Infrastructure (Cong. Rec., July 21, 2021)
Summary
This is S4992 of the Congressional Record, Senate, July 21, 2021, with interleaved columns. Under the heading Infrastructure, a Senate Democratic speaker says that Senators from both sides have worked to finish the infrastructure legislation, urges Republicans to vote to move forward, and says a new report by the chief economist at Moody's analyzed the bipartisan bill and a budget agreement. Under the heading Biden Administration, Mr. McConnell recalls the earlier cloture votes and says the pending vote is a stunt because negotiations are continuing, with the views attributed to the speakers.
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“Infrastructure (Cong. Rec., July 21, 2021).”
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S4992 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 21, 2021
date for the vote and announced it, my ture in the United Arab Emirates than Here is what the Democratic leader
colleagues on both sides have worked in the United States. Meanwhile, mid- said while his side tanked those cloture
very hard on finishing this legislation. dle-class and working Americans have votes last March—March of 2020:
I am grateful for their work. We all watched the American dream fall out The Majority Leader was well aware of
want the same thing here: to pass a bi- of reach as globalization, technology, how this vote would go before it happened,
partisan infrastructure bill. But in and vicious inequalities of income have but he chose to move forward with it any-
order to finish the bill, we first need to sapped much of America’s fundamental way, even though negotiations are con-
tinuing. So who is playing games?
start. promise of equal economic oppor-
So I hope my Republican colleagues tunity. That was the Democratic leader in
will join Democrats this afternoon in We must restore that promise, that March of 2020, in the middle of a na-
voting to move forward on an infra- hope, that American dream. If we want tional emergency.
structure package. As majority leader, Americans to prosper in the 21st cen- That, of course, was a fast-moving
I have every intention of passing both tury, if we want to restore that funda- global crisis, with bipartisan text al-
major infrastructure packages, the bi- mental promise, we need to invest in ready in hand. There was a bill. Yet
Senate Democrats insisted on taking
partisan infrastructure framework and our infrastructure, create jobs, support
their time in the middle of this na-
a budget resolution with reconciliation families, strengthen the backbone of
tional 100-year pandemic. Now, we are
instructions, before we leave for the the middle class, help underserved
talking about long-term infrastructure
August recess. That is the schedule I communities, and rekindle the sunny
investments that will play out over
laid out at the end of June, and that is optimism that has been a hallmark of
many years, but he wants to vote be-
the schedule I intend to stick to. the American spirit for more than two
fore any agreement even exists.
Now, if Senators had any doubt about centuries. So this stunt is set to fail. The
the impact of this important work, I yield the floor. Democratic leader will be free to
they should be assured by a new report I suggest the absence of a quorum.
change his vote and move to reconsider
this morning by the chief economist at The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
whenever a bipartisan product actually
Moody’s, Mark Zandi. Having analyzed pore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk exists.
both the bipartisan bill and the agree- BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
ment by Senate Democrats on the proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I Mr. President, now, on another mat-
Budget Committee, Mark Zandi con- ter, President Biden campaigned on a
cludes that the twin legislative pack- ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded. pledge not to raise income taxes on the
ages will provide a massive boost to vast majority of Americans. But the
the economy and that both—both—are The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. Without objection, it is so or- latest reckless taxing-and-spending
essential. spree that Democrats are cooking up
Specifically, his report says that the dered.
would crush our country with a his-
two bills are ‘‘designed to lift the RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER
toric set of sweeping tax hikes.
economy’s longer-term growth poten- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
Here is one of the targets in their
tial and ease’’—ease—‘‘inflation pres- pore. The Republican leader is recog- crosshairs: Family farms.
sures.’’ Again, despite the sometimes nized. It appears our colleagues’ plan will
hysterical warnings about inflation INFRASTRUCTURE eliminate tax rules that allow family
from Republicans, the chief economist Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, property to be passed down to the next
at Moody’s concludes that those con- today, the Democratic leader appears generation without facing a new dev-
cerns are ‘‘misplaced,’’ ‘‘overdone,’’ to be intent on calling a vote he knows astating tax burden.
and that our two infrastructure bills will fail. For several weeks now, Re- Without the fix in question—the so-
are designed to ‘‘ease’’—his words—‘‘in- publican and Democratic Senators called stepped-up basis for capital
flation pressures.’’ have been working together, trying to gains taxes—scores of family busi-
The report goes on to say that our in- assemble a bipartisan package for our nesses across America will feel a mas-
vestments in infrastructure and social Nation’s infrastructure. sive squeeze.
programs will ‘‘lift productivity and It is an important and a complex sub- In States like mine, family farms
labor force growth’’ and ‘‘direct the ject. They are talking about big drive the rural economy. But as I have
benefits of the stronger growth to projects and big sums of money. They heard from many of my State’s family
lower-income Americans and address are still talking, still working, still ne- farmers, it is operations like theirs
the long-running skewing of the in- gotiating in good faith across the aisle. that are especially—especially—at
come and wealth distribution.’’ But these discussions have yet to con- risk.
In other words, it will help strength- clude. There is no outcome yet, no bi- One Kentucky farmer said his family
en the middle class and those trying to partisan agreement, no text, nothing has worked the same land in Muhlen-
get there and not have all the income, for the Congressional Budget Office to berg County for 150 years. He had
so much of the income, disproportion- evaluate, and, certainly, nothing on hoped—hoped—to one day pass his
ately flowing to the top 1 and 10 per- which to vote, not yet. property along to his children, just like
cents. So, obviously, if the Democratic it was passed along to him. But after
I hope my colleagues are listening to leader tries to force a cloture vote on a generations spent improving and in-
those benefits: long-term economic bill that does not exist, it will fail. vesting in the same farm, he is worried
growth, easing inflation pressures, lift- Around here, we typically write the it could all be gone in the blink of an
ing productivity, strengthening the bills before we vote on them. That is eye.
labor force, reducing income inequal- the custom. Of course, here in the Sen- Another Kentuckian described how
ity. That is what one of the Nation’s ate, a failed cloture vote does not mean her family, like many farmers, is asset
leading economists predicts our two in- no forever. rich but cash poor. If the stepped-up
frastructure bills will achieve. In the middle of the early COVID cri- basis is eliminated, her family could
The report by Moody’s should light a sis, back in March of 2020, with Ameri- lose the home, barns, machinery, and
fire under all of us. I will be sending cans under stay-home orders and finan- fields that have been their life’s work.
the full report to the Senate Demo- cial markets plummeting, Senate The Farm Bureau in my State
cratic conference, and I commend it to Democrats withheld cloture on the warned that what Washington Demo-
my Republican colleagues to read as CARES Act multiple times so they crats are trying to do would penalize
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
well. could continue haggling behind the farmers for wanting—for wanting—to
It has been decades since this Cham- scenes. continue a tradition, which we all de-
ber has made significant stand-alone Now, this was during a real emer- pend upon. If the stepped-up basis is
investment in our Nation’s infrastruc- gency. Every day, every hour, was cru- eliminated, generations of accumu-
ture. We are the largest economy in cial. But Senate Democrats blocked lated work would be ripped—literally
the world, but our infrastructure ranks cloture multiple times until various ripped from the hands of America’s
13th. You would find better infrastruc- details were fine-tuned to their liking. farming families.
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