[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 16, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4558-S4559]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Economic Recovery

  Mr. McCONNELL. Key economic indicators continue to show that our 
Nation's recovery is still facing significant head winds.
  Last week, we learned that inflation has logged its steepest increase 
since the 2008 financial crisis. There are more unfilled jobs in 
America than at any point on record, and, when asked, more than 90 
percent of the small business owners trying to fill them say they are 
having trouble finding qualified candidates.
  So how did we get here?
  When COVID-19 arrived last spring, emergency shutdowns put the brakes 
on what had become a roaring economy. The pro-growth agenda enacted by 
Republicans had helped drive unemployment to its lowest level in a 
half-century. Take-home pay was rising and rising fastest for lower 
earners, and millions of new workers were coming off the sidelines to 
join a competitive market for American talent.
  The past year presented harsh new challenges, but thanks to the 
bravery of frontline workers, the genius of scientists, and targeted, 
bipartisan relief measures passed here in Congress, our Nation was 
beginning to turn the corner.
  The Biden administration actually inherited the conditions for 
success. It had a bipartisan roadmap of how best to support our 
economic recovery.
  Alas, but instead, the Democrats chose to ram through trillions of 
dollars in liberal pet projects--a relative pittance for actual 
pandemic relief and a massive expansion of Federal unemployment 
benefits that has made staying home the most sensible financial 
decision for literally millions of American workers.
  As one pair of economists put it recently, ``The stimulus bill 
stimulated unemployment, not employment.'' To be specific, their 
analysis found it created conditions in at least 19 States where a 
family of four could claim the equivalent of a six-figure salary by 
staying out of the workforce.
  Let me say that again. One recent study found that in 19 States, a 
family of four, with two working parents, would have had to earn at an 
annual rate of more than $100,000 from working for it to make financial 
sense not to stay home. In 19 States, it made more sense to stay home 
than to go back to work.
  But burying American workers in incentives to stay home hasn't just 
hurt rehiring; it has also magnified supply shortages. A few months 
back, the recovery made possible by bipartisan action last year had our 
economy geared up for a rush of consumer spending, but today, short-
staffed producers are having to pass the rising costs on to households 
just as this rush was set to ramp up.
  A tough year forced American families to put off some big purchases, 
but now they are facing some of the worst sticker shock in a 
generation. Used car

[[Page S4559]]

prices are 30 percent higher than last year, and the cost of some home 
appliances has spiked nearly as much. Everyday essentials are getting 
pricier too. Milk is up 7 percent, and gas has jumped by more that 50 
percent.
  Consumers are feeling the real cost of what the White House Chief of 
Staff called ``the most progressive domestic legislation in a 
generation.'' But it didn't have to be this way. These are exactly the 
conditions economists have been writing about and warning about for 
months.
  Back in March, the Washington Post ran an ominous line:

       For policy experts and even members of Biden's own party, 
     the improving picture is raising questions about whether the 
     stimulus bill is mismatched--

  Mismatched--

       to the needs of the current moment.

  Sure enough, not just any member of the President's party but a top 
economist under both the last two Democratic administrations, Larry 
Summers, cautioned even earlier that a massive spending plan like the 
one Democrats were proposing could ``set off inflationary pressures of 
a kind we have not seen in a generation.'' Prescient, to say the least. 
That is exactly what has happened.
  These exact fears have been realized, and experts are still clear 
about the source of the problem. ``Labor shortages are the last thing 
that we need'' with inflation on the rise. Until very recently, the 
White House has been unwilling to connect these dots.
  States have been on their own to turn off the perverse incentives 
driving the shortages. To date, 25 States have done so, announcing 
suspensions of excessive Federal unemployment supplements. But across 
the country, Main Street has already been feeling the pinch.
  In my State of Kentucky, the consequences of Democrats' misguided 
spending are growing more serious. Small business owners in particular 
are nearing a breaking point. One restaurant owner in Clark County 
wrote to me to say that ``each week it gets harder to create a full 
schedule. Restaurants are already reducing hours of operation. Next 
will come closing.''
  I have heard the same story from constituents all over the 
Commonwealth. A sign manufacturer in Woodford County had to ask his 
staff to work as many as 10 hours of overtime each week just to keep up 
with demand. An outdoor supplies maker in McCracken County saw shipping 
costs quadruple in the past year. He can't find a prospective employee 
who will even show up for an interview. He can't even find a 
prospective employee who will show up for an interview. After 25 years 
of production, he is facing the prospect that his company may not be 
able to stay afloat.
  The Commonwealth still has 90,000 fewer workers than we did before 
the pandemic. In the past year, the Consumer Price Index in Kentucky 
and surrounding States has increased by a whopping 7 percent. The 
recovery teed up by smart, targeted, bipartisan policies last year has 
been buried under an ill-advised, self-inflicted avalanche--avalanche--
of spending. Folks in Kentucky know all too well what happens when 
Democrats get carried away here in Washington. They know who ends up 
footing the bill back home.
  Higher prices at the gas pump and the grocery store, just as families 
were hoping to put a year of sacrifices in the rearview mirror--these 
are the real-world effects of the Biden administration's multitrillion-
dollar economic debacle. These are the effects that Republicans and 
nonpartisan experts have warned about literally for months.
  The American people are, nevertheless, resilient. Job creators, 
innovators, and skilled workers are ready. But as our economy slowly 
gets back up to speed, it certainly won't be because Democrats stroked 
an outsized check; it will be in spite of it.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Lujan). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered