with the odds stacked against you the whole time.
“If you’re a health care worker, a teacher, a bus driver, a student—I could go on—it’s hard to think about a single person who hasn’t suffered deep losses or had their life upended in big ways.
“So there’s no question the pandemic has taken a huge toll, and continues to, but we have made a lot of progress since this time last year.
“Because of the American Rescue Plan, we got shots into arms, reopened schools safely, got support for small businesses, eased expenses for more than 1.3 million kids in our state thanks to the Child Tax Credit alone, got 240,000 more people in Washington state covered, and 2 in 5 customers on our state’s health insurance marketplace were able to get coverage for less than $100 a month.
“This bill made a huge difference—6.6 million jobs back into the economy since about one year ago.
“There’s more work to do, but we’ve seen a stronger, and much faster economic recovery because of the bill Democrats wrote and passed— unfortunately without a single Republican vote.
“Soon after, we got to work on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law we passed this fall, and because of this bill, we will see good-paying, union jobs in every part of our state, safer roads and bridges, more public transit, high-speed internet in every community, and a whole lot more—including my bill to transition our school bus fleet to electric so our kids aren’t breathing in diesel exhaust to and from school.
“Let’s not understate what a big deal the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law really is. It’s the largest investment in clean energy and public transit in our country’s history and the largest investment in our roads and bridges since we built the interstate highway system.
“This will make a big difference for communities across Washington state, but again, as I’m sure we will hear from President Biden tonight: there’s more to do.
“I’ve said often, and believe very strongly, that we need an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthiest Americans and the giant corporations.
“That’s especially true coming out of this pandemic.
“And that’s why one of my very top priorities in Congress right now is passing legislation that is going to lower everyday costs for working people in a big way.
“Because one of the things we really saw is that while workers and families lost jobs, income, and stability, huge corporations and the very wealthiest actually did even better than before.
“Major corporations ended 2021 with record profits and the top one percent of Americans got richer over the course of the pandemic—while people doing their own grocery shopping and pumping their own gas are finding their money doesn’t go as far as it did.
“Not to mention child care, health coverage, prescription drugs, education—it all adds up, way too fast.
“It just should not be so expensive for working people to raise a family, and do the things you want to do, in our country. And Democrats are going to keep working to make sure it isn’t.
“I hope and fully expect to hear President Biden is doubling down on dealing with these challenges.
“I’m specifically looking forward to hearing his plans to do more to tackle inflation and gas prices.
“We will continue to be full steam ahead—and one of the ways we can give some relief is by lowering costs for those bigger ticket budget items families have to deal with.
“I want to pass my child care and pre-k proposals—which would save working families in our state thousands on child care and make quality child care easier for them to find.
“I also want to see an extension of the expanded child tax credit and if we need to reach a compromise with Republicans to extend the Child Tax Credit, then I won’t let perfect be the enemy of good because this is just too important.
“Lowering health care costs has got to be a priority—we need to extend the tax cuts towards peoples’ premiums from the American Rescue Plan, and I believe very strongly that this is our opportunity to lower prescription drugs in a big way by finally empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and taking other important steps like capping the cost of insulin at $35 per month.
“And, it’s past time that we finally deliver a landmark investment in climate action and clean energy, because we are seeing the catastrophic effects of climate change in our state.
“And here’s the other piece that’s really hitting home right now—we have got to transition to lower-cost, cleaner energy so we aren’t as reliant on costly foreign oil. That’s going to lower costs in the long-term and strengthen our economy and our national security.
“There is certainly a lot more I’d like to do, too, to help workers and families—including a national, comprehensive paid leave policy, home care, and a fair pathway to citizenship—so whatever we are not able to pass as a part of a larger legislative package focused on lowering costs, I will be looking to see what can be done through appropriations, or any other legislative avenues that are available to us.
“But the bottom line is my priority is getting a strong bill to President Biden’s desk that will lower Washington state workers and families’ costs, and take some of that stress off. And by the way—these policies are all paid for by asking major corporations and the very wealthiest to finally pay their fair share.
“And as we work to lower costs—we also need to think about what kind of future we want for our kids and grandkids.
“I know what I want: I want a future that Washington state kids and parents can be hopeful about.
“I’ve covered some of this, like major action on climate, because I want kids in Washington state today to go hike in the Cascade mountains or run around on Long Beach knowing we acted to make sure they can enjoy it their whole lives.
“I’m also determined to put every resource I can toward helping kids recover emotionally, and in terms of their learning, from the last pandemic.
“When we passed the American Rescue Plan I made sure funding was set aside specifically for helping students catch back up academically after the last two years.
“That money needs to be spent right in our state and across the country.
“I’m also working on some new, bipartisan steps to help young people and all Americans with stronger steps on mental health.
“This is something I know President Biden is focused on and I also know he agrees on the urgency of acting to stop senseless gun violence in our schools and communities with commonsense gun safety reforms like universal background checks.
“Another part of a brighter future for our state and country is standing up for American rights we care so much about.
“Right now we’re seeing extreme Republican legislatures across the country increasingly restrict: women’s deeply personal decisions around whether and when to become parents, and every American’s fundamental democratic right to be heard at the ballot box.
“These are real intrusions on peoples’ ability to make their own choices about the kind of future they personally want and the kind of country they want to live in.
“I’m not standing for it and neither are President Biden and Democrats.
“And another thing we can’t and won’t stand for: Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation.
“I am grateful for President Biden’s leadership in making it abundantly clear through severe sanctions and strong international coordination that there will be devastating economic consequences for this war of aggression.
“And to Washington state constituents with family and loved ones in Ukraine, know that I will do everything in my power to make sure our country does all it can to stand firmly with the Ukrainian people.
“So listen, I am grateful to everyone in our state who has done so much to get themselves, their family, and their community through this pandemic.
“I am going to keep listening to you and fighting for you every day in the other Washington.
“And I am hopeful about the state of our union and the work we can get done in the coming year to help Washington state workers and families continue to rebuild from this pandemic, make our economy work for working people and not just those at the very top, and continue our fight for a stronger, fairer future for our kids and generations to come.
“Thank you.”
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