Congressional Record, Senate, April 5, 2022: Budget Proposal, Page S1959
Summary
A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated April 5, 2022, at page S1959. Mr. Thune, under the heading Budget Proposal, says the President's budget priorities are an expanded Federal Government, a diminished national defense, higher gas prices and an open border. He says the $1.9 trillion spending spree signed in March of 2021 helped create the worst inflation in 40 years, that the budget's supposed defense increase could turn out to be a spending cut once inflation is counted, and that the deficit reduction the President would like to take credit for is partly the result of the end of temporary COVID spending measures. The remarks are his own.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, April 5, 2022: Budget Proposal, Page S1959.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-04-05-crec-2022-04-05-pt1-pgs1959-7e7a6b0406/
, SHA-256 211c97735132cd9fa7d132ac84f7f909dfdaf5e7a897373ee5588ea1eb60a2ad.Full text
April 5, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S1959
I yield the floor. sis by sending a lot of unnecessary gov- talking a lot about deficit reduction—
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- ernment money into the economy via both the deficit reduction he has sup-
ator from South Dakota. the so-called American Rescue Plan. posedly created and the deficit reduc-
BUDGET PROPOSAL The President’s budget would essen- tion his budget will supposedly
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, if a tially do the same thing, which means produce.
budget is a set of priorities, here are our already serious inflation crisis But the actual numbers will, again,
the President’s: an expanded Federal could get even worse. tell a very different story. The deficit
Government, a diminished national de- I mentioned the big spending in- reduction the President would like to
fense, higher gas prices, and an open creases in the President’s budget. But take credit for is partly the result of
border. Those are the priorities re- what I actually meant are the big non- the end of temporary COVID spending
flected in the budget the President re- defense spending increases because, measures, which were scheduled to end
leased last week, which contained pret- while on paper it may look like the whether the President lifted a finger or
ty much what you would expect—more President is hiking defense spending, not. Our current deficit would have
taxes, more spending, more borrowing, his supposed funding increase would be been a lot lower if the President hadn’t
and, in all likelihood, more inflation as effectively canceled out by inflation. decided that we needed a partisan $1.9
a result. When you take into account Demo- trillion spending spree last year, a
Big taxes and big spending have been crats’ historic inflation, it turns out spending spree entirely—entirely—
the agenda for President Biden since he President Biden’s supposed defense made up of deficit spending.
took office. After signing a $1.9 trillion spending increase could actually turn When it comes to the President’s 2023
spending spree in March of 2021 that out to be a spending cut. Even in the budget, the administration claims
helped create the worst inflation in 40 best-case scenario, his budget would ‘‘deficits under the budget policies
years, President Biden spent much of leave defense spending essentially flat, would fall to less than one-third of the
last year pushing for still more spend- which would leave our military dan- 2020 level the President inherited.’’
ing to fund his vision of an expanded gerously underfunded. That is a big The key phrase there is ‘‘the 2020
Federal Government. problem. level the President inherited.’’ And 2020
In his 2023 budget, it is just more of In a rapidly evolving threat environ- saw a huge but temporary surge in gov-
the same. The President’s budget ment, the last thing we can afford is a ernment spending to deal with the
would increase average yearly spending self-inflicted defeat from underfunding onset of the COVID crisis.
by 66 percent as compared to the aver- our military. Given Russia’s war of ag- As a result, it is grossly deceptive to
age of the last 10 years. Sixty-six per- gression in Ukraine and threats to take the 2020 deficit as a baseline. A
cent—that is a staggering spending in- NATO, an increasingly aggressive more honest assessment of the pros-
crease. Yearly Federal spending under China, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, North pects for deficit reduction under the
the Biden budget would average $7.3 Korea’s uptick in missile tests, and the President’s budget would look at pre-
trillion. To put that in perspective, the Taliban taking over in Afghanistan, COVID deficits as a baseline and com-
total average spending in 2019 was $4.4 among other things, President Biden pare the President’s future deficits to
trillion. should be taking national defense those, but that wouldn’t suit the Presi-
How is the President going to pay for
spending at least as seriously as do- dent’s purposes.
this, if he even can? Taxes, a lot of Now that it has become apparent
mestic spending, but he is not.
taxes—‘‘the biggest tax increase in his-
The Biden budget proposal would that the American people are not, in
tory in dollar terms,’’ according to
leave the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, fact, thrilled by far-left Democratic
Bloomberg.
The President, of course, attempts to Air Force, and Space Force under- governance, the President is eager to
sell the tax hikes he is proposing as equipped and undermanned and put our portray himself as a moderate—hence
something that won’t affect ordinary defense planning on a dangerously in- his inflated claims of deficit reduction.
sufficient trajectory. It is the same reason the President is
Americans. That couldn’t be more
wrong. The President’s budget also fails to touting his supposed spending hike on
That corporate tax hike that he adequately address border security and national defense while conveniently
keeps pushing—one study estimates immigration enforcement. omitting the fact that when you figure
that 31 percent of the corporate tax is Almost since the day the President in real inflation, the spending hike
borne by consumers. Another big por- took office, we have been experiencing may actually be a spending cut.
tion of it is borne by labor, otherwise an unprecedented flood of illegal immi- No matter how the President tries to
known as ordinary, hard-working gration across our southern border. In dress it up, his fiscal year 2023 budget
Americans. fiscal year 2021, the Border Patrol en- is more of the same far-left priorities—
Higher prices, fewer jobs, lower sala- countered more than 1.7 million indi- more taxes, more unnecessary spend-
ries—we can expect to see all that and viduals attempting to cross our south- ing, and more economic pain for the
more if the President hikes taxes on ern border, the highest number ever re- American people.
companies. And I haven’t even men- corded. We have had 12 straight months And I hope, I hope my Democratic
tioned the fact that a corporate tax of border encounters in excess of colleagues will think twice before
hike may end up hurting private pen- 150,000, and the surge is likely to even foisting this budget onto hard-working
sions in the value of American’s get worse now that the President has Americans.
401(k)s. rescinded the title 42 border policy to I yield the floor.
Then there are the tax hikes on con- immediately deport individuals ille- I suggest the absence of a quorum.
ventional energy companies, the com- gally attempting to cross the border. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
panies that produce the oil and gas What is the President’s answer? clerk will call the roll.
that Americans use to heat their Well, $150-million cut to the U.S. Im- The senior assistant legislative clerk
homes and to drive their cars. Increas- migration and Customs Enforcement proceeded to call the roll.
ing taxes on fossil fuel companies to next year. That is right. We are experi- Mr. MARKEY. Madam President, I
the tune of tens of billions of dollars is encing an unprecedented surge of ille- ask unanimous consent that the order
pretty much guaranteed to discourage gal immigration, and the President’s for the quorum call be rescinded.
the additional energy production we budget would cut funding to Immigra- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
need to drive down gas prices. Iron- tion and Customs Enforcement. objection, it is so ordered.
ically, the proposals to go after tradi- Perhaps the most outrageous thing NOMINATION OF KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
tional American energy production about the President’s budget is the way Mr. MARKEY. Madam President, I
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
come from the same administration he misrepresents it. He is now trying rise to speak in support of the nomina-
that is releasing oil from the Strategic to portray himself as somewhat fis- tion of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson
Petroleum Reserve to deal with high cally responsible, as if a 66 percent to serve as an Associate Justice of the
gas prices. You can’t make this up. higher yearly average spending than U.S. Supreme Court. When confirmed,
Then there is inflation. Democrats the last 10 years could be considered Judge Jackson, who currently serves
helped create our current inflation cri- fiscally responsible. The President is on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
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