[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 1, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S845-S854]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
POSTAL SERVICE REFORM ACT OF 2022--MOTION TO PROCEED--Resumed
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 3076,
which the clerk will now report.
The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 273, H.R. 3076, a bill to
provide stability to and enhance the services of the United
States Postal Service, and for other purposes.
Recognition of the Majority Leader
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.
Ukraine
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, with each new day of war in Ukraine,
the brutality and sheer evil of Vladimir Putin's aggression against the
Ukrainian people becomes more apparent. Failing at securing the country
with quick strikes, Russian forces are evidently starting to engage in
siege tactics. Over the past 12 hours, the city of Kharkiv has endured
especially heavy fire. Civilian casualties, tragically, are mounting.
Today, every single Member of the Senate must say once again, without
equivocation, that the United States stands behind the Ukrainian people
and behind all people in all nations who oppose the aggressions of
despotism.
In the weeks to come, the Senate must work on a bipartisan basis--and
in lockstep with the Biden administration--to pass a strong aid package
providing both humanitarian aid and security assistance to Ukraine.
The strongest signal we can send to Vladimir Putin right now is that
the United States stands together--together--with the people of
Ukraine. Twenty years ago, when our own democracy was attacked right
here on our own soil, Americans banded together--Democrat and
Republican--to defend our Nation and our democracy.
Today, as democracy faces its greatest crisis in Europe since the end
of the Cold War, we must likewise band together in support of our
friends in Ukraine. So far, the President has done an excellent job
uniting our Nation and our allies against Putin. This was not an easy
job. The President had to show patience from some who had urged him to
do things that would have torn the relationship apart--the European-
American relationship.
Now, because of the President's strong leadership, the Russian
President finds himself more isolated and a greater pariah than at any
other moment in his time in power. When the full weight of
international sanctions takes effect, the consequences will be
catastrophic for Putin and the Russian economy.
On the flip side--on the flip side--divisions within the United
States or amongst our allies will only strengthen Vladimir Putin and
strengthen his resolve that he can win this war, and we must resist him
and his deeply cynical efforts however necessary. We must be
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united in this moment, and so far our unity has precisely been our
greatest asset in resisting Putin's aggression: from unity amongst
American people in solidarity with Ukraine to America's unity with our
European allies. So I hope our Republican colleagues in this Chamber
will work with us and the administration to stay unified with a strong
aid package.
We don't know how this crisis will evolve, but one thing that will
not change is the need to maintain a united front so long as Vladimir
Putin continues down his path of violence.
For that reason, the Senate will continue working in the weeks to
come on a strong aid package that will erase any doubt where our
allegiance lies.
State of the Union Address
Mr. President, now on another subject, tonight, President Biden will
come to the U.S. Capitol and deliver the first State of the Union of
his Presidency. Whenever the Nation takes stock of the state of our
Union, it is important to know where we are today compared to where we
were a single year ago. That, indeed, is a revealing measure of any
President's leadership.
And despite the immense challenges we still have, what a difference
between last year and this year. At the beginning of last year, we were
facing the very worst of the pandemic. Unemployment was over 6 percent.
Most forecasters said it would take years--perhaps more--to make
significant progress in our recovery.
And, of course, as the Trump Presidency came to a bitter and ignoble
end, our country was still in shell shock from the violent assault
waged upon this Capitol and upon democracy itself.
Today, as we continue to face the serious challenges of our time,
just look at how far we have come. The economy has now grown at the
fastest rate in a single year since the 1980s. We have added back the
most jobs in a single year than in any President's term ever--6 million
jobs. Congress passed--and the President signed--the biggest
comprehensive, standalone infrastructure law in generations, which is
now fixing our roads and bridges, supply chains, and putting people to
work across the country with good-paying jobs. Jobs have always been
the No. 1 issue to working families. And on that measure, this first
year has been a very, very large success.
And after years of President Trump currying favor with despots and
autocrats--we all remember what he said about Vladimir Putin over and
over again--the world can now rest assured that the United States is
once again a reliable ally in the defense of democracy and our
alliances like NATO.
And of course, COVID cases are significantly dropping, communities
are reopening, mask mandates are reversing, and over 215 million
Americans--215 million--have now been fully vaccinated.
The road has not been easy, and certainly the work is not yet done.
The pain of inflation is being felt around this country and around the
world, thanks largely to the disruptions of the pandemic.
The two greatest things vexing the American people are completing our
recovery from COVID and getting life back to normal and fighting
increasing costs.
And Democrats in the Senate will keep our laser focus on precisely
those issues: bringing down costs for the American people so we can
reap the full benefits of our historic growth. From relieving shipping
bottlenecks to making insulin more affordable, to lowering the cost of
food, these are some of the things Americans want, and these are the
issues that Democrats right now are working to help solve.
These problems must be handled, and Democrats and the Biden
administration continue to work on them like a laser. Again, full
recovery from COVID and increasing costs are the two biggest remaining
issues on our domestic calendar, and we are focused on them. But even
so, we cannot ignore that we have come far.
And let me say this: The State of the Union is also an important and
rare moment for the American people to see what the party in office
actually stands for.
It is under Democratic leadership that we will continue to work to
lower costs, to fight inflation, give working families ladders of
opportunity to get to the middle class, and thrive there once they are
in the middle class.
Republicans can't say that. Crippled by Trump's cult of personality,
beholden to corporate interests and the ultrarich, the Republican
agenda would trap Americans in a vortex of deep cynicism--issues that
would not solve today's dilemmas--while they pass legislation that
overwhelmingly would benefit the very few wealthy people.
If anyone doubts where the Republican Party stands today, all they
have to do is read the bizarre, truly stunning plan released by the
junior Senator from Florida last week--the head of the Republican
Campaign Committee--which proposed everything from raising taxes on
low-income Americans to naming a useless and ineffective border wall
after Donald Trump.
Imagine, we are talking about getting back to normal and recovering
from COVID and reducing costs, and they are talking about naming a
border wall after Donald Trump. Which party is going to solve America's
problems?
Indeed, an analysis released yesterday by the Tax Policy Center found
that low-income households would pay an average of nearly $1,000 more
in taxes next year under a plan like Senator Scott's and that nearly
all of the new taxes under a plan like his would be paid by those
making less than $100,000 a year--cut the taxes on the wealthy, as they
did when Trump was President and they had the majority, and now
increase taxes on poor people and working-class people. That seems to
be where the Republicans are at.
This is just wrong, especially at a time when American families are
looking for our help in lowering costs. So, tonight, the President will
make clear that while we have a lot of work left to do, we have gotten
a lot of work done already. And the Democratic Senate will continue,
likewise, to focus working on legislation that completes our recovery
from COVID and does everything we can to make sure it doesn't come
back, to lower costs, to strengthen our buoyant economy, and preserve
America's place as a nation of immense opportunity deep into the 21st
century.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Recognition of the Minority Leader
The Republican leader is recognized.
Nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week, President Biden announced
his choice to succeed Justice Stephen Breyer on the Supreme Court,
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Judge Jackson was confirmed less than a
year ago to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
Now, every Senator must carefully evaluate Judge Jackson's record,
legal views, and judicial philosophy. The nominee, the Senate, the
Court, and the American people all deserve a process that is free of
embarrassing antics that have become the Democratic Party's routine
whenever a Republican President nominates a new Justice--the baseless
smears, the shameless distortions. The country deserves a process that
is painstakingly rigorous and befitting the seriousness of a lifetime
appointment to our highest Court.
I, for one, don't care what Judge Jackson's friends wrote in her high
school yearbook. I care that American families are facing major crises
that bear directly on Federal courts and our legal system, from surging
violent crime and systematically weak prosecutors to open borders and
campaigns to shrink religious freedom and the rights of conscience.
What is more, one of our two major political sides increasingly makes
noise about attacking the very legitimacy and structure of the Supreme
Court itself. The country needs a serious and sobering examination of
all of it.
I look forward to discussing these issues and many others with Judge
Jackson when I meet with her tomorrow morning.
It has been less than 1 year since Judge Jackson was confirmed to the
DC Circuit. Since then, I understand she has authored only two
opinions,
[[Page S847]]
both in the last several weeks. I am troubled by the combination of
this slim appellate record and the intensity of Judge Jackson's far-
left, dark money fan club.
Throughout the jockeying that preceded President Biden's announcement
and, indeed, dating back to her prior confirmation last year, Judge
Jackson has attracted loyal and intense support from some of the very
same dark money, far-left activists who have declared war on the
institution of the Court itself. One has to wonder why these leftwing
organizations worked so very hard to boost Judge Jackson for this
potential promotion.
I am sincerely looking forward to meeting Judge Jackson, to a
thorough conversation tomorrow morning, and to the vigorous Senate
process that lies ahead.
State of the Union Address
Mr. President, on another matter, tonight, President Biden will
deliver his first State of the Union Address.
One year into his term, the American people have a lot of questions
they would like answered: why Democrats plunged ahead with reckless
spending that caused the worst inflation in 40 years, why violent crime
and illegal immigration are setting all-time records, why the
administration haphazardly withdrew from Afghanistan and proposed to
cut defense spending after inflation at a time when Russia is trying to
redraw maps in human blood.
When President Biden took office 1 year ago, he inherited major
tailwinds and a brimming optimism. Brilliant scientists and Operation
Warp Speed had developed vaccines in record time, and we were already
putting doses in more than a million arms every day. Scientific data
had already proven that, after a devastating year for children and
families, schools were safe to reopen in person.
Thanks to the historic CARES Act and another targeted, bipartisan
stimulus that had just passed weeks earlier, our economic foundations
had weathered the pandemic lockdowns and were primed for a roaring
recovery back to normalcy and prosperity. Before the pandemic,
Republican policies had America as a net exporter of oil for the first
time since World War II.
The same voters who gave President Biden the Presidency gave him a
razor-thin margin in both Chambers. His only mandate was to govern from
the middle.
In his inaugural address, President Biden promised to do just that--
to unite and to heal--but for the past year, he and his administration
have often behaved like they are trying to fail their own test.
Remember, the President made stifling American energy independence a
day-1 priority, killing miles of pipeline and freezing new jobs and new
exploration with the stroke of a pen.
Then came the spending bill his administration called the ``most
progressive domestic legislation in a generation'' that top liberal
economists warned would ``set off inflationary pressures . . . we have
not seen in a generation.'' Inflation has surged so steeply, most
Americans have seen their real wages actually cut.
Then came the decision to cut and run from the international
coalition we led in Afghanistan. President Biden's top military
advisers warned that retreat would embolden terrorists, endanger loyal
partners, and leave our intelligence capabilities in the region badly
handicapped; but the Biden administration failed to heed these warnings
and presided over a disastrous withdrawal. Our biggest adversaries took
notes, and now, one of them is testing the limits of the West's resolve
to oppose his murderous conquest.
Then there are the alarming trends this administration has placed on
the back burner but which communities across America are facing every
day.
After spending the Presidential campaign talking about potential
amnesties, the Biden administration wasted no time in making our
southern border more porous. The CBP has reported its highest single-
year total for southern border encounters on record--with no sign of a
coherent administration response in sight.
Meanwhile, Democrats' response to a historic surge in violent crime
has been to double down on the hostility toward police and the
prosecution that has encouraged it. Across America, radical local
prosecutors are simply declining to charge whole categories of crimes.
But, instead of condemning this extremism, the Biden administration has
endorsed it, staffing their Justice Department with some of the most
outspoken critics of law and order.
Meanwhile, this Justice Department goes out of its way to keep tabs
on parents who dare to question teachers unions' veto power over
established medical science or who exhibit skepticism toward woke
propaganda in public schools.
So that is a heck of a rap sheet, but I am afraid the most damaging
legacy of President Biden's first year is bigger than just his unwise
policies. Democrats have not just tried pushing bad ideas through our
institutions; even under the Presidency of a self-styled
institutionalist, the far left has tried to wreck--wreck--our
institutions altogether.
Tonight, we will hear from a President who assigned a commission to
study packing the Supreme Court because his party didn't like its
current ideological makeup.
We will hear from a President who urged his former colleagues to tear
up Senate rules in order to rewrite the rules of American elections,
likened anyone who opposed these efforts to infamous racists, and
continues to stoke racial animus with wild nonsense about a revival of
segregation.
We will hear from an administration that has failed its own tests and
which, candidly, has the public approval figures to match.
On foreign affairs in particular, I am sincerely rooting for
President Biden's success. We need steady, serious, and smart
leadership to help guide the West through this perilous time, but on
most issues, what the American people deserve tonight is a commitment
to drastically change course. If this administration does not majorly
correct its course, the American people may correct course for them
this coming November.
I am glad the American people will also hear from Governor Kim
Reynolds this evening. She is a strong and successful leader who
delivers real solutions for the great people of Iowa. She fought COVID
without declaring war on freedom or common sense. She backed the blue,
stayed tough on crime, and kept Iowa's economy open.
I look forward to hearing her reaction to the President's remarks and
her thoughts on how Washington could better serve Middle America.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Murphy). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Nominations
Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, every day, Americans get up, go to work,
and do their jobs. It is time that all of us in the Senate do ours.
We have five outstanding nominees for the Federal Reserve. They are
ready. They are ready to get to work fighting inflation. And that fight
is all the more important now as Americans brace for possible impacts
at the gas pump and throughout our economy from Putin's invasion of
Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin has made it clear he doesn't care whom he hurts in his
maniacal quest for power. He has no problem attacking innocent
Ukrainians defending their country and wanting to continue their
freedoms and their democracy. He has no regard for hard-working
families in the United States and Europe and across the world who can't
afford higher energy prices.
Our Senate colleagues of both parties, led in part by the Presiding
Officer today, Senator Murphy, have so far shown a united front against
Putin. We are united in the need for punishing sanctions against Putin
and his cronies. But along with these sanctions, it is our job to do
all we can to make sure Putin's invasion does not hurt hard-working
Americans.
Let's be clear. This body, this administration, this Fed will do all
it can to combat inflation. When it comes to spikes in energy prices
because of Putin's warmongering, our resolve is strong. Our commitment
to democracy is certain.
This is not the moment for political stunts. As we deal with the
first land
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war in Europe since World War II, as we confront inflation, as we work
to continue our economic growth--in fact, in the past year, for the
first time in two decades, America's economic growth is stronger than
China's economic growth. Our rate of growth exceeds China's. As we
emerge from this global pandemic, everyone understands we need a full
Federal Reserve Board--the first one in nearly a decade. It has been
since 2013 before we have had all seven members of the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve is in some sense the supreme court of our economy,
as one Nobel Prize-winning economist, Joe Stiglitz, said.
Americans don't want more political theatrics; they want solutions to
take on Putin, to protect our national security, and to bring down
costs. There is no more reason for delay.
These nominees have met with every Senator, five nominees. These
nominees have met with every Senator who asked for a meeting. These
nominees met with staffs of Senators who asked. They offered to meet
with many of my colleagues who refused to meet with them and in a
couple of cases, met with them and were pretty combative, but that is
OK. These nominees did everything we asked of them, and then my
colleagues boycotted the vote--something I have never seen happen, not
just since I have been chair of Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; I
have never seen it since I have been in the Senate, where one party
boycotted a vote and stopped that vote from actually happening as a
result.
These nominees answered every question posed to them at the hearing.
They answered every question submitted for the record. In one nominee's
case, she answered almost 200 questions in a 48-hour period, before the
deadline. Then more questions came in after the deadline, and she still
answered them. All of these nominees have cooperated with both parties
in making sure that we can move forward.
If we are going to continue to grow our economy, we need all seven
Fed Governors in place. We need these professionals working, debating,
and making decisions about monetary policy and interest rates and jobs
and tackling inflation. We need these professionals to do the Fed's
critical work on something we hadn't really thought much about before--
helping prevent cyber attacks in our financial system.
Let me single out one of these five nominees because she has great
expertise in an issue the American public is more and more concerned
about. We know and we have heard discussions in the media about Putin
potentially having interest in cyber attacks against our country,
against Europe, against us. Sarah Bloom Raskin--this is the moment for
her in her record and expertise. She helped lead efforts in both
government and the private sector.
Before she was nominated for the Federal Reserve to be Vice Chair of
Supervision, a key position to weigh risks--risks of cyber attacks,
risks of climate change, risks brought about by many, many banks not
having the capital that they have held that they should--she served as
cochair of the G7 Cyber Expert Group. She is a former Fed Governor. She
was No. 2 at Treasury. She was a banking commissioner in Maryland. She
has elevated this issue of cyber attacks and cyber attack risks on
corporate boards. She played a pivotal role in helping craft the Obama
administration's efforts to combat cyber threats in the financial
industry.
She is the leader we need at this critical moment on all of these
issues, especially cyber. Let's get her on the job. Let's get all of
these nominees on the job.
Dr. Lisa Cook and Dr. Philip Jefferson--they understand workers and
communities that make our economy work.
Dr. Cook was born in a small town in Georgia, graduated from Spelman,
went to Oxford to study as a Truman scholar, and has a Ph.D. from
Berkeley.
Dr. Philip Jefferson grew up in the shadow of RFK Stadium--grew up
with not a lot of material assets--and worked as a young man at the
Federal Reserve before he went back to school and got his Ph.D. He is
now dean of a prestigious school in the Carolinas.
As I said, they understand workers. They understand communities.
Chair Powell and Governor Brainard--the two nominees who have already
been serving on the Fed--led the Fed's extraordinary effort to support
our economy throughout the pandemic.
We need a full Federal Reserve Board. We need a united front to make
our economy stronger, to take on inflation, to take on Putin. I implore
my Republican colleagues: Just show up. Vote no if you want to vote
against these five nominees. That is certainly your right. But we don't
come to the Senate where they hand us a paper and say: Check a box--
``yes,'' ``no,'' or ``I don't think I will show up and do my job.'' No.
You vote yes or you vote no.
I just implore my colleagues on the Banking, Housing, and Urban
Affairs Committee to show up to cast their votes, and we will then move
forward. We need them to make our economy stronger and to take on
inflation.
The world is looking at us now. We are still the leader of the free
world. To play these political games while in the midst of this awful
attack, this potentially growing land war in Europe, to play games on
the committee and withhold your votes and not show up to work--let's
show the world what a functioning democratic government looks like.
Let's get this done for the people whom we serve.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip.
Ukraine
Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, over the past week, the world has watched
in horror as once again an imperialist Russia sets its sights on a
sovereign nation in Eastern Europe.
Vladimir Putin's unjustified and unjustifiable war of aggression has
already left hundreds dead and created a massive refugee crisis as
noncombatants flee Russian attacks.
At this minute, Russia continues to press forward with attacks on
several fronts, with a focus on the capital city of Kyiv, but
courageous Ukrainian resistance, both from its formal military and from
an increasing number of civilians, is slowing Russia. Kyiv and other
major cities remain under significant pressure and could fall within
days, but Ukraine is demonstrating a fierce resolve and continuing to
blunt Russian advances.
Russia has also been a victim of its own deficiencies, such as poor
targeting, broken supply lines, and a limited ability to fight at
night. Surprisingly, Russia has not yet established full air
superiority, with some Ukrainian jets still flying and some air-to-
surface systems still available. This means Ukraine can still fly
combat sorties and strike back against Russia. Similarly, Ukrainian
command, control, and communications appear to be intact.
How long these conditions can last, however, is an open question,
which underscores the urgent need to continue to provide Ukraine with
the weapons it needs to stay in this fight and to bring the free
nations of the world together to sanction and isolate Russia for its
unjustifiable aggression. This is Ukraine's fight, but the United
States and allies can provide weapons and humanitarian assistance while
imposing swift and severe sanctions against Russia.
We must also shore up NATO to send a signal to Putin that the United
States will make good on our defense commitments. This is essential not
only to help prevent this war from spreading farther into Eastern
Europe but to send a message to China that similar acts of aggression
will not be tolerated. We know Taiwan remains in the crosshairs of
President Xi, and just as Putin is flexing his power in Europe,
communist China is looking for any opening to pounce.
Many pundits have speculated about Putin's mindset and ultimate goal
with this attack and how far he would be willing to go despite mounting
losses. I think it is clear he is willing to take it to the next level.
We should be concerned that as Russia continues to meet heavy
resistance, Putin will order his generals to increase pressure no
matter the cost--this means no matter the cost to his own troops, many
of them young soldiers and conscripts, and no matter the cost to the
Ukrainian people.
Putin's failures in Ukraine and mounting international pressure may
also spur Putin to escalate beyond Ukraine and lash out against the
West. He has already ordered his nuclear
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forces on high alert--yet another unprovoked escalation that has drawn
immediate condemnation.
The United States and other free nations must match the resolve of
the Ukrainian people and respond with swift and severe consequences for
Putin and his cronies. The people of Ukraine have shown their fierce
determination to fight, drawing inspiration from emerging stories of
heroism.
A reported ``Ghost of Kyiv'' fighter pilot has allegedly scored six
kills against Russian jets. It may only be an urban legend, but it has
captured Ukraine's underdog grit nonetheless.
Ukrainian border guards on a remote island in the Black Sea refused
to surrender to the Russian Navy in a defiant radio transmission.
A Ukrainian solder sacrificed himself on Friday by manually
detonating charges to collapse a bridge when there was not enough time
to detonate them remotely before a Russian column closed in.
A Ukrainian woman defiantly addressed Russian occupiers, offering
them sunflower seeds and telling them to put the seeds in their pockets
so that sunflowers will grow when they die in Ukraine.
Ukraine has handed out over 18,000 weapons to reservists around Kyiv,
with social media posts showing men and women lining up to volunteer.
Ukrainian Parliament Member Kira Rudik is taking up arms, hoping to
inspire other women to join the resistance. Ukrainian media is
broadcasting instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails to attack
Russian vehicles.
Then there is President Zelenskyy, who has led the Ukrainians with
extraordinary resolution and courage. President Zelenskyy is believed
to be Putin's top target, and there are reports of Russian forces being
sent into Ukraine for the express purpose of assassinating Ukraine's
President. Yet, according to press reports, when he was offered the
chance to evacuate, Zelenskyy said:
The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.
Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has also been visible in
Kyiv, saying Ukraine will resist ``forever'' when asked how long the
nation can hold out.
Ukraine's resolve has been on display for the world to see, as have
Vladimir Putin's true colors. Putin was given every chance to choose
diplomacy and peace. Instead, he chose war.
Putin has offered wild justifications for his attacks, suggesting
that Ukraine somehow posed a nuclear threat to Russia and is governed
by neo-Nazis and drug addicts. He has also called for Ukrainian
soldiers to defect and to ``take power into their own hands.'' It may
be that Russia is laying the groundwork for a narrative that there is
an organic pro-Russian contingent within Ukraine, possibly within the
Ukrainian military itself, to be stood up as an ``authentic'' coup to
carry out regime change. Putin has also claimed that the Ukrainian
military is moving equipment into residential neighborhoods, which
would be consistent with a resistance or insurgency defensive posture
but will also give Russia pretext to increase civilian targeting.
Vladimir Putin is apparently on a delirious quest to restore the
Soviet Union and once again see Ukraine under its thumb. Unfortunately
for him, he apparently reckoned without the people of Ukraine. Each
missile that strikes a village, every rocket that strikes an apartment
building, every tank that rattles by a once-quiet town will only
further stoke Ukrainian's resentment of the Kremlin.
Judging by the way Ukrainians are fighting, I don't think they will
ever accept Russian rule. As the growing number of Russians boldly
protesting in the streets--from Moscow to St. Petersburg to Siberia--
and online are making clear, Putin is also losing the trust of everyday
Russians, particularly of the younger generations whom he is likely
leaning on for conscripts and who will inherit a decimated economy.
Even the daughter of Putin's own spokesman posted on Instagram ``No to
war!'' which went viral before it was deleted.
Russian protests have spread to more than 50 cities, and, in keeping
with his KGB past, Putin's response has been to detain protesters and
restrict access to Facebook and Twitter. Unfortunately for him,
however, it has become clear that he will not be able to fully hide the
truth from the Russian people. Russians are clearly coming to know
Putin as a murderous warmonger who will isolate them from the free
world.
It is unfortunate that the world did not take a more aggressive
stance against Vladimir Putin before he invaded the sovereign nation of
Ukraine. I supported sanctions against Nord Stream 2 and the other
punitive measures of the NYET Act before Russia made its attack. It is
too bad it took Putin actually going to war for the world to get
serious about checking Russian aggression. However, I am pleased that
the United States and our partners are finally moving forward with
unprecedented sanctions against Russia's economy.
The United States is sanctioning Russia's central bank and freezing
its assets in the United States, and a growing number of nations are
united to block Russia from the SWIFT financial transaction messaging
system. If blocked from this system, Russia will have to conduct run-
of-the-mill banking transactions directly between banks, adding costly
delays that should discourage any business with their banks. Putin has
also joined the select list of despots, like Kim Jong-un, individually
sanctioned by the United States.
While I am glad we have taken these steps, there is more we can and
should do, including directly targeting the lifeblood of the Russian
economy, and that is Russia's energy sector. Every dollar the world
denies Putin by not buying his oil and gas is one less dollar he has to
spend on his war of aggression in Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine is also a timely reminder that energy
independence is not only economic security but national security and
that here in the United States, we need to do everything we can to get
our energy producers off the bench and into the game so that we don't
have to rely on foreign regimes for energy supplies.
The situation is also a reminder of how important it is to make a
robust investment in our own military to restore our Nation's
readiness. The Vladimir Putins of the world will only respond to
strength, and we need to ensure that our Nation's military is prepared
to meet threats from traditional state actors as well as terrorist
organizations. When it comes to dictators like Putin, the best way to
secure peace is through robust deterrence.
As Congress reviews the administration's supplemental request for
foreign security and humanitarian assistance, we cannot offset this
funding by degrading our own defense. This is a military emergency--
just ask the people of Ukraine--and we should treat it as such. I hope
Congress will come to a sensible solution in the days and weeks ahead.
My thoughts and prayers today are with the people of Ukraine. I hope
they know that their courage and determination have inspired millions,
and I pray that the United States and freedom-loving countries the
world over will continue to do our part by providing the lethal aid
Ukrainians need to stay in this fight and by implementing biting
sanctions that will leave Putin and his cronies out in the cold.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.
State of the Union Address
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I am going to join a number of my
Republican colleagues on the floor today to talk about the State of the
Union.
Tonight, President Biden will come to Congress to give his annual
State of the Union Address. He is going to try to do his very best to
paint a rosy picture of the status quo. No matter how hard the
President of the United States tries tonight, Joe Biden cannot hide the
fact that his policies have put America in crisis. There is a war in
Europe. We have the worst inflation in 40 years, the worst violent
crime in 25 years, the highest prices at the pump for gasoline in 7
years, and the most illegal crossings into the United States ever. So
no matter what Joe Biden says tonight, he is the one who has created
these crises. We are less secure at home and abroad than the day Joe
Biden took office.
Over the last 10 months, the American people have said loud and clear
[[Page S850]]
that inflation is a top concern, and Joe Biden has only poured fuel on
the fire. He told us that the fire would burn itself out quickly. Yet
inflation has only burned hotter.
Yesterday, the Associated Press put it this way. The Associated Press
said: ``On cusp of Biden speech, a state of disunity, funk, and
peril.'' The article goes on to say: ``Today's national psyche is one
of fatigue and frustration.'' They go on to say it is ``the malaise of
our time.''
In March of 2021, Joe Biden signed the single largest spending bill
in American history. He put $2 trillion on America's credit card,
flooded the country with cash, government cash. Since then, prices have
gone up faster and faster than wages.
Joe Biden repeatedly said inflation would be ``transitory.'' He said
it month after month after month as people felt their paychecks being
eaten away. In December, Joe Biden said inflation had ``peaked.'' Joe
Biden has been dead wrong again and again and again. The American
people are reminded of this every time they go to the gas station,
every time they go to the grocery store, and every time they pay their
heating bill. It is no wonder Joe Biden's approval rating on handling
inflation, which is the No. 1 concern of the American people, is just
31 percent. That means Republicans don't approve, Independents don't
approve, and a lot of Democrats don't approve of how the President has
handled their No. 1 concern.
So tonight I expect President Biden will once again ask Congress to
pass another reckless tax-and-spending spree. He will call it Build
Back Better or, more accurately, ``Break Your Back'' bill. I am not
sure what he is going to call it. It is going to be Build Back Better
part 2.
No matter what the President says tonight, the American people are
going to continue to say, ``No, thank you,'' to all this additional
government spending.
The American people do not trust this President or the Democrats to
tackle the issues that they care about. Inflation is eating away their
paychecks and has been doing so now month after month after month.
Millions of people are entering this country illegally. Shelves are
going empty. No whitewashing by this President can cover up this
painful reality for the American people.
So tonight I will listen carefully to what the President has to say.
The American people don't want to listen to a fairytale tonight. They
are not looking for a bedtime story from the President of the United
States. The American people are looking for real answers.
Joe Biden can brag if he wants. The American people know the truth.
America is in crisis. The American people understand that. And the
American people know that the person to blame for all of this is
squarely right there, the man behind the podium, the President of the
United States.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Kaine). The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Remembering Richard C. Blum
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, two things, and the first one is very
short but something that is sorrowful that we have to talk about,
Senator Feinstein losing her husband. Senator Feinstein is a friend of
mine. You get very well acquainted with people when you work with--like
when I was chairman of the Judiciary, and she was ranking member. For
years before that, she and I chaired or cochaired the drug caucus.
So we all know that she lost her husband of 42 years over this
weekend. We know that he had a long battle with cancer. Dick and Dianne
supported each other during everything life threw at them, and they had
fun along the way. Together, they were even stronger. Dianne has
dedicated herself to working for the people of California, and she had
no better confidant and supporter than her husband Dick.
Many Americans think that Senators of opposing political parties
don't get along, and that is not the case. All 100 of us know that
here. It is too bad that journalists always make controversy the center
of everything, so people--at least in Iowa--have an extraordinary view
that we never speak to each other, and that is not the case.
And I would just point out how Senator Feinstein and I have worked
together. Barbara and I express our deepest sympathy to Dianne and her
family on Dick's passing, as they grieve the loss of a life well lived.
Biden Administration
Mr. President, now to another point that I have come to talk to my
colleagues about.
In Biden's inaugural address a year ago, he called repeatedly for
unity. He said:
We can treat each other with dignity and respect. We can
join forces, stop the shouting, and lower the temperature.
For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and
fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage.
I was glad to hear him say all of those good intentions. I took it,
really, as an invitation for bipartisanship. It sounded like the Joe
Biden that I knew as a Senator for the 28 years that he and I worked
together. So I reached out early on to offer to work with him on
lowering the cost of prescription drugs.
But right out of the gate, he rejected good-faith offers from all of
us to work together on another COVID relief package, as Republicans and
Democrats had on five others throughout the year of 2020.
Even with the narrowest of margins, and you can't get much more
narrow than a 50-50 Senate, President Biden let his party's agenda be
dictated by the most radical progressive wing of his party. The extreme
radicals refused to compromise on a wish list having nothing to do with
COVID.
President Biden should instead have listened to Professor Larry
Summers. He was President Clinton's Treasury Secretary and President
Obama's Chief Economic Adviser. Professor Summers warned that all the
spending the progressives were insisting on would fuel the fires of
inflation, and now we know how right Professor Summers was.
But that $2 trillion spending binge just whet the appetite of the
very young radicals in the Democratic Party who don't remember the
1970s' stagflation. And if they had memories of stagflation, they
willingly ignored history.
Instead of offering to find common ground on issues like prescription
drug pricing, the Democrats wasted much of the year trying to spend
another $4 trillion on a slew of brandnew entitlement programs.
His one significant bipartisan achievement, passing a bipartisan
infrastructure bill, was all but gift wrapped and handed to him by a
bipartisan group of Senators.
Even then, liberal Democrats nearly derailed it by insisting its fate
be tied to the passage of their unrelated liberal spending spree that
is referred to as Build Back Better. Opponents called it ``Build Back
Worse.''
Thankfully, moderate Democrats in the House successfully delinked the
two bills, as we did in the Senate, and sent the infrastructure bill to
the President's desk. So that was a bipartisan victory for the
President, and it was a victory for bipartisanship in this Senate.
Now, even more importantly, thanks to the leadership of Senator
Manchin, along with the principled stand of Senator Sinema, Democrats
multibillion-dollar liberal spending spree floundered--Build Back
Better floundered. As a result, we avoided piling even more gasoline
into the inflation fire.
But as Larry Summers warned and Senator Manchin feared, the fire of
inflation is already burning brightly. It is picking the pockets of
hard-working, middle-class Americans, who are paying more for gas and
groceries, and, for that matter, everything else.
President Biden's reluctance to stand up to the radical voices in his
own party or listen to moderate criticism has led to failure after
failure.
There is President Biden's decision to shut down the Keystone
Pipeline day 1 of his administration and, more recently, to not shut
down Russia's Nord Stream 2 Pipeline.
But now, thanks to Germany and the Ukraine situation, that is shut
down--but no thanks to President Biden.
He pulled the few remaining troops out of Afghanistan in a chaotic
hurry, leaving Americans stranded.
[[Page S851]]
He has even accused friends across the aisle, people of my political
party whom he has long worked with, as being Jim Crow racists.
This isn't the uniting President that he promised that he would be on
January 20 of last year.
The good news is that it is not too late to change course. So,
hopefully, he will get a big voice from both political parties about it
is not too late to change course and work in a bipartisan way.
There is reason to believe that he is trying to be Franklin Delano
Roosevelt. But trying to be FDR without FDR's popularity and FDR's
supermajority in the Congress--that approach has failed.
I invite President Biden to face reality, ignore the radicals in his
political party, whether in Congress or on his staff, and work across
the aisle in a way I know we can. I saw that regularly for 28 years. Be
the President you promised to be at your inauguration, in other words.
The American people want action on issues that they are facing this
very day: inflation, spike in violent crimes, prescription drug costs,
open borders, and you could have a myriad of other things.
I could name three things that I am part of a bipartisan effort to
get things done: One, take on Big Tech, Klobuchar and Grassley; take on
the big meatpackers, Grassley and Tester and Fischer and Wyden; and
take on prescription drugs, as Wyden and I worked on that prior to last
year, when Democrats took over, and they forgot all about it.
Let's get some of these things done.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.
Energy
Mr. HOEVEN. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss the need to
immediately increase our domestic energy production to counter Russia's
invasion of Ukraine.
For an energy-rich nation such as ours, it is unacceptable that our
country has been increasingly reliant on Russia for oil. In recent
months, we have imported nearly 600,000 barrels per day of Russian oil.
At the same time, the Biden administration has worked systematically to
shut down domestic U.S. oil and gas production.
American oil and gas producers, including those in North Dakota, have
proven that they have the capacity to produce more oil here at home. We
had gotten to 1.5 million barrels of oil a day production; now, 1.1
million barrels a day.
We can do more; other States can do more. We need to do it not only
for our consumers here at home but to help our allies in Europe.
Our economy, quality of life, and security depend on access to low-
cost, dependable energy from all sources, both traditional and
renewable.
The Biden administration's hostile energy policies treat America's
abundant oil, gas, and coal reserves differently, and they treat it as
a liability.
We are seeing the direct consequence of that approach, allowing
investment and dollars to flow to energy producers like Russia, Iran,
and other countries that leverage their own energy against our
interests, with little or no regard for environmental stewardship;
whereas, our environmental stewardship is the best in the world.
It is time we harness our vast strategic energy reserves and maintain
our status as a global energy powerhouse.
President Biden will soon deliver his State of the Union Address, and
it is time he works with us to support our domestic energy producers
and abandon his failed approach to energy policy.
Each additional barrel of oil we can produce here at home strengthens
our economic and national security and helps our allies. Each
additional U.S. barrel offsets production from Russia and other
adversaries. Each additional barrel of oil helps reduce prices for
American consumers, and because energy is built into virtually
everything we consume, lowering energy costs helps bring down
inflation. That means empowering and encouraging our domestic producers
and reversing the Biden administration's policies that curtail
production.
To start, the Interior Department needs to immediately end the
leasing moratorium and hold previously postponed lease sales, both
onshore and offshore.
We need to expand our energy infrastructure to ensure efficient
delivery to consumers. That includes approving the Keystone XL
Pipeline, which is legislation that I led, and we passed during the
Obama administration. Now, it was vetoed by President Obama, but it was
my bill. We approved it in this Chamber, approved it in the House, got
it to the President, and the President vetoed it. If he hadn't, we
would have Keystone Pipeline today, bringing millions of more barrels
of energy to our country and to our allies, working with our closest
friend and ally, Canada.
We need to strengthen our energy trade with Canada--as I said,
obviously, one of our most important allies.
It also includes building new natural gas pipelines to connect areas
like New England to domestic gas reserves in Pennsylvania and West
Virginia.
We need to expand liquefied natural gas--LNG--exports to our European
allies to provide cleaner, more efficient alternatives to Russian gas.
The gas that we send from our LNG facilities to Europe, on a
lifecycle basis, has 41 percent less emissions than Russian gas.
I will soon be introducing the American Independence from Russia Act,
bicameral legislation, with Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers,
which requires the President to provide Congress with an energy
security plan that, first, evaluates U.S. oil imports and exports;
second, assesses our energy security risks based on oil imports; and,
third, encourages U.S. domestic oil production to offset Russian
imports. This is all about a return to regulatory certainty to protect
our capacity to produce energy, and that means helping producers
attract capital investment.
It is time we unleash the full potential of U.S. energy producers to
strengthen our energy independence and weaken authoritarian adversaries
like Russia and others. In addition to strengthening national security,
robust and domestic energy production will help provide lower energy
costs and relief from inflation for hard-working American families. We
need to unleash our energy resources for the sake of our own consumers
and our allies.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Sinema). The Senator from Iowa.
State of the Union Address
Ms. ERNST. Madam President, tonight, the President will deliver the
annual State of the Union Address. And I have to admit, as a result of
President Biden's policies over the past year, nearly everything is
up--consumer prices, up; violent crime, up; the national debt, illegal
border crossings, fatal drug overdoses, our trade deficit--they are all
up.
But what isn't up is the public's view of the President and his
policies. In poll after poll, the majority of Americans disapprove of
the job that President Biden is doing. On nearly every key issue facing
the country, Americans, by and large, just do not think Mr. Biden is up
to the job. And more than two-thirds of Americans lack confidence that
President Biden can bring the country closer together, something he
promised the American people that he would do. Folks, this is really no
surprise since it is, after all, the President's unpopular partisan
policies that are driving Americans further apart.
President Biden might try to mask himself as a moderate, but no one
is being fooled. Behind the mask, the real Biden agenda is more
mandates from Washington, higher prices for all Americans, and less
security at home and abroad. As a direct result of mandates imposed by
this administration, for example, thousands of healthcare workers have
lost their jobs at a time when we need them more than ever.
And because of the massive amount of money being printed in
Washington, inflation is soaring at its highest point in 40 years. The
cost of food, gas, housing, and just about everything else is
significantly more expensive today than it was before President Biden
was sworn into office.
The President chose leftwing climate fantasies over national
security. His doctrine of appeasement has resulted in America becoming
more energy dependent on foreign adversaries like Russia for the energy
that is necessary to heat our homes and keep our country on the move.
[[Page S852]]
And with the Russian military on the march in Europe and terrorists
in control of Afghanistan once again, the national and economic
security of our Nation has been set back decades. It is really quite
stunning and gravely concerning what an incredible mess President Biden
has created in such a short period of time.
Yet the White House is attempting to convince the American people
that everything is fine. The President called his hastily ordered exit
from Afghanistan an ``extraordinary success,'' despite leaving
thousands of Americans and allies behind.
And the Biden administration has repeatedly denied that rising prices
and empty shelves are even a problem, while fanning the flames of
inflation and out-of-control spending. Folks, if simply printing money
could solve the problem for us, we would be living in a utopia right
now since Washington spent nearly $7 trillion last year alone. Instead,
every American is feeling the pinch of Bidenomics--because spending is
not the solution, folks; it is the problem.
And you would think that in light of Putin's aggression and the
threats from other adversaries, our Commander in Chief would be focused
on strengthening and modernizing our defenses. Instead, funding for the
Department of Defense is being held hostage by the President and
Democrats in Congress until the widely popular 50-year-old ban on
taxpayer funding for abortions is repealed.
Folks, is this really the time to play abortion politics with our
Nation's national security?
Having spent the last half-century in Washington, President Biden is
totally out of touch with the everyday needs of Iowa families. And the
world around us has become much more dangerous under his watch.
Just remember as you listen to his address, every time the President
proposes increasing Washington spending, that translates into higher
prices and taxes for you. Every new government expansion the President
proposes means more Washington mandates and control over you. And no
matter who he blames for the security crises we are in now, it is the
President's poor decisions and lack of leadership that continue to make
our Nation less safe at home and abroad.
To get our Nation moving in the right direction, we need a forward-
looking, freedom-first agenda. To ensure our families have and can
afford the food and essentials they need, the supply chain must be
fixed. To protect and prepare our children for the future, we need
schools to be a place of learning, not ``woke'' indoctrination. To
protect our Nation from foreign threats, we need to ensure U.S. energy
independence and the strength of our military remains unmatched. And to
form a more perfect union, Washington needs to stop micromanaging how
we live our lives and start abiding by the most important mandates
in America, the ones that are listed in our Constitution's Bill of
Rights, which protect us from government intrusion.
These goals don't represent a partisan platform but rather an
inclusive agenda for all Americans that puts each one of us back in
charge of the direction of our own lives. It is a vision based on
freedom, on liberty, on opportunity.
Folks, I know this vision works because that is exactly what is
happening in my home State of Iowa under the leadership of our Governor
and my friend, Kim Reynolds. She has led with Iowa common sense and
compassion since day one.
Right now, Governor Reynolds is expanding opportunities for everyone
by cutting taxes to help families and small businesses. She is standing
up for our freedom, putting our kids first, and ensuring parents have
their voices heard.
Under her leadership, Iowa was the first State to reopen our schools
during the pandemic. Governor Reynolds is pushing back on the massive
Washington overreach from President Biden and standing up for our way
of life. And she is fighting to keep the left's ``woke'' agenda out of
Iowa.
Folks, Governor Kim Reynolds is the perfect choice for the Republican
response to tonight's State of the Union Address and her record of
success in Iowa is the ideal contrast to the life in Joe Biden's
America.
Things are not fine, folks. You and I know that, and we feel that
every day. But Governor Reynolds--her leadership and her vision for a
better future--leaves me very optimistic about what lies ahead for
America.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, tonight, on the other side of the Capitol,
President Joe Biden will tell the American people what a great job he
has done. He will read a speech, and seated behind him will be Nancy
Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Not even the most extreme Democratic partisan can believe that the
last 14 months have been a success. Joe Biden campaigned for President
as a reasonable and centrist moderate, and he abandoned every one of
those promises the moment he put his hand on the Bible. Instead, he has
handed the agenda over to the most radical and extreme voices on the
far left, and the result for the country has been disastrous.
In 14 months, we have seen trillions of new spending and trillions of
new debt, the highest debt in the history of our Nation.
We have seen a war on domestic energy production. In his first week
in office, Joe Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline, destroying 11,000
jobs, destroying 8,000 union jobs. He halted new leasing on Federal
lands and offshore drilling, and the predictable result of launching an
assault on domestic energy production is that energy prices
skyrocketed.
But for that matter, everything has skyrocketed--food, electricity,
rent, home, lumber, gasoline, heat, every basic expense. Working
families are suffering and especially seniors--especially those on
fixed incomes.
Then we have our southern border--the absolute chaos and crisis on
our southern border--over 2 million people crossing illegally into this
country, the worst rate of illegal immigration in 61 years. And it is
worth noting that Biden inherited, the year before, the lowest rate of
illegal immigration in 45 years. So he turned success into failure
because he implemented the radical leftwing ideas of open borders from
the extreme left.
The crime and chaos of disease coming from 2 million illegal
immigrants is compounded domestically by the extreme left's war on the
police. We have seen the far left advocating abolishing the police,
advocating defunding the police. We have seen George Soros' funded
district attorney releasing violent criminals. And as a result, crime
is up, murders are up, carjacking is up. And the Biden administration
has embraced that radical agenda, nominating not one, but two of the
leading advocates of abolishing the police to senior positions in the
Department of Justice. Unfortunately, every single Democrat in this
Chamber voted to confirm those leading advocates for abolishing the
police.
We have seen Joe Biden implementing illegal and unconstitutional
vaccine mandates; standing up and firing soldiers and sailors and
airmen and marines; advocating that doctors be fired, that nurses be
fired, that police officers be fired, that firefighters be fired, that
airline captains and flight attendants be fired--an assault on our
liberties. And as disastrous as the domestic policy has been and as
disastrous as the economic policy has been, the foreign policy has been
even worse.
We saw in Afghanistan the catastrophic withdrawal--the surrender to
the Taliban, leaving Americans behind. And unfortunately, when that
happened, every enemy of America, they looked to Washington, they
looked to the Oval Office, and they took the measure of the man in the
Oval Office; and they all concluded that the President was weak and
feckless and ineffective.
As I said at the time when we withdrew from Afghanistan, the chances
of Russia invading Ukraine have increased tenfold. As I said at the
time, the chances of China invading Taiwan have increased tenfold.
When the President is weak, when he is ineffective, our enemies are
on advance and every region of the world you look at is worse for
America.
Russia has launched the largest war in Europe since World War II.
China is more aggressive--is running concentration camps with a million
Uighurs, is
[[Page S853]]
murdering and torturing innocent people in China.
And mind you, when I brought a vote to the Senate floor that said the
U.S. Government should not purchase goods manufactured using slave
labor in Chinese concentration camps, every Democrat but one voted no.
These are extreme positions. This is not the mainstream. This is not
the center. This is the radical and extreme left. Nancy Pelosi will not
portray it on her face, but she knows in January she will no longer be
Speaker of the House. And I will say, Joe Biden's becoming President
was the best thing that ever happened to Vladimir Putin.
Biden began his Presidency by surrendering to Putin, waving the
sanctions on Nord Stream 2; sanctioned bipartisan sanctions that I
authored that had stopped that pipeline, that had stopped an invasion
of Ukraine; and Biden decided surrendering to our adversary was a
better policy. As Neville Chamberlain has demonstrated, appeasement
doesn't work.
The state of America is strong, but the state of the Union and the
state of the Federal Government in Washington is disastrous. Yet the
one bit of bright light on the horizon that I am confident President
Biden will not point to is that the American people will vote in
November, and I believe they will change the path we are on.
We have seen the disaster of the extreme radical left. If Biden could
remember the Joe Biden who swore me into office, the Joe Biden who
swore many of my colleagues into office, the Joe Biden whom we served
with--if he could remember that Joe Biden--it would be a very different
administration. Sadly, this White House has decided the radical,
extreme, socialist left sets the agenda, and the results of that agenda
are playing out for families all across the country.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
Mr. KAINE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I, along
with Senators Hagerty, Peters, and Portman, be recognized to speak for
up to 5 minutes each before the scheduled recess.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KAINE. Madam President, I was not intending to speak. As the
Presiding Officer knows, I was presiding, and she was kind to spell me.
Yet, as I was hearing colleagues talk on the floor about the state of
our country, what I was hearing from my Republican colleagues were
words like ``malaise,'' ``funk,'' ``disaster,'' and I was seeing
visuals of a house on fire. So I was compelled to stand and just offer
a few extemporaneous remarks.
I don't think America is a disaster. I don't think America is on
fire. I don't think America is in a deep, unyielding malaise. I have
heard colleagues talk about the situation in the world and use the
``appeasement'' word. I have heard language, both in committee hearings
this morning and here on the floor, that I would characterize as a kind
of a ``blame America first'' attitude. If something is going on--if a
dictator like Vladimir Putin acts in a horrific way--it has got to be
America's fault. It has got to be Joe Biden's fault. I don't think our
instinct should be to blame America first when dictators in the world
undertake despicable actions.
What I have noticed in these comments today in trashing our President
and in trashing the country--sort of a cherry-picking of evidence--is
that my colleagues have brought up some things that are really very
legitimate concerns. Inflation is a very, very legitimate concern that
has to be addressed. Yet I have listened to these speeches, and not one
has talked about record job growth. Not one has talked about strong GDP
growth. Not one has talked about dramatic increases in the wages and
salaries of low- and moderate-income people.
Is that because my colleagues are unaware of those things?
No. They know these things. They are just choosing not to discuss
them because what they want to do is to paint a picture of an American
malaise, an American funk, an American disaster. That is not what this
country is. Yet my colleagues are very willing to paint a false picture
by omitting key evidence.
I listened to the speeches this morning, and not one mentioned that
COVID deaths and hospitalizations are coming down dramatically and that
the CDC now has said, in most of my Commonwealth and in most of the
country, you needn't wear masks indoors. I would think they might have
mentioned that because part of the reason for this recent progress is
the vaccinations; it is the vaccines that were developed in the
previous administration. They could have taken a little credit for it,
but, no, they didn't mention it at all. COVID is coming down. There is
strong economic growth, strong job growth, strong wage and salary
growth.
Around the world, a NATO that the previous President trashed when he
was cozying up to the dictator Vladimir Putin is demonstrating to the
entire world that, when it is resolved to unify, the power of American-
led alliances is a huge force for good in this world.
So I am just trying to grapple with the one-sided presentation of
American disaster, American malaise, American funk. Here is the way I
understand it.
The last 2 years have been brutal. The death toll due to COVID is now
nearly 950,000. It will eclipse a million. I am 64 years old as of a
couple of days ago. It has been the hardest 2 years in my life and for
our country with the death, the illness, the economic devastation, the
job loss. It has been brutal here, and it has been brutal all around
the world, and it is not completely in the rearview mirror yet.
I suspect what you are going to hear President Biden say tonight--
this is my intuition; I don't have knowledge. He is going to
acknowledge the incredible pain we have been living under in this
country and around the world for the last 2 years--nearly unprecedented
in a century. He is going to point out that there are still significant
challenges and that there is still too high a percentage of Americans
who haven't taken advantage of these vaccines.
Yes, inflation is a problem, and there are problems that we have to
deal with, but when you look at strong job growth and strong wage
growth and strong GDP growth and when you look at declining case
numbers, I will tell you what I see. I see the beginnings of something
that we often see in American life--an American comeback. We are
comeback people. We are comeback people.
A friend of mine once said: Tough times don't last. Tough people do.
We are tough, tough people.
As I travel around Virginia--and I was traveling around Virginia last
week--I don't fundamentally see funk or malaise or ``poor, poor,
pitiful me'' or blaming America for the woes of the world or blaming
Joe Biden for the reality of a tough situation we have been living
through. I see people with their chins up and their heads held high,
who will acknowledge that we have challenges and that we have got
problems to solve but who believe that we are on our way to a better
chapter after a very difficult last couple of years.
That is the can-do spirit I see around Virginia. That is the can-do
spirit, I believe, that has always characterized Americans, not a ``we
are on fire''; ``it is a malaise time''; ``it is a funk time.'' No. I
see a can-do spirit and the beginnings of an American comeback underway
after what has been the most painful 2 years during my 64 here on the
planet.
I don't know, if I am right, whether that is good news or bad news
for my colleagues who are here on the floor, painting the negative
picture. I would think it would be good news. But if it were good news,
why wouldn't I have heard some acknowledgment of job growth or wage
growth or GDP growth? Why wouldn't I have heard acknowledgment about
COVID cases coming down?
We do need to work together. The Presiding Officer inspired all of us
with her work on the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which, as I was
traveling around Virginia last week--and I am sure most of us were
doing this in our States--my mayors and my State officials and my local
economic development officials were talking with excitement about what
this will mean in terms of the rebuilding of American communities where
we haven't invested in infrastructure for a very long time.
I don't think this is a moment when the leadership class of this
country should be amplifying pessimism about
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this country. I think it is a moment when the leadership class of this
country should be amplifying an optimistic, can-do message that I think
is in accord with the values of Virginians and the values of Americans.
I suspect that that kind of a message--the acknowledgment of the
difficult reality but the foundation being laid for the beginnings of
an American comeback after 2 tough years--is the message that we are
going to hear from President Biden tonight.
With that, I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
____________________