Maria Cantwell
Senator for Washington · Democratic · United States
“There is nothing, in my mind, innovative about using a computer to tell seniors they can't get the care their doctors prescribe. Unfortunately, this model that is now in six States is being tested, but the administration has made it clear it expects to expand this nationwide.”
“In a time when our country continues to face an opioid crisis with more than 50,000 overdose deaths annually, we should be making it easier for patients to access these nonopioid treatments, and we should not enable a system where contractors have financial incentives to delay or deny care. That is not efficiency.”
“More than 700,000 Washingtonians and 28 million Americans have chosen the Medicare program because they want their healthcare decisions made by their doctor. If they don't, you can choose Medicare Advantage. Medicare Advantage is different.”
“His neurosurgeon recommended a nonopioid--a nonopioid--treatment, an epidural steroid injection, to manage this serious and severe chronic pain. But what did the AI app WISeR tell him? Nope. System delayed.”
“I do believe AI has enormous potential to improve in healthcare and healthcare research. I do think it is going to help us find some new things. But technology should not be used today, on programs that are guaranteed for our citizens, to now be interrupted and delayed by an AI model instead of allowing them to talk to their doctor.”
“I am hearing every day from my patients, from patients in my State-- including the two I mentioned--who have been negatively impacted by this WISeR model. I brought this up at an important Senate Finance Committee with the Secretary of HHS and have said: This has to stop.”
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“I want to thank him for working with me on the introduction of the Trade Review Act of 2025 that ensures that Congress plays its constitutional role in making sure that, as our Founding Fathers intended, we set the duties and regulate foreign commerce. This important reassertion of Congress's constitutional role is important so we have a strong voice in trade policy. This legislation, as I said, modeled after the War Powers Act, says that a President must notify Congress within 48 hours of imposing or raising tariffs, provide an explanation of why they are warranted, and an assessment of their likely impact on American businesses and consumers.”
“Congress, in the War Powers Act, decided to reclaim its authority because they thought a President had overreached. Senator Grassley and I are trying to do the same thing today by introducing the Trade Review Act of 2025. Trade wars--which frequently trigger sharp price increases, foreign retaliation, and huge shock impacts to our economy--could affect the livelihood of workers, supply chain manufacturers, and hard-won markets that American exporters have wanted to see continue to be open. I want to thank Senator Grassley for his leadership over many years for American farmers, for the people of Iowa, and for our country.”
“The current approach, I believe, is creating uncertainty and certainly raising costs unnecessarily. Businesses rely on certainty and transparency from a rules-based trading system. So how has Congress done on these issues? Well, it is time, I believe, for Congress to reassert ourselves in our constitutional duties. Article I of the Constitution also gave Congress the power to declare war. The Founding Fathers wanted to prevent any single individual from unilaterally committing our Nation to war. The Founding Fathers wanted to ensure that we had a strong check and balance. I believe the same check and balance needs to exist now as it relates to protecting our commerce activities and any Presidential overreach that is not a rules-based approach.”
“Trade wars devastate Americans working families and small businesses and manufacturers. Article I, section 8 of the U.S. Constitution gave Congress--gave Congress--the explicit authority to impose duties and regulate commerce, given the far-reaching impact to our national economy that I just mentioned. As ranking member of the Commerce Committee, and my colleague from the Senate Finance Committee, we both know how much our Nation needs to continue to have interstate commerce and to have foreign commerce. Since the 1930s, Congress has enacted or directed the President to negotiate trade deals, including authority to negotiate the agreements and impose or adjust tariffs. But I think these Presidents have used this authority correctly by opening up markets, lowering tariffs, and establishing a rules-based trading system.”
“They helped ensure that the United States is the world's largest agriculture exporter, with soybeans and corn leading the way as the top export. I want to return to trade agreements. I want to open up more markets. I want us to have a robust export opportunity for the excellent U.S. manufactured and grown products. Our trade agreements have ensured that the U.S. remained the second largest exporter of manufactured goods in the world--$2.06 trillion in 2024. And it is clear today, the United States must be competing hard to win in the race for emerging technologies like AI and quantum. Our foreign adversaries and our competitors are in this global race too. So that is why economic disruption puts America at risk. Straining ties with trade alliances also put us at a security risk. Trade wars have lasting consequences.”
“But what we know today for sure is that 95 percent of the world's consumers are outside of the United States. That means the global middle class includes almost 4 billion people. Those are markets for American businesses, for farmers to reach to grow and prosper. According to the World Bank, in the recent decade, trade has lifted 1 billion people out of poverty. My colleagues here, who have worked on deals in the past that opened up markets in places like Chile, Peru, Singapore, the Central America Free Trade Agreement, the update of the USMCA, all know that this hard work created economic opportunity. Our trade agreements helped American farmers export $176 billion in agricultural products last year.”
“No doubt, opening up markets has grown the pie, not just for those economies, but for the U.S. economy. When you establish clear rules- based mechanisms, you can also resolve trade disputes and encourage more investment and more trade. Businesses need this certainty to move forward with deals, to reach new markets, and grow. But now we are seeing a barrage of tariffs on at least 185 countries. We cannot have arbitrary policies create chaos and uncertainty. These kinds of chaos and uncertainty kill business investment and make for very challenging stock market assessments of investments for the future based on predictability. The current approach, in my opinion, is outside the predictable, rules-based system. It is arguable that the current approach is literally a misconstruction of statutory authorities.”
“Small business owners across the country depend on consumer confidence in our economy so that they can keep sales and stay afloat. Sharp increases propose a major threat to that economy. Inflation and high costs are a threat to stability and prosperity of American [[Page S2174]] businesses of all size, to our farmers, and to our consumers. We live now in an interconnected world--a global economy--and advances in technology and transportation have brought that world closer and closer together. We have a global economy. That is why it is so important to have rules-based trading systems that have been in place since World War II, and it is the bedrock of a global economy. That is to have rules. Rules-based trade is essential to have predictable and stable trade and promoting economic growth and development and global cooperation.”
“Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the important role that Congress plays in ensuring our economy remains strong, and very important for the American people, to lower costs. That is why today I am inducing legislation by myself and Senator Grassley. Congress has a duty to ensure that our country remains competitive and leads in the global marketplace. American families rely on our economy for goods and to make ends meet and to provide shelter. American manufacturers rely on an economy to maintain resilient supply chains, keep production lines open--and that means aircraft from Everett, WA, or cars and trucks from Detroit, MI. American farmers rely on our economy to keep fields planted-- production in eastern Washington and northern and central Iowa depend on the cost of fertilizer, seed, and equipment.”