[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 199 (Tuesday, November 16, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8227-S8229]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, this morning, the majority leader came 
to the floor of the Senate to talk about the Democrats' reckless tax-
and-spending bill.
  Now, he repeated the claim that the bill would actually reduce 
inflation. It won't. Just like the claim the President makes that the 
cost of the bill will be zero, the American people know that that is 
not true either.
  The majority leader asked a question. He asked why not a single 
Republican would support the bill. Well, I am

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happy to respond to the majority leader and explain why the American 
people and the Republicans are rejecting what the Democrats are trying 
to force through the Congress.
  So I come to the floor today to talk about rising prices. Next 
Thursday will be the most expensive Thanksgiving ever. As the New York 
Times put it, the Thanksgiving dinner will wallop your wallet. Turkey 
prices are up 25 cents on the dollar so far this year. Prices for meat, 
poultry, fish, and eggs are up more than 10 cents on the dollar in just 
1 year.
  Companies like Nestle and Procter & Gamble, well, they put out 
warnings that they are raising their prices.
  Who would have thought that in just 10 short months of the Biden 
Presidency we could set a record--a 30-year high record for inflation?
  Millions of families this year will sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, 
and in addition to eating turkey, families around the table will also 
be talking turkey. They are going to have difficult conversations about 
how to make ends meet.
  According to one estimate, families are now paying about $175 more 
every month because of inflation for the same things they were getting 
before Joe Biden became President. This works out to a $2,000 bite out 
of the paychecks annually of every working American.
  So what is happening? Why is it happening?
  It is for at least three reasons. First, Joe Biden's incompetence and 
mismanagement has caused the worst supply chain disruption in at least 
40 years.
  Now, the supply chain crisis is largely the result of a labor 
shortage. Last week, the New York Times called the shortage of truck 
drivers--truck drivers; not of trucks, but of the drivers--the single 
biggest cause of the supply chain crisis.
  We don't have enough goods in large part because we don't have enough 
workers. This is the worst labor shortage in American history. There 
are more than 10 million jobs which have gone unfilled in recent 
months. We have broken new records for unfilled jobs in 5 of the last 9 
months that Joe Biden has been in office.
  This isn't a coincidence. This is happening because of the policies 
that have been put in place by the Democrats in this administration.
  In March, President Biden and the Democrats extended a bonus payment 
to people who stayed home from work. Millions of people made more money 
by staying home instead of going to work. Well, in September, the bonus 
payment ran out.
  Then President Biden announced a nationwide vaccine mandate on the 
American people. Having been traveling around the State of Wyoming this 
past week, I will tell you it is a mandate that is taking a 
sledgehammer to the American workforce.
  Now, I fully support vaccination. I am a doctor. I am vaccinated, so 
are all the members of my family. I am pro-vaccine and anti-mandate. 
Imposing new mandates on workers during an unprecedented labor shortage 
is complete incompetence.
  Now, this mandate is only making the supply chain crisis worse. The 
President must have known that many would not comply with this mandate. 
He must have known that people would be forced out of their jobs by his 
mandate. It didn't seem to faze him; he imposed the mandate anyway. Now 
people are losing their jobs, shelves are empty, and prices continue to 
go up.
  The second major reason why prices are rising is President Biden's 
war on American energy. Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the 
busiest travel times of the year. AAA estimates that more than 50 
million Americans will take to the highway and travel next week--pretty 
standard for a Thanksgiving weekend. Those who drive will pay a lot 
more for gas than they did last year or the year before. It is the 
highest in 7 years. Gas prices are up about $1 a gallon in the number 
of months that President Biden has been in office. It is more expensive 
to travel.
  And it is getting more expensive also to stay warm. One in five 
American families has already cut spending to pay for their energy bill 
in the last year. Winter is coming. It is going to get worse. Some will 
have to choose between whether they can heat their home or whether they 
can eat a meal. Prices are so high, 11 Democratic Senators are pleading 
with the President to bring down gas prices.
  So what is Joe Biden's solution?
  Well, he admits he has no solution. He says that gas prices are going 
to stay high until the springtime.
  One of the President's top nominees for the Treasury Department says 
she wants to ``starve''--starve--American oil and gas. She actually 
said that we want--in her mind--``we want [oil and gas companies] to go 
bankrupt.'' She is the nominee to be the Comptroller of the Currency.
  The Secretary of Commerce was asked what the administration was doing 
to lower energy prices. She couldn't name a single thing.
  The Secretary of Energy apparently thinks high gas prices are funny. 
She was asked what she could do to increase oil production in America. 
She laughed and said: ``That is hilarious.''
  The Secretary of Transportation also thinks it's funny. He is joking 
around that people need to start Christmas shopping early this year.
  So there you have the elites of the Biden administration--the elites 
of America--the people he has chosen to run these Agencies. They think 
it is funny. It is no laughing matter for the working families in 
Wyoming or all across America.
  So who gets hurt by high prices?
  The poor, people living on fixed incomes, families struggling to get 
by. Working families cannot afford what the Democrats are offering.
  Since Joe Biden became President, prices have gone up much faster 
than wages. In other words, the American people have taken a cut in the 
spending value of their paychecks. They can buy less with the same 
amount of money. And even if they have gotten a bit of a raise, the 
prices are taking a greater and greater bite out of that paycheck.
  So as we approach Thanksgiving, Democrats in Washington want to spend 
like it is already Black Friday. Democrats seem to think that every day 
is Black Friday, when you take a look at this reckless tax-and-spending 
bill where every page is over $1 billion of spending.
  They have already put $2 trillion on the credit card earlier this 
year. This is in addition to the bipartisan coronavirus relief that the 
Senate passed last year. But for Democrats, there is never enough 
spending. Taxing and spending: it is an addiction. They want to print 
more money, they want to spend more money.
  And right now, Democrats are pushing a reckless tax-and-spending 
bill, which will make inflation in this country even worse. Democrats 
say that the bill that they are proposing in the House right now will 
cost $2 trillion.
  The Congressional Budget Office will give a final report the end of 
the week. Experts say, if all of the programs they are proposing were 
to stay in place for the full 10 years in the budget system, the price 
is much closer--if not exceeding--$4 trillion.
  So if the Democrats pass this bill, we are talking about more 
spending, more debt, and higher prices. We are also, of course, talking 
about more taxes that ultimately will hit everyone in this country one 
way or the other.
  Last week, the New York Times reported ``many researchers . . . say 
the bill is structured in a way that could add to inflation next 
year.'' Not just this year; next year as well.
  Experts say this bill could increase the cost of childcare up to 
$13,000 for each and every family in America whose children need that 
care. This is already one of the biggest expenses on working families. 
They will nearly double that.
  And, of course, Democrats' spending spree would add over $400 billion 
in taxes on America's small businesses--the mom-and-pop businesses in 
the communities all around this country.
  Interestingly, at a time of high energy costs--we had a hearing about 
this this morning in the Energy Committee, the trend in prices on 
energy. Astonishingly, what the Democrats are proposing at this time 
are the highest natural gas prices in 7 years, and a tough season 
coming for the cost of heating oil and heating gas. This could raise 
taxes on American natural gas as well, when prices are at a 7-year 
high.
  What happens to these costs with these taxes?
  Of course, they get handed off to consumers in the form of higher 
prices.

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  If Democrats pass this bill, the American people are going to pay 
more at the pump, more at the store, and more on tax day.
  So, last week, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center said this bill would 
raise taxes on nearly one-third of middle-class families.
  Didn't Joe Biden say he wasn't going to do that?
  Well, who is right: the President of the United States, whose 
approval is at an all-time low and only 21 percent of Americans think 
the country is going in the right direction, or the Tax Policy Center 
that says that a third of all middle-class families will end up paying 
more taxes if this is signed into law?
  This is a blatant violation of the President's campaign promises. The 
last thing the American people need right now is higher taxes, more 
debt, and higher prices. The last thing the American people need is 
this reckless tax-and-spending spree.
  It is no wonder that 71 percent of Americans think our country today 
is on the wrong track, and this includes many Americans who actually 
voted last November for Joe Biden.
  What do the American people want?
  Well, they want us to produce more American energy so they can pay 
less for energy. They want us to make it easier for people to get back 
to work. They want higher wages and lower prices.
  That is not what we are hearing from the Democrats.
  So that is my response to the majority leader when he asks why not a 
single Republican would support this reckless tax-and-spending spree.
  With Thanksgiving coming, we need to stop this reckless spending 
``cold turkey.''
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.