Accomplishments of the 117th Congress
Floor Speech
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Mr. CARDENAS. Mr. Speaker, I start by thanking the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for yielding me time.
I rise today with an update for the American people: We are investing in America, and it is paying off.
Like every other Representative in this room, I just returned to D.C. after a district work period. Back in Southern California, I heard story after story about transformative changes in our communities that are going on. All thanks to bills and programs that President Joe Biden signed into law after we passed them right here in Congress.
I met with employees at Capstone Green Energy Corporation, one of the many successful clean energy companies that employ over 37,000 people in my district and are working to advance the carbon reduction goals.
With support from the Inflation Reduction Act, businesses like Capstone will grow and hire more employees to help us transition to a cleaner energy future.
I sat down with veterans to speak with them about what we are doing in Congress to go beyond thanking them for their service. We talked about benefits they can access through the PACT Act and support they can receive from 988's Veterans Crisis Line, initiatives championed by House Democrats and signed into law by President Biden.
Recently at a roundtable, local healthcare workers explained to me how lower drug prices for people on Medicare are making a big difference.
House Democrats and President Biden are committed to making healthcare more affordable, and that includes lowering the prices of drugs that our seniors need. That is why we capped the price of insulin. Anyone who takes insulin every day to stay alive knows just how life-changing lower insulin prices are.
Before we brought prices down, the high cost of insulin forced many people with diabetes to make extremely risky decisions, like rationing insulin because they just couldn't afford to buy more.
I know how devastating diabetes can be, especially when you can't afford to manage it. My dad, Andres Cardenas, died at the age of 67, and I can tell you from personal experience how painful it is to watch someone you love choose between providing for his family and getting lifesaving medicine.
No one in America should ever have to do that. No family should suffer through that.
That is why Congressional Democrats and the Biden administration are working so hard to lower drug prices for Americans so that no one has to watch a loved one suffer from an illness that they just cannot afford to treat.
Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration has successfully capped out-of-pocket insulin prices for those on Medicare at $35 a month.
It was momentum behind these policy ideas that moved insulin manufacturers to lower costs across the board on insulin products. This will allow people to live longer, healthier lives.
We know mental health is just as important as our physical health. This summer, America celebrated 1 year since the launch of 988, the number for the new Suicide and Crisis Lifeline that anybody in America can call 24 hours a day. The 988 system is saving lives.
Back home, Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, the lead crisis center for the Lifeline in California, released data showing that California centers answered over 280,000 calls, chats, and texts, with 98 percent of these contacts getting resolved.
Communities across America are thriving because of the investments that Congressional Democrats and President Biden has made in our futures. We are rebuilding crumbling infrastructure and designing new transportation, ensuring that all Americans have access to high-speed internet, lowering drug prices, providing mental health resources, giving our veterans the resources they need, and kick-starting job creation around the country.
I am so proud of what we have been able to accomplish, and I look forward to all that we will accomplish with President Biden. I invite our Republican colleagues to join us.
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