Congressional Record, Senate, June 7, 2022: Page S2797
Summary
Page S2797 of the Senate section of the Congressional Record for June 7, 2022, in interleaved columns. One speaker says Democrats' energy policies impose financial pain on families, and adds that more than 80 percent of the world's polysilicon is made in China, as part of an argument against relying on green energy over fossil fuels. Another passage on Ukraine says Ukraine needs more powerful and longer range weapons and that the objective is to help Ukraine defend itself, not to humiliate Putin. A quorum call is suggested and then rescinded by unanimous consent, and a further passage begins on veterans' exposures.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, June 7, 2022: Page S2797.”
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June 7, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S2797
workers? Democrats say your financial more weapons. They need more power- I suggest the absence of a quorum.
pain is the necessary cost to make ful weapons, and they need longer The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
America more to the liking of the rad- range weapons to counter Russia’s of- pore. The clerk will call the roll.
ical environmental left. fensive forces from safety. We should The bill clerk proceeded to call the
The Secretary of Energy has naively not delay the provision of these life- roll.
suggested that green energy will leave saving capabilities. Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask
us in a better strategic position than Our objective is not to humiliate unanimous consent that the order for
fossil fuels. Well, maybe she is not Putin but to help Ukraine defend itself. the quorum call be rescinded.
aware that more than 80 percent of the That is what should guide our deci- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
world’s polysilicon is made in China, sions, not Vladimir Putin’s ego. We pore. Without objection, it is so or-
and about 80 percent of America’s rare should not be self-deterred by fears dered.
earth mineral needs are met by Chinese that Putin will escalate. Those most INFLATION
imports as well. affected by the risk of escalation are Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, the
This is why it is such a joke for the the Ukrainians, and they are certainly White House has apparently decided to
administration to misuse the Defense not deterred. They are fighting for spend June focusing on the economy.
Production Act to prop up solar panel their lives, and Putin is already indis- President Biden kicked things off
manufacturers. They will just end up criminately leveling their cities. with an op-ed in the Wall Street Jour-
subsidizing Chinese suppliers upstream. Those concerned with escalation con- nal entitled ‘‘My Plan for Fighting In-
Our stockpiles of actual military re- sider what Putin will do to their cities flation.’’
quirements, like Javelin missiles and if he is not stopped by Ukraine. But Before he gets to the actual ‘‘plan,’’
essential munitions, are being de- some of Ukraine’s supporters here in though, the President spends the first
pleted. Production of critical inputs, the West have yet to learn the lesson. half of the op-ed touting his supposed
like energetics and solid rocket mo- Some of our wealthiest NATO members economic successes. As usual, he takes
tors, is backed up months and even have dragged their feet in credit for the economy’s recovery from
years. But instead of using the Defense greenlighting the sort of military as- COVID-related woes, even though the
Production Act for our Nation’s de- sistance our eastern flank allies have recovery was well underway before he
fense, the President is using it to indi- delivered willingly and at a tremen- became President and was a natural re-
rectly line China’s pocket. dous cost. Some eastern flank partners sult of the economy reopening after
Washington Democrats are hostile to have also welcomed millions of Ukrain- COVID shutdowns.
the kinds of domestic mining and drill- ian refugees into their countries. And He touts job creation figures without
ing that we will need to produce any there is more that wealthy European mentioning the fact that businesses are
kind of energy here at home, even countries can do to help provide mili- struggling to find workers to fill jobs.
green energy. tary, economic, and humanitarian re- He touts the number of new small busi-
Last year, House Democrats proposed lief in this time of crisis. ness applications in 2021 without men-
a literal dirt tax—dirt tax—that would Here at home, the Biden administra- tioning that small business optimism
crush domestic minerals and rare earth tion’s hemming and hawing and self-de- is at its lowest level since April 2020 at
mining. They are so opposed to domes- terrence has slowly, incrementally the height of the pandemic shutdowns.
tic mining, including for critical and given way to a more competent policy, And he mentions ‘‘millions of Ameri-
rare earth minerals, Democrats lit- but it has come attached to utterly in- cans getting jobs with better pay,’’
erally tried to tax—listen to this—they coherent public messaging. while leaving out the fact that infla-
wanted to tax dirt. Tax dirt. The Biden administration should tion continues to outstrip wage
So, look, this doesn’t have to be this clarify that it will continue to provide growth, meaning that, on average,
way. The American people know ex- Ukraine with long-range rockets so it Americans are experiencing a de facto
actly what we need: an all-American can defend itself—defend itself—from pay cut.
domestic energy strategy, crude oil re- massive military barrages that are In all, he spends multiple paragraphs
sponsibly drilled in America, natural being fired from Ukrainian territory. attempting to convince Americans that
gas responsibly fracked in America, The administration should clarify the economy is thriving, which I have
and more minerals and high-tech com- whether it will provide anti-ship mis- to think feels pretty meaningless to
ponents responsibly mined in America. siles so Ukraine can target Russian the millions of Americans struggling
Democrats have a different plan: less threats to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports with massive increases in the cost of
production and higher prices. And and the critical export of Ukraine’s gas, groceries, and other everyday
Americans are paying for it literally grain harvest. Putin is weaponizing goods.
every day. global food shortages, and we can and In fact, a poll released yesterday
UKRAINE should help the Ukrainians do some- found that just 27 percent of Americans
Mr. President, now on a related mat- thing about it. Doing so will send a sig- believe they have a good chance of im-
ter, last month, by an overwhelming nal to hesitant partners that they, too, proving their standard of living, and it
bipartisan margin, the Senate approved should be providing Ukraine with these is no wonder. The President can talk
a package of urgent assistance for critical—critical—capabilities. about his supposed economic achieve-
Ukraine. Then, over the Memorial Day But reluctance to get Ukraine what ments all he wants, but that means lit-
State work period, our friends on the it needs is particularly baffling when tle to Americans who have seen their
frontlines marked their 100th day of re- you consider what a Russian victory disposable income eaten up by price
sisting the latest stab of Russian ag- would mean for our own national secu- hikes or whose raise failed to keep
gression. rity interest. Letting a vibrant, West- even pace with the increase in the cost
As colleagues and I can attest from ern-facing democracy fall into Russian of living.
our visit with President Zelenskyy and control would send the price of our own And, of course, the President com-
his team in Kyiv, the people of Ukraine security operations on the continent pletely omits the fact that it was his
continue to display incredible resil- literally through the roof. It would put economic plans that helped create our
ience and incredible bravery. Every America’s closest allies and trading current inflation crisis in the first
day, brave Ukrainian soldiers pay the partners one border closer to an auto- place. When President Biden took of-
ultimate sacrifice to defend the sov- cratic bully. And half a world away, it fice, inflation was at 1.4 percent, well
ereignty of their democratic country. would tell other bullies, like the Chi- within the Federal Reserve’s target in-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
Every day, innocent Ukrainians are nese Communist Party, that lawless flation rate of 2 percent. Today, it is at
suffering under Russia’s brutal and in- conquest of their neighbors isn’t just 8.3 percent, near a 40-year high.
discriminate assault. possible; it is actually permitted. And how did we get from there to
Over a hundred days of war, If America and our allies aren’t will- here? In substantial part, via the Presi-
Ukraine’s resolve has remained quite ing to do everything we can to help dent’s so-called American Rescue Plan.
firm. Can the same be said of the West? Ukraine win before it is too late, we Democrats’ massive partisan spending
As Russia pumps more combat power will face costly, outsized consequences spree flooded the economy with unnec-
to the front, Ukraine’s soldiers need quite soon. essary government money, and the
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S2798 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 7, 2022
economy overheated as a result. But might wish it were otherwise, the fact border security and immigration en-
that is not something the President of the matter is that clean energy tech- forcement have helped create an un-
mentions when he talks about fighting nology has simply not advanced to the precedented immigration crisis on the
inflation. point where we can replace all tradi- southern border.
So what is the President’s so-called tional energy resources with renew- But from the President’s attitude
plan to fight inflation? ables. And pretending—pretending that you barely even know that there is a
Well, after spending half the op-ed we don’t need gas and oil—or discour- problem, much less one that he has a
touting his supposed economic suc- aging American oil and gas production particular responsibility to address.
cesses, the President finally gets to the will only result in higher energy prices His hostile attitude toward American
plan part, and the first part of his for American consumers. energy production helped drive up gas
three-part plan involves having some- If the President really wanted to re- prices and left families struggling—
one else address inflation. Controlling duce gas prices and ‘‘boost the produc- struggling—to fill their cars. Yet the
inflation, the President says, is pri- tive capacity of our economy over President is ready to push off responsi-
marily the job of the Federal Reserve, time,’’ as he said in his op-ed, he would bility for conventional energy produc-
and he is going to leave them alone to embrace American energy production, tion to other nations, leaving our Na-
do that job. including conventional energy produc- tion less secure and even more vulner-
The next part of the President’s plan tion. able to price spikes.
involves things like fixing broken sup- Instead, he is doing the opposite. He The President closes his op-ed by
ply chains and boosting the productive continues to discourage domestic pro- noting:
capacity of our economy over time. duction of conventional energy sources The economic policy choices we make
Now, I am a big supporter of improv- that Americans rely on. And the result today will determine whether a sustained re-
ing our supply chains, which is why I is likely to be continued high energy covery that benefits all Americans is pos-
have introduced the Ocean Shipping prices well into the future. sible.
Reform Act, which, hopefully, will pass Finally, the President turns to the Well, the President is right about
the House of Representatives and head third part of his plan to fight inflation, that. Unfortunately, it is pretty clear
to the President’s desk soon. But given and that is reducing the deficit. Unfor- that the economic policy choices that
that the President has so far dem- tunately, it is a little hard to take the he is making are wrong.
onstrated little progress in addressing President seriously on this issue. The I yield the floor.
supply chain challenges, I am not hold- President touts a Congressional Budget I suggest the absence of a quorum.
ing my breath waiting for the White Office prediction that the deficit will The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms.
House to take action. fall by $1.7 trillion this year. ROSEN). The clerk will call the roll.
I am also a big fan of boosting the What the President doesn’t mention The bill clerk proceeded to call the
productive capacity of our economy. is that the reason this year’s projected roll.
My concern is that the President fails deficit drop looks so substantial is be- Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I
to give any examples of how he might cause Democrats inflated the deficit ask unanimous consent that the order
actually do that. He mentions high gas last year with their American Rescue for the quorum call be rescinded.
prices, but instead of talking about Plan spending spree. Of course, the def- The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
ways to address high energy prices by icit will look lower this year without a objection, it is so ordered.
unleashing American energy produc- massive $1.9 trillion piece of legislation PACT ACT OF 2021
tion, he pivots to touting his release financed entirely with deficit spending. Mr. TESTER. Madam President,
from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, And I am not getting my hopes up today is an important day. This is the
a highly temporary band aid that did about future deficit drops, since many day that we are going to take up toxic
next to nothing to address the cause of Democrats still want to use reconcili- exposure in the U.S. Senate. It is a day
high gas prices, except for briefly caus- ation rules to force through another that, quite frankly, should have been
ing their rise to what are record highs. big, party-line Democrat spending bill. two decades ago, three decades ago,
He also claims Congress can help by This one is $5 trillion. If they come up five decades ago, but we are where we
passing his clean-energy tax credits with a proposal that is anything like are.
and investments—which he says would their original Build Back Better pro- The bill we are going to be consid-
result in a $500 decrease in utility bills posal, we will undoubtedly be looking ering is the SFC Heath Robinson Hon-
for American families. First, nothing at more deficit spending. oring Our PACT Act. This bill is the
about the President’s clean-energy tax One news outlet had this to say about most comprehensive toxic exposure
credits is likely to drive down energy President Biden’s op-ed and his plan to package for veterans Congress has ever
prices, especially in the near term, and reduce the deficit: considered and hopefully I can say has
Americans can’t afford to wait. Is it really a ‘plan’ when the President ever delivered. It has literally been
In fact, for Americans to take advan- points fingers? While the president’s op-ed years in the making.
tage of some of these credits, they purports to lay out a plan for addressing in- I am especially proud of this bill be-
would need to spend more money—on flation, a close read shows that he actually cause it addresses decades of inaction
an electric car, for example—which is seems to be pushing the burden off on others and failure by our government to do
how the administration suggests Amer- . . . the right thing by the men and women
icans deal with these historic gas That is a fair assessment. Unfortu- who have served this country in uni-
prices. nately, it is pretty par for the course form and stood in harm’s way.
And the President’s claim that his for President Biden. He is happy to I want to thank my friend and rank-
energy tax credits and investments take credit for positive economic num- ing member of the Senate Veterans’ Af-
would decrease utility bills for Amer- bers even when he had nothing to do fairs Committee, JERRY MORAN, for
ican families by $500 is 100 percent with them, but when it comes to tak- being able to work together across the
false. ing responsibility for a situation, he is aisle to deliver what is truly a bipar-
And you don’t have to take my word frequently nowhere to be found. tisan bill that will give veterans of all
for it. The Washington Post Fact He won’t acknowledge that his own eras the benefits that they have earned
Checker column gave the President’s economic proposal, the American Res- but maybe even more importantly, the
claim four—four Pinocchios—a rating cue Plan, helped create our inflation benefits that they deserve.
that the Post reserves for, and I quote, crisis in the first place. Indeed, he As chairman of the Senate Veterans’
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
‘‘whoppers.’’ largely ignored the inflation crisis Affairs Committee, there have been few
And if the President has the idea until it started to become absolutely issues as important as this one is to
that his tax credits can somehow magi- necessary for him to address it, if he me. It has been a top priority of mine
cally move the United States to a place wanted to survive politically. since I first came to Congress and
that we can abandon gas and oil over- And he has displayed a similar lack started hearing from veterans, their
night, well, he has another thing com- of ownership of crises on his watch. families, their advocates, and veterans
ing. No matter how much Democrats The actions he has taken to weaken service organizations about exposures
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