Congressional Record, Senate — March 2, 2022, S923
Summary
This is S923 and S924 of the Congressional Record, Senate, March 2, 2022, with interleaved columns. A Senate Democratic speaker concludes remarks thanking President Biden for his State of the Union Address, and the Senate resumes consideration of H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, with Schumer for Peters amendment No. 4955 pending. Under the heading State of the Union Address, Mr. McConnell and Mr. Thune criticize the speech on Ukraine, inflation, energy, and the southern border, with the views attributed to the speakers. Mr. McConnell also delivers a Tribute to Angie Schulte, a long-time member of his State office staff who is retiring after a 40-year career.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Cite this document
“Congressional Record, Senate — March 2, 2022, S923.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-03-02-crec-2022-03-02-pt1-pgs923-2-02e483fafa/
, SHA-256 e8bdd44bbb598072a30e842efbf2d8158d9562ec438447f673ab50addb39e35c.Full text
March 2, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S923
the Presidency. He didn’t shy away were not just insufficient; they were manager, and her second tour of duty
from our challenges but, rather, ad- basically nonexistent. has been a huge success.
vanced an optimistic and unifying plan The President spoke for over an hour I have known Angie for 40 years now.
for how to meet the moment. but only mentioned China twice. Nei- I have watched her master a wide vari-
Senate Democrats will continue ther time had anything to do with na- ety of roles. She is an integral part of
working with the President to pre- tional security or military moderniza- my State office. She keeps all of us on
cisely move our country forward on tion. The President only mentioned task and on time. But, unfortunately,
lowering costs, on addressing COVID, Iran one time, and it was literally by tomorrow, her second tour of service
and on defending our democracy in this accident. There were zero mentions of will end with a second farewell. Angie
hour of peril. North Korea, zero mentions of the is retiring after decades of hard work
I thank the President for his leader- botched Afghanistan retreat the ad- and phenomenal public service.
ship. Let us continue in our work. ministration originally boasted was a For 12 years, Angie has been the
I yield the floor. ‘‘success.’’ Our 13 servicemembers who steady rudder steering my instate
lost their lives were completely team. If there was a complicated prob-
f
unmentioned until Governor Reynolds lem, she would fix it; a scheduling con-
CONCLUSION OF MORNING took the microphone. And there were flict, she would resolve it; a new staffer
BUSINESS zero mentions of rebuilding the defense needed help growing into her role, she
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Morning budget that President Biden actually would provide it. Angie combines me-
business is closed. ticulous efficiency with a totally
tried to cut last year.
Meanwhile, the President’s speech charming and cheerful demeanor.
f My relationship with Angie actually
tried to skate by the serious kitchen-
LEGISLATIVE SESSION predates my time in the Senate. Her
table concerns that are actually keep-
mother Jeannette was my personnel di-
--- ing families up at night. The President rector for my county administration. I
POSTAL SERVICE REFORM ACT OF talked about ‘‘made in America’’ but was a newly elected Republican in a
2022 keeps fighting against energy inde- heavily Democratic county govern-
pendence. Democrats want us to ‘‘Buy ment who needed all the smarts and all
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under
American’’ but not American oil or the help that I could get. Angie’s moth-
the previous order, the Senate will re-
gas. On President Biden’s watch, we er Jeannette proved invaluable.
sume consideration of H.R. 3076, which
have set a new record for importing In 1982, her daughter Angie came on
the clerk will report.
Russian oil, and we are begging OPEC board as office receptionist. I quickly
The legislative clerk read as follows:
to produce even more, and his energy promoted her, not once but twice. She
A bill (H.R. 3076) to provide stability to vision is to dump huge subsidies into
and enhance the services of the United served as office manager in my Neigh-
States Postal Service, and for other pur-
supply chains that are dominated by borhood Response Office. When I won
poses. China—borrowing from our grandkids statewide in 1984, Angie was one of my
to build back Beijing. first hires.
Pending: The President tried yet again to re- With the same vigor that helped Lou-
Schumer (for Peters) amendment No. 4955, vive the zombie spending plans which a isville residents settle property dis-
to modify the deadline for the initial report
bipartisan majority of Senators have putes and parking tickets, Angie began
on the operations and financial condition of
the United States Postal Service. already killed and buried because they helping Kentuckians across the State
would make inflation even worse. He navigate the morass of Federal Govern-
RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY LEADER
tried to brag about fancy technology ment redtape. Expertise, an eye for de-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Re- tail—Angie grew into the consummate
on our southern border, as if we hadn’t
publican leader is recognized. public servant. Our whole team was
just seen a new record for illegal cross-
STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS overjoyed to welcome Angie back after
ings on his watch.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, last The President’s address was not re- her tenure with Metro United Way, one
night, President Biden gave a State of sponsive to the country’s concerns. He of the Commonwealth’s largest non-
the Union Address that might have needed to pivot, but he didn’t. profits.
worked OK for a popular administra- CNN conducted an instant poll. As Angie is famous for humming and
tion that had been successfully tack- you might expect, it oversampled whistling while she works and for
ling America’s problems and naturally Democrats. Even so, the percentage throwing extravagant birthday parties
earning high marks, but that is not the who gave the President’s speech high for her colleagues. She is unfailingly
reality in which we live. marks was the lowest they have seen in upbeat. She has a permanent positive
Democrats spent the last 12 months 15 years. attitude and, boy, does she get results
making major and painful policy er- Iowa’s hugely successful Governor, for Kentucky.
rors. The public overwhelmingly dis- Kim Reynolds, offered the clearest pos- As you can see, it has been an honor
approves. President Biden didn’t need sible contrast. She spoke for the work- to have Angie’s talents on our team. I
to stay the course and rehash a scat- ing families who are suffering under am just grateful that when her sterling
tered wish list; he needed to make a Democrat policies. She outlined a com- 40-year career concludes tomorrow, a
dramatic pivot. But he chose not to. monsense Republican vision of sta- 40-year friendship will not.
The President first discussed bility at home, strength abroad, law So, Angie, I wish you every happiness
Ukraine. Everyone agrees with the sen- as you spend more time with Steve,
and order on our streets, and sanity in
timents President Biden expressed, but with Kathleen and Becca, and with
our public schools.
the sentiments are not enough. The November is just months away. If those grandkids, Grant, Logan, and
President articulated no meaningful President Biden does not correct Elizabeth.
I am eternally grateful for your out-
new steps, no specific plan. He made no course sharply and quickly, the Amer-
standing good work.
explicit commitment to keep flowing ican people may correct course for him. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
weapons, intelligence, and advanced TRIBUTE TO ANGIE SCHULTE The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
capabilities into Ukraine as long as the Mr. President, now on an entirely dif- clerk will call the roll.
Ukrainians need them, nor did he ex- ferent matter, one of the occupational The legislative clerk proceeded to
plain why his administration was slow hazards of Senate service is having to call the roll.
to provide lethal assistance in the first say goodbye to truly remarkable staff
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask
place. Instead, the President focused on professionals. unanimous consent that the order for
trying to claim credit for the remark- I have already been through this the quorum call be rescinded.
able European and worldwide response rodeo with Angie Schulte. All the way The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
that his administration did not foresee, back in 1988, this dedicated caseworker objection, it is so ordered.
let alone orchestrate. left my office for the nonprofit sector, STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
Apart from Ukraine, the President’s but back in 2010, I leapt at the chance Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, last
other remarks on our dangerous world to hire Angie back as my State office night, President Biden delivered his
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G02MR6.004 S02MRPT1
S924 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 2, 2022
State of the Union Address. While the lacks sufficient resources to deal with Yes, that was the big vote this
President tried to put a positive spin this never-ending border surge. But it week—legislation to remove nearly
on things, the truth of the matter is is deeply concerning. There are 200,000 every State-level restriction on abor-
the United States is not thriving under people entering our country without tion, despite the fact, I might add, that
Democratic control. any security check or vetting, raising the majority of the American people
On the economic front, of course, the risk of drug traffickers, criminals, support restrictions on abortion. But
Americans are struggling under the or even terrorists finding their way that doesn’t matter to Democrats. If
burden of the worst inflation in 40 into our communities. the Planned Parenthood wing of the
years. There are Americans raising But perhaps the most concerning party wants a vote on unrestricted
families today who had not yet been thing is that a full year after this mas- abortion on demand, that is what it
born the last time inflation was this sive surge began, the President gen- gets.
bad. erally continues to act as if this border In yet another example of just how
Under Democratic control, Ameri- crisis doesn’t exist. He is apparently far the Democratic Party has run to
cans have seen their standard of living unaware of or can’t be bothered to deal the left and just how disconnected
decline as they face massive increases with the real security risk that this Democrats have become, last week,
in the price of basic necessities from represents for our country. John Kerry, who serves as President
groceries to gas. Inflation is so bad The President did allude to securing Biden’s climate chief, expressed his
that despite wage increases in 2021, the border last night—something he hope that war with Ukraine would be
Americans saw a de facto pay cut. does periodically—but given his track averted because of the carbon emis-
After months of ignoring soaring infla- record, I am not holding my breath. In sions such a war would create and how
tion numbers, the President and con- fact, he hasn’t even visited it nor has the war might distract from climate
gressional Democrats have at last been the Vice President, for that matter. change.
forced to start talking about inflation. When it comes to the world stage, You can’t make it up. At the time of
Unfortunately, it has become clear things are a little better. The Presi- his remarks, Russia was on the verge of
they still don’t understand why this in- dent’s first year in office was distin- invading a sovereign nation—and pos-
flation disaster happened and how their guished by his disastrous withdrawal sibly condemning an entire country to
massive government spending spree— from Afghanistan, which weakened our Soviet oppression—and a key member
the so-called American Rescue Plan national security, diminished our
of the President’s administration was
Act—helped create this crisis. ‘‘The standing with our allies, and resulted
worried about how the war might dis-
American Rescue Plan helped working in our abandoning thousands of Af-
tract from climate change.
people—and left no one behind,’’ the ghans who had worked with us and
I am a longtime supporter of clean
President said in his speech last night. whom we had promised to protect.
energy, but we have a big problem
Currently, we are facing another
‘‘It worked.’’ ‘‘It worked,’’ he said. If when members of our country’s leader-
international crisis—Russia’s
President Biden believes that, I have ship are looking at the imperialist
unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. While
some oceanfront property in South Da- takeover of a sovereign nation, and
this is a crisis of Vladimir Putin’s
kota to sell him. their biggest concern is not human life
making, President Biden was slow to
The truth of the matter is that work- and human freedom but carbon emis-
move weapons and resisted imposing
ing Americans are struggling right now sions.
sanctions before Russia attacked. I
in large part due to the American Res- But it is another sign of just how ide-
hope that in the days to come, the
cue Plan. The American Rescue Plan ological the Democratic Party has be-
President will stand strong against
Act was not a targeted COVID relief come. Nothing—nothing—is allowed to
Russian aggression and not hesitate to
bill. It was a massive, unnecessary come between the Democratic Party
impose any additional sanctions that
spending spree that sent too much gov- and its far-left agenda.
may be necessary to isolate Putin and
ernment money into the economy, and, President Biden made some nods to-
his cronies and to halt the Russian ad-
predictably, the economy overheated ward bipartisanship last night, but it
vance.
as a result. As I said, the United States is not remains to be seen whether Democrats
I am glad that Democrats are start- thriving under Democratic control. A and the President are capable of set-
ing to acknowledge our inflation crisis, big reason for that is because the ting aside their far-left agenda to ad-
but it would be nice to see them recog- President and congressional Democrats dress the priorities facing this country.
nize how it actually came about and have had one thing on their minds And given some of the measures the
commit to not repeating their mis- since taking office and that is imple- President proposed last night, I have
takes in the future. menting a wide-ranging, far-left social- my doubts.
Inflation is not the only domestic ist agenda. But I hope—I hope for the sake of our
crisis that we have been facing on Democrats’ lack of leadership on the Nation—the Democrats will rethink
Democrats’ watch. Our Nation is also big issues facing our country and our their evermore rigid allegiance to the
experiencing a border crisis that has world has been striking. I think the far left and instead work with Repub-
resulted in a security, enforcement, truth is that Democrats have seen licans in a bipartisan fashion.
and humanitarian nightmare. Almost those big issues as distractions from The American people deserve better
from the day the President took office, their real goal in taking office, and than what Democrats have given them
we have seen a massive surge in at- that is implementing that far-left over this past year.
tempted illegal immigration across our agenda. While inflation spiked and I yield the floor.
southern border, and there is no end in then spiked again, Democrats were f
sight. AWOL. They were focused on passing a
In January, the Border Patrol en- PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL
massive tax-and-spending spree that DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER
countered more than 150,000 individuals would unquestionably make our infla-
illegally trying to cross our southern 8 OF TITLE 5, UNITED STATES
tion problem even worse.
border, the highest January number in CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED
And when that failed, they turned
more than 20 years. These numbers, of BY THE CENTERS FOR MEDI-
their focus to a Federal takeover of
course, only reflect individuals the election law that they hoped would CARE & MEDICAID SERVICES RE-
Border Patrol has been able to appre- give them an advantage in the Novem- LATING TO ‘‘MEDICARE AND
hend. A Department of Homeland Secu- MEDICAID PROGRAMS; OMNIBUS
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
ber elections.
rity official recently stated that more This week, as Vladimir Putin contin- COVID–19 HEALTH CARE STAFF
than 200,000 individuals have success- ued to pursue his apparent dream of re- VACCINATION’’
fully evaded apprehension since Octo- constituting the Soviet Union by push- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
ber and have disappeared—dis- ing further into Ukraine, Democrats HICKENLOOPER). Under the previous
appeared—into our country, more than took a vote on, of all things, legisla- order, the Senate will proceed to con-
200,000 individuals. It is not surprising. tion to remove virtually all State-level sideration of S.J. Res. 32, which the
The Border Patrol is stretched thin and restrictions on abortion. clerk will report.
VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Mar 03, 2022 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G02MR6.006 S02MRPT1
File and source
- File
- CREC_crec-2022-03-02_crec-2022-03-02-pt1-pgs923-2.pdf
- Size
- 231,735 bytes
- SHA-256
- e8bdd44bbb598072a30e842efbf2d8158d9562ec438447f673ab50addb39e35c
- Original
- www.govinfo.gov