Majority leader Chuck Schumer ‘full of hope’ while Mitch McConnell calls parties to find common grounds

In his first speech as Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer said he is “full of hope” with the unveiling of the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris reign in the White House and remarked the threat to democracy “from the presidency itself has ended.”

“We have turned the page to a new chapter of history of our democracy and I am full of hope,” he said. 

As he was introduced as the majority leader for the very first time, a seemingly overwhelmed Schumer stopped for a breather and gulped down his emotions. 

“I need to catch my breath,” he said. “So much is happening.”

Talking about the responsibility of being the majority leader, Schumer said, “That I should be the leader of this new Senate majority is an awesome responsibility — awesome in the biblical sense.” 

Referring to the breach of the US Capitol on January 6, Schumer said, “It takes more than a band of hooligans to bring our democracy down.”

“Our democracy, though tried and tested, shall long endure. Let it be a message to those terrorists who desecrated this temple of democracy that they will never prevail,” he added.

“Today the threat to our democracy from the presidency itself has ended, but the challenges we face as a nation remain,” he said.

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He noted that the new Congress begins its work “in the wake of violence and division, hatred and mistruth; in the shadow of disease and economic hardship, a warming planet, an unequal society.”

He also vowed that the chamber will “do business differently” now that Democrats are in charge.

He said the Senate plans to be busy and he wants to work with his Democratic colleagues. 

“And to my Republican colleagues, when and where we can a Democratic majority will strive to make this important work bipartisan. The Senate works best when we work together. We have no choice. The challenges we face are great. The divisions in the country are real. We have no choice but to try to work together every day to reward the faith the American people have placed in us. So let us begin,” Schumer said.

Speaking after Schumer, Sen. Mitch McConnell, in his first-floor speech as Senate minority leader, congratulated Biden, Harris and the three new senators.

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McConnell praised President Joe Biden for his inaugural speech and he congratulated Harris for her historic role.

“I congratulate my friend from Delaware and look forward to working with him as our new president wherever possible,” McConnell said of Biden.

“This groundbreaking achievement elicits national pride, it transcends politics. All citizens can applaud the fact that this new three-word phrase ‘Madam vice president’ is now a part of our American lexicon,” he lauded Kamala Harris.

“Our country deserves for both sides, both parties, to find common ground for the common good everywhere that we can and to disagree respectfully where we must.”