Congressional Record, Senate, December 7, 2022, Page S7014
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A page of the Congressional Record, Senate, dated December 7, 2022, at page S7014. It carries the end of one Senator's remarks criticizing the administration's use of regulatory power and describing an intended letter to the President about financial regulators and ESG regulations. It then carries a Senator's remarks on immigration, stating that Congress has failed to act for 35 years, that Dreamers have been left behind, and that DACA, which has protected 800,000 Dreamers since 2012, is before a lower court after a Fifth Circuit ruling in October. The Senator tells the story of Eddie Rivera and says more than 200,000 DACA recipients work on the frontlines of the pandemic. The remarks are the Senators' own.
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“Congressional Record, Senate, December 7, 2022, Page S7014.”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/crec-crec-2022-12-07-crec-2022-12-07-pt1-pgs7014-c4b0b37845/
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S7014 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 7, 2022
the attention paid on the issue of im- people can ‘‘spend the rest of their tion sometimes grabs the lion’s share
migration and our borders, it is hard to lives living with dignity in a loving of the attention. But it is equally im-
imagine how a Congress can be critical community who will respect them and portant to pay attention to what a
of the fact that the situation has dete- appreciate them for all of the contribu- Presidential administration does with
riorated and not take action for 35 tions they have made to society.’’ its regulatory power, and the Biden ad-
years. That is shameful. So ask yourself a very basic question, ministration has been characterized by
Our failure to act on immigration which every Senator should ask: Would a lot of deeply troubling regulations.
hurts everyone, from hospitals in my America be better if Eddie Rivera were The so-called Inflation Reduction Act
State of Illinois struggling to find doc- deported to Honduras, a country he may be Democrats’ most prominent
tors and nurses, to asylum seekers flee- barely remembers, or would our Nation Green New Deal effort, but the Biden
ing violence and oppression. be better to have Eddie here among our administration’s radical environmental
There is one group of people in par- ranks—the ranks of healthcare profes- agenda doesn’t stop there. The Presi-
ticular who have been left behind— sionals who make such a difference in dent has also been using regulations to
Dreamers, these young people who are their lives? push through Democrats’ Green New
American in every way except for the What about the more than 200,000 Deal fantasies, and these ill-consid-
paperwork. We all know Dreamers who DACA recipients who also work on the ered, overreaching regulations could
have made a difference in our States. frontlines of the pandemic—doctors, have serious consequences.
They are young people who were nurse, paramedics? Would we truly be Later today, I will be sending a letter
brought to the United States by their better without them? Of course not. We to the President about the attempts to
parents, grew up here, thought they need Dreamers liked Eddie, and we use financial and securities regulators,
had a future here, but find they are un- need to act on their behalf this month. like the Securities and Exchange Com-
documented. Many of them were In October, the Fifth Circuit re- mission and the Federal Reserve, to
brought here as babies, and they grew turned a case to the lower court to de- push through environmental, social,
up alongside our own kids and pledged termine whether DACA, which has pro- and governance—or what are referred
allegiance to the same American flag tected 800,000 Dreamers since 2012, will to as ESG—regulations that seek to
in their classrooms every morning. remain the law of the land. So unless choke off investment to essential in-
A few weeks ago, I had a chance to Congress acts in the next few days to dustries like oil and natural gas and
welcome some of these Dreamers to protect DACA recipients, this program American farms and ranches. Notable
Washington. As always, I was amazed could end even as soon as next year. among these is the Securities and Ex-
by these young people, and above all, I What does that mean for those 800,000 change Commission’s proposed climate
was amazed by their passion to give currently protected by DACA? Two disclosure rule, which would require
back to the only home they have ever things: They are subject to deportation publicly traded companies to disclose
known—the United States of America. at any moment, and they no longer information not only about their own
One of these—and I want to show you have the legal right to work in the hos- emissions but also about the green-
a photo—is Eddie Rivera. He is a fresh- pitals and clinics and businesses across house gas emissions of their suppliers
man at Dominican University in my America. If that happens, an average of and even their customers. It would also
home State of Illinois. He is studying 1,000 DACA recipients would lose their require companies to determine the ef-
to become a nurse. jobs each week in healthcare, edu- fects of climate-related risks on each
Over the years, I have come to the cation, and other sectors of our econ- line item of their consolidated finan-
floor of the Senate to tell the stories of omy where we expect serious short- cial statements.
people just like Eddie to show what is ages. Well, to start off with, this rule is ob-
at stake when we consider the Dream Look, I am under no illusions about viously unworkable. Companies have
Act. Eddie’s story is the 131st Dreamer what it takes to pass an immigration zero control over the emissions of their
story I have told on the Senate floor. package in a matter of 2 weeks or a few suppliers and customers and little to
You see, Eddie’s family is originally days. I know many of our Republican no ability to accurately gauge those
from Honduras, and back there, his colleagues have their own priorities, emissions. But the most serious aspect
mother was an attorney. Now, while and I am willing to sit down and make of this proposed rule is the fact that it
you think that is a stable profession, in sensible compromises to bring order to represents a clear effort to coerce com-
Honduras, it was actually a liability. our border. But we need to move, we panies to sever ties with certain indus-
She received death threats because of need to act, because, as I mentioned, tries—notably, of course, the conven-
her work, and it was out of fear for her this could be the last chance in a long tional energy industry, but also with
young son’s life that she sought refuge time. other industries like agriculture.
in America. The incoming Republican House ma- It is hardly the only regulatory ac-
Eddie’s family moved a lot when he jority has already declared that they tion of its kind proposed by the Biden
was growing up. They struggled to get will not allow a vote on any immigra- administration. The Department of
by, but they came to rely on one an- tion measure during the next Congress. Labor just finalized a rule that would
other for support. When his grand- It will be the same dynamic we saw in in practice require pension fiduciaries
mother was diagnosed with dementia, 2013 when we passed an immigration to consider climate change and ESG
Eddie and his mom became her full- bill here in the Senate, only to see it factors when making investment deci-
time caregivers. He would sit by his die in the House. Let’s not repeat the sions, irrespective of their pecuniary
grandmother’s side day by day, feeding same mistake. relevance.
her, praying for her, holding her hand. To my Republican colleagues, I say The Federal Reserve, which I believe
Sadly, his grandmother passed away this: If you care about improving bor- has zero business inserting itself into
in December 2019. But it was this per- der security or helping address worker debates over climate policy, recently
sonal life experience caring for his shortages, this is our last chance to do established a pilot program to analyze
grandmother that inspired Eddie to it. Let’s give every Dreamer in this climate-related financial risks for the
pursue a career in medicine and nurs- country the peace of mind they deserve Nation’s largest banks, something that
ing. So when the COVID pandemic hit heading into the holiday season, and clearly—clearly—exceeds the Fed’s
in 2020, he answered the call for duty. let’s prove to the American people that statutory authority.
He was hired to assist the nursing staff we are capable of making tough deci- Similarly, the Office of the Comp-
in a COVID unit of a hospital in North sions when the situation demands it. troller of the Currency, the Federal De-
Carolina. In this role, he tried to pro- I yield the floor. posit Insurance Corporation, and the
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
vide the same loving care to his pa- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The mi- Fed have issued draft principles for
tients that he once provided to his nority whip. large banks on ‘‘climate-related finan-
grandmother. ESG REGULATIONS cial risk management.’’
In the future, it is Eddie’s hope that Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, when it And the list goes on.
he can obtain his nursing degree and comes to the actions of a party or a Private companies, of course, have
work at a retirement home, one where Presidential administration, legisla- the right to consider whatever factors
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December 7, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S7015
they want when determining what the little guy often ends up getting Hunter Biden laptop since December of
companies they do business with and sacrificed as a result. Since President 2019, almost a year before the election.
where they will invest, but the Federal Biden and Democrats took office 2 Information on it has been verified
Government should not be making years ago, ordinary Americans have by liberal news outlets. It took a long
those decisions for them. faced almost nonstop financial chal- time for those liberal news outlets to
The President and his cronies and the lenges thanks to the inflation crisis admit that this wasn’t Russian
far-left environmental movement may that Democrats helped to create with disinformation.
like the idea of choking off investment their massive American Rescue Plan So, then, I ask this question: Did the
to the fossil fuel industry and other in- spending bill. If the President’s ESG FBI do the same or did they fail to do
dustries to hasten the arrival of their agenda continues unchecked, that di- their due diligence?
fantasy Green New Deal future, but re- minished prosperity could last indefi- I find the FBI’s action in advance of
ducing and limiting investment in con- nitely. the 2020 election to be more than sus-
ventional energy and other essential In the letter that I am sending to the picious. It is too bad that just now, 2
industries is likely to create a night- President later today, I am urging his years later, we get this information
mare for American families and Amer- administration to consider the real- from a person that bought Twitter and
ican businesses. world effects of rules and regulations wants the public to know what actu-
I am, and have long been, a strong on ordinary families and American ally went on.
supporter of alternative energy, but businesses, and to refrain from regu- Now, some of you remember that
the fact of the matter is, we are still a latory actions that would drive up Senator JOHNSON and I released our
long way from being able to rely exclu- prices even further. I hope that the first report on the Biden family con-
sively on alternative energy. The tech- President will listen, but if past is pro- nections to communist China on Sep-
nology that would enable us to rely logue, then I am worried that we are tember 23, 6 weeks before the 2020 elec-
solely on green energy simply doesn’t looking at 2 more years of extreme tion. And you know, if you remember,
exist yet, and pretending that we can Democratic policies and 2 more years at that time it was swept up into the
rely exclusively on alternative energy of economic suffering for the American Hunter Biden censorship fiasco not
isn’t going to change the reality, which people. long after. So, too, was our second re-
is that we still need oil and natural gas I yield the floor. port, which we released on November
and will continue to need them for the The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen-
18, 2020.
foreseeable future. ator from Iowa.
But we were more than just censored.
Choking off investment to the con- TWITTER AND THE 2020 ELECTION
Before we even made the first report
ventional energy industry isn’t going Mr. GRASSLEY. Last Friday, Elon public, the liberal media and even some
to bring about the Green New Deal fu- Musk released documents and very of our Democratic colleagues tried to
ture, but it is going to reduce essential good information relating to Twitter’s smear us with false claims that our
energy supplies, and that, in turn, is interference in the 2020 Presidential work was connected to you know
going to increase energy prices. It is election by censoring the New York what—Russian disinformation. My
going to increase energy prices for Post Hunter Biden reporting. Just yes- Senate colleagues went into full Joe
American families, and it is going to terday, Musk reportedly fired Twitter’s Biden protection mode.
increase energy prices for American general counsel, Jim Baker, for his in-
businesses. So here we have four elements to this
volvement in the censorship scandal.
If Democrats succeed in reducing in- fact pattern that ought to shake up
Baker, you might remember, was gen-
vestment in oil and natural gas, we every Member of the U.S. Senate and
eral counsel at the FBI and was in-
could be looking at a very serious re- shake them up to their very core. No.
volved in the Crossfire Hurricane inves-
duction in our supply of conventional 1, the FBI got their hands on Twitter
tigation.
energy and correspondingly serious You can’t make up these stories. via these weekly briefings—the weekly
price hikes. Musk also released information that briefings that I have already expressed
There is reason to be concerned that showed that the Biden campaign was existed—and planted seeds regarding
Democrats aren’t just interested in involved in the censorship efforts. The future hacked material relating to
choking off investment in oil and nat- information shows that Twitter em- Hunter Biden. No. 2, the FBI improp-
ural gas but in agriculture, as well, be- ployees knew—actually knew—that erly labeled information it possessed
cause of natural livestock emissions they had no legitimate basis to censor on Hunter Biden as you know what—
and farming inputs like fertilizer. The the Hunter Biden reporting but pro- disinformation. No. 3, the FBI provided
National Credit Union Administration ceeded to do it anyway. Twitter also an unnecessary August 2020 briefing to
published a since-rescinded strategic removed links and blocked the report- me and Senator JOHNSON that was used
plan that seemed to recommend that ing from being shared by direct mes- by some Democrats and by the liberal
credit unions reduce their membership saging on its platform. Folks that media to try to undermine our inves-
and loan offerings to farming commu- fought the good fight against Twitter’s tigation that started well before the
nities. And South Dakota banks and extraordinary censorship were also 2020 election. No. 4, the liberal media
credit unions have repeatedly—repeat- locked out of their accounts. repeatedly and falsely labeled my and
edly—expressed their concerns to my These documents that Musk made Senator JOHNSON’s investigation as you
office that the President’s far-reaching public made very clear that Twitter know what—Russia disinformation.
ESG agenda could ultimately damage was effectively an arm of the Demo- Now, all of that happened in the
their ability to extend capital to their cratic Party and the Biden campaign. runup to the 2020 Presidential election.
farm and ranch customers. Twitter essentially gave the Biden In the long run, these false allega-
Should investment in agriculture campaign a massive in-kind campaign tions and bad faith efforts against me
also drop off, we could be looking not contribution. and Senator JOHNSON didn’t work, as
only at higher energy prices but at What Twitter and other big tech everybody knows now but didn’t know
higher food prices as well and possibly companies did in 2020 with respect to at the time.
actual food supply issues. Between censorship was as much an outrage For example, in this Congress, Sen-
higher energy prices and higher food then as it is today. Simply put, what ator JOHNSON and I gave floor speeches
prices, the kind of financial hardship they did is expected of communist on these dates in 2022: March 28, March
that Americans have been experiencing China, not the United States of Amer- 29, and April 5. Through those speeches,
during our current inflation crisis ica. we introduced bank records connecting
dlhill on DSK120RN23PROD with SENATE
could become a fixture for the long Reports also indicate that the FBI Hunter and James Biden to the Chinese
term. warned Twitter during weekly meet- communist regime. We sent hundreds
Democrats like to think of them- ings before the 2020 election that hack- of pages of bank records to U.S. Attor-
selves as the party of the little guy, and-leak operations involving Hunter ney Weiss on October 26 of this year,
but the truth is, they have become the Biden material were likely to occur in showing those very same connections—
party of extreme special interests, and October of 2020. Well, the FBI had the the same connections that Johnson and
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