[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 164 (Wednesday, September 22, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5086-H5089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE GREEN NEW DEAL PUTS CHINA FIRST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Georgia 
(Mrs. Greene) for 30 minutes.
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to talk 
about the Green New Deal. This is a serious issue right now. It used to 
be a piece of legislation that most Republicans in the country laughed 
at and thought was some sort of high school project turned in as a 
House resolution, but it is actually something that America needs to 
take seriously because it is written in the infrastructure bill and it 
is written in the $3.5 trillion budget. So the Green New Deal is 
rapidly becoming a very real reality for America, which is tragic.
  The first thing I would like to talk about is that I am always 
shocked, as a freshman Member of Congress, in the dysfunction of 
Congress.
  You see, Mr. Speaker, tonight I am starting a speech that was 
difficult to schedule, not knowing when I would be able to start the 
speech based on the House floor constantly changing. But this is the 
order of affairs in Washington that is always shocking to me. I come 
from the private sector in the real world where people work every 
single day, do a good job, solve problems, and they make a profit. But 
the difference in the real world and what I would consider a very 
messed up world here in Washington, D.C., is here in Congress 
everything is upside down. We are not able to keep a schedule that runs 
well. As a matter of fact, it runs wrong most of the time.
  Another problem is that everything that is produced with the taxpayer 
dollars here in Congress produces a loss continuing to keep the 
American people in debt. Everything that happens here in Congress is 
shocking to me because I can't believe how opposite the bills and the 
discussions are of what freedom stands for and our Constitution, 
especially on the wall where it says: In God We Trust.
  So as just a regular American citizen who decided to run for Congress 
and won my race representing Georgia's 14th district, I am here to 
speak on behalf of the American people and how outraged we are at the 
policies of the Green New Deal, which are in the $1.2 trillion 
infrastructure bill and the $3.5 trillion budget because these policies 
are the most America-last policies. As a matter of fact, they do 
nothing but put China first.
  So we will go ahead and address what these policies are that are so 
shocking to me. If the American people actually knew what these 
globalist, America-last policies are, I believe they would be ringing 
every single phone up here probably demanding that Congress go home 
because America is only safe when Congress is out of session. But, 
unfortunately, Congress is in session, so let's tell the truth about 
what is happening.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a simple meme that you would find on the 
internet, but this meme is very real. The Green New Deal surprise is 
that it serves China and China only.
  So today, talking about the Green New Deal and the all-out war on the 
men and women who built this country--which is definitely happening 
every single day here in Congress--Democrats want to turn the lights 
out on America. They want to shut down our economy, they want to end 
our energy independence and surrender America, putting us on our knees 
to China--dependent on China, yes, just to drive a car or a truck. That 
is not in some distant time in the future. That is pretty soon, 
especially in less than 10 years.
  In his last 6 months as President, Joe Biden has demonstrated that he 
would rather listen to Bernie Sanders, AOC, and the climate Democrats 
who want to do what is ``best for America.''

  He is raising an army of vaccine police and climate justice troops to 
track your every single move. Yes, American citizens, the government 
wants to track you.
  On top of that, Democrats in Congress are happy to take every penny 
of Americans' hard-earned paycheck to destroy our economy through the 
so-called Green New Deal--a complete government take-over of every 
aspect of our lives under the excuse of so-called climate justice.
  This is not a theoretical idea for these people, unfortunately. Mr.

[[Page H5087]]

Speaker, you would think it is a joke, but it is not. No. They want to 
transform America into a Third World country, and that is exactly what 
these policies will do.
  To quote Senator Ed Markey:
  The Green New Deal isn't just a resolution, it is a revolution. In 
the past 2 years, the Green New Deal has become the DNA of climate 
action. And the principles of jobs, justice, and climate action are now 
widely represented in legislation and State and local actions across 
the country.
  The Green New Deal provides the framework we need to confront the 
intersecting crises our country faces--climate change, a public health 
pandemic, racial injustice, and economic inequality. We can transform 
our economy and our democracy for all Americans by addressing the 
generational challenge of climate change. We have the technology to do 
it. We have the economic imperative. We have the moral obligation. We 
just need the political will.
  So let's talk a little bit more about the people who believe in this. 
One of my colleagues here in the House of Representatives is a Democrat 
from New York. I had asked her to debate this policy because I believe 
in debate. I believe the American people deserve to know exactly what 
is in these bills and the outcome and the effect on the economy.
  As a successful business owner who makes a profit and not a loss, I 
would like to debate my colleague from New York and talk to her about 
how her policies are actually going to destroy jobs and do nothing for 
the climate, because the reality is the climate has changed in the 
entire history of the Earth and no amount of taxes that anyone can pay 
is going to change the climate. That is just the truth. That is not 
made up like climate change and climate justice.
  So according to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, the dozens of bills that 
have sprung from this resolution since we introduced it 2 years ago all 
contain, number one, a commitment to creating good paying union jobs; 
number two, prioritizing frontline and vulnerable communities 
disproportionately affected by climate change.
  I didn't know the climate affected some communities and not others. I 
am from Georgia. It is pretty hot and humid. I didn't know it had 
anything to do with the color of our skin or how much money that we 
made, but, apparently, according to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, it 
does.
  Number three, Mr. Speaker, she says that reducing greenhouse gas 
emissions from human sources by 40 to 60 percent within 10 years and 
net zero global emissions by 2050 is in line with the Intergovernmental 
Panel on Climate Change which is finding that global temperatures must 
not increase more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrialized 
levels in order to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change.
  I find it pretty shocking that people actually think that Members of 
Congress and their legislation is actually going to control the Earth's 
temperature or the climate. Really what all of this is going to do is 
help this man out the most, President Xi of China. It is sad, really, 
really sad.
  The White House proudly stated that President Biden rejoined the 
Paris Agreement on day one and organized a national climate task force 
to establish a new 2030 emissions target. In April, President Biden 
committed to having greenhouse gas emissions cut in half by 2030 and 
creating a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035. As other 
countries race past us, President Biden wants to dismantle and cripple 
the United States' energy grid in order to look good at climate events 
in Europe while China laughs at our decline.
  Oh, yes, President Xi will be laughing, and he is already laughing at 
President Joe Biden right now because President Xi himself knows one 
thing very clearly: if we are going to reduce our carbon emissions by 
cutting them down in half by 2030, that means we are cutting our 
economy in half by 2030.
  So President Xi of China, who is very clever and thinks the long 
game, is planning on ramping up his economy, as a matter of fact, 
increasing carbon output, he says, until at least 2035. And then while 
President Joe Biden says: Oh, well, America's carbon will be net zero 
by 2050; President Xi is still laughing saying: Oh, well, maybe China 
can try to get to net zero by 2060.

  Mr. Speaker, China is gaming us at our own stupidity. We have a 
President in the White House who is looking to do everything he can to 
serve China, and maybe that will help out his son in his business 
dealings in foreign countries like China.
  Under the woke ideology of Biden's Environmental Protection Agency, 
public waters could mean any source of standing water the government 
feels constitutes Waters of the United States.
  What does that apply to?
  Does that apply to someone's pond on their private land or a private 
lake on someone's farm?
  What does that apply to, Mr. Speaker, a puddle in your front yard or 
your swimming pool in your backyard?
  Are those going to be considered Waters of the United States so the 
Federal Government can come and say whatever they want to do with them?
  Who knows?
  That means the Federal Government can claim jurisdiction over 
millions of acres of privately owned land and water under the excuse of 
ensuring conservation.
  The Federal Government thinks it knows better than the American 
people.
  Mr. Speaker, here is the truth: families who have passed down land 
through generations could see their property carved up and controlled 
by bureaucrats in Washington. I think this past year has shown that 
bureaucrats in Washington are the ones screwing everything up.
  Biden's executive order implements a socialist agenda by creating 
well-paying union jobs, including more for women and people of color in 
occupations where they are underrepresented to combat the climate 
crisis and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon in soils, 
grasses, trees, and other vegetation and source of sustainable bio-
products and fuels, cows, cow flatulence, and whatever else.
  Biden's policies regarding electric vehicles and batteries could 
cripple the American economy, and this is where the real danger lies.

                              {time}  2045

  The infrastructure plan, which the Speaker would very much like to 
pass, the Progressives would very much like the $1.2 trillion 
infrastructure deal, matched with the $3.5 trillion budget, because 
that is the whole package of the Green New Deal, and they would have a 
lot to celebrate.
  This plan includes $7.5 billion, this is in the infrastructure, 
billion for a network of 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations 
across the country and another $7.5 billion for electric buses.
  So this is a situation where the government has decided to take over 
the economy. This is what the Green New Deal does. You see, in the 
past--unfortunately, I don't know why it is changing, because the past 
has actually worked pretty well--our economy has worked on demand.
  When there is consumer demand in the marketplace, businesses, private 
businesses--not the government, by the way--would produce their 
products and sell their goods to match the consumer demand. That is 
what happens in a healthy economy.
  Currently, right now, this is America's charging network. As you can 
see, electric vehicle charging stations already exist over much of 
America, and the good news is, they are pretty much able to meet the 
demand, no problem, because electric vehicles run on batteries that can 
keep a charge and the technology is increasing and they can keep 
charges for a good long distance, some of them 300 miles or more. And 
so people are able to drive and find another charging station and 
charge their vehicle, and that is because this exists, mostly, through 
a private market, a private economy, through businesses meeting the 
public demand.
  But that is not what the Democrats want to do. That is not what they 
want to continue to exist. No, they want to use the power of the 
Federal Government and radically change the way Americans drive, 
because your cars and trucks would have to drive on batteries, not 
gasoline or diesel.
  So right now, currently, there are already 44,000 public charging 
stations in the U.S. President Biden has even proposed spending nearly 
$6 billion transitioning the entire Federal fleet

[[Page H5088]]

of electric vehicles. So President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, 
the Speaker of the House, the Democrats, everyone is on board with this 
right here, spending $7.5 billion of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars 
that they had to work for and then the IRS collects, so that the 
government can force us to move to electric vehicles by building 
another 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations.
  Why would they have to do that? That is because they are going to 
force you to drive an electric vehicle that uses a battery. And then 
they want to spend more of your tax dollars, $7.5 billion for electric 
buses, and then more of your tax dollars, $6 billion, as a matter of 
fact, to transition the whole Federal fleet to electric vehicles. This 
is so shocking.
  Here, let's go further. What else damage has he done?
  He terminated the Keystone XL pipeline--that happened first in his 
presidency--according to the pipeline's developer, which caused 1,000 
union workers to immediately lose their jobs. By the way, that was the 
same union that voted for President Biden. They backed him and 
supported him.
  But what did he do right away? He made a decision to kill their jobs 
and ended a project that was expected to employ more than 11,000 
Americans in 2021.
  Democrats are job killers, and Joe Biden is doing a great job of it.
  The majority of them, union workers, by the way. Isn't unions what 
all the people that are for the Green New Deal want? The majority of 
the union workers, hurting these jobs, 11,000 of them.
  But what did it do? It cost them $1.6 billion in wages. Cost them 
$1.6 billion in wages. It is so shocking you can't even make it up. 
Unfortunately, it is real.
  By the end of President Biden's first term, his ban on new oil and 
gas leases on Federal land, according to one study, would destroy an 
average of 58,676 jobs annually. And what we have seen over the past 
year and a half is so many destroyed already by COVID shutdowns. That 
is unbelievable.
  And for the people at home that work so hard in small businesses, 
that I totally understand because that is all I have ever done my 
entire life is been a small business owner, it is heartbreaking how 
many small businesses have shut down over the past year and a half to 
COVID shutdowns. But yet, then we have a President in the White House 
and a Democrat-controlled Congress that wants to continue to force this 
to happen. Unbelievable.
  Biden has also signed executive orders to raise the social cost of 
carbon, the social cost of carbon, by 700 percent. What this means for 
Americans is that the price of gas will go up; heating your home in the 
winter will become more expensive; and electric bills will go up. This 
will especially take a toll on our fellow citizens who are already 
struggling to get by as it is. So we will make the poor poorer after we 
have already cost them their jobs by these fatal climate change 
policies.
  In 2019, the United States became energy independent--what an amazing 
thing that was--and exported more energy than it took in for the first 
time since 1952. Let's say that again.
  In 2019, the United States became energy independent and exported 
more energy than it took in for the first time since 1952. I would like 
to thank President Donald J. Trump for that and his America first 
policies. Sadly, they are no more.
  Part of this came from the fact that the U.S. exported more natural 
gas than ever before, partially because the United States transitioned 
away from coal to natural gas. Our carbon emissions shrunk--wow, isn't 
that the goal--which allowed the U.S. to lead the world in reducing 
energy-related CO2 emissions.
  But let's get back to electric vehicles, because this is what is 
going to truly affect every single American that drives a car or a 
truck or relies on a vehicle to get to work or, let's just be real, as 
a taxpayer.

  After years of planning, China dominates the world's production of 
new generation batteries that are used in electric vehicles, most 
portable consumer electronics, such as cell phones and laptops.
  I don't know if anyone realizes this, but right now there is over 
50,000 trucks sitting, brand new trucks sitting in Kentucky. Do you 
want to know why they can't be sold? They are waiting on microchips; 
and the reason why they are waiting on microchips is because China 
dominates the market, because they dominate the market of rare earth 
minerals. They dominate creating them; they dominate the market that 
creates microchips; and they dominate the market that creates Lithium 
batteries that drive cars, electric vehicles.
  So, as the demand for electric vehicles grows, it is expected that 
most of them will be built with Chinese batteries. That is because 
China dominates the market at 80 percent. And America barely competes 
at 10 percent. This doesn't look good for our economy, does it?
  We have a Federal Government, a Democrat-controlled Federal 
Government, a Democrat-controlled Congress, that wants to transition 
our economy that is already functioning really well--our Americans 
businesses do well--but we want to move it to rely on basically one 
country, China, Communist China, who is not our friend, who is our 
enemy, and sent us the COVID virus that we are already staggering from, 
from the past year and half.
  But yet, it is our own government that wants to cripple us and put us 
on our knees to rely on China that dominates this market for our 
battery needs, from our federally-forced electric vehicles, coming soon 
to you by 2030. It is pretty unbelievable.
  So, of the 136 Lithium ion battery plants in the pipeline that are 
going to be to 2029, 101 of those are based in China. China dominates 
the battery market, ladies and gentlemen.
  The pace of demand growth is expected to rise rapidly over the next 
few years as sales of electric vehicles are slated to reach 12.2 
million in 2025, so we are going to continually--the more electric 
vehicles that we are forced to drive because the Federal Government has 
decided that that is how the private market should go. Isn't that 
interesting?
  Since when in America should the government decide how the private 
market should buy and sell? But that is what is in the $1.2 trillion 
infrastructure deal; and that is what is in the $3.5 trillion budget; 
and that is what is in the Green New Deal.
  So hear we have--this is a really interesting chart. This shows you 
the production of how you get an electric vehicle. Right here, you can 
see stage one is mining. Let me tell you the percentages here that the 
U.S. competes.
  For nickel, 0 percent; cobalt, 0 percent; graphite, 0 percent; 
Lithium--oh, we got 1 percent for lithium. That is what goes in the 
electric vehicle battery. Zero percent for manganese.
  Okay, we have--China's doing really well. They have got 31 percent, 1 
percent, 65 percent, there is 0, then we got 6 percent, right here, 
stage one mining. But don't count them out on that.
  Let me show you. Global share production. This is in 2019. Stage one, 
chemical processing refining. Let's go with America and China. Nickel, 
1 percent; cobalt, 0; graphite, 0; Lithium, 4 percent. Ooh, we moved up 
a little bit. Then we got this last one, manganese, at 0 percent.
  Oh, but China is doing really well. They are at nickel with 65 
percent; cobalt, 82 percent; graphite, 100 percent. Geez, I would say 
that is complete domination.
  Uh oh, then we went up with lithium at 59 percent. Yeah, China is 
doing pretty good.
  Let's go down here. What happens in stage three? We have got the 
cathode of anode production. So what happens here? What is going on 
with America?
  Zero percent for cathode. Zero percent for anode. But what does China 
have? Oh, 61 percent for cathode and 83 percent for anode.
  So here you see, America is not doing well. But guess what? President 
Joe Biden and the Democrats in Congress, and I am sure the Democrats in 
the Senate, would love to force you to be dependent on everything that 
goes into an electric vehicle. And you can see by the percentages I am 
telling you, America doesn't compete. That is America last. That puts 
our businesses, our American businesses, our American workers 
completely dependent on Communist China. No thank you.
  Let's go a little further. What happens in stage four? Well, here is 
the

[[Page H5089]]

really important part. Stage four is Lithium ion battery cell 
manufacturing. And this is something that I don't think my colleague 
from New York, who cosponsored this little deal that we are having to 
deal with now, quite understands. Apparently, she knows the economy, 
but she wouldn't debate me, so I don't know how that works out.

  You see, when it comes to producing the cells, this is where we have 
a problem. We have right here, 6 percent with the European Union. We 
have the United States at 10 percent, and according to this one, China 
has 73 percent. And now they are increasing, because you know what 
happened in Afghanistan? We walked away from $1 trillion worth of rare 
earth mineral mines. Why did we do that?
  So, what goes into an electric vehicle? Just a battery. That is what 
makes it drive. And as you can see, China dominates and America is 
barely a speck in the economy and the market share for Lithium 
batteries.
  So rare earth minerals. Let's talk about rare earth minerals. I just 
named some of them that go into the battery production, that affect 
batteries for electric vehicles. They affect microchips that are very 
important, such as the trucks, over 50,000--it is probably even more 
now that can't be sold because we are waiting on these. Don't forget 
appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, cell phones, computers, 
they all rely on rare earth minerals, and America is not competing very 
well in this market. But China is.
  According to the U.S. Geological Survey, China currently producers 
approximately 84 percent of the world's rare earth minerals, while the 
U.S. only produces 4 percent, a portion of which is owned by, guess 
who, the Chinese. How about that?
  The estimated value of rare earth compounds and metals imported by 
the United States increased by 10 million from 2018 to 2019. That is a 
big market because everybody knows that this has been the goal for 
quite a time.
  There was a decline last year due to COVID. Well, everything shut 
down. But these numbers are sure to keep rising, and they are sure to 
keep rising because we have a government forcing us to these policies. 
We are being forced through these bills that we are working on and 
going to be voting on very soon. We are going to be forced to rely on 
rare earth minerals that, by the way, I just told you the U.S. only 
produces at 4 percent, but the Communist Chinese produce at 84 percent. 
This is a big problem. That is China first, America last.

                              {time}  2100

  China is already one of the top five producers of lithium. They are 
not just barely one; they are number one. They are buying up most of 
the reserves in Australia. Why? Because China listens and pays 
attention. Well, we know they listen. They listen more than we want 
them to.
  Joe Biden didn't just abandon our fellow citizens in Afghanistan. He 
also left behind valuable resources to the Taliban.
  Let's just show them that.
  Not only did we abandon Americans in Afghanistan, which was 
shocking--because in America we always thought the rule was ``no man 
left behind''--we abandoned Americans. We armed the Taliban, a radical 
Islamic terrorist-run nation, with $85 billion worth of the world's 
best military equipment and weapons. We also left behind $1 trillion in 
rare earth minerals. Can you believe that?
  We didn't even negotiate for them. But do you know who did? China 
did. China has moved in and is negotiating a deal with Afghanistan for 
this $1 trillion worth of rare earth minerals. They also just made a 
25-year deal with Iran, and they are working very hard on the Belt and 
Road project that will go right through Afghanistan to Iran.
  You see, these deals, the infrastructure deal, the $3.5 trillion 
budget the Democrats in Congress know all the details to, are putting 
America last, are going to force every single American to have to drive 
a Communist Chinese battery just to get to work or go to the store.
  And then guess what? When the battery runs out and you need a new 
one, you know what is going to happen to you? You are going to have to 
order it from China. Hopefully, there will be no more COVID shutdowns, 
and hopefully, you can get your Communist Chinese battery in time so 
you can start driving your government-forced electric vehicle.
  This is an unbelievable thing. As a private business owner for over 
two decades, I cannot believe that our Federal Government is putting 
Americans in this position. I don't care if you are a Democrat or a 
Republican or if you don't care about politics, you should care about 
this because these are the policies that are going to destroy our 
economy and destroy our country.
  Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman has 30 seconds remaining.
  Mrs. GREENE of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, what I would like to say is, I 
would like to appeal to my Democrat colleagues. Don't force us, don't 
force the American people, to rely on Communist China by taking over 
our private market and forcing the American people to have to rely on 
Communist China just to drive a car and a truck. Don't force Americans 
into this situation with their own tax dollars. And stop worshiping the 
fake climate religion.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________