[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 123 (Wednesday, July 14, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4877-S4881]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. BLUNT. Madam President, like all of us, I just got back from 
spending some time at home. I got back from being there and making a 
difference. I think one of the important things of being outside of 
Washington is you get a chance to hear what people are really concerned 
about. We have all kinds of speeches given here every day of what 
Members of Congress are absolutely sure people are concerned about. I

[[Page S4878]]

think that topic becomes much more crystal clear when you get home. I 
know it is certainly much more crystal clear to me when I am home in 
Missouri.
  Over the Fourth of July holiday, there were a number of visits all 
over the State--to Columbia, St. Louis, Montgomery City, Monroe City. 
There were lots of events everywhere in the State at which I talked 
about the importance of getting the vaccine and the progress we were 
making there, but the first thing that people wanted to talk to me 
about was inflation. People are already seeing that prices are well 
above the numbers that they believe they are seeing that the official 
numbers are confirming.
  In May of this year, prices were 5 percent higher than they were in 
May a year ago. In June, they were 5.4 percent higher than they were a 
year ago, but people are seeing a lot of prices that are higher than 
that. The price of whole milk is up 7.5 percent from a year ago. The 
price of an airplane ticket has averaged up about 25 percent from a 
year ago. Used cars are more expensive than they were last June. In 
fact, they are 45 percent more expensive than they were a year ago in 
June.
  There is an incredible increase in the cost of things that people not 
only want to buy but on those things that are more pressing: what 
people have to buy and need to buy.
  A lot of people specifically talked to me about gas prices. I was on 
the road a lot, driving a lot while I was home, and I saw those prices 
for myself. The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline nationwide 
is about $3.15. That is 45 percent higher than in June of last year. 
That is a hidden tax that working people pay every day.
  Whether it is a hidden tax on a glass of milk, a hidden tax on a tank 
of gas, or a hidden tax on other things that they like to do or have to 
do, it makes a real difference for the people who want to take a 
vacation or have to travel to work. In the part of Missouri that I live 
in, there are a lot of little towns that have manufacturing jobs. It is 
not unusual for somebody to drive 40 or 50 miles one way to get to that 
job, and if gasoline is 45 percent higher than it was a year ago, it 
makes a real difference. That is a real hidden tax, and it is usually a 
hidden tax on the people to whom the President rightly would not want 
to pass on tax increases.
  I think the administration has to start taking into account the 
issues that are out there. Larry Summers and others from the Obama 
administration have warned of the great risk of inflation. When we talk 
about energy, for instance, I think we have to do that, clearly, in a 
way that, if we are making transitions to energy, we don't make those 
transitions in a way that needlessly have a negative impact on families 
and on opportunities.
  In his first few days in office, President Biden rescinded the permit 
for the Keystone XL Pipeline, and not too long after that, he blocked 
the new oil and gas leases in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. These were 
things that Congress had talked about for a long time and, in some 
cases, were things Congress had specifically decided were timely to do, 
but an Executive order from the President decided, no, we are going to 
head in a different direction.
  That was just the beginning, really, of what my colleagues have seen 
in the discussion in Congress and what my Democratic colleagues in 
Congress have in mind. So, if you like paying higher prices for 
gasoline, you are going to love what happens to the restrictions that 
go into effect and drive prices of all energy even higher.
  The other thing I talked to small business owners about and, frankly, 
to all business owners about was the trouble in finding enough workers. 
Republican Governors in 25 States have now determined that the larger 
unemployment benefit kept people from going back to work. People were 
choosing to stay on the sidelines rather than go to work. Frankly, if 
you looked at that $618 weekly unemployment check that was the average 
in America in May, that unemployment check didn't have any childcare 
costs associated with it, and it didn't have any travel to work 
associated with it. You have to have a job that pays a lot to not 
consider, if I am continuing to get this check, why should I go back to 
work?
  Missouri was one of the 25 States that decided that the extra bonus 
was not only bad for families in their not going back to work but that 
it was bad for our economy. So, as of June 12, the return to the 
important but much lower normal unemployment benefit happened in our 
State, and I think you can already see people making the decision that 
it is time to go back to work.
  Surprisingly, even though we have created a lot of opportunities for 
people to stay home, the June economy created 850,000 new jobs, and we 
should all feel good about that, but if this is an economy that has 
created 850,000 new jobs, at some point, we have to stop pushing money 
into that economy that we don't have. There are, obviously, a lot of 
factors at play here, but the 850,000 people going back to work is an 
important and a significant thing.
  Part of the explanation, obviously, is the rush by Republican 
Governors, principally, to eliminate that bonus, but part of it is just 
simply an economy that is already beginning to rebound--to rebound 
based on the current tax structure and rebound based on what 
governments already spend rather than this incredible rush to drive 
inflation even further.
  The Congressional Budget Office put out a new report recently that 
read the Federal deficit for this fiscal year will be more than $3 
trillion. The problem is that nobody has any idea what $3 trillion 
really is, and that probably includes most of us. If I said the deficit 
was $3 million or $300,000, somehow divided up to every American 
family, we would immediately think: Oh, my goodness. We could never 
deal with that.
  By the way, it was just announced that there is a budget agreement on 
top of that $3 trillion deficit to spend another $3.5 trillion.
  It is time we started talking frankly about how much $3 trillion 
really is. That $3 trillion is something that somebody has to pay back 
sometime. All that borrowing and spending has been one of the big 
factors contributing to inflation. It doesn't even count the $3.5 
trillion, again, that had been added just overnight in that discussion.
  Some people are beginning to call this Bidenomics. I think Congress 
has to take its share of responsibility here. The belief that we can 
spend without limit and that it won't cause any problems is outrageous. 
The idea that we can pay people not to work or pay them more than they 
would make if they did work is outrageous. All of these things lead to 
unintended consequences. There is a belief that high gas prices and 
inflation are just temporary and that people shouldn't be concerned 
about it. Well, people are concerned, and they should be concerned.
  I hope my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will spend some 
time listening to people, hearing their concerns. I hope they will 
reconsider their policies that are fueling inflation and holding back 
our economy
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to use a prop 
during my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Ms. ERNST. Madam President, President Biden's economic policies are 
causing nationwide sticker shock.
  The price of nearly everything is higher today than it has been since 
Biden was in the White House the first time. The cost of consumer goods 
has gone up every month since January, and the markup in prices over 
the past year is the biggest annual increase since 2008. The Democrats' 
response to these rising prices is to simply spend more, which is 
making the problem worse.
  Paying people not to work is contributing to worker shortages. Not 
having enough workers is resulting in service and supply shortages. 
Combine these two factors with trillions of dollars of government 
spending, and it all adds up to higher prices on everything for 
everyone. It is a common story wherever I visit on my 99-county tour. 
Because of Washington's upside-down economic policies, small businesses 
are struggling to hire workers, and our families are paying much more 
for far less.
  Put simply, under Bidenomics, the price is up. Everyday products, 
like

[[Page S4879]]

diapers and paper towels, are either increasing in cost or decreasing 
in size, which is the same result: more money out of our wallets. 
Whether you are eating in or you are dining out, the one thing you are 
guaranteed to find on every supermarket shelf and restaurant menu is 
higher prices.
  A pound of sliced bacon has increased a whole dollar in just the past 
year, and the fast-food dollar menu is disappearing. We are paying more 
at the pump too. A year ago, a gallon of gas cost about $2.18. Today, 
the price is just under $3 in Iowa. Nationally, the cost has risen to 
about $3.15 per gallon and is expected to keep going up throughout the 
summer. Meanwhile, rising shipping costs are lifting the prices of 
everything from coffee to furniture.
  All in all, Bidenomics has resulted in the biggest surge in inflation 
in nearly 13 years. For Iowans who are living on a budget, these 
unpredictable price markups are making every purchase a real guessing 
game. They keep finding themselves asking if the price is right.
  To demonstrate just how much costs are spinning out of control, I 
have brought the wheel of inflation with me here today. Each of the 
numbers on the wheel represents a price increase for a common household 
product. It will tell us exactly how much more Bidenomics is costing 
hard-working Americans.
  So, folks, let's go ahead and give it a spin.
  No. 8. In the past year, the price of bacon is up about 8 percent.
  Give her a good spin.
  OK. No. 5, and it is a black 5. In the past year, the price of 
clothes is up about 5 percent.
  No. 11. In the past year, the price of auto insurance is up 11 
percent; and if you go to the 17 there, you will find that hotel rates, 
the price has gone up 17 percent in the last year.
  There are no winning numbers on this wheel. Again, every number 
represents the increase of a common good American consumers are dealing 
with. There are no winning numbers on this wheel. No matter how you 
spin it, we simply cannot afford any more Bidenomics. I think the 
American people will agree, all of these prices need to come on down. 
But instead of addressing inflation, Democrats are trying to outbid one 
another over a massive new government spending program they are calling 
human infrastructure.
  Want to guess what the price tag being floated by the chairman of the 
Senate Budget Committee for this package might be? Three and a half 
trillion dollars--all capital letters, folks.
  The endless giveaway of cash and prizes may make it appear like 
Democrats in Washington are running a game show, but we all know that 
this is not a game. With our national debt approaching $30 trillion, 
the bills are eventually going to come due. And you know who will be 
stuck with the tab? Taxpayers.
  What runaway inflation doesn't take from working Americans' 
paychecks, the IRS will take to pay for the Democrats' never-ending 
spending. We are all going to be paying back the trillions of dollars 
borrowed to pay for Bidenomics, both in higher taxes and in higher 
consumer costs, and that price--folks, it isn't right.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, like my colleague from Iowa who has 
just spoken, I travel Iowa as well, and in holding my county meetings 
and visiting with employers and employees--not just these last 2 weeks 
that we have been in recess, but all year--I have been hearing all of 
what Senator Ernst has referred to, that people are afraid of inflation 
and a lot of people are old enough to remember the 12- to 15-percent 
inflation we had during the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. We don't want 
to repeat that.
  Traveling Iowa, it is always refreshing to hear directly from my 
constituents because, as I often say, Washington is an island 
surrounded by reality. The Midwest seems to be the real America 
compared to what we know here in Washington, DC, where everything that 
dominates the economy is affected by government--and very Big 
Government.
  There is no better example of this than how the Biden administration 
and Washington elites talk about inflation and rising prices. To them, 
inflation is transitory or the result of base effects, and those words 
``transitory'' and ``base effects'' are used to justify this inflation. 
Really something not to worry about, I think, is the impression they 
want to leave us with.
  To the Iowans I spoke with, inflation is real and persistent, as 
Senator Ernst has so colorfully shown. I heard concerns from my 
constituents about inflation wherever I went. And why? Because it is 
affecting people's lives right now.
  I heard about how inflation was cutting into families' budgets, 
making it hard to make ends meet. I heard how prices in grocery 
staples, such as milk, meat, fruit, vegetables, are on the rise, along 
with all manner of household goods.
  Yet the President and his top economic advisers say inflation is 
nothing to worry about, or as the President's Treasury Secretary put 
it, ``I don't think there's going to be an inflationary problem. But if 
there is, the Fed will be counted on to address it.'' They shouldn't be 
so nonchalant about it. As we know from the 1970s, once inflation takes 
off, getting it back under control can require very painful measures.
  They should take the advice of former Clinton Treasury Secretary 
Summers. He recently stated, ``The Fed has had almost no success gently 
bringing down inflation once an economy has started to overheat.''
  Notice that word ``gently'' because everybody thinks this is going to 
just occur very easily, getting it under control, but we remember the 
results of the 1970s, early eighties. It took Paul Volcker to take a 
sledgehammer through the policies of the Federal Reserve to bring down 
interest rates.
  And a lot of farmers in Iowa lost their farms when they were 
borrowing on that inflation, trusting the government that there was no 
problem, and then we have just farmers going out of business because 
Volcker used a sledgehammer, and he probably had to use it because 
there wasn't a gentle way of doing it. Unfortunately, instead of taking 
inflation seriously, the current administration appears intent on 
stoking its flames, pouring gasoline on the inflation fire.
  In his budget, the President proposes government spending and debt at 
levels previously only seen temporarily during war or economic 
recession. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and economists 
surveyed by the Wall Street Journal both recently raised their 
inflation expectations. CBO raised its inflation projections because 
``output now exceeds its potential level sooner and by a larger amount 
than previously anticipated.''
  Output exceeding its potential is economic speak for the economy is 
starting to overheat. Consumer price data released yesterday shows 
inflation heating up. In June, prices climbed 5.4 percent over the 
prior year compared to 5 percent in May. Moreover, core inflation, 
which omits volatile food and energy goods, rose at the highest rate in 
29 years
  The trillions of dollars in new spending proposed by the President 
could set inflation ablaze. If that occurs, it is not going to be the 
wealthy and the Wall Street elites that pay the price. The average 
hard-working American living paycheck to paycheck, and particularly 
tough on the retiree on fixed incomes, those are the people that are 
going to pay more and get less for paying more. The President would be 
well served to listen more to everyday Americans about how rising 
prices are affecting their lives today.
  President Biden might then realize pursuing another multitrillion-
dollar spending spree isn't worth the risk. It could fan the flames of 
inflation and devastate the livelihoods of average Americans.
  It is incumbent upon the President and the Congress to avert 
catastrophe by pursuing responsible fiscal policies. We can't just 
expect the Federal Reserve to clean up our mess if we act irresponsibly 
by spending another $4 trillion. By that time, it could already be too 
late, waiting on the Fed.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Mississippi.
  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, what the senior Senator from Iowa just 
said is exactly right, and unfortunately, the Biden inflation tax 
increase is real, and it is already here.

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  We warned about it earlier this year when our friends on the 
Democratic side decided to spend almost $2 trillion that was 
unnecessary, and here it is. Just the other day, consumer prices 
increased by 5.4 percent. This represents the largest year over year 
price surge since 2008. It is a tax increase on every American 
consumer.
  And then today, even worse news, the producer price increased 7.3 
percent. We are in an inflation problem. It is caused by this 
unnecessary spending spree that we have been on this year. We have 
known about it--now, we see the statistics--because we felt it at home.
  And the senior Senator from Iowa mentioned what he was hearing during 
the break. Mississippians are paying more for a tank of gas, for a 
gallon of milk. They are paying more for a new home, for a used car. 
Used car prices have shot up by 10 percent since May and by 45 percent 
since June of last year--used cars, up by 45 percent. That is real 
inflation, and it affects real working Americans.
  The hard reality is that our economy is now saturated with a tsunami 
of spending unleashed by the Democratic majority back in March, when 
party leaders abandoned what has been a balanced and bipartisan 
approach in the year 2020 to COVID relief. I would remind my colleagues 
that in February, the Congressional Budget Office had predicted our 
economy was already going to return to its prepandemic size by midyear 
without the spending of a new $2 trillion.
  As the senior Senator from Iowa mentioned, Larry Summers, a longtime 
Democratic adviser, an adviser to President Obama, warned that more 
stimulus could overheat the economy and cause inflation. And more 
spending came and the economy got overheated, and we are faced with 
real statistics about inflation that cannot be denied.
  Our Democratic friends brushed off that warning and instead pumped 
trillions more of borrowed money into our economy. Our Nation's money 
supply has increased by an unheard of 31 percent since the pandemic. 
Now, some of it, we had to do in the year 2020, when the economy had 
fallen off a cliff, but we are halfway through 2021, the Fed is still 
printing cash, and the majority party in this body seems intent on 
spending trillions more.
  As a result, inflation is now eating away at family earnings, at bank 
accounts, at 401(k) savings accounts, most of which are shrinking as a 
share of the economy. Loss of purchasing power is making it harder for 
Americans to buy a home, start a family, or send their children to 
college. All of this should serve as a caution to all of us, to our 
friends on the other side of the aisle. This week's Consumer Price 
Index and today's Producer Price Index information are an early alarm 
bell signaling that this Congress and the Biden administration are 
courting runaway inflation.

  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WICKER. Madam President, if I might, I ask unanimous consent that 
Senators Marshall, Scott of Florida, and Murray be permitted to speak 
for up to 5 minutes each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, this past week, we held 12 townhalls 
back home in my home State of Kansas. We heard from Kansans about a 
variety of issues, but thanks to this administration's economic 
policies, runaway inflation has replaced COVID at the top of the 
mountain of concerns for the people from my State.
  Make no mistake about it--the inflation harming checking accounts of 
Kansans and all Americans rests squarely on the shoulders of the 
socialist economic policies coming out of the White House, otherwise 
known as Bidenomics.
  As we all know, yesterday, the Department of Labor reported consumer 
prices climbed for the third straight month, jumping over 5 percent in 
June--the largest increase in 13 years. Gas prices are up, groceries 
are up, cars and truck prices are up, home prices are up, paper 
products are up, utilities are up, and I could go on and on.
  Every day, we see the Bidenomics of inflation impacting hard-working 
Americans. In fact, inflation is a great social injustice. Inflation is 
really a regressive tax. It hurts everyone but none more than our 
seniors and young, hard-working families living paycheck to paycheck.
  So what exactly is Bidenomics? Let's look at what they did to create 
this crisis. Stating the obvious, they are printing money, borrowing 
money we don't have, and implementing quantitative easing like there is 
no tomorrow, like there are no generations of America for our future.
  Look no further than the cost of utilities. The administration has 
made it hard to use affordable, clean, traditional energy, and they 
leveled more and more regulations on the industry.
  Manufactured products? Ditto. Bidenomics is paying people more to 
stay at home than go to work, creating labor shortages and government-
created bottlenecks in manufacturing plants. And then, to top things 
off, we don't even have enough truckdrivers to transport goods to 
market.
  As for gasoline, I bring your attention, which is up 31 percent since 
January, and according to AAA, it is expected to rise another 20 cents 
this summer.
  Let's think about what all the administration has done. They shut 
down the Keystone XL. They stopped drilling on government lands and 
imposed harmful rules and regulations to slow down drilling and make it 
more expensive. We are now importing more oil from Russia than Alaska.
  As a physician in rural Kansas, I had the privilege of delivering a 
baby most every day, and one thing I always noticed, when that price of 
gasoline got above $3 a gallon, all of a sudden, those moms were 
missing their appointments. Today, we are at that number, and we are 
expecting it to go even higher, unfortunately. Kansans aren't the only 
ones feeling the squeeze at the pump.
  Many popular items we all regularly purchase at the grocery store 
increased in recent months. The cost of a typical all-American Kansas 
breakfast--two eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and orange juice--is up 
almost 10 percent.
  Pre-COVID, we had the greatest economy in my lifetime, and that came 
about because we lowered people's taxes, we lowered regulations, and we 
lowered energy prices. Now, out-of-control spending and socialist 
policies dictated by the White House are leading to rampant inflation 
that shows no signs of stopping
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, America is in a debt crisis 
because of reckless government spending. Now, thanks to the insane 
spending and failed policies of President Joe Biden and Democrats in 
Washington, we are seeing higher and higher inflation.
  Under the Biden administration, inflation has grown every month. Just 
look at this week's CPI numbers. From June 2020 to June 2021, the 
Consumer Price Index rose 5.4 percent. Energy costs are up 24.5 
percent, and gasoline prices are up 45 percent--nearly $1 more from 
where they were last year. Inflation is at the highest rate since the 
great recession. This week's Producer Price Index data shows a 7.3-
percent increase in June and a historic 22.6-percent jump in the prices 
of processed goods, the highest since 1975. For 6 straight months, we 
have seen the data clearly shows that spending beyond our means has 
consequences. Inflation is growing at the fastest rate since 1981.
  These aren't just numbers or statistics; these increases represent a 
growing pressure on Florida families and businesses. Every time prices 
rise, life gets harder.
  Last month, I met with business owners in Miami and heard firsthand 
how their businesses were struggling with the rising price of goods. 
Every time I am home in Florida, I hear from families who are noticing 
prices are up, gas prices are up, and food prices are up. Every price 
increase has a direct impact on a family's budget.
  When inflation goes up, it hurts everyone, especially our poor 
families, those on fixed incomes, and small businesses. I saw how hard 
it was for my parents to make ends meet when inflation hit in the 
seventies. When food and gas prices went up, we had less food on the 
table.
  I remember going to the grocery store, when my mom took in ironing to

[[Page S4881]]

raise money every day for groceries, and she said: You have to look at 
the price of things because they are constantly going up.
  That is happening again in Joe Biden's America. Families in Florida 
and across our Nation are suffering because of the Democrats' reckless 
spending spree led by Joe Biden.
  Just take a look around. Average prices of everything--everything is 
up. Let's say families are filling up their tank once a week. If you 
drive a car, that means Joe Biden raised your expenses $600 a year. If 
you drive a truck, that means Joe Biden raised your expenses by more 
than $1,000 a year. And let's remember, half of Americans make less 
than $35,000 a year. Inflation is a new tax on our families.
  Instead of addressing this crisis that has hurt Americans, Biden and 
the Democrats are living in an economic fantasyland where debt doesn't 
matter, spending has no consequences, and inflation is impossible. They 
are ignoring the fact that our Nation is barreling towards $30 trillion 
in debt. That is $233,000 in debt for every family in America.
  Now Democrats in the Senate want to spend another $4 trillion of your 
money on a so-called infrastructure plan that has little to do with 
infrastructure. They don't care if Americans get a return on their 
hard-earned tax dollars.
  But the truth is, we can't keep spending like this. There will be a 
day of reckoning coming if we don't act to get our fiscal house in 
order. That is why I have introduced legislation, the Federal Debt 
Emergency Control Act, to take real steps to rein in Washington's out-
of-control spending. That includes preventing Biden and the Democrats 
from mindlessly spending by requiring that two-thirds of the Senate 
vote to increase the debt before approving any bill with deficit 
spending.
  It would terminate any unobligated funding from the American Rescue 
Plan and any previous stimulus bills, sending it back to the Treasury 
General Fund for deficit reduction.
  Finally, it would ensure that any bill reducing the debt by at least 
5 percent over 10 years is fast-tracked through the legislative 
process.
  We are in a debt crisis. This isn't monopoly money; it is Americans' 
money, and we have to be responsible with it. It is time to end the 
madness, and it is time to stand up for low- and fixed-income families 
and for small businesses that bear the brunt of President Biden's 
inflation crisis. With the debt ceiling suspension expiring on July 31, 
we must tackle these issues head-on and chart a new and fiscally 
responsible path forward that protects families and our Nation's 
financial security.
  I look forward to every fiscally responsible Republican and Democrat 
working with me to reject Biden's insane spending spree, quickly pass 
my bill, and protect the future of this Nation
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington.