Congressional Record, Senate, August 2, 2022 — Unanimous Consent Agreement and Inflation Reduction Act
Summary
This Senate section of the Congressional Record for August 2, 2022 (S3842 and S3843) opens with remarks on cryptocurrency, including a letter sent with Senators Warren and Smith to Fidelity Investments about allowing 401(k) plan sponsors to offer plan participants exposure to Bitcoin. Under Unanimous Consent Agreement, Schumer says he and the minority leader have come to an agreement to vote on the PACT Act this evening, with 3 amendment votes at a 60-vote margin and then 60 votes for the bill. Thune, under the heading Inflation Reduction Act, says the Democrats' bill raises taxes and that the Penn Wharton Budget Model found it would not reduce inflation.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, August 2, 2022 — Unanimous Consent Agreement and Inflation Reduction Act.”
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S3842 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 2, 2022
last November. The cost of one Bitcoin And seven of the largest Bitcoin min- treated by the VA like they should
fell from $68,000 to under $21,000. ing companies consume enough energy have been from the very beginning.
And these assets are not only vola- alone to power every single home in So this is good news. It took us a
tile, they are virtually untraceable. Houston. That is just Bitcoin. That while to get here, but I am grateful for
Compare that to an investment like a calculation doesn’t even account for the bipartisan cooperation and support
share of stock—and, yes, there is risk the fossil fuels being burned to produce that will allow us to move forward
in the stock market—or an exchange- other coins, like Dogecoin. today.
traded fund. If you are a retail investor When companies like Fidelity and ce- And a little bit more good news: The
and you buy a couple hundred dollars’ lebrities like Larry David are hawking fact that we can finish PACT today
worth of shares in a company, you an asset class that is unstable, gives us a real opportunity to do the
know you are assuming some risk. untraceable, and pumping untold tons treaties that will allow Finland and
That is the nature of investment. of carbon into our atmosphere, we Sweden to join NATO. And that can
But here is the difference. When you should all have the good sense to step happen tomorrow if we can come to a
buy a stock, under the law, you can back and wrap our heads around this time agreement. I am very hopeful that
find out important information about trillion-dollar industry that is not even that can happen as well.
the company: How many products are old enough today to drive a car. Madam President, I ask unanimous
they selling? How much are they pay- Madam President, I have been in sev- consent that at 4 p.m. today the Senate
ing their executives? What risk does eral meetings with my colleagues on proceed to legislative session and re-
the company foresee? this cryptocurrency. I am by no means sume consideration of the House mes-
You have significantly more informa- an expert. I have tried to learn as much sage to accompany S. 3373, with the
tion and transparency about where as I can, but it is an extremely com- time until 5 p.m. equally divided; fur-
your investment is going. Many ETFs plicated operation. I will tell you this. ther, that it be in order to consider and
even disclose their holdings every day. I fear that we will do something but vote in relation to a Paul motion to
After all, they have to. They are re- not enough. I fear that just a limited concur with amendment No. 5184, a
quired by law. They are regulated by amount of regulation by the Federal Toomey motion to concur with amend-
the Securities and Exchange Commis- Government may convince people that ment No. 5186, and a Blackburn motion
sion. we really have a grip on what is hap- to concur with amendment No. 5185;
With cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin,
pening in this industry. There is risk that at 5 p.m., the Senate vote in rela-
there is no such transparency. They
associated with it that is major. tion to the motions in the order listed;
are decentralized, illiquid, and highly I have had some well-known and very that following disposition of the mo-
speculative. Where are the disclosures? successful individuals in my office, and tions to concur with amendments num-
Where are the consumer protections?
I have asked them—they have made bered 5184, 5186, and 5185, the motion to
In many cases, there are none. Instead
millions of dollars—What about refer and the amendments pending
of encouraging working families to
crypto? Most of them have said: I thereto and the motion to concur with
risk their hard-earned cash into re-
wouldn’t touch it. amendment No. 5148 and the amend-
markably unstable investments, let’s Yet we have got to tell the American ment pending thereto be withdrawn
pump the brakes on the rocket to the people, when it is advertised, when it is and the Senate vote on the motion to
Moon. available, you have got to be careful—
Last Tuesday, I sent a letter, along concur in the House amendment to S.
particularly when it comes to people 3373; that the Paul, Toomey, and
with my colleagues Senators Warren
with limited assets, people with an ad- Blackburn motions and the motion to
and Smith, to Fidelity Investments.
verse situation when it comes to risk, concur be subject to a 60-vote affirma-
They are one of the biggest 401(k) pro-
and people who are putting, literally, tive threshold, with 2 minutes for de-
viders in the world. In April, they made
their savings and their retirement on bate, equally divided, prior to each
a decision that surprised me and,
the line on these investments. vote; and that all votes after the first
frankly, concerned me. Fidelity says That is why I joined my colleagues in
they will soon allow 401(k) plan spon- vote be 10-minute votes; all without in-
writing to Fidelity and asking them to tervening action or debate.
sors to offer plan participants exposure rationalize how this can be part of any
to Bitcoin. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there
401(k) plan. We owe it to the American objection?
Here is the issue. A 401(k) account is
people to provide them the protection Without objection, it is so ordered.
a nest egg. It is a vehicle that tens of
in this industry, as we have in so many Mr. SCHUMER. I yield the floor.
millions of Americans rely on so that,
other areas of investment. It is funda- I suggest the absence of a quorum.
many years from now, they can retire
mental, it is fair, and it is the only way The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
in dignity. And during this period of
to guarantee them that they have some clerk will call the roll.
economic uncertainty, I can’t think of
grip on making investments that could The legislative clerk proceeded to
any reason to expose retirement savers
be in their best interest and might not call the roll.
to new risk. Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask
As we all saw on Super Bowl Sun- be as well.
I yield the floor. unanimous consent that the order for
day—whether it is Matt Damon,
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- the quorum call be rescinded.
LeBron James, or Larry David—there
jority leader. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
is no shortage of options for people who
UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT—S. 3373 objection, it is so ordered.
want to invest in crypto. But retire-
ment accounts must be held to a higher Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
standard, and my hope is that Fidelity have some good news. The minority Mr. THUNE. Madam President,
will live up to its name and meet that leader and I have come to an agree- Democrats dropped the latest version
standard by reversing this decision. ment to vote on the PACT Act this of their tax-and-spending spree last
It is also important to recognize evening. There will be 3 amendment week. And like every previous version,
that, even if you don’t invest in a sin- votes, a 60-vote margin on the Toomey this bill is a bad deal for the American
gle cryptocurrency, we all have a stake amendment, on the Paul amendment, people.
in this industry. Why? Because the and on the Blackburn amendment, and So where should I start? Well, maybe
process for the so-called mining of then 60 votes for the bill. I am very op- with the bill’s title. In true Orwellian
these digital assets consumes jaw-drop- timistic that this bill will pass, so our style, Democrats are calling the bill
ping amounts of energy. As of May, ac- veterans across America can breathe a the Inflation Reduction Act, even
sigh of relief. though the bill would do nothing to re-
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
cording to the Public Broadcasting
System: The treatments that they deserve duce inflation. And you don’t have to
The world’s . . . Bitcoin mining operations
and have needed but have been denied take my word for it.
had an annual energy budget nearly equal to by the VA because of all kinds of legal The nonpartisan Penn Wharton
the entire country of Argentina . . . or all barriers and presumptions will now be Budget Model analyzed the bill and
the tea kettles in England boiling water for gone. Veterans who were exposed to found that the bill would not reduce in-
26 years. the toxic fumes of burn pits will be flation. In fact, the analysis found that
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August 2, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S3843
the Democrats’ bill would contribute Currently, gas prices are 75 percent trol plans would result in 135 fewer new
to inflation through 2024 and have no higher than they were when President drugs through 2039. That is a lot of po-
material impact on inflation in the Biden took office. Electricity prices tentially life-changing and lifesaving
long term. are up. The cost of utility gas service is treatments to lose.
Inflation has hit working Americans way up. And yet Democrats think it is Then, of course, there is Democrats’
hard. Their grocery bills have a good idea to raise taxes on domestic plan to expand Obamacare subsidies to
ballooned. Rents have skyrocketed. oil and gas production. Apparently, higher earning Americans, a move
Filling up their cars costs 75 percent Democrats want our current high en- which would drive up the cost of health
more per gallon than it did when the ergy prices to stick around for the long insurance.
President took office. Their utility term. I could go on.
bills have increased. And the list goes So what are Democrats going to use Most Americans remember the lead-
on. all that tax-hike money for? Well, for up to Democrats’ American Rescue
Families are having to cut back on one thing, they are going to use it to Plan spending spree last March. We
purchases and dig into their savings or fund Green New Deal projects; critical were promised—they were promised—
pull out their credit cards—or in some priorities like monitoring gaps in tree at the time that passing that bill
cases, visit a food bank—to make ends canopy coverage and road equity and would have big benefits for our econ-
meet. funding—funding—for the post office’s omy and for American families. Well,
And what does Democrats’ tax-and- purchase of electric delivery vehicles. we know what actually happened.
spending spree do to help? Nothing. And then there are the multiple slush Democrats’ reckless spending spree
Americans are dealing with the worst funds for Green New Deal projects and helped trigger the worst inflation for
inflation in more than 40 years, and the tax credit for the purchase of a new decades, and American families have
Democrats’ bill does nothing to help electric car or truck. Of course, you suffered as a result.
end our current crisis. will only be able to use the credit if Now we are being asked to swallow a
So what does the bill do? Well, for you can afford to spend somewhere in similar story about the Democrats’ lat-
one thing, it raises taxes. That is right. est spending legislation. This bill will
the neighborhood of $60,000, which is
Our economy has shrunk for each of help our economy, we are told, even
the average price for a new electric ve-
the past two quarters—in fact, by any though we know it would make life
hicle, while we are in the middle of a
common definition we are now in a re- harder for American businesses and
recession.
So it would almost undoubtedly be workers at a time when the economy is
cession—and the Democrats’ bill raises
mostly Americans with higher sala- already contracting. Make no mistake
taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars.
Here is what the Democratic leader about that. This is the second consecu-
ries—and according to the bill, up to
previously had to say about raising tive quarter where we have had nega-
$300,000 per household—who would be
tive economic growth, negative GDP
taxes in a recession. able to make use of this credit. So it is
growth, in our economy.
If we’re in a recession and we’re in a dif- a tax credit to buy electric vehicles for It will help inflation, Democrats
ficult economic time, I don’t think Sen. rich people. claim, even though a nonpartisan anal-
Obama or anyone else is going to raise any But I guess Democrats think electric
taxes. You don’t want to take money out of ysis said it would do nothing—nothing
vehicle tax credits for wealthier Amer-
the economy when the economy is shrinking. to help alleviate our current crisis.
icans are a good use of taxpayer dol- It will reduce our deficit, Democrats
That is something the Democratic lars. say, relying on some very shady ac-
leader has previously said. What else is in here? I mentioned the counting measures to reach their sup-
President Obama himself expressed a bill’s tax hikes, but the Democrats’ bill posed deficit reduction number.
similar sentiment when he said: also attempts to raise revenue by in- It will help lower energy prices, the
[T]he last thing you want to do is to raise creasing IRS audits and enforcement. President claims, even though new en-
taxes in the middle of a recession. That is right. The Democrats’ bill ergy taxes would further inflate near-
‘‘The last thing.’’ Apparently, that would more than double the current term energy bills during a season of al-
doesn’t apply when Democrats have number of IRS employees, making the ready historic prices.
Green New Deal projects they want to Agency nearly three times larger than You would think Democrats might
pay for. the U.S. Customs and Border Protec- have been chastened by their disas-
The Democrats’ bill attempts to off- tion—the Agency, I might add, that is trous American Rescue Plan spending
set the cost of the Green New Deal charged with security at all of our Na- spree, but you would be wrong. Appar-
spending spree by raising taxes on tion’s borders—and more than 50 per- ently, Democrats are determined to get
American businesses, particularly— cent larger—this is the IRS on the in another disastrous spending bill.
particularly—manufacturers. The pro- Democrats’ plan—more than 50 percent And, once again, it will be the Amer-
posed book minimum tax would be a larger than the entire U.S. Department ican people that will be left to suffer
$313 billion tax hike, with roughly half of Agriculture. the consequences.
of that increase falling on American Democrats give the IRS a whopping I yield the floor.
manufacturers. $80 billion in additional funding over The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
I don’t think I need to tell anyone the next 10 years. Of that $80 billion, 57 ator from Delaware.
the likely outcome of raising taxes on percent goes to enforcement; 4 percent CLIMATE CHANGE
businesses, particularly when the econ- goes to taxpayer services. That is Mr. CARPER. Madam President, the
omy is contracting. The likely out- right: 4 percent. This is an Agency that Republican leader knows I am a huge
come is less growth, lower wages, and only succeeded in answering about 1 fan of his. Every Thursday, we gather,
fewer jobs. out of every 50 phone calls during the along with Senator GILLIBRAND, we
According to an analysis from the 2021 tax season, and yet 4 percent of the gather in a Bible study, bipartisan
National Association of Manufacturers, $80 billion is going to taxpayer serv- Bible study. Most people think we
in 2023 alone, the bill would reduce real ices. Fifty-seven percent goes to en- would never pray together, read the
gross domestic product by more than forcement so that the IRS can spend scripture together, much less agree on
$68 billion and result in 218,108 fewer more time harassing taxpayers around anything, but we do that every week.
workers in the overall economy— this country. Democrats are focused We agree on a lot of things. In this one
218,000 fewer workers in 2023 alone. not on improving the IRS’s responsive- area, I am afraid we don’t see eye to
That is according to the National Asso- ness to taxpayers, but on boosting the eye, as he knows.
ciation of Manufacturers if the Demo- number of IRS audits. As a leader prepared to lead the floor,
ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with SENATE
crats’ bill passes. I still haven’t mentioned the bill’s I just want to remind us all of this:
The Democrats’ bill also raises taxes socialist-style price controls for pre- Two weeks ago, the United Kingdom
on the energy sector—specifically, on scription drugs—price controls that broke its record for the highest re-
domestic oil and gas production. It is would result in fewer new drugs and corded temperature multiple times,
another face-palm move from Demo- treatments. A study from last Novem- reaching a high of 105 degrees Fahr-
crats. ber found that Democrats’ price con- enheit. How high is that? They don’t
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