[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 182 (Monday, October 18, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7023-S7024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Build Back Better Agenda

  Madam President, finally, a quick BBB update. This week, Senate 
Democrats continue our work on finalizing our Build Back Better agenda. 
Congress, right now, has the best chance in years to make meaningful 
investments to help American families climb up to the middle class and 
stay in the middle class.
  By passing both the Build Back Better Act and the infrastructure 
bill, we can improve our Nation's crumbling infrastructure, create 
good-paying jobs for this century, and lower costs and cut taxes for 
American families, while taking overdue steps to meaningfully address 
the climate crisis. It is a difficult task, but we are committed to 
getting it done.
  Over the last week and weekend, I held many productive conversations 
with my colleagues here in the Senate, with Speaker Pelosi, and with 
the White House. We still have work to do. We all know that in order to 
pass meaningful legislation, we must put aside our differences and find 
common ground within our party. As with any bill of such historic 
proportions, not every Member will get everything he or she wants, but 
at the end of the day, we will pass legislation that dramatically 
improves the lives of the American people. We will continue to make 
progress and keep working until the job is done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, less than a month ago, President Biden 
made a surprising statement--or maybe I should say, another surprising 
statement. He said: My Build Back Better agenda costs zero dollars--
zero dollars. That is a big, you might even say unbelievable claim.
  For starters, half of his agenda is a trillion-dollar infrastructure 
bill that will increase the deficit by more than $250 billion over 10 
years. The other part is a multitrillion-dollar tax-and-spending spree, 
which leans on damaging tax hikes to cover a long list of social 
welfare programs to make the United States of America look more like, 
say, a European social welfare state. Now, how could that possibly cost 
zero dollars? Well, the answer is pretty simple: It can't. Even the 
Washington Post fact checkers gave this claim two Pinocchios.
  This strategy of misleading, misstating, and--I hate to say it, but 
there is no other word for it--downright lying to the American people 
is a tried-and-true strategy of the Biden administration. Whether it is 
advancing legislation or dodging a crisis, there is no promise that is 
too big to make, even if it is patently false.
  Another example. Dating back to the campaign trail, President Biden 
has repeatedly promised the American people: If you make over $400,000 
a year--excuse me--if you make under $400,000 a year, you will not pay 
more income tax. Well, we have heard the same talking points from the 
Treasury Secretary, Secretary Yellen, and the White House Press 
Secretary dutifully comes out and parrots the same position again and 
again and again. It is almost as if, if you say something often enough, 
people will begin to believe it even if it is not true.
  Considering the enormous amounts of spending that the Biden 
administration has promised, I understand why they are a little worried 
about the truth. All of us like free stuff, whether it is a free T-
shirt at a football game or free samples at a grocery store. What folks 
don't like, though, is learning that they are being played and that 
they are still paying but maybe by different means. So when it comes to 
free college, free childcare, and other free programs under President 
Biden's agenda, most people realize there is no such thing as a free 
lunch. Somebody somewhere is going to have to pay for it, even if it is 
borrowed money. The next generation, like our pages here, when they 
enter the workforce, they are going to be the ones who have to pay that 
money back. Somebody is going to have to pay it back. There is no such 
thing as free.
  Contrary to the promises made by President Biden and his 
administration, the middle class will help to foot the bill for this 
spending bonanza. An analysis by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on 
Taxation found that many families will see their taxes increase under 
President Biden's Build Back Better agenda.
  In 2023, 2 years from now, 18 percent of those earning between 
$75,000 and $100,000 will pay more in taxes, not $400,000 or more. More 
than a third of the folks earning between $100,000 and $200,000 a year 
will see a tax increase, not people making $400,000 or more. If this 
trend continues into 2027, well over half of taxpayers earning between 
$75,000 and $100,000 will pay more in taxes. And a whopping 86 percent 
of folks earning between $100,000 and $200,000 will see a tax increase.
  Now, you might wonder, how can the President have it so wrong? This 
is not news to President Biden. He knows better. He is surrounded by 
world-class economic advisers, analysts, and tax experts who scrutinize 
and scrub every single policy before it comes to see the light of day. 
Yet, you might wonder, why does the President persist in claiming that 
his tax hikes won't impact the middle class even as he is trying to 
slip them a massive tax bill? I hate to state the obvious, but it is 
just dishonest.
  Of course, all of this comes at a time when many family budgets are 
already underwater, struggling to recover from the fiscal impact of 
COVID-19. Now, from gas stations, to grocery stores, to electricity 
bills and restaurant checks,

[[Page S7024]]

the American people are being pummeled by inflation, paying more for 
the things they used to pay less for.
  What is the Biden administration's response? Well, the President's 
Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, dismissed inflation as something he called a 
high-class problem, which I guess means that only rich people are 
suffering or experience that inflation. Again, this is clearly not 
true. My constituents in Texas don't see it that way. They see 
inflation outpacing their wage increases and essentially giving them a 
pay cut. They are paying 10 percent more at the butcher counter than 
they were a year ago and 42 percent more on gasoline. If you are a 
senior operating on a fixed income, you have to spend more of that 
fixed income to end up with less.
  So, no, this isn't just a problem for the high class. Unfortunately, 
it is not going away soon either. You remember when concerns were 
raised with the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jay Powell, about inflation, 
and he said: Well, it is probably only transitory--meaning it is a 
passing moment. Well, now we see that economists expect inflation rates 
to remain steady through the end of next year, which would mark the 
longest period of inflation above 5 percent in three decades. So if 
inflation is at 5 percent, that means you are having to pay $1.05 to 
get what you used to pay $1 for, and it is compounded each year.
  While inflation is expected to ease some--or at least we are hoping 
and praying that is the effect--by the middle of next year, rates are 
still likely to be higher than they were before the pandemic.
  Folks who can't afford to fill up their gas tanks to get back and 
forth to work or buy what they need at the grocery store don't need to 
be told that things are just fine when they know they are not. The 
American people need to see real leadership here that addresses the 
root causes of inflation, not pouring gas on that inflation as the 
$3\1/2\ trillion reckless tax-and-spending spree would do. It would 
just create more money chasing the same goods and services, driving 
prices up. And the American people certainly deserve better than false 
statements that ignore the magnitude of their pain.