Congressional Record, Senate — March 15, 2022, S1162

Summary

This is S1162 of the Congressional Record, Senate, March 15, 2022, with interleaved columns of floor remarks. An unnamed speaker urges the FDA to act on e-cigarette applications. Under the heading American Rescue Plan, Mr. Thune states that the first anniversary of the American Rescue Plan arrived one day after the release of February's inflation numbers, which he says marked the worst inflation since January of 1982, with February inflation of 7.9 percent. Mr. Thune argues that the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan helped cause inflation, quoting former Obama administration economists, and states that the President said the government spending was not the reason, with the views attributed to Mr. Thune.

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“Congressional Record, Senate — March 15, 2022, S1162.” Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-03-15-crec-2022-03-15-pt1-pgs1162-b31ce470f5/, SHA-256 69231363756042fa70a83d07177b363e43906ebe3345eadff0b5ccf53e2ed91b.

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S1162 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 15, 2022
Last week, I led a bipartisan letter sistance far in excess of anything that those items, including an 8.4-percent
with Senator ROMNEY, Republican of was needed, and the list goes on. increase in the price of baby food and
Utah, and 13 other Senators saying to Despite being billed as essential an 11-percent increase in the cost of
the FDA to do three things: finish the COVID relief, a substantial portion of lunch meat.
review of e-cigarettes immediately; re- the money appropriated will not be In a speech to House Democrats last
ject the applications for e-cigarettes, spent until 2022 or later; and despite week, the President suggested that he
especially kid-friendly flavors; and No. the pressing need for workers to fill the was ‘‘sick of’’ people saying that Demo-
3, clear the market of all unapproved e- millions of available job openings, crats’ reckless spending had helped
cigarettes. Democrats created incentives for cause our inflation crisis. This is what
Last month, when the Senate ap- Americans to stay on unemployment the President said last week—Presi-
proved Dr. Califf, I made it clear that I instead of returning to work by extend- dent Biden:
wanted to treat this matter as an ur- ing enhanced unemployment benefits [T]he American people think the reason for
gent requirement and to clear the until September of 2021, long after they inflation is the government is spending more
backlog. Congress has now given him were likely to be needed. So the end re- money. Simply not true.
every tool he needs. Today marks 1 sult of all this was entirely predictable.
Democrats flooded the economy with Well, there are a lot of economists
month of his tenure as Commissioner.
unnecessary government money, and who would disagree with him, includ-
Will he keep his word to me and so
the economy overheated as a result. ing the two Democratic economists I
many others to protect kids from a
And you don’t have to take my word have already quoted. And President
lifetime of addiction? It is time for
for it. Here is what Steve Rattner, who Biden himself actually admitted in No-
FDA to do its job and protect Amer-
served in the Obama administration, vember that his stimulus checks helped
ica’s kids from Big Tobacco and their
had to say in November: increase the demand fueling inflation. I
candy-flavored, sickness-causing e-
The original sin was the $1.9 trillion am sorry that President Biden is sick
cigarettes.
I yield the floor. American Rescue Plan, passed in of having people point this out.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. March. The bill—almost completely But you know who else is sick and
PADILLA). The Republican whip. unfunded—sought to counter the ef- tired of things? The American people.
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN fects of the COVID pandemic by focus- They are sick and tired of facing mas-
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, Friday ing on demand-side stimulus rather sive price increases everywhere they
marked the first anniversary of the so- than on investment. That has contrib- look. They are sick of increasingly
called American Rescue Plan, which is uted materially to today’s inflation having to live paycheck to paycheck as
the Democrats’ partisan $1.9 trillion levels. they wonder just how much further
spending spree. Fittingly, the anniver- Let me repeat that. This, according their grocery prices are going to go up.
sary arrived just 1 day after the release to Steve Rattner, who worked in the They are sick of wondering if they will
of February’s inflation numbers which Obama administration, about infla- be able to pay all of next month’s bills.
marked the worst inflation since Janu- tion—talked about the legislation And whether President Biden likes it
ary of 1982. passed last year by the Democrats. He or not, his so-called American Rescue
Why do I say ‘‘fittingly’’? said that this ‘‘has contributed materi- Plan is responsible for a substantial
Well, because the anniversary of the ally to today’s inflation levels.’’ part of the economic distress that
American Rescue Plan is basically the Or, as another former Obama admin- Americans are now experiencing. And
anniversary of our inflation crisis. istration member put it: while President Biden may be sick of
While it is true that supply chain The United States has had much more in- it, we need to keep talking about this
issues and the reopening of economies flation than almost any other advanced because the President is still—still—
after COVID shutdowns created certain economy in the world. trying to double down on the spending
inflationary pressures, a big part of the That was Jason Furman, an econo- strategy that helped create this infla-
reason for our current inflation crisis mist at Harvard University and former tion crisis in the first place. Just 2
is Democrats’ decision to pass the Obama administration economic ad- weeks ago in the State of the Union
American Rescue Plan last March. viser. Address, the President discussed infla-
The definition of inflation is too He went on to say: tion and outlined his hopes for massive
many dollars chasing too few goods and The difference comes because the United new amounts of government spending,
services, and that is exactly the situa- States stimulus is in a category of its own. spending that would unquestionably
tion Democrats helped create with That, again, from another former take an already bad inflation situation
their so-called American Rescue Plan. Obama administration economist, and make it even worse.
Democrats came into office mere Jason Furman. It is nice that the President and con-
weeks after Congress had passed a Inflation started to rise almost as gressional Democrats are now talking
fifth—fifth—bipartisan COVID relief soon as the ink was dry on the Amer- about our inflation crisis, but it would
bill totaling almost $1 trillion and ican Rescue Plan, and it just keeps ris- be even nicer if they would realize that
meeting, essentially, all current press- ing. February’s 7.9 percent inflation it was their spending that helped trig-
ing COVID needs. Our economy was marks the worst inflation since Janu- ger this crisis in the first place; other-
well on its way to a healthy recovery, ary of 1982—January of 1982—40 years wise, we will continue to see Demo-
and the majority of States had the ago. crats push for ever bigger increases in
money they needed to deal with the And Americans are struggling. Just government spending with correspond-
pandemic. In short, it was abundantly going to the grocery store is taking up ingly devastating price increases for
clear that we were not in immediate a larger and larger portion of the American families.
need of trillions more in government American paycheck. Ground beef is up The American Rescue Plan was a bad
spending. 13 percent; eggs are up 11 percent; cit- deal for Americans. Let’s hope that
But that didn’t stop Democrats. Now rus fruits are up 16 percent; chicken is Democrats do not have the chance to
that they were in charge, they were up 13 percent; milk, up 11 percent; double down on this legislation and
eager to take advantage of the COVID bacon and related products are up 18 make our current inflation crisis even
crisis to begin implementing their Big percent; and on and on and on. worse.
Government vision. So in the name of In fact, one American quoted in the
COVID relief, they pushed through a New York Times noted that bacon is I yield the floor.
massive partisan $1.9 trillion spending now as expensive as filet mignon used Mr. President, I suggest the absence
piece of legislation filled with unneces- to be. Ordinary goods are starting to of a quorum.
sary spending and handouts to Demo- feel like luxury objects as more and The PRESIDING OFFICER. The

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cratic interest groups. Less than 9 per- more families struggle to afford basic clerk will call the roll.
cent of that $1.9 trillion spending bill grocery items. The legislative clerk proceeded to
was earmarked for actually combating A Washington Post columnist noted call the roll.
COVID. The rest went to priorities like that a number of the price increases re- Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask
a $350 billion slush fund for States, a corded for February were the highest unanimous consent that the order for
bailout for union pensions, rental as- annual increases ever recorded for the quorum call be rescinded.

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March 15, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1163
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without first year of his Presidency, and his tion that is making it tougher on man-
objection, it is so ordered. constant pivots away from life-or- ufacturers, a push for higher taxes—
(The remarks of Ms. ERNST per- death problems have destroyed what that is what they are doing. And do
taining to the introduction of S. 3836 little trust the American people had you know what? It makes people less
are printed in today’s RECORD under left in his ability to get the job done. hopeful. It makes people less free. It
‘‘Statements on Introduced Bills and They like to think that the President gives people fewer options.
Joint Resolutions.’’) cares about what happens to them—the See, that is what they are seeing.
Ms. ERNST. I yield the floor. American people, the citizens—but The Democratic agenda is all about
I suggest the absence of a quorum. they haven’t seen any evidence to sug- government control of your life. It is
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The gest that he is thinking about them. an agenda; it is not a vision for this
clerk will call the roll. Last week, I was up on the Plateau in country, for our children, for our
The legislative clerk proceeded to Tennessee, talking to Tennesseans grandchildren that is rooted in oppor-
call the roll. about what is going on here in the Sen- tunity for all.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ate. Most of what they tell me boils There is only one way to undo this
ask unanimous consent that the order down to one simple truth: From where damage and to stop this train that this
for the quorum call be rescinded. they are sitting and the news they are administration is pushing as hard as
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without watching and the papers they are read- they can toward socialism. The Presi-
objection, it is so ordered. ing, it is clear that the Democrats have dent needs to stop the spin. He needs to
GOVERNMENT SPENDING a very aggressive agenda, but they start listening to what people are say-
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, have no vision for the future of this ing, people across the country.
last week, the Senate passed a $1.5 tril- country. They feel like what the Demo- Here is the thing: They don’t want
lion funding bill that the Democratic crats want is control over their daily this President to fail. They don’t want
majority insisted was full of must-pass, life, not a vision of a country filled him to fail. They don’t want this coun-
got-to-have-it, can’t-live-without-it with open doors and opportunity for try to fail, so it means that the Presi-
provisions that the American people all. They are not seeing that out of this dent is going to have to stop bowing to
were demanding. Unfortunately, the re- agenda. all of this environmentalism as a reli-
ality of what made it into that bill Why, they ask me, do their elected gion and climate change as a god. They
doesn’t match the fantasy my Demo- representatives take such drastic need to stop that.
cratic colleagues conjured up for the measures to do things that make their They need to see, yes, we need to
cameras. lives harder, that make their situa- have an Operation Warp Speed, to be
In reality, this $1.5 trillion package tions worse? They can’t figure it out. energy independent, pull everybody to-
was another spending spree. It was Since Joe Biden and the Democrats gether—Federal Agencies, the private
complete with 4,400 earmarks—4,400 took control, inflation has sky- sector.
earmarks. Now, these earmarks don’t rocketed. We have become energy de- We are the United States of America,
have any Federal nexus. They are not pendent on Russia. We have abandoned and if we had the desire, we could do
connected to your military post or not one, but two embassies. We high- this. We could be energy independent
your Federal highway. These are tailed it out of there. Two embassies, once again. We could stand strong. We
things for shopping centers and parks cut and run. Our Border Patrol, they could stand strong against Russia,
and city renovations and—you name are apprehending known terrorists and against Iran, against China and the
it—pet projects. So that is not govern- MS–13 gang members who are coming Chinese Communist Party.
ment funding; that is a Big Govern- into this country. If they are appre- What that is going to require is an
ment windfall that the American peo- hending them, we are getting some but administration and a Democratic
ple simply can’t afford. not all. And now we are hearing about Party that has a vision for the great-
As we all know, an inability to pay Russia going out, going to Iran, saying: ness and goodness of this country.
for these programs has never stopped Let me have your soldiers for hire; let I think that what we have to do is we
this Democratic majority from shoving me have your proxies, the Wagner have to lead the way in saying it is
through their radical and increasingly Group, which is closely aligned with time to show respect for the American
destructive agenda. By their own ad- Vladimir Putin. people, to listen to what they are tell-
mission, the out-of-control spending And all the time, Tennesseans are ing us, and to make certain that we
habits have contributed to decades- saying: Well, what about these terror- stand for this country, standing strong
high inflation. Imagine that. ists trying to come over the southern for future generations.
What we know is that, in Tennessee, border? Are they mercenaries? Are I yield the floor.
I am talking to people every day. They they soldiers for hire? I suggest the absence of a quorum.
can’t afford food and gas and to pay all People are raising these issues. And The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
of their monthly expenses, but for this is all part of what the Democrats clerk will call the roll.
some reason, my Democratic col- have accomplished this year. The bill clerk proceeded to call the
leagues think taxpayers will be happy The American people tolerate quite a roll.
to pay for their pet projects back bit from their government, but one Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask
home—all 4,400 of them. You just can’t thing they won’t accept is a President unanimous consent that the order for
make this stuff up. who shrugs his shoulders, runs from the quorum call be rescinded.
The American people are really con- the podium, who claims to be a victim The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. BEN-
fused by this. They are also completely of circumstance, who is weak-kneed NET). Without objection, it is so or-
appalled by Joe Biden’s refusal to se- and refuses to lead. dered.
cure the border, his refusal to invest in Even former Obama White House of- Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask
American energy independence, and his ficials have come forward begging the unanimous consent to be able to com-
willingness to keep our economy en- Biden administration to stop the spin, plete my remarks.
tangled with the Chinese Communist face reality, show some leadership, The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
Party. Every one of these points wor- deal with the situation. This has to be objection, it is so ordered.
ries them. Yet what really scares them getting embarrassing, even for them. ENERGY
is the President’s refusal to discuss any The American people have spent the Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, as all of
of it: Just don’t talk about it. It will go past year watching Joe Biden abandon America knows, prices at the gas pump
away. Inflation, that is transitory. If the policies that kept the country from are skyrocketing. Over the weekend,

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gas is too expensive, go buy yourself an collapsing under the weight of the pan- the average gas price in Texas exceeded
electric vehicle. This is just so dis- demic. And what has he replaced those $4 a gallon, and we typically have some
respectful of hard-working men and policies with? Mandates, lockdowns of the cheapest gasoline in the country.
women. that have made the country poorer, in- We didn’t even cross that line during
Joe Biden has caused a lot more creased regulation that has stopped oil the great recession of 2008. But we
problems than he solved during the and gas exploration, increased regula- know that gas prices are not the only

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