Remarks by President Biden on the Passage of H.R. 5376, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
SEPTEMBER 13, 2022
Location: Not determined

3:51 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)  Hello, everyone back there.  (Applause.)  What a great, great crowd.  And I tell you what — if I thought I could have ever spoken as well as you did when I was your age, I’d have never thought of being President, all right?  (Laughter.)  No, really, thank you. 

Please, have a seat.  With your permission, I’m going to take my coat off.  (Applause.)  That doesn’t mean I’m going to speak any longer.  (Laughter.)

Folks, welcome to the White House, everybody.  (Applause.) 

And thank you, Lovette, for this.  (Applause.)  This law is for you and for the millions of people like you: good, decent, hardworking Americans.

And how about James Taylor, a voice that heals our soul and unites a nation.  And a good friend.  (Applause.)  I don’t know where — James is probably smart enough to be under the shade of the tree over there or have taken off.  But, James, thank you, thank you, thank you.  

And we’re joined by many champions for the American people. 

The first one, and one of my best champions, is the First Lady, Jill Biden.  I thought she was teaching, but she’s here.  (Applause.) 

And Vice President Harris, who’s not only a great Vice President, we’ve become a great friend.

And the Second Gentleman, as well as Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, and Joe Manchin.  Joe, thanks for sticking with what you said you’d do.  I appreciate it.  (Applause.) 

And the committee chairs who worked for almost two years to make this law real.

And all the House and Senate Democrats who stood together and never, ever, ever gave up. 

This couldn’t have happened without every single one of you — and that’s in the literal sense — in the Senate.  Every single one was required because the other team didn’t want to play.

And to all our distinguished guests — CEOs, ad- — advocates, adva- — activists — thank you for joining us.

And what a great day.  Exactly four weeks ago today, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, the single most important legislation passed in the [this] Congress to combat inflation and one of the most significant laws in our nation’s history, in my view.

I said it then and I’ll keep saying it: With this law, the American people won and special interest lost.  Say it again: The American people won and special interest lost. (Applause.)

Folks, we’re going to lower prescription drug costs, lower health insurance costs, lower energy costs for millions of families.  (Applause.)

And we are going to take the most aggressive action ever, ever, ever to confront the climate crisis and increase our energy security — ever in the whole world.  (Applause.)  And that’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact. 

And we’re going to build a future — the future — here in United States of America with American workers, with American companies, with American-made products.

And after years of some of the biggest corporations in the United States paying zero in federal income tax, they will now have to begin to literally pay their fair share.

Today offers proof that the soul of America is vibrant, the future of America is bright, and the promise of America is real.  It is real.  It is real.  (Applause.)

This is the extraordinary story being written today in America by this administration — as I step all over my coat.  (Steps on suit jacket.)  (Laughter.)  Good thing my mom is not around.  (Laughter.)

But look, you have an awful lot of brave allies out there in the Congress that took a lot of heat — took a lot of heat — and by so many determined advocates and activists all across the country.

And as I look out on this lawn, I see leaders who made the government of America begin to work again — work for the people, not special interests.  For the people.  (Applause.)

Folks, look, elected officials who stood up to the millions of dollars in attack ads from special interests; business leaders who were willing to endure the criticism from many of their colleagues; and so many people who have fought for years to lower prescription drug prices and tackle the climate crisis.

This is your victory.  This is your victory.  And that’s a fact.  (Applause.)

And you deserve a huge round of applause.  Give them applause — all these people who stood up.  Every one of them.  (Applause.)

And let’s hear it for the workers and the labor unions, mayors and local officials, environmental activists, students and young people, advocates for senior citizens and their families. 

This is what it looks like when the American government works for the people, when we tell the powerful interests, “No, you’re not going to get your way this time.  Not this year.  Not this time.  Not now.”  (Applause.)

I say to some of my colleagues who’ve been around long, “How long we’ve been fighting pharma?  How long we’ve been taking on these interests?”  From the time I got to the Senate, 720 years ago.  (Laughter.)

I’m serious.  Think about it.  Let’s be honest: Passing this law wasn’t easy.  I proposed it as soon I got here, basically.  And I’ve said that day that I determined — I was determined to work with Republicans.

And I have done that on historic laws like the Infrastructure Law.  Republicans came across the aisle and they worked with us, and we got it done.  Over a billion two hundred million dollars to reshape this nation’s — this nation’s infrastructure.  The CHIPS and Science Act and the PACT Act for veterans and their families.

In fact, I think it’s fair to say we’ve achieved more bipartisan agreement in these nearly two years in my presidency than anyone thought was even remotely possible when I entered office.  (Applause.)

So I thank the Republicans who stood up.  (Applause.)  And I’m proud of it.  It’s been good for the country.  But I believe Republicans could have and should have joined us on this bill as well. 

After all, this bill cut costs for families, helped reduce inflation at the kitchen table, because that’s what they look at — how much are their monthly bills and how much do they have to pay out for their necessities.  And it gave them just a little more breathing room, as my dad would say.

This bill will lower the deficit — this bill alone is going to lower the deficit by $300 billion over the next decade — (applause) — because it’s going to cha- — pay less for prescription drugs.  And that’s on top of the $350 billion we reduced the deficit my first year.  350-billion-dollar reduction.  (Applause.)  And for this — for this fiscal year, a-trillion-500-billion-dollar reduction in the deficit.  (Applause.)

So I don’t want to hear it anymore about “big spendin’ Democrats.”  We spend but we pay. 

Ladies and gentleman, the last guy who had this job — well, I won’t — let me put it this way: This bill finally delivers on a promise that I made to the American people for decades.  But Republicans choose not to join us. 

In the end, every single Republican voted against this historic law, so it fell to the Democrats to meet this moment and deliver for the American people, and that’s exactly what we did. 

We pay more for our prescription drugs than any developed nation in the world.  Let me say that again: In America, we pay more for prescription drugs than any developed nation in the world.  And there’s no rhyme or reason to that. 

For years, so many of us have been trying to fix this problem.  But for years, Big Pharma blocked Medicare from negotiating lower drug practices — prices.  But not this year.  Not this year.  This year, the American people won, and Big Pharma lost.  (Applause.)

Now, Medicare will have the power to do what so many Democrats and Republicans in the past talked about doing: lower prescription drug prices.

And seniors will see their out-of-pocket cost for their prescription drugs limited to $2,000 a year.  They cannot pay a penny more than $2,000 a year no matter how high their drug costs are, whether they’re for cancer drugs or other drugs that can raise up to $70-, $80,000 a year based on need.  A maximum yearly cost of $2,000.

And if you’re on Medicare and you have diabetes, your cost of your insulin will be $35 [a month] for every insulin.  (Applause.)

And we wanted to cut the cost for insulin for everyone, including the hundreds of thousands of children with Type 1 diabetes.  I’ll not ask for a show of hands but I bet a lot of you out there have diabetes or your children do.  But Republicans blocked limiting that cost to $35 for children. 

It only costs 10 bucks for the prescription to be made and packaged.  Ten bucks.   And drug companies charge families about 30 times more than that for every vial of insulin.

Look, I’m being very — I’m deadly earnest about this.  Imagine being a mom or a dad looking at your child you know that needs that insulin very — to live — to live and not having the money to pay for it.  Not a joke.  Think about it.  Think about what you’d think about at the time!  Think about how you’d feel if you didn’t have the insurance and didn’t have the money.  It’s wrong.  It’s not who we are.  And we’re going to fix that, too.  (Applause.) 

We’re going to come back at it and lower the cost of lifesaving insulin for children and families as well. 

Last year, a family of four saved two thousand four hundred thou- — $2,400 through the American Rescue Plan, which I’ve signed into law.  And this new law also locks in place — the one we’re passing — we passed a couple — a month ago — the one we’re here for today.

It’s going to lower healthcare premium costs for families and get their coverage under — who get their con- — coverage under the Affordable Care Act by about $800 a year.

Folks, for decades, climate deniers have blocked any meaningful progress in delaying and — just pretending there wasn’t a climate crisis.  I remember back in 1989 I introduced the legislation about climate, but no one wanted to hear it.  I mean, no — not many wanted to hear it.  But guess what?  This year, nobody can deny there is a crisis.

I have flown in a helicopter with governors of five states, over this last year, over the fires and the burning tundra — excuse me, the burning forests.  And guess what?  More land, Gov, has been destroyed — destroyed in the United States of America than the entire — your state of New Jersey from top to bottom.  That’s how much land has been wiped out. 

And we have drought.  The Colorado River is becoming a stream. 

So much is happening that nobody can doubt — nobody can any longer doubt that the climate crisis is real, and we’re beginning to respond to it.

But, folks, nobody ever in history — nobody — this year, the American people won, and the climate deniers lost.  And the Inflation Reduction Act takes the most aggressive action to combat climate as — (applause) — as the Speaker said, “Ever, ever, ever.”  Over $360 billion.  (Applause.) 

Folks, it offers working families thousands of dollars in energy savings with tax credits and rebates to buy new and efficient appliances, weatherize their homes, saving hundreds of dollars a year because they’re not going to have the heat seeking [seeping] out through the windows or doors, or the air conditioning.