[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S143-S145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MORNING BUSINESS--Continued

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                          BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, throughout the Presidential campaign, 
President Biden spoke often about the need to unify the country. He 
talked about the need for people across our great Nation to come 
together to empathize with one another and to mend the divisions that 
exist in our society. He echoed that same theme in his inaugural 
address, saying:

       Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. 
     No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state 
     of chaos.

  I agree with President Biden that there is an imperative to restore 
unity and civility throughout our country, but for all of the talk of 
uniting, compromising, and working together, the early pages of this 
new chapter read quite differently.
  For starters, there are the actions of our Democratic colleagues who 
are trying to eliminate the legislative filibuster. They have echoed 
and praised the President's call for unity and bipartisanship while 
threatening to tear down the very rules that force us to work together 
in a bipartisan way. We know that the filibuster, or the cloture 
requirement that requires 60 votes to close off debate, is designed to 
encourage a fulsome debate of the issues that confront 330 million 
Americans. It is what distinguishes the Senate from other legislative 
bodies. Unlike in the House of Representatives, where you need a simple 
majority in order to work your will, the Senate requires 60 votes to be 
in agreement in order to close off debate before a bill can be passed 
with 51 votes or more. It really forces us to do what sometimes we 
resist, which is to work together in a bipartisan way. The American 
people may believe that it is in our best interest for us to pass 
things on a partisan basis, but it is certainly not in their best 
interest. So the cloture requirement, or the filibuster rule, is 
designed to prevent either party from steamrolling the other, and that 
is a good thing
  The new majority leader, the Senator from New York, has threatened to 
blow up the filibuster and clear a path for a sweeping, radical 
agenda--this despite the fact that our Democratic friends have 
themselves relied on the filibuster over the last 6 years as the 
minority party and that President Biden himself, based on his 36 years 
of experience in the U.S. Senate, has affirmed the importance of this 
60-vote requirement. I am glad that two of our colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle--one from West Virginia and one from Arizona--have 
offered their assurances that they will not vote to end the legislative 
filibuster, but I am disappointed that only two of our Democratic 
colleagues have done that. This should not be controversial or 
newsworthy to begin with. So far, the majority of Senate Democrats has 
made no legitimate effort to pursue President Biden's call for unity or 
bipartisanship.
  Unfortunately, it is not just the actions of our Democratic 
colleagues which have caused concern. President Biden himself has acted 
unilaterally, time and again, by issuing a lengthy list of Executive 
orders within hours of his inauguration. The policies that President 
Biden is addressing in his Executive orders should be addressed here in 
Congress with bipartisan legislation. One of those was a 100-day 
moratorium on enforcing bipartisan immigration laws, which was enjoined 
by a Federal judge in my State earlier today.
  It would be better for the country if our Democratic colleagues tried 
to legislate instead of litigate these Executive orders in court. I 
think the experience with DACA, or the experience with the Deferred 
Action for Childhood Arrivals, is instructive. President Obama, back in 
2012, decided to take it upon himself to enact this new policy. It has 
been tied up in the courts for the ensuing 8, now going on 9 years. I 
support providing a permanent solution for DACA recipients, but it has 
to be done here on a bipartisan basis, not just ordered unilaterally 
from the Oval Office, or else we are going to see these bogged down in 
lawsuit, after lawsuit, after lawsuit, which, I think, will be 
satisfying to virtually no one.

[[Page S144]]

  On top of the DACA Program, President Biden has now been piling on 
additional immigration-related actions, and he is expected to issue 
more in the coming days, but some of the most aggressive and 
controversial moves we have seen so far have related to energy policy. 
Within hours of the inauguration, President Biden canceled the permit 
for the Keystone XL Pipeline.
  There is no question that one of the biggest losers from that 
decision is the energy worker who stood to benefit from the jobs being 
created by the pipeline construction, and lest anybody think this is 
going to stop the flow of oil from Canada to the United States, what is 
going to happen--and what previously happened--is that oil will be 
loaded into railroad car tankers and trucks and shipped to their 
destinations. So it is not really stopping the oil from flowing where 
it is needed for low-cost and reasonably cost energy. It is just 
providing a more expensive and, indeed, a more dangerous alternative. 
At a time when our energy industry is already suffering as a result of 
the pandemic, this project would have led to a positive, cascading 
economic impact. Good-paying jobs, tax revenues, and economic benefits 
to local communities will evaporate because of this move.
  I would note that, in the Rio Grande Valley, right along the U.S. 
Texas border with Mexico, that President Trump performed surprisingly 
well among Hispanic voters. People wrongly assume that Hispanic voters 
only care about immigration laws. The truth is they care about jobs and 
their families and their ability to pursue the American dream, which is 
why they overperformed what they typically would and why President 
Biden underperformed what he typically would in a largely Democratic 
stronghold there in the Rio Grande Valley, but the buck doesn't stop 
there.
  The same day, the Biden administration halted all new leasing permits 
on Federal lands and waters. Rather than harvest our natural resources, 
which is one of the greatest benefits that nature has conferred on our 
country, it appears the Biden administration is carrying out its 
campaign to transition from oil and gas. I am all for transitioning to 
cleaner forms of energy, but we have to deal with the reality--for 
example, the fact that there are 280 million cars with internal 
combustion engines on our roads. How are families going to get to work, 
take their kids to school or live their lives if, all of a sudden, the 
very natural resources they depend on for their cars is no longer 
available?
  This industry, according to one study, directly or indirectly 
supports one in six jobs in my State and is a pillar of our State's 
economy. Through higher tax revenue, high-paying jobs, and downstream 
economic gains, communities across my State reap the benefits of our 
thriving oil and gas industry every day. It is also what happens to 
finance higher education in Texas from a dedicated, permanent 
university fund. If, in fact, our ability to produce this oil and gas 
from the ground is going to be curtailed, that is going to have 
dramatic, unintended consequences, too.
  This also makes sure that folks across the country who don't produce 
this energy can get access to affordable and reliable energy. In 
November of 2019, for the first time on record, the United States 
exported more crude oil and fuel than we imported; that is, rather than 
being dependent on other countries, we exported more than we imported.
  Beyond the obvious economic benefits, this provides a serious boost 
to our national security and that of our allies. There is a reason we 
have been engaged in the Middle East for a long time. Ever since 
Winston Churchill, as the Lord of the Navy in Britain, decided to move 
from coal to oil to power the British Navy, we have been dependent on 
sources of oil and gas primarily from the Middle East. So this has not 
only economic consequences; it also has national security consequences.
  It also allows us to provide our friends and allies around the world 
with a dependable alternative. They no longer have to rely solely on 
the tender mercies of Vladimir Putin, for example, for their energy 
supplies, which can, obviously, be used as a weapon in and of itself. 
All of these gains are possible because of the hard-working men and 
women who work in the field and in the refineries in energy-producing 
States like Texas.
  While COVID-19 has had an impact on American energy producers because 
demand has dropped precipitously, we don't expect that downtick to last 
forever. Indeed, it is coming back already as the economy continues to 
open up and now that more and more people are being vaccinated for 
COVID-19. We have hope that, later this year, people will resume their 
daily commutes to work; that the lights in their office buildings will 
flicker back on; that nonessential travel will pick back up; and that 
energy producers will be running at full speed once again.
  Rather than laying the foundation for a strong recovery, the Biden 
administration is issuing Executive orders that will harm American 
energy and send more business to our international competitors.
  And the administration is carrying out these changes without any 
input from Congress.
  I understand the President's desire to bolster renewable energy, and 
I think he would find that if he explored energy policies with us in 
Congress, he would meet more friends than foes.
  I support the effort to drive down emissions, and, in fact, natural 
gas that transitions from coal-fired powerplants to natural gas has 
been a big driver of the progress we have made in doing just that. But 
we shouldn't stop there. We need to continue to invest in new clean 
energy technologies that will reduce emissions while providing low-cost 
access to electricity that the American people need to live and to 
work.
  The United States' energy-related emissions dropped by almost 3 
percent in 2019, largely due to the use of natural gas for power 
generation.
  But I am a strong supporter of renewable energy too. We truly, in my 
State, believe in an ``all of the above'' energy policy. We are the No. 
1 producer of electricity from wind turbines in the country. We produce 
one-quarter of all wind energy in the United States, and if Texas were 
a country, we would be the fifth largest wind energy producer in the 
world.
  But even the strongest supporters of renewable sources of energy can 
tell you that, right now, renewables alone are not feasible to fuel our 
economy. After all, there are some times when the Sun doesn't shine and 
when the wind doesn't blow, so we need a backup or baseload source of 
energy.
  Last year, renewables accounted for less than 18 percent of our total 
electricity generation, and I am all for having that number grow. For 
comparison, natural gas, though, currently accounts for double that.
  While the development and expansion of renewable sources like wind 
energy are important, we can't shut out our key sources of energy that 
we need today. We have been supporters of an ``all of the above'' 
energy strategy, like I said. My State, I think, is proof positive that 
you can support the oil and gas energy that is so important for our 
economy and for people's livelihoods; you can support renewables; and 
you can support innovative technologies that lower emissions, all while 
creating high-paying jobs and providing affordable and reliable energy.
  I would like to work with the administration and our Democratic 
colleagues in the Senate, as I have in the past, to enact lasting 
policies and deliver reliable energy to the American people and our 
friends and allies around the world while prioritizing conservation.
  This is not the time to implement unilateral, heavyhanded, 
shortsighted regulations. Our energy industry is still reeling from the 
effects of the pandemic, and the administration and Congress need to 
take action to support its recovery, not stand in its way.
  I agree with President Biden's call for unity, and I hope that the 
next 4 years will be filled with more bipartisan cooperation than the 
first days of this new administration have been.
  We have learned, time and time again, that the legislative process, 
which forces us to work together in a consensus-building exercise is 
far more durable--far better--than unilateral Executive actions. I 
admit that both parties, when they are in the White House, have used 
Executive actions, but, frankly, I would think as an institution, we 
here in Congress would be

[[Page S145]]

leery of encouraging more Executive action. That means most of the 
power here in Washington is exercised out of the White House and not 
done here in the people's House, here in Congress.
  I encourage the administration to lead by example and encourage all 
of us to do the same--to try to work together for our shared priorities 
and create real and lasting change for our country.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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