[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 159 (Wednesday, September 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6530-S6531]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           GOVERNMENT FUNDING

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, we also have a fast-approaching government 
funding deadline. To be specific, we have about 16 days before we will 
be knee deep in a government shutdown unless Congress appropriates 
money to keep the lights on. Following a year and a half of economic 
instability, there is no justification to unleash even more uncertainty 
on our economy and on hard-working American families. Then, on top of 
that, we are told that our Democratic colleagues intend to pass a $3\1/
2\ trillion--probably closer to $5 trillion--reckless tax-and-spending-
spree bill, otherwise known as reconciliation.
  You know, during the last year, during the COVID-19 crisis, we worked 
very well together because we knew this was a national emergency that 
did not respect political parties or ideology or persons, and we had to 
do everything we could on an emergency basis to help. But that 
emergency is quickly getting in our rearview mirror, and our Democratic 
colleagues seem to be determined to continue to recklessly spend 
borrowed money that will have to be repaid by the next generation of 
Americans and to raise taxes to the highest level in recent memory, 
thus compounding the risk not only of inflation, which is a regressive 
tax on working families when the food they put on the table, the 
gasoline they buy, and the appliances they buy all are seeing prices 
going up at very quickly escalating levels. There is a real danger that 
this sort of reckless tax-and-spending spree will have a very negative 
effect not only on them but also on our economy more generally.
  For months, we know our Democratic colleagues have been debating back 
and forth about how much they are willing to spend on a liberal wish 
list. The chairman of the Budget Committee initially floated a 
staggering figure of $6 trillion.
  Now, I never dreamed that in my lifetime--certainly in my service 
here in the U.S. Senate--I would ever vote for a trillion-dollar bill, 
but I did during the emergency called COVID-19 because I thought it was 
necessary. But this kind of reckless spending is not necessary. This is 
an ideological juggernaut to try to achieve things to transform this 
country into some western European social democracy--social welfare 
state.
  Well, after months of negotiating amongst themselves, our Democratic 
colleagues have now settled not on a $6 trillion figure but on $3\1/2\ 
trillion. It is still a shocking number. Nonpartisan budget experts, as 
I indicated, said the actual cost would end up closer to $5\1/2\ 
trillion, so don't be fooled by this so-called appearance of self-
restraint. This plan is chock full of damaging tax hikes, permanent 
welfare with no work requirements, Green New Deal climate mandates, and 
a laundry list of socialist policies.
  A party-line vote just before the recess laid the groundwork for the 
biggest government spending bonanza in American history, but now some 
of our Democratic colleagues are experiencing a little buyer's remorse, 
perhaps given the rapidly approaching date for the 2022 elections, and 
they are expressing some remorse or hesitation before swiping the 
taxpayers' credit card once more.
  Senators Manchin and Sinema have both voiced their opposition to the 
extreme $3\1/2\ trillion figure. Earlier this month, Senator Manchin 
wrote an op-ed explaining why he won't support such irresponsible 
spending. Our colleagues ought to read it and to consider his 
arguments. He said Democratic leaders in Congress have proposed passing 
``the largest single spending bill in history with no regard to rising 
inflation, crippling debt, or the inevitability of future crises.''
  The fractures in the reckless tax-and-spending spree aren't just 
deepening in the Senate; House Democrats are beginning to wring their 
hands, trying to figure out if they can justify such extreme spending 
and taxing. And I must say it certainly will require some creative 
thinking.
  Trillions more in borrowing when American families are already being 
pummeled by inflation; a sweeping amnesty with no effort to control the 
growing immigration crisis at the southern border; tax hikes on 
American families and small businesses--our Democratic colleagues are 
proposing the most extreme policy proposals that one might imagine in 
this one massive bill. So getting their Members on board is half the 
battle, but we are now seeing the internal debates and discussions 
among Democrats wondering if this is the wisest course of conduct, 
because there is no doubt about it--this is a massive amount of money, 
and Democrats are going to have to raise the debt ceiling by themselves 
if they want to write a check that big.
  This is where things get a little kooky. Even though this is a 
partisan spending spree, our friends across the aisle expect 
Republicans to join them in raising the debt ceiling, claiming that 
this should be a bipartisan effort. But it is clear Democrats don't 
require Republican support. They can attach this credit increase to the 
tax-and-spending-spree bill and pass it with only Democratic support. 
The only problem is, they don't really want to own it. They want 
political cover. They want us to help them pull the pin out of the 
economic grenade that they are about to toss in the laps of the 
American people. When this reckless tax-and-spending spree inevitably 
blows up, they want to be able to blame someone else. They want 
plausible deniability.

  But it is not going to work that way. Senator McConnell, the 
Republican leader, and folks on our side of the aisle have made it 
crystal clear on that point for months. If they want to spend alone, 
they are going to have to address the debt ceiling alone. Our 
Democratic colleagues can't cut Republicans out of the process when it 
is convenient and then beg cooperation when they need someone else to 
blame.
  I have no doubt that our colleagues across the aisle will come up 
with a host of gimmicks to try to get Republicans on board. Some have 
suggested threatening to shut down the government or withholding 
critical disaster relief. To be absolutely clear, folks on our side of 
the aisle do not want a government shutdown. The American people and 
our economy are already experiencing enough pain. In my State of Texas, 
we suffered enough natural disasters for me to understand how critical 
it is to get disaster relief out the door as quickly as possible. 
Communities impacted by hurricanes and wildfires do not deserve to be 
treated as political pawns on a chessboard.
  If Democrats want to charge $5\1/2\ trillion to the taxpayers' credit 
card, they will have to increase the credit limit themselves, and they 
can do it by themselves with the $3\1/2\ trillion social welfare bill, 
and they can't treat disaster victims and government funding as 
hostages.
  Our Democratic colleagues already went on one partisan spending spree 
earlier this year--an additional $1.9 trillion under the guise of 
providing COVID relief, when only about 10 percent of it actually 
addressed COVID.

[[Page S6531]]

That has fueled, in the opinion of people like former Democratic 
economists, office holders--Larry Summers, for example, who said that 
we are risking a growth of inflation, which will raise prices on 
commodities and things that people need in their daily lives in order 
to live and thus form an invisible tax.
  As it stands today, our debt is roughly 107 percent of our gross 
domestic product--$28.7 trillion and counting. Most of us can't imagine 
what a trillion dollars is, much less a billion dollars, but it is 
roughly $28.7 trillion. And the sad news is, somebody is going to have 
to pay that back--somebody. I believe it is simply immoral for us to 
continue spending, borrow money, raise the debt, and expect future 
generations to pick up the tab. We know, at the same time, families are 
being hammered by inflation, as I said, and small businesses are still 
trying to lure employees back to work.
  So we are not going to assist with an encore performance of the 
partisan spending spree that we saw earlier this year. If our 
Democratic colleagues believe this partisan tax-and-spending spree is a 
wise investment for the American people, they are going to have to sell 
it to the American people and up the credit limit on their own.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.

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