[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 168 (Monday, September 27, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6708-S6710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  EXTENDING GOVERNMENT FUNDING AND DELIVERING EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE ACT

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to talk about transparency, and I 
want to talk about the need for transparency here in the U.S. Senate 
more than ever.
  The House and the Senate are moving with breakneck speed to pass one 
of the biggest, most reckless spending social bills in U.S. history, 
over $3\1/2\ trillion--a spending spree that will be the largest in a 
generation--which will include the largest tax hike that we have seen 
in peacetime and something that the majority leader himself has called 
the largest transformation in a generation.
  Make no mistake. This is trying to transform America--cradle to grave 
socialism. Don't take my word for it. Here is the way the New York 
Times described this $3\1/2\ trillion reckless spending bill from the 
House coming to the Senate. It is legislation that would touch 
virtually every American's life from conception to age and infirmity, 
from cradle to grave. That is the New York Times. In other words, the 
Federal Government will be involved in all facets of every single 
American life, from birth to death--one of the biggest

[[Page S6709]]

tax-and-spend programs certainly since President Johnson's Great 
Society or President Roosevelt's New Deal.
  With that involvement of our government will come higher taxes, taxes 
on smaller businesses, taxes on the middle class, and, yes, we believe 
our Senate colleagues are planning a tax cut for those who live in the 
big cities, known as the ``Blue State Bailout.'' The chairman of the 
Budget Committee, who is crafting this bill, Senator Sanders, who has 
called himself ``a proud socialist,'' is going to have tax cuts for 
millionaires and billionaires in this legislation.
  So one would think that a bill of this magnitude, this size, this 
transformational an impact on every single American, would be a bill 
that the U.S. Senate, the so-called most deliberative body in the 
world, would actually hold one hearing on--just one--and would actually 
hold a markup or two in the different committees. Right now, our 
Democratic colleagues, with no explanation, are not planning on one 
hearing or one markup in any committee--none. As, I think, anybody who 
knows anything about this body knows, that is unprecedented.
  The House rushed, no doubt. They have already marked up this 
legislation, way too fast, but, at least, they allowed for amendments. 
At least, they debated it.
  When Republicans controlled the Congress in 2017, with regard to the 
2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which went through reconciliation, we held 
numerous hearings in Senate committees. We had markups. We debated 
amendments. But for this bill--3\1/2\ trillion--right now, our 
colleagues are not going to do any of that.
  Of course, the media has given them a free pass. Nothing. The most 
deliberative body in the world, the transformational bill of a 
generation, the Green New Deal and all the other socialist ideas, and 
we are not going to have one hearing, not going to have one markup in 
one committee.
  What is going on? Well, I would love it if the majority leader or any 
other Senate Democrat would come down to the Senate floor and explain 
to the American people why. Why aren't we doing that? No transparency?
  So I have a theory, because we are not going to hear from the 
majority leader or any of my other colleagues. I would love to hear 
them.
  Come on down. Explain why we are not having one hearing on the 
biggest bill in a generation--3\1/2\ trillion.
  Here is my theory. There are several reasons why they don't want the 
public to see a hearing or a markup relating to this bill.
  First and foremost, they don't want to have to defend what is in it. 
They don't want the public, who is seeing skyrocketing prices at the 
pump, at the grocery store, seeing all the increases in prices across 
our country, to see the specifics of a bill that are clearly going to 
supercharge more inflation. They don't want to have to defend a bill 
that will have the largest tax increase in American history. They don't 
want to have to defend a bill or show the American people tax rates on 
small businesses that will be bigger than anything in the European 
Union or in communist China, or hundreds of billions to bail out health 
insurers or $200 million for the Speaker's pet project in the Presidio 
Park in San Francisco or $5 billion for an environmental justice tax 
credit for universities, whatever the heck that is. Or how about $100 
billion for amnesty for 10 million illegal immigrants, making them 
eligible for Federal benefits? They don't want to have to defend that. 
They don't want to have to debate that. These are just a few core 
elements of the bill as we know it. As I mentioned, there are also the 
tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires in big cities.
  And they don't want to have to talk about the debt ceiling that my 
colleagues are trying to raise so they can continue their trillion 
dollars of reckless spending. The majority leader just mentioned that. 
He doesn't mention what is in the bill, won't have hearings about what 
is in the bill, won't have markups for the American people to see.

  And on the debt ceiling, you know, just last month, 45 of my Senate 
Republican colleagues and I signed a letter, putting our colleagues on 
the other side of the aisle on notice that we will not vote to increase 
the debt limit if they continued down this reckless path. And the 
reason is simple: My Democratic colleagues are content to go it alone 
and pass their irresponsible $3\1/2\ trillion socialist spending spree 
with no hearings, no markup, no nothing, with just Democratic input, 
which is all we have.
  Again, when we were going through our budget reconciliation process, 
we took amendments, we debated them, and we voted on them. They are not 
doing that.
  If they are doing this solely by themselves, with no transparency, 
then our Democratic friends should be solely responsible for raising 
the debt ceiling to accommodate it. They control all branches of the 
government. The majority leader clearly knows they could fix that right 
now. They are creating their own crisis, and they can solve it.
  So, once again, this $3\1/2\ trillion bill is being rushed. What is 
another reason? I think they are getting a little nervous that if you 
had a markup, say, in the Budget Committee, you would see that the 
author of the bill, the chairman of the Budget Committee, is promoting 
a socialist agenda that he is proud of because he is actually an avowed 
socialist.
  Now, I am not trying to insult anyone. This is what he calls himself.
  So I think my Democratic colleagues get a little nervous that a bill 
authored by a socialist in the Senate would have to be defended. But, 
again, no hearings, no markup, and I know a lot of my Democratic 
colleagues are uncomfortable with this. They are uncomfortable with the 
bill. They are uncomfortable with the lack of transparency, but they 
are not calling for transparency. They are saying: Let's just move this 
as quickly as possible so nobody in America can see it.
  So far, they are being successful, but I think we need to put this 
into context. Here is a piece from the Wall Street Journal from last 
week, where it talked about putting this rush job on the reckless 
spending bill from the majority leader and the Speaker of the House in 
historic context. It said:

       FDR's New Deal programs were passed incrementally over two 
     Presidential terms with overwhelming Democratic majorities. 
     Democrats created the Great Society over two years, with 
     supermajorities under President Johnson. ObamaCare was hashed 
     out over nine months before Democrats enacted it into law 
     with 56 votes in the Senate. The 2017 GOP tax reform bill--

     as I just mentioned--

     was debated for months, and its principles for years before 
     Congress voted and marked it up.
       Now with merely 50 Democrats in the Senate--

fifty-fifty here--

     and a five-Member House majority, Democrats are planning to 
     rush through the biggest tax and spending increase in half a 
     century--

  With not one hearing in the U.S. Senate, without one markup in any 
committee.
  There is no mandate for this, but for most of my colleagues, the 
quicker the better to move on. Don't look, America. Don't look that the 
author of this bill is actually a socialist, because it is socialism.
  Now, this rush job is not good for the American people. So here is a 
better idea, and it comes from a Senate Democrat, my colleague Senator 
Manchin. A couple of weeks ago, he very wisely called for a ``strategic 
pause.''
  In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal he said that there is another 
reason for a strategic pause.
  Now I am quoting Senator Manchin:

       We must allow for a complete reporting and analysis of the 
     implications a multitrillion-dollar bill will have for this 
     generation and the next. Such a strategic pause will allow 
     every member of Congress to use the transparent committee 
     process to debate: What should we fund, and what can we 
     simply not afford?

  That is Senator Manchin. His op-ed also said that amid the inflation 
that we are seeing, debt and the inevitability of future crises, 
Congress needs to take a strategic pause on this $3\1/2\ trillion 
reckless spending spree.
  So one of my Democratic colleagues is wisely calling for what we all 
know we need here, which is the precedent of this body, the most 
deliberative body in the world--a pause, hearings, markups so the 
American people can see what is actually in this.
  It sounds like that is not going to happen, and I would love it if 
any of my Democratic colleagues would come

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to the floor and tell the American people why.
  We can and should have debates about our respective visions for our 
great country.
  No one should be afraid of looking closely at this $3\1/2\ trillion 
monstrosity. Let's have a debate about it. Let's debate the massive 
increases in taxes, the vast expansion of entitlements, the cradle-to-
grave socialism that certain Democrats are proposing for every 
individual American's life.
  The American people deserve this. My constituents back home in Alaska 
certainly would welcome such a debate, but the American people deserve 
this.
  Why are my colleagues afraid to debate and have hearings and a markup 
on this massive legislation? It is the American people's money, after 
all, that will pay for this transformational, socialist bill, and it is 
their lives that will be impacted and upended if this reckless, rushed 
bill becomes law.
  So let's do this. Let's hit a strategic pause, as Senator Manchin 
asked for.
  Let's pry this bill open, hold hearings, and lay out our visions for 
our country. Let's have a debate: More taxes or freedom? Socialism 
versus market capitalism. Do we want a fundamental transformation, as 
the majority leader and the budget chairman have asked for, or do we 
want commonsense legislation that helps working men and women in our 
country achieve their dreams?
  I am hopeful that the majority leader will agree with Senator Manchin 
and do what is right for the American people: Hit a pause, hold 
hearings, and hold markups before he makes a mockery of the phrase 
``the world's most deliberative body,'' which he is now trying to do 
with this rushed and reckless spending bill.

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