[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 13, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1327-S1328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

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      By Mr. McCONNELL:
  S.J. Res. 8. A joint resolution recognizing the duty of the Federal 
Government to create a Green New Deal; read the first time.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text 
of the joint resolution be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the joint resolution was 
ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

                              S.J. Res. 8

       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds that--
       (1) the October 2018 report entitled ``Special Report on 
     Global Warming of 1.5 C'' by the Intergovernmental Panel on 
     Climate Change and the November 2018 Fourth National Climate 
     Assessment report found that--
       (A) human activity is the dominant cause of observed 
     climate change over the past century;
       (B) a changing climate is causing sea levels to rise and an 
     increase in wildfires, severe storms, droughts, and other 
     extreme weather events that threaten human life, healthy 
     communities, and critical infrastructure;
       (C) global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond 
     pre-industrialized levels will cause--
       (i) mass migration from the regions most affected by 
     climate change;
       (ii) more than $500,000,000,000 in lost annual economic 
     output in the United States by the year 2100;
       (iii) wildfires that, by 2050, will annually burn at least 
     twice as much forest area in the western United States than 
     was typically burned by wildfires in the years preceding 
     2019;
       (iv) a loss of more than 99 percent of all coral reefs on 
     Earth;
       (v) more than 350,000,000 more people to be exposed 
     globally to deadly heat stress by 2050; and
       (vi) a risk of damage to $1,000,000,000,000 of public 
     infrastructure and coastal real estate in the United States; 
     and
       (D) global temperatures must be kept below 1.5 degrees 
     Celsius above pre-industrialized levels to avoid the most 
     severe impacts of a changing climate, which will require--
       (i) global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from 
     human sources of 40 to 60 percent from 2010 levels by 2030; 
     and
       (ii) net-zero global emissions by 2050;
       (2) because the United States has historically been 
     responsible for a disproportionate amount of greenhouse gas 
     emissions, having emitted 20 percent of global greenhouse gas 
     emissions through 2014, and has a high technological 
     capacity, the United States must take a leading role in 
     reducing emissions through economic transformation;
       (3) the United States is currently experiencing several 
     related crises, with--
       (A) life expectancy declining while basic needs, such as 
     clean air, clean water, healthy food, and adequate health 
     care, housing, transportation, and education, are 
     inaccessible to a significant portion of the United States 
     population;
       (B) a 4-decade trend of wage stagnation, 
     deindustrialization, and anti-labor policies that has led 
     to--
       (i) hourly wages overall stagnating since the 1970s despite 
     increased worker productivity;
       (ii) the third-worst level of socioeconomic mobility in the 
     developed world before the Great Recession;
       (iii) the erosion of the earning and bargaining power of 
     workers in the United States; and
       (iv) inadequate resources for public sector workers to 
     confront the challenges of climate change at local, State, 
     and Federal levels; and
       (C) the greatest income inequality since the 1920s, with--
       (i) the top 1 percent of earners accruing 91 percent of 
     gains in the first few years of economic recovery after the 
     Great Recession;
       (ii) a large racial wealth divide amounting to a difference 
     of 20 times more wealth between the average White family and 
     the average Black family; and
       (iii) a gender earnings gap that results in women earning 
     approximately 80 percent as much as men, at the median;
       (4) climate change, pollution, and environmental 
     destruction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, 
     social, environmental, and economic injustices (referred to 
     in this section as ``systemic injustices'') by 
     disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples, communities 
     of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, 
     depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, 
     women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, 
     and youth (referred to in this section as ``frontline and 
     vulnerable communities'');
       (5) climate change constitutes a direct threat to the 
     national security of the United States--
       (A) by impacting the economic, environmental, and social 
     stability of countries and communities around the world; and
       (B) by acting as a threat multiplier;
       (6) the Federal Government-led mobilizations during World 
     War II and the New Deal created the greatest middle class 
     that the United States has ever seen, but many members of 
     frontline and vulnerable communities were excluded from many 
     of the economic and societal benefits of those mobilizations; 
     and
       (7) a new national, social, industrial, and economic 
     mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II and the 
     New Deal era is a historic opportunity--
       (A) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs in the 
     United States;

[[Page S1328]]

       (B) to provide unprecedented levels of prosperity and 
     economic security for all people of the United States; and
       (C) to counteract systemic injustices.

     SEC. 2. GREEN NEW DEAL POLICY.

       It is the policy of the United States that--
       (1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to create a 
     Green New Deal--
       (A) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions through a 
     fair and just transition for all communities and workers;
       (B) to create millions of good, high-wage jobs and ensure 
     prosperity and economic security for all people of the United 
     States;
       (C) to invest in the infrastructure and industry of the 
     United States to sustainably meet the challenges of the 21st 
     century;
       (D) to secure for all people of the United States for 
     generations to come--
       (i) clean air and water;
       (ii) climate and community resiliency;
       (iii) healthy food;
       (iv) access to nature; and
       (v) a sustainable environment; and
       (E) to promote justice and equity by stopping current, 
     preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of 
     indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant 
     communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural 
     communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the 
     elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth 
     (referred to in this section as ``frontline and vulnerable 
     communities'');
       (2) the goals described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of 
     paragraph (1) (referred to in this section as the ``Green New 
     Deal goals'') should be accomplished through a 10-year 
     national mobilization (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Green New Deal mobilization'') that will require the 
     following goals and projects--
       (A) building resiliency against climate change-related 
     disasters, such as extreme weather, including by leveraging 
     funding and providing investments for community-defined 
     projects and strategies;
       (B) repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in the 
     United States, including--
       (i) by eliminating pollution and greenhouse gas emissions 
     as much as technologically feasible;
       (ii) by guaranteeing universal access to clean water;
       (iii) by reducing the risks posed by climate impacts; and
       (iv) by ensuring that any infrastructure bill considered by 
     Congress addresses climate change;
       (C) meeting 100 percent of the power demand in the United 
     States through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy 
     sources, including--
       (i) by dramatically expanding and upgrading renewable power 
     sources; and
       (ii) by deploying new capacity;
       (D) building or upgrading to energy-efficient, distributed, 
     and ``smart'' power grids, and ensuring affordable access to 
     electricity;
       (E) upgrading all existing buildings in the United States 
     and building new buildings to achieve maximum energy 
     efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, 
     and durability, including through electrification;
       (F) spurring massive growth in clean manufacturing in the 
     United States and removing pollution and greenhouse gas 
     emissions from manufacturing and industry as much as is 
     technologically feasible, including by expanding renewable 
     energy manufacturing and investing in existing manufacturing 
     and industry;
       (G) working collaboratively with farmers and ranchers in 
     the United States to remove pollution and greenhouse gas 
     emissions from the agricultural sector as much as is 
     technologically feasible, including--
       (i) by supporting family farming;
       (ii) by investing in sustainable farming and land use 
     practices that increase soil health; and
       (iii) by building a more sustainable food system that 
     ensures universal access to healthy food;
       (H) overhauling transportation systems in the United States 
     to remove pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the 
     transportation sector as much as is technologically feasible, 
     including through investment in--
       (i) zero-emission vehicle infrastructure and manufacturing;
       (ii) clean, affordable, and accessible public transit; and
       (iii) high-speed rail;
       (I) mitigating and managing the long-term adverse health, 
     economic, and other effects of pollution and climate change, 
     including by providing funding for community-defined projects 
     and strategies;
       (J) removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and 
     reducing pollution by restoring natural ecosystems through 
     proven low-tech solutions that increase soil carbon storage, 
     such as land preservation and afforestation;
       (K) restoring and protecting threatened, endangered, and 
     fragile ecosystems through locally appropriate and science-
     based projects that enhance biodiversity and support climate 
     resiliency;
       (L) cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned 
     sites, ensuring economic development and sustainability on 
     those sites;
       (M) identifying other emission and pollution sources and 
     creating solutions to remove them; and
       (N) promoting the international exchange of technology, 
     expertise, products, funding, and services, with the aim of 
     making the United States the international leader on climate 
     action, and to help other countries achieve a Green New Deal;
       (3) a Green New Deal must be developed through transparent 
     and inclusive consultation, collaboration, and partnership 
     with frontline and vulnerable communities, labor unions, 
     worker cooperatives, civil society groups, academia, and 
     businesses; and
       (4) to achieve the Green New Deal goals and mobilization, a 
     Green New Deal will require the following goals and 
     projects--
       (A) providing and leveraging, in a way that ensures that 
     the public receives appropriate ownership stakes and returns 
     on investment, adequate capital (including through community 
     grants, public banks, and other public financing), technical 
     expertise, supporting policies, and other forms of assistance 
     to communities, organizations, Federal, State, and local 
     government agencies, and businesses working on the Green New 
     Deal mobilization;
       (B) ensuring that the Federal Government takes into account 
     the complete environmental and social costs and impacts of 
     emissions through--
       (i) existing laws;
       (ii) new policies and programs; and
       (iii) ensuring that frontline and vulnerable communities 
     shall not be adversely affected;
       (C) providing resources, training, and high-quality 
     education, including higher education, to all people of the 
     United States, with a focus on frontline and vulnerable 
     communities, so that all people of the United States may be 
     full and equal participants in the Green New Deal 
     mobilization;
       (D) making public investments in the research and 
     development of new clean and renewable energy technologies 
     and industries;
       (E) directing investments to spur economic development, 
     deepen and diversify industry and business in local and 
     regional economies, and build wealth and community ownership, 
     while prioritizing high-quality job creation and economic, 
     social, and environmental benefits in frontline and 
     vulnerable communities, and deindustrialized communities, 
     that may otherwise struggle with the transition away from 
     greenhouse gas intensive industries;
       (F) ensuring the use of democratic and participatory 
     processes that are inclusive of and led by frontline and 
     vulnerable communities and workers to plan, implement, and 
     administer the Green New Deal mobilization at the local 
     level;
       (G) ensuring that the Green New Deal mobilization creates 
     high-quality union jobs that pay prevailing wages, hires 
     local workers, offers training and advancement opportunities, 
     and guarantees wage and benefit parity for workers affected 
     by the transition;
       (H) guaranteeing a job with a family-sustaining wage, 
     adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations, and 
     retirement security to all people of the United States;
       (I) strengthening and protecting the right of all workers 
     to organize, unionize, and collectively bargain free of 
     coercion, intimidation, and harassment;
       (J) strengthening and enforcing labor, workplace health and 
     safety, antidiscrimination, and wage and hour standards 
     across all employers, industries, and sectors;
       (K) enacting and enforcing trade rules, procurement 
     standards, and border adjustments with strong labor and 
     environmental protections--
       (i) to stop the transfer of jobs and pollution overseas; 
     and
       (ii) to grow domestic manufacturing in the United States;
       (L) ensuring that public lands, waters, and oceans are 
     protected and that eminent domain is not abused;
       (M) obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent of 
     indigenous peoples for all decisions that affect indigenous 
     peoples and their traditional territories, honoring all 
     treaties and agreements with indigenous peoples, and 
     protecting and enforcing the sovereignty and land rights of 
     indigenous peoples;
       (N) ensuring a commercial environment where every 
     businessperson is free from unfair competition and domination 
     by domestic or international monopolies; and
       (O) providing all people of the United States with--
       (i) high-quality health care;
       (ii) affordable, safe, and adequate housing;
       (iii) economic security; and
       (iv) clean water, clean air, healthy and affordable food, 
     and access to nature.

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