[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 74 (Thursday, April 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2346-S2348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Joint Session of Congress

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, last night, the American people heard 
from President Biden in his first address to a joint session of 
Congress. The American people heard him speak about many of the same 
themes he touched on in his inauguration: unifying the country, healing 
the soul of our Nation, healing the divisions that divide us. It sounds 
great, but those who have paid attention to the President's actions 
know that his rhetoric and his actions don't line up.
  The only legislative achievement so far for President Biden has been 
an eye-popping $1.9 trillion piece of spending that was branded as 
COVID-19 relief. It was so controversial that our Democratic colleagues 
didn't bother to use the standard legislative procedure. Instead, they 
used the budget reconciliation process so they could make it a law 
without a single Republican vote--hardly coming together and unifying 
the country.
  As expected, President Biden had the audacity to brand this 
legislation as the reason why we have made such progress in fighting 
COVID-19. He touted the fact that America has provided more than 220 
million COVID vaccinations during his first 100 days in office. But he 
didn't mention the fact that less than 1 percent of the funding in his 
signature legislation actually supported vaccinations--less than 1 
percent. Less than 10 percent was directly related to COVID-19 at all.
  If there were any doubts that this liberal spending binge was about 
to end, President Biden cleared that up last night too. He talked about 
his more than $2.6 trillion American Jobs Plan, which relies on a very 
generous interpretation of the word ``infrastructure,'' or should I say 
Orwellian. He discussed the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, which 
includes everything from universal preschool to free community college, 
to mandatory paid leave policies and tax provisions.
  You know, you have to love politicians when they talk about giving 
away free stuff. The folks back home know better. Somebody has to pay 
for it. As my friend Senator Tim Scott said in the Republican response 
last night, these policies could put Washington even more in the middle 
of Americans' lives, from cradle to college.
  These three proposals total more than $6 trillion--an amount so 
large, it is hard for any of us to wrap our head around it. That is on 
top of the money that was spent last year in a bipartisan effort to 
defeat COVID-19. The proposals equate to a spending rate of $60 billion 
a day during the President's first 100 days in office.
  Six trillion dollars is one-quarter of our gross domestic product. If 
you convert our country's World War II spending into today's dollars, 
the three Biden spending proposals are even more expensive than what it 
cost us to arm and defeat Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.
  But I want to be clear. These aren't wartime expenses. These aren't 
even necessary expenses, in many cases. These proposals have absolutely 
nothing to do with our current fight against COVID-19. Two hundred 
billion dollars to build or retrofit ``sustainable'' places to live; 
$225 billion for paid family leave; $178 billion on electric vehicle 
chargers--more socialism for rich people; $400 billion for home-based 
care. This money adds up pretty quickly.
  I am not saying our country should cut off all of our spending 
altogether. There are necessary expenses and investments that need to 
be made. But this is not the time for a spending binge. We need to make 
smart financial decisions that will serve the next generation, not 
drive them further and further into debt.
  The biggest question here, though, as with any type of government 
spending, is, How are you going to pay for it? For the Biden 
administration, the answer is simple: higher taxes. In fact, the 
President has proposed the largest tax hikes in more than half a 
century
  Now, economics 101 would teach you that tax increases aren't a clear 
and easy way to boost revenue, especially when your economy is already 
on a fragile footing. President Obama observed as much when we were 
recovering from the great recession of 2008, that raising taxes during 
a recovery from a recession is a bad idea. Raising trillions of dollars 
in new taxes will not set us up for a strong recovery; it will simply 
throw even more wrenches into our sluggish economic engine.
  Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the American economy was on a roll. 
The economy was booming. Unemployment was at a 50-year low. Companies 
were coming back on shore, moving their headquarters to the United 
States, in part because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The 2017 Tax Cuts 
and Jobs Act set the stage for this recovery.
  Instead of building upon what we did in 2017, the administration now 
wants to repeal those tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and 
double down on the old, tired talking points that America can simply 
tax and spend and regulate itself into prosperity.
  Massive tax hikes are not the way to stabilize a shaky recovery, and 
I worry how much damage these increases will do if our Democratic 
colleagues insist on doing more partisan, party-line legislating.
  The President did nothing to ease my concern about another looming 
problem, and that is the crisis on our border. For months, the 
President and members of his administration have denied what is a clear 
and growing crisis on the border. I hoped he might finally acknowledge 
the reality of the

[[Page S2347]]

situation in his prime-time address and commit to working together with 
us to solve it, but no such luck. Instead, he talked about the need to 
provide a solution for DACA recipients and undertake broader 
immigration reform.
  I want to be clear here. I agree that Congress should take action to 
give DACA recipients the legal certainty and stability they deserve. 
This is a priority for folks on both sides of the aisle, and I hope we 
will finally be able to get a bill on the President's desk to help 
these young people who have done nothing wrong. More broadly, there is 
no denying our immigration system is in need of reform. It is outdated 
and inefficient and simply doesn't meet the needs of our country today. 
But we are not ready for those types of conversations until we solve 
the immediate crisis at the border.
  Last month alone, more than 172,000 migrants crossed our southern 
border, and 100,000 crossed in February. Nearly 19,000 of those 
individuals who came across last month were unaccompanied children.
  We have seen migration in the past, surges, but never anything like 
this and never during a pandemic. There are serious risks to our law 
enforcement officials, our nongovernmental associations, and, of 
course, to the migrants themselves.
  Something needs to be done now before the crisis grows even larger. 
If you are cooking dinner for your family and the food in the oven 
catches on fire, are you going to keep stirring the pot on the stove? 
Are you going to set the table or call your kids to come downstairs for 
dinner? No. You are going to put the fire out first. That is what we 
need to do now. Before we can even have those necessary conversations 
about immigration reform, we need to put the fire out and put it out 
now.
  Once we have taken action on the border crisis, I hope we can have 
serious, bipartisan discussions about immigration reform and finally 
provide DACA recipients the certainty they deserve, but that can't 
happen until the crisis on the border is addressed.
  Like I said, I am disappointed that the President didn't address this 
in his speech last evening. I was hoping he would be willing to work 
with a bipartisan group of Senators and Congressmen who are eager to 
take action.
  Last week, Senator Sinema from Arizona and I introduced the 
Bipartisan Border Solutions Act, a straightforward and commonsense way 
to address this crisis. The bill already has the support of Members 
from both parties and in both Chambers, as well as a number of 
respected organizations. We would be glad to gain the support of the 
administration as well. But you can't solve a problem until you first 
acknowledge that you have a problem, and we have a problem with the 
crisis on the border.
  This is not going to get any better. We know that much of this 
migration is seasonal, and so the high numbers--more than 300,000 that 
we have seen so far this year--are going to translate into even more 
numbers next month and next month and next. So the time to deal with 
this is now, but, like I said, until the administration acknowledges 
that there is a problem and that we need to work on it together, it is 
going to get nothing but worse.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, as I begin my remarks today, I first 
want to express my appreciation to Senator Tim Scott for the address 
that he gave last night following the joint address to Congress by the 
President.
  I so appreciated the remarks that he made, how he reminded us of the 
importance of common sense and using that common sense to find common 
ground as we look to address the issues that affect our Nation, the 
issues that affect Tennesseans. That is such a timely reminder. I 
likewise appreciated his comments about the importance of 
reconciliation, one to another, and the importance of redemption as we, 
each and every one, go about our work each day, as we seek to help our 
Nation become a more perfect Union. Timely reminders--well done and 
greatly appreciated by many Tennesseans and individuals who have 
reached out to say: I was so touched by listening to Tim Scott and his 
remarks.
  Many of our Tennesseans have also expressed their concern with some 
of the provisions that were there in President Biden's address.
  They felt as if this was something that kind of doubled down on 
decades of failed policies that were seeking to prioritize dependence 
on a welfare State overlooking at families and communities but pushing 
that dependence on a welfare state.
  There really wasn't anything groundbreaking that was there in the 
remarks, apart from the pricetag, which is eye-popping, and really will 
take your breath away when you stop and think about it. And for a long 
time, my Democratic colleagues have championed programs that treat 
people like individual clients instead of families and communities.
  So, here we are, and we are staring down the Biden doctrine, and it 
is a commitment to spending trillions and trillions of dollars--
trillions of dollars. We are talking about $6 trillion since January 
20. This is astounding. And those dollars are being spent to 
incentivize dependence on the Federal Government to supplant the 
nuclear family with the Federal Government and to centralize control 
here in Washington, DC.
  If you don't believe me, just take a little peek at what the Biden 
administration has done during their first 100 days. They started with 
a $1.9 trillion blue-State payday that bailed Democrat-run cities out 
of the fiscal holes that they had made for themselves.
  Earlier this month, they introduced a $2.3 trillion--yes, trillion 
with a ``t''--trillion-dollar infrastructure boondoggle that would 
force families and businesses to rely on a government handout to comply 
with the mandates pulled directly from the Green New Deal.
  They even rolled out a total election overhaul that blatantly 
violates the Constitution by removing all control from the States and 
placing it right here in Washington, DC--removing from your local 
election commission, removing from your State legislature, and sending 
the authority to handle these elections to Washington, DC.
  And last night, during his address to a joint session of Congress, 
President Biden offered a few details on his American Families Plan, 
which, by all estimates--you got it, another big pricetag--$1.8 
trillion.
  The numbers really are staggering. Not counting the cost of S. 1, 
these efforts will cost the American people a combined $6 trillion. And 
we haven't even factored in annual appropriations, which will add over 
$1 trillion to that grand total.
  Let's put these numbers in context. We saw the national debt jump 
from $10.6 trillion. Now, that is the number where it was when 
President George Bush left office, $10.6 trillion. That is all the 
debt--every penny of Federal debt--that had accumulated from George 
Washington to George Bush.
  So $10.6 trillion, that is the debt total when President Obama took 
office. And then with the Obama-Biden administration, that debt nearly 
doubled. When President Obama left office--that is right, you are 
looking over that 8-year period of time of right at doubling that debt
  In his first 2 years in office, deficits increased so much that 
Admiral Mullen--then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 2010--
declared the national debt to be the Nation's top national security 
threat, our Nation's debt. President Biden is on track to smash those 
records.
  Bear in mind these numbers: George Washington to George Bush, $10.6 
trillion. It nearly doubles as you have the Obama-Biden administration, 
and now since January 20, we are talking about $6 trillion.
  If your local city commission were spending money at this rate, you 
would be at city hall banging down the doors. But my Democratic 
colleagues are all on board, even though what they have actually put on 
paper is nothing but a series of wish lists they have wanted to start 
checking off since 2010.
  But those lists have a very important purpose. They curated them with 
so-called free programs and big promises that will serve two purposes: 
first, to persuade people to cede authority over their lives, families, 
businesses; and, second, to totally centralize power here in 
Washington, DC.
  It is truly stunning, truly stunning what my Democratic colleagues 
have

[[Page S2348]]

allowed themselves to propose. Last night, the President of the United 
States directly addressed the American people and said: Don't think, 
just give us control.
  When he unveiled the American Families Plan, he spent a great deal of 
time on all of the wish list programs he hopes will eventually be sent 
to his desk for his signature but not a lot of time on how he plans to 
pay for these programs.
  I think it is important to state for the record that every program 
President Biden asked us to endorse has a cost. The Committee for a 
Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the American Families Plan 
alone--this one program--will result in a deficit impact of $300 
billion over a decade--massive costs.
  President Biden claimed he can pay for all of this with taxes. He 
said:

       It's time for corporate America and the wealthiest 1% to 
     pay their fair share.

  And then he said that 55 of the Nation's biggest corporations made 
$40 billion in profits that can and should be taxed.
  But here is the problem: Even if they were taxed 100 percent of their 
$40 billion in profits, that would pay for less than 1 percent of this 
administration's proposed $7 trillion in total spending. And yet how 
did the President describe these programs? Universal pre-K, universal, 
free community college--free.
  Look at this pricetag. Families won't have to spend a dime, won't 
have to spend a dime on childcare. The American Families Plan will put 
money in your pocket.
  Now, as I said, universal, free--you won't have to spend a dime; it 
is going to put money in your pocket. It is taken care of. Don't think. 
Just take the deal. Do your part.
  Where does this money come from? Every single penny that comes into 
the Federal Treasury comes from the pocket of a U.S. taxpayer. That is 
where this money comes from. And the debt, that is going to be there 
for our children and our grandchildren that have to sort it out long 
after these programs have outlived their usefulness, long after many of 
us are gone.
  We used to talk about spending millions and billions, and now it is 
trillions. And, to me, I think about my grandkids, and I think about 
the fact that they haven't earned a paycheck yet. But you know what? 
With all of this spending this year, they now have $80,000 of U.S. 
Federal debt that is their responsibility.
  And I think it is instructive for us to look at who is it that 
actually holds this debt. The biggest holder of our debt--someone goes 
to market and buys our debt, China. You also have OPEC, the cartel, in 
the top holders of our debt.
  My colleagues, this is an issue--not millions, not billions. This is 
something--this needs our best efforts and our best attention.
  Since his inauguration, President Biden spent a lot of time talking 
about unity. At the same time, he talks about eliminating the 
filibuster and passing legislation to entrench Democratic incumbents at 
the expense of voters. It is a power grab.
  He supported using the budget reconciliation process to ram his $1.9 
billion spending package through, and it appears he may do so again to 
pass the rest of the multitrillion-dollar agenda.
  Last night's speech could have been an opportunity for him to seek 
common ground with congressional Republicans. Much of the success of 
our country has had with the COVID vaccination is due, in large part, 
to Operation Warp Speed and previous administrations, as well as 
bipartisan efforts in Congress. There was no mention of that.
  When the country was thrown into the COVID pandemic, Congress and 
President Trump passed the CARES Act, bipartisan, and four other major 
bipartisan COVID relief bills--no mention of that.
  If we are going to heal, the Biden administration must recognize the 
achievements of administrations past and the serious contributions that 
congressional Republicans are ready and willing to make.
  For months now, I have come to the floor to ask my Democratic 
colleagues to take a breath, to take away the wish lists, and to focus 
on what the American people need--focus on their needs.
  The American people--when I am talking to Tennesseans, you know what 
they would like? They would like a little bit more money left at the 
end of their month and not too much month left at the end of their 
money.
  They want the hope that comes from opportunity, not the tangles of an 
eternal safety net. They are independent. They are independent. They 
want a system that will, indeed, help them build their lives back 
better, as our President would like to say, but all that the White 
House has to offer is a plan that will flatten and rebuild the country 
and the broken image of failed policies that people have tried, and 
they just didn't work.
  What they did do: destroyed our healthcare system, pushed tuition at 
public colleges and universities out of reach for low-income students, 
and they currently levy massive tax penalties against working-class 
families who depend on each other and not the Federal Government.
  The Biden administration has set some lofty goals for itself. And I 
have to admit, the end results look pretty tempting on paper; that is, 
if you don't look too close.
  There is a reason why the President has offered so few details about 
how his ideas would work in practice, and it is because he knows, 
without a doubt, that if this shows the true cost of signing on the 
dotted line that the people would not be with him in this effort.
  Throughout the pandemic, the American people kept each other safe and 
took care of their friends and neighbors. When I talk to Tennesseans 
about church, I can tell what they really have as their values: faith, 
family, freedom, hope, opportunity. They understand that defending one 
of those virtues means defending them all for everybody. But they also 
understand the danger in allowing the government to step in and replace 
family and community with a bloated welfare state. They know it is 
dangerous to replace potential with sameness and to supplant community 
with collectivism.
  That is exactly what the Biden administration put on the table last 
night in very vague, poll-tested language that really said nothing but 
threatened unprecedented levels of government control. But I suppose 
from their perspective, you don't need details when all you are really 
asking your fellow countrymen to do is to submit; just take the deal.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.

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