[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 198 (Monday, November 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8068-S8069]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Government Spending

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I am sure I am not alone in expressing 
concern for what the next few weeks in the runup to Christmas are going 
to look like, and certainly the Senate and the Congress have not 
operated as a well-oiled machine, to be sure.
  Back in September, when the Senate should have passed a group of 
bills to fund the government for the next year, we saw the can get 
kicked down the road.
  Last month, when our Democratic colleagues, the majority, had ample 
time and a clear roadmap to raise the debt ceiling, they punted and 
really depended on 11 of us on this side of the aisle to avoid a threat 
to the full faith and credit of the United States.
  Despite a strong push from both the distinguished Presiding Officer, 
the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and the ranking member, 
the majority leader has so far refused to bring up the National Defense 
Authorization Act even though it has been ready for months. I am hoping 
that will change this week. I am advised that it will change and it 
will be taken up.
  These are not necessarily lofty goals we are talking about. We are 
talking about the bare minimum when it comes to doing the work of the 
Nation: funding the government, paying our bills, strengthening our 
military. But none of these basic responsibilities have been 
accomplished yet.
  These delays weren't out of necessity. After all, the Senate hasn't 
been debating and voting on important legislation--just a series of 
nominations and dead-on-arrival messaging bills.
  With such a long yearend to-do list, our colleagues on the other side 
of the aisle, who control the agenda, don't have a lot of time. The 
Senate is only scheduled to be in session for 2 weeks before government 
funding expires, and there is just another additional week of scheduled 
legislating before the end of the year. You would think that would mean 
it is time to buckle up and start checking off these high-priority 
items, but our Democratic colleagues believe they have an even more 
important job. Forget the millions of government employees who would be 
left without a paycheck before the holidays or the economic crisis that 
would cripple our country if we defaulted on our debts or the 
servicemembers and their families who deserve a pay raise; our 
Democratic colleagues, the majority, are devoting all their time and 
agenda to a spending spree and the largest tax increase in American 
history, which apparently is the top item on the House agenda this 
week.
  The size and scope of this bill has changed a lot over the last 
several months. The chairman of the Budget Committee, the Senator from 
Vermont, initially floated a $6 trillion spending spree and tax 
increase. It was later ostensibly pared back to $3.5 trillion, and now 
our colleagues claim it would cost a mere $1.75 trillion--hardly a 
bargain and certainly hardly for sure when it comes to the amount of 
spending and taxing because, until the bill is finalized and the 
Congressional Budget Office has time to score it, we don't know 
actually how much this beast of a bill will actually cost.
  But the budget experts at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton 
School of Business say that the Democratic proposal has been 
dramatically understated in terms of its cost and its scope. Indeed, 
the folks at the Wharton School say the ultimate cost of this bill is 
really somewhere on the order of $4 trillion--more than double the 
amount that the advocates for this bill have stated.
  The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget concurs. They estimate 
the true cost of the bill would double to almost $5 trillion over 10 
years because of arbitrary sunsets and expirations and other 
gamesmanship when it comes to this expensive government proposal. That 
is a whole lot more than the President's promise of zero dollars in 
cost.
  The President continues to insist that this bill costs nothing, but 
the American people are not deceived. They understand, when you talk 
about $1.75 trillion or $4 trillion, that somebody, somewhere, is going 
to have to pay for it; hence, the largest tax increase in American 
history.
  Then there is the so-called temporary nature of some of these 
government programs. This is all designed to mislead the public and 
Congress into thinking these bills are cheaper than they actually are. 
As President Reagan famously said, ``Nothing lasts longer than a 
temporary government program.''
  Despite the lofty promises that have been made, millionaires and 
billionaires won't be the only ones footing the bill for this spending 
spree. In fact, one of the last-minute provisions would actually give 
the ultrawealthy a tax cut, and that is from our Democratic colleagues. 
One of the latest additions to the bill allows blue-State millionaires 
and billionaires to pay less in Federal taxes. A former economic 
adviser to President Obama and current Harvard professor described this 
provision as ``even worse than [he] had feared.''
  Under this tax break for millionaires and billionaires, nearly two-
thirds of those making more than $1 million would get a tax cut. So we 
are not just talking about a few bucks; the wealthiest Americans would 
save an average of $16,800 next year alone. The party that talks about 
the need to tax the rich is actually plotting a massive tax cut for the 
rich.
  While this bill will help the wealthiest Americans pay less in 
Federal taxes, it will ensure the middle class actually ends up paying 
more. Dating back to the campaign trail, President Biden has repeatedly 
said that ``if you make under $400,000 a year, I will never raise your 
taxes one [cent].'' His Treasury Secretary has made the same pledge, 
and the White House Press Secretary has restated this commitment again 
and again and again.
  Well, I understand why the White House is so concerned about this 
huge tax increase, but the more we learn about this bill, the clearer 
it becomes that the middle class will be required to help foot the bill 
for this spending bonanza. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation 
found that significant numbers of families will see their taxes 
increased under the plan. In 2027, well over half of taxpayers earning 
between $75,000 and $100,000 will be paying

[[Page S8069]]

more in taxes under this proposal. That is a violation of President 
Biden's promise that families earning less than $400,000 will not pay a 
single penny more in taxes. You just can't reconcile those two 
positions.
  That is only the beginning of the mounting costs this bill creates 
for hard-working American families and my constituents in Texas. The 
so-called free childcare in this bill will end up costing many families 
a lot of money. A left-leaning think tank found that middle-class 
families could pay up to $13,000 more a year for childcare. That is not 
a price increase on the top 1 percent; that is for people who earn more 
than their State's median income, which in Texas is just under $62,000. 
It is hard to imagine a family who brings home $62,000 a year being 
able to absorb another $13,000 in childcare expenses.
  Then come the mounting energy costs. We all know, when we go fill up 
the tanks of our vehicles, that gas prices are up more than 60 percent 
from 1 year ago, and this year, energy bills are expected to soar by as 
much as 54 percent. Our Democratic colleagues, by pushing so much money 
out the door, chasing so many limited goods and services, are pushing 
for policies that will actually exacerbate inflation and make these 
prices climb even higher.
  Specifically, they want to attack the fossil fuel industry by 
imposing a so-called methane fee on gas companies and resurrect an 
excise tax on each barrel of crude oil. But these price increases won't 
just be absorbed by the companies that produce oil and gas; this will 
be an expense that is passed on to customers. If families are 
struggling to cover their transportation costs today, they will be up 
the creek without a paddle once these new taxes and fees go into 
effect.
  The cash grab does not end there. This bill would also require hard-
working Texas families to subsidize the cost of our colleagues' 
preferred green initiatives. It provides hundreds of billions of 
dollars in so-called green subsidies for massive corporations to become 
eco-friendly. That is right--our Democratic colleagues are proposing 
more subsidies for corporations, as if Fortune 500 companies need 
taxpayer assistance to go green.
  Wealthy Americans earning hundreds of thousands of dollars each year 
could receive up to $12,500 in taxpayer assistance if they buy an 
electric vehicle. Unfortunately, this also includes a little bit of 
cronyism in it because our Democratic colleagues are making sure that 
their party's most loyal supporters reap the benefits of this taxpayer-
backed handout. The electric vehicle tax credits are even more generous 
if the car is made in a union shop even though there is no evidence 
that these vehicles are somehow better for the environment.
  We all know what is happening here. It is all too clear. But, again, 
hard-working American families will be the ones footing the bill for 
these tax credits that disproportionately benefit the wealthy and 
organized labor.
  To help cover the sky-high price of this bill, our Democratic 
colleagues want to ensure that Uncle Sam will be able to squeeze each 
and every penny possible out of middle-class families and small 
businesses. This bill gives the Internal Revenue Service, which has 
been notorious for its abuse of power, even more money and more 
authority. This bill would give the IRS $80 billion, more than half of 
which will build an army of auditors to poke and prod working families' 
finances. Instead of building back America, this builds up the 
bureaucracy, much to the detriment of Texas families. After all, it is 
going to take a lot of taxpayer money to pay for President Biden's 
zero-dollar bill.
  This reckless tax-and-spending spree is not what our country needs, 
particularly not at this time, Mr. President. Families don't want an 
even bigger government that reaches deeper into their pockets and 
exerts more and more control over their daily lives. They want the 
freedom to make their own decisions for themselves and their families 
and the opportunity to succeed based on their hard work. That is not 
what we are seeing today from the national Democratic Party.
  Our Democratic colleagues' bill takes steps toward Medicare for All 
by harshly penalizing States that didn't expand Medicaid. When the 
Affordable Care Act mandated a Medicaid expansion, the Supreme Court of 
the United States characterized that as a gun to the head for the 
States and said that was unconstitutional. But we know that Medicare 
for All will discourage medical innovation by slapping arbitrary price 
controls on things like prescription drugs.
  It turns the IRS into the government's No. 1 welfare Agency by 
extending no-strings-attached welfare checks into perpetuity. It 
proposes the highest income tax rate in the developed world. It gives 
Washington bureaucrats unprecedented power to punish States that fail 
to meet arbitrary climate mandates. It forces hard-working taxpayers to 
cover the bill for another unnecessary partisan spending spree.
  This far-left turn is not what the American people thought they were 
voting for in 2020, and, frankly, it is members of the President's own 
party who are beginning to tap the brakes in resisting this huge 
government expansion and huge spending spree, which will do nothing to 
address the rising concern of inflation in the country.
  So we are simply not going to join our colleagues in voting for this 
reckless tax-and-spending spree, and we will continue to do everything 
we can to expose the components of this bill because, frankly, I think 
the more the American people learn about what is in the bill, the less 
likely they will be to support it.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll, please.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Duckworth). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


  Sergeant First Class Sean Cooley and Specialist Christopher Horton 
         Congressional Gold Star Family Fellowship Program Act

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, last week, the Senate passed the 
Sergeant First Class Sean Cooley and Specialist Christopher Horton 
Congressional Gold Star Family Fellowship Program Act.
  I would like to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who 
lent their support, because creation of this program was a long time 
coming.
  I have spent the past few years working with and talking with Gold 
Star families, and the one thing they have consistently told me is that 
they want a more powerful voice here on Capitol Hill.
  This legislation will create a Senate fellowship program open only to 
Gold Star family members. These fellows will have the opportunity to 
come to Washington, at no cost to their families, and work within the 
system our servicemembers work so very hard to defend.
  And, Madam President, we thank you for your service in defense of 
this Nation.
  Just as we here in the Senate are bound together by a duty to serve 
the country, Gold Star families are also bound together by a common 
thread of loss, grief, sacrifice.
  It has been my privilege to work with so many of them, and I hope 
that these fellowships will create a renewed sense of healing and 
purpose in the hearts of those who come to work with us here in 
Washington.