Congressional Record — Senate, S3245 (July 13, 2022)
Summary
The Congressional Record, Senate, Vol. 168, No. 115, for Wednesday, July 13, 2022. The Senate met at 10:31 a.m., with Ms. Warren assuming the Chair as Acting President pro tempore, and the Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, offered the prayer. Under Recognition of the Minority Leader, Mr. McConnell speaks on inflation, saying the June inflation report showed 9.1 percent annual inflation, another 40-year high, and that core inflation in the United States is more than 2 percentage points higher than in Europe. He criticizes the all-Democratic government and says Democrats are considering what could be the largest tax increase in American history. The remarks are his own.
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“Congressional Record — Senate, S3245 (July 13, 2022).”
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Congressional Record
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117 th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
United States
of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE
Vol. 168 WASHINGTON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2022 No. 115
Senate
The Senate met at 10:31 a.m. and was Senator from the Commonwealth of Massa- Our core inflation rate here in Amer-
called to order by the Honorable ELIZA- chusetts, to perform the duties of the Chair. ica is more than 2 percentage points
BETH WARREN, a Senator from the Com- PATRICK J. LEAHY, higher than in Europe. Inflation is
President pro tempore.
monwealth of Massachusetts. uniquely bad here because our all-
Ms. WARREN thereupon assumed the Democratic government has made
f
Chair as Acting President pro tempore. uniquely bad choices. And now Amer-
PRAYER f ican families are dealing with the fall-
The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY out every single day.
fered the following prayer: LEADER It is no secret how much the Amer-
Let us pray. ican people disapprove of the course
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Washington Democrats have put us on.
Eternal Spirit, grant to this Nation pore. The minority leader is recog-
and to all people a social conscience They say so in poll after poll after poll.
nized. So you might think by now that our
built on the vision of the ancient
f colleagues would be ready to try a dif-
prophets who saw sufficiency for people
and a time when anxiety would be INFLATION ferent approach.
overcome by goodwill. Well, guess again. President Biden
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President,
Lord, hasten the day when the small and his party, fresh off of spending
this morning, this all-Democratic gov-
and weak can make their contributions America into inflation, now want to
ernment produced yet another abso-
alongside the great and powerful. Lead tax-hike us into recession. They are be-
lutely terrible, terrible inflation re-
us to the day when we will see peace hind closed doors playing around with
port. Inflation during the month of
among the nations of the Earth, when what may amount to the single largest
June shattered the experts’ pre-
swords shall be beaten into plowshares. tax increase in American history.
dictions. We are now—listen to this—at
Use the Members of this body to do Tucked inside are exactly the sort of
9.1 percent annual inflation; yet an-
Your will. Let Your glory cover the radical ideas that working families can
other fresh 40-year high, the most out-
Earth as the waters cover the sea. least afford right now.
of-control inflation that American
We pray in Your great Name. Amen. They want a giant tax hike on pass-
families have seen since the early 1980s.
through small businesses, a category—
f Food costs are up more than 10 per-
listen to this—that encompasses 95 per-
cent. Energy costs are up more than 40
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE cent of all businesses in the country—
percent. The costs of the fuel that
95 percent of them. Take it from a con-
The Presiding Officer led the Pledge drives us to work, delivers our goods,
stituent of mine in Mount Sterling,
of Allegiance, as follows: and drives our economy are all up over
KY, who put it this way:
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the 60 percent.
Small business is already in a struggle to
United States of America, and to the Repub- These are staggeringly—stagger-
survive with all the taxes and regulations we
lic for which it stands, one nation under God, ingly—bad numbers. And they were have to deal with. Adding another tax is only
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. fueled directly by the reckless spend- making things worse.
f ing spree that the Democrats rammed
Democrats also want a so-called
through on party lines just last year.
APPOINTMENT OF ACTING ‘‘methane fee’’ that amounts to a big
Remember, right before the $2 tril-
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE new tax hike on domestic natural gas,
lion spending spree, President Biden
while their inflation has pushed Amer-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The said:
ican families’ natural gas prices and
clerk will please read a communication The biggest risk is not going too big . . . electricity costs up through the roof
to the Senate from the President pro it’s if we go too small.
already.
tempore (Mr. LEAHY). The Senate Democratic leader said: If following reckless spending and
The senior assistant legislative clerk I do not think the dangers of inflation, at runaway inflation with a gigantic,
read the following letter: least in the near-term, are very real. painful tax hike sounds like a bad idea
U.S. SENATE, These were gigantic—gigantic— to you, believe me, you are not alone.
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE,
unforced errors. One leading economist Even some House Democrats are light-
Washington, DC, July 13, 2022.
To the Senate: recently said the so-called American ing their hair on fire over what a ter-
Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, Rescue Plan was ‘‘arguably the biggest rible idea these discussions are.
of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby fiscal policy mistake in several dec- One House Democrat from New Jer-
appoint the Honorable ELIZABETH WARREN, a ades.’’ sey is telling reporters that she is ‘‘not
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∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor.
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S3246 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE July 13, 2022
for any type of legislation that raises When the legislative branch actually EXECUTIVE SESSION
taxes . . . especially right now, as my intends to hand over giant chunks of
---
constituents are facing inflation, cost our power to unelected bureaucrats, we
of living [increases] . . . [and] housing make it pretty darn clear. The Obama- EXECUTIVE CALENDAR
prices.’’ Biden EPA had no lawful authority to The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
Well, let me put it this way. When grab control of electricity generation pore. Under the previous order, the
House Democrats from the Northeast all across America. And that is exactly Senate will proceed to executive ses-
start trying to sound more like Ronald what the Supreme Court affirmed last sion to resume consideration of the fol-
Reagan running against Jimmy Carter, month. lowing nomination, which the clerk
you know they have gotten themselves The ruling was a huge win for Amer- will report.
into a fix. ican ratepayers and anybody who The senior assistant legislative clerk
Too bad every single House Democrat wants affordable and reliable energy; read the nomination of Michael S.
except one and every single Senate but it was also a landmark legal vic- Barr, of Michigan, to be a Member of
Democrat voted for the $2 trillion mis- tory for our very system of govern- the Board of Governors of the Federal
take that brought us to where we are. ment. The Supreme Court applied the Reserve System for the unexpired term
The Democrats complaining about in- plain text of the law and reaffirmed of fourteen years from February 1, 2018.
flation today voted in lockstep for the that the unelected administrative state The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
bill that brought us here. And now is not allowed to reach way beyond the pore. The Senator from Ohio.
their answer to picking families’ pock- powers that Congress has actually NOMINATION OF MICHAEL S. BARR
ets once is to now pick the families’ given it. With any luck, this will be Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I
pockets yet a second time. The same part of a sea change that has been a urge my colleagues to join me in sup-
Democrats that spent us into inflation long time coming. porting the nomination of Michael
now want to tax us into recession. Remember a few months ago, a Barr to be a member of the Board of
f young district judge in Florida applied Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
the plain, straightforward text of a tem and the Vice Chair for Super-
U.S. SUPREME COURT statute and overturned the administra- vision.
Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, tion’s illegal and unilateral mask man- His confirmation is expected today,
now on an entirely different matter, date for public transportation. That but we hold votes on these things to
this week, I have been discussing the was the Centers for Disease Control find out for sure. His confirmation will
historic term the Supreme Court just stepping way, way over its boundaries. mean that the Federal Reserve, for the
concluded—the most consequential and And this past January, the Supreme first time in years, will have a com-
pro-Constitution term since Brown Court put the brakes on President
plement of all seven members.
overturned Plessy almost 70 years ago. Biden’s blatantly illegal attempt to
Back in 2015, in one fell swoop, the I credit the Biden administration for
have the Occupational Safety and being aggressive in doing that. I credit
Obama-Biden administration took aim Health Administration, OSHA, force 84
at domestic energy production, harmed the committee, which I chair. The Act-
million American workers to get the ing President pro tempore is a promi-
the separation of powers, and attacked COVID vaccine whether they wanted it
the rule of law. nent member of that committee, Sen-
or not.
Remember, after Americans elected ator WARREN, and I thank her for her
As Justice Gorsuch wrote in concur-
Republicans in 2010 to place a check on work on this. It is a big deal.
rence back then:
the leftwing agenda, President Obama Mr. Barr is a qualified nominee who
The central question we face today is: Who
infamously said he would just ignore decides? The only question is whether an ad-
came out of the Banking, Housing, and
the will of the people and work around ministrative agency in Washington . . . Urban Affairs Committee with strong
Congress. Here was his quote. He said, charged with overseeing workplace safety bipartisan support. Five Republicans,
‘‘I’ve got a pen.’’ He said, ‘‘I’ve got a may mandate the vaccination or regular including Ranking Member TOOMEY,
phone.’’ testing of 84 million people . . . and all 12 Democrats supported his
Thus began a whole series of uncon- Justice Gorsuch continued: nomination. It is clear why. He is a
stitutional power grabs by the execu- Or whether . . . that work belongs to state leading expert with decades of experi-
tive branch, a sort of crime spree and local governments across the country ence in helping to guide and protect
against the Constitution. For example, and the people’s elected representatives in our economy, including having experi-
Congress. ence with financial institutions and fi-
when Democrats could not get harmful
and unpopular environmental restric- On issue after issue, our courts are nancial regulation.
tions through Congress because the beginning to answer that question the He has served this country at the De-
people’s duly elected representatives way the Constitution commands. ‘‘Who partments of Treasury and State as
did not support them, the bureaucrats decides?’’ is the question. The answer: well as at the White House. At the
at the Obama EPA decided to pretend The people decide and the Members of Treasury Department, as Assistant
that some obscure lines in an old law Congress they elect. Secretary for Financial Institutions,
actually gave them enormous sweeping I suggest the absence of a quorum. Mr. Barr played a critical role in re-
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- sponding to the 2008 financial crisis
regulatory powers to manage our econ-
pore. The clerk will call the roll. when Wall Street greed and reckless-
omy which nobody had ever noticed be- The senior assistant legislative clerk
fore. ness crashed our economy.
proceeded to call the roll. I know especially, as I said on the
The EPA effectively wrote and passed Mr. BROWN. Madam President, I ask
a giant piece of legislation, the so- floor, what it did to my community,
unanimous consent that the order for
called Clean Power Plan, as one branch even to my neighborhood. The ZIP
the quorum call be rescinded.
of government acting alone. They tried The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Code in which Connie and I live in
to make law without involving actual pore. Without objection, it is so or- Cleveland, 44105, had more foreclosures
lawmakers. The Obama EPA just up dered. in the first half of 2007 than had any
and decided they could start giving or- ZIP Code in America, and we still live
f
ders and issuing edicts and remake our with that.
country’s electricity grid by brute RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME We passed the Dodd-Frank Wall
force. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Street Reform Act back then. Among
Of course, the pretext was simply pore. Under the previous order, the the many steps the legislation took to
false. leadership time is reserved. prevent another crisis, we created the
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As Justice Scalia once wrote, ‘‘Con- f Vice Chair for Supervision to identify
gress . . . does not alter the funda- and to stay ahead of risks to our coun-
mental details of a regulatory scheme CONCLUSION OF MORNING try’s financial system, like cyber
in vague terms or ancillary provi- BUSINESS threats, volatile cryptocurrency, or the
sions—it does not, one might say, hide The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- climate crisis. We created this job to
elephants in mouse holes.’’ pore. Morning business is closed. hold the biggest banks accountable so
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