[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 124 (Thursday, July 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4916-S4918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, our Democratic colleagues have begun to 
lay out the groundwork for a partisan reconciliation bill totaling $3.5 
trillion--what used to be an absolutely astonishing amount of money.
  We don't have many details about how that money could be spent, but 
based on everything we have heard from President Biden and our 
Democratic colleagues over recent months, there are some safe 
assumptions: Medicare expansion, Green New Deal-era climate 
initiatives, and a range of free programs that we know aren't free at 
all--college, childcare; you name it.
  To pay for these runaway spending habits, our Democratic colleagues 
will lean on job-killing tax increases and excessive borrowing from 
future generations. As a reminder, this is only one-half of the dual-
track strategy they are pushing this month. The other half is more than 
$1 trillion worth of infrastructure.
  And I would note that while there is strong bipartisan support for an 
infrastructure bill, that the Democratic leader is apparently intending 
to file for cloture on a motion to proceed to a bill that hasn't even 
been written yet, much less had a Congressional Budget Office score to 
see whether the pay-fors are meaningful or phony.
  As I see it, our friends on the other side have made it even more 
difficult to convince our colleagues, let alone the American people, 
that this type of spending is necessary. After all, they have already 
developed a spotty record this year. At a time when our debts were 
piling up, they added up even more unnecessary spending.
  Back in March, Democrats spent nearly $2 trillion without the support 
of a single Republican. They claimed this was all in the name of COVID-
19 relief, even though less than 10 percent directly supported our 
pandemic response. The rest was a grab bag of irresponsible spending.
  One case in point is the blue State bailout. Democrats spent $350 
billion more in aid to State and local governments, many of which were 
not even facing any sort of budget shortfalls. Democrats said the jobs 
of everybody from police officers to teachers would be in jeopardy 
without this funding.
  Republicans offered that this huge sum of funding wasn't needed since 
many States were not operating in the red. Even liberal economists and 
nonpartisan groups, like the Committee for a Responsible Federal 
Budget, agreed.
  But as the old saying goes, time tells all. And it didn't take much 
time for us to see how completely unnecessary this $350 billion payout 
was. Take California as an example. California has more than $100 
billion budget surplus. That is with a capital ``B.'' Governor Newsom 
is using that money to dole out stimulus checks and provide medical 
coverage for undocumented immigrants.
  New Jersey has had so much extra cash lying around that it has made 
its first full payment into the State's pension system in more than 25 
years. But they didn't stop there. It exceeded that payment by more 
than half a billion dollars.
  This was exactly the kind of reckless spending of supposed COVID-19 
dollars borrowed against future generations that we advocated against 
because we saw a tidal wave of funding going to States that were not 
even operating in the red.
  One recent POLITICO article read:

       State Faced Financial Ruin. Now they're swimming in cash.

  The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board asked: ``Didn't States Say 
They Were Broke?''
  At a time when our spending already mirrored wartime expenses, 
Democrats handed States piles of cash to erase debts and add to rainy-
day funds, not to provide for COVID-19 relief.

[[Page S4917]]

  This money could have been used to invest in our roads and bridges, 
to have credible pay-fors for the bipartisan infrastructure bill that 
is currently being considered, or to increase broadband access in rural 
communities, or to support the response to the immigrant crisis 
occurring on our southern border, or a number of other priorities.
  But rather than repurposing the surplus funds from the first spending 
bonanza, our Democratic colleagues are trying to double down on 
reckless spending, more irresponsible borrowing, more unnecessary 
spending, and more burdensome taxes. This multitrillion-dollar spending 
spree comes at a time that is already an unstable one for our economy.
  Last month, inflation hit a 13-year high. And average prices are up 
5.4 percent over the last year. Now, this is what happens when so much 
money starts chasing limited goods and services. The price of those 
goods and services goes up. That is what helps to cause inflation. And 
consumers are the ones feeling the sting of rising prices for virtually 
everything they buy.
  Fruits and vegetables are up 3.2 percent; electricity is up 3.8 
percent; and dining-out costs are up 4.2 percent over a year ago. For 
families operating on a budget, unlike the Federal Government that can 
simply print money and borrow more money and impose that burden on 
future generations--for families operating on a budget, especially 
those who battled job losses and other tough financial circumstances 
during the pandemic, those dollars and those expenses add up awfully 
quick.
  And those account for only a few of the price increases that families 
are facing. For example, if you want to purchase a washer or dryer for 
your home, you are going to be met with some pretty serious sticker 
shock. Prices are up 26 percent over last year.
  For folks hitting the road for maybe a little time off during the 
summertime or maybe even just commuting back and forth to work will 
have to budget quite a bit more for the gasoline necessary to get them 
there. They are paying 45 percent more at the pump than they did just 1 
year ago
  And anyone heading to the used-car lot is bound for a big surprise. 
Over the last 12 months, used-car prices are up an eye-popping 45.2 
percent. We know one contributing factor is the shortage of 
semiconductors necessary to run these computers on wheels that we now 
call cars. Without a steady supply of these chips, automakers haven't 
been able to manufacture the normal number of new vehicles, making used 
ones a particular hot commodity.
  This is another reason why the House needs to take up the bipartisan 
U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, which passed the Senate last 
month. It can take literally years to get new semiconductor foundries 
or manufacturing facilities up and running. And time is of the essence. 
Getting this bill signed into law will help bolster domestic chip 
production and safeguard against similar shortages in the future.
  But getting back to these rising costs depicted here on this chart, 
these kinds of across-the-board cost increases are simply unmanageable 
for many families. I know it is easy sitting here in Washington, DC, 
getting a government salary, to think that, well, people can manage. 
But if you are a working family, particularly one coming off of layoffs 
or reduced hours as a result of the COVID-19 mitigation efforts, these 
are real. And they bite into the economics of these families.
  As bad as inflation is, it is only one part of our economic woes. We 
are also seeing trouble getting people to go back to work. In February 
last year, before the pandemic hit, the unemployment rate was 3.5 
percent. The economy was hitting on all cylinders. But within 2 months, 
unemployment went from 3.5 percent to 15 percent.
  Since then, thanks to our investments and bipartisan cooperation and 
our great scientists, we have made steady progress in getting workers 
back on the job. But, unfortunately, our Democratic colleagues have 
seen fit to incentivize men and women to remain on the sidelines of the 
labor market.
  The partisan bill they passed earlier this year extended, bolstered 
unemployment benefits through the end of September, long after we 
expected our economy to reopen.
  It was literally true with the $300 Federal supplement to State 
unemployment benefits. People receiving unemployment benefits in my 
State, 80 percent of them got more from unemployment than they did from 
their former jobs.
  That is simply the wrong kind of incentives to try to incentivize 
people not to work. We need to incentivize and facilitate people 
getting back to work so they can support their families.
  So it is no wonder our economy is still struggling to rebound. A 
partisan go-it-alone strategy has not led to positive results for our 
country. It has driven up debt, deficits, borrowing, and spending. And 
for what?
  The American people are spending more of their hard-earned money on 
everyday items. Workers are sitting on the sidelines of the labor 
markets. And our national debt is at a higher level than it was 
following World War II.
  In the last election--contrary to, perhaps, the belief among some 
circles here in Washington--the voters did not give our Democratic 
colleagues a mandate. They didn't sign off on the far-left agenda or 
give a green light to spend trillions and trillions of dollars on 
unnecessary liberal programs.
  If they wanted Bernie Sanders' multitrillion-dollar budget, they 
would have elected him President of the United States. But we know that 
did not happen.
  Voters elected a 50-50 Senate, lessened the Democratic majority in 
the House, and took President Biden at his word that he promised to 
work across the aisle. This far left--hard left turn is not what the 
American people voted for.
  Republicans will continue to fight this irresponsible spending 
bonanza once again. And I hope, I hope some of our Democratic 
colleagues will stand with us.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Ohio.
  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I see a very different country, apparently, 
from my colleague. And I respect Senator Cornyn.
  I sat at this desk on March 6. We had been voting, as the Presiding 
Officer from Hawaii remembers. We had been voting all night. It was a 
Saturday at about 12:30. We had voted for about 11 hours. And we 
defeated by one vote an amendment where Senator Grassley and my 
colleagues from the Finance Committee and the Senate Republicans tried 
to delete the child tax credit from the American Rescue Plan. We then 
took a second vote around noon on Saturday, after 11 or 12 hours of 
voting, where we passed the American Rescue Plan by one vote.
  Two different times, the Republican Party, which always votes for tax 
cuts for the richest people in the country, always on party-line votes, 
always under the very discredited theory that with tax cuts the dollars 
trickle down to workers and to the middle class and the rest of the 
country--they will always vote for a big tax cut for rich people, but 
they opposed twice--unanimously opposed, every single one opposed--the 
child tax credit.
  (Mr. KING assumed the Chair.)
  Today is the magic day. I remember saying to Senator Casey, when we 
passed the American Rescue Plan, that this is the best day of my career 
in public service because we are going to reduce the child poverty rate 
by 50 percent.
  This isn't a tax cut for rich people, so they can buy another home or 
another yacht or another vacation place. This is money in the pockets 
of working-class and middle-class and struggling people from Maine and 
Ohio and Texas and Iowa and all over the country.
  So, today, people should start checking their bank accounts, looking 
at their phones, checking their bank accounts, looking in their 
mailbox. Starting today--today, Friday, Saturday, Monday--the great 
majority of American families will see this tax cut. They will see this 
$250 or $300 a month. They are going to start receiving it. There will 
be $250 if the child is 6 or over. There will be $250 6 to 17. If they 
are 5 or under, it will be $300 per month per child--on July 15, August 
15, September 15, October, November, December.
  Then, with the second half of the tax cut, they will get a lump sum 
starting next year when they file their taxes. Ninety-two percent of 
kids in my

[[Page S4918]]

State--92 percent of children under 18--are eligible for this.
  These are all numbers and these are all statistics, but here is what 
it means. I did a series of roundtables in Cleveland and Columbus and 
Dayton and Cincinnati and Toledo and Youngstown and Fremont and Bryan 
and Defiance, OH. Here is what I heard. One woman said: You know, my 
son, for the first time in his life, I can send him for a week at 
summer camp because of this child tax credit.
  A father said: I can buy the equipment for my daughter to play 
fastpitch softball now.
  Another said: I am so anxious--I heard this many times--I am so 
anxious at the end of every month during the last week. How am I going 
to cobble together the money to pay my rent? And often I have to choose 
between buying enough food and paying my rent.
  Others said: Now I can work more hours because I can afford daycare 
for my children.
  A few said things like: You know, now, per child--my babies are 3 and 
4 years old--I can put $100 a month aside for each of them so they can 
go to Lorraine Community College or Sinclair or Northwest State 
Community College or Ohio State University or Denison. They can get a 
start on saving money. Why wouldn't we want to do that?
  We talk about infrastructure around here. Infrastructure is building 
a foundation so families can launch their children to a better life. 
And providing families $250 or $300 a month--month after month after 
month--gives those families, give those kids an opportunity they never 
would have had. Why wouldn't we think this is the best day this 
Congress has had in 25 years when we do that? It is pretty simple.
  You know what I really like about this--and I know the Presiding 
Officer appreciates that in Maine; Senator King in Maine, Senator 
Grassley in Iowa--we don't make the decisions about what these parents 
should do. We provide them the dollars. They spend it best, whether it 
is a family in Dubuque or a family in Portland or whether it is a 
family in Mansfield or Cleveland. I don't know what is best for them. 
We provide them the dollars. They make the decision of what is best for 
their child--summer camp, diapers, softball games, saving for college, 
just having enough to eat, occasionally getting to go out to a diner 
down the street in Lima, OH. All those kinds of decisions, let the 
parents make.
  We are giving them that. If we care about family values, if we care 
about our families, give them a little more help. It will make a huge 
difference in their lives.
  That is why it is so important. It starts today, then next month, and 
the month after, for a year.
  We need to renew this. We need to make sure it is permanent. If we do 
that, it is going to launch a whole generation of kids and give them 
more opportunity. What is not to love about that?
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa