[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 15, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1162-S1163]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          American Rescue Plan

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, Friday marked the first anniversary of the 
so-called American Rescue Plan, which is the Democrats' partisan $1.9 
trillion spending spree. Fittingly, the anniversary arrived just 1 day 
after the release of February's inflation numbers which marked the 
worst inflation since January of 1982.
  Why do I say ``fittingly''?
  Well, because the anniversary of the American Rescue Plan is 
basically the anniversary of our inflation crisis. While it is true 
that supply chain issues and the reopening of economies after COVID 
shutdowns created certain inflationary pressures, a big part of the 
reason for our current inflation crisis is Democrats' decision to pass 
the American Rescue Plan last March.
  The definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods 
and services, and that is exactly the situation Democrats helped create 
with their so-called American Rescue Plan. Democrats came into office 
mere weeks after Congress had passed a fifth--fifth--bipartisan COVID 
relief bill totaling almost $1 trillion and meeting, essentially, all 
current pressing COVID needs. Our economy was well on its way to a 
healthy recovery, and the majority of States had the money they needed 
to deal with the pandemic. In short, it was abundantly clear that we 
were not in immediate need of trillions more in government spending.
  But that didn't stop Democrats. Now that they were in charge, they 
were eager to take advantage of the COVID crisis to begin implementing 
their Big Government vision. So in the name of COVID relief, they 
pushed through a massive partisan $1.9 trillion spending piece of 
legislation filled with unnecessary spending and handouts to Democratic 
interest groups. Less than 9 percent of that $1.9 trillion spending 
bill was earmarked for actually combating COVID. The rest went to 
priorities like a $350 billion slush fund for States, a bailout for 
union pensions, rental assistance far in excess of anything that was 
needed, and the list goes on.
  Despite being billed as essential COVID relief, a substantial portion 
of the money appropriated will not be spent until 2022 or later; and 
despite the pressing need for workers to fill the millions of available 
job openings, Democrats created incentives for Americans to stay on 
unemployment instead of returning to work by extending enhanced 
unemployment benefits until September of 2021, long after they were 
likely to be needed. So the end result of all this was entirely 
predictable.
  Democrats flooded the economy with unnecessary government money, and 
the economy overheated as a result. And you don't have to take my word 
for it. Here is what Steve Rattner, who served in the Obama 
administration, had to say in November:
  The original sin was the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed 
in March. The bill--almost completely unfunded--sought to counter the 
effects of the COVID pandemic by focusing on demand-side stimulus 
rather than on investment. That has contributed materially to today's 
inflation levels.

  Let me repeat that. This, according to Steve Rattner, who worked in 
the Obama administration, about inflation--talked about the legislation 
passed last year by the Democrats. He said that this ``has contributed 
materially to today's inflation levels.''
  Or, as another former Obama administration member put it:

       The United States has had much more inflation than almost 
     any other advanced economy in the world.

  That was Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard University and former 
Obama administration economic adviser.
  He went on to say:

       The difference comes because the United States stimulus is 
     in a category of its own.

  That, again, from another former Obama administration economist, 
Jason Furman.
  Inflation started to rise almost as soon as the ink was dry on the 
American Rescue Plan, and it just keeps rising. February's 7.9 percent 
inflation marks the worst inflation since January of 1982--January of 
1982--40 years ago.
  And Americans are struggling. Just going to the grocery store is 
taking up a larger and larger portion of the American paycheck. Ground 
beef is up 13 percent; eggs are up 11 percent; citrus fruits are up 16 
percent; chicken is up 13 percent; milk, up 11 percent; bacon and 
related products are up 18 percent; and on and on and on.
  In fact, one American quoted in the New York Times noted that bacon 
is now as expensive as filet mignon used to be. Ordinary goods are 
starting to feel like luxury objects as more and more families struggle 
to afford basic grocery items.
  A Washington Post columnist noted that a number of the price 
increases recorded for February were the highest annual increases ever 
recorded for those items, including an 8.4-percent increase in the 
price of baby food and an 11-percent increase in the cost of lunch 
meat.
  In a speech to House Democrats last week, the President suggested 
that he was ``sick of'' people saying that Democrats' reckless spending 
had helped cause our inflation crisis. This is what the President said 
last week--President Biden:

       [T]he American people think the reason for inflation is the 
     government is spending more money. Simply not true.

  Well, there are a lot of economists who would disagree with him, 
including the two Democratic economists I have already quoted. And 
President Biden himself actually admitted in November that his stimulus 
checks helped increase the demand fueling inflation. I am sorry that 
President Biden is sick of having people point this out.
  But you know who else is sick and tired of things? The American 
people. They are sick and tired of facing massive price increases 
everywhere they look. They are sick of increasingly having to live 
paycheck to paycheck as they wonder just how much further their grocery 
prices are going to go up. They are sick of wondering if they will be 
able to pay all of next month's bills.
  And whether President Biden likes it or not, his so-called American 
Rescue Plan is responsible for a substantial part of the economic 
distress that Americans are now experiencing. And while President Biden 
may be sick of it, we need to keep talking about this because the 
President is still--still--trying to double down on the spending 
strategy that helped create this inflation crisis in the first place. 
Just 2 weeks ago in the State of the Union Address, the President 
discussed inflation and outlined his hopes for massive new amounts of 
government spending, spending that would unquestionably take an already 
bad inflation situation and make it even worse.
  It is nice that the President and congressional Democrats are now 
talking about our inflation crisis, but it would be even nicer if they 
would realize that it was their spending that helped trigger this 
crisis in the first place; otherwise, we will continue to see Democrats 
push for ever bigger increases in government spending with 
correspondingly devastating price increases for American families.
  The American Rescue Plan was a bad deal for Americans. Let's hope 
that Democrats do not have the chance to double down on this 
legislation and make our current inflation crisis even worse.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.

[[Page S1163]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Ms. ERNST pertaining to the introduction of S. 3836 
are printed in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Ms. ERNST. I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.