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



                          Government Spending

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, last week, the Senate passed a $1.5 
trillion funding bill that the Democratic majority insisted was full of 
must-pass, got-to-have-it, can't-live-without-it provisions that the 
American people were demanding. Unfortunately, the reality of what made 
it into that bill doesn't match the fantasy my Democratic colleagues 
conjured up for the cameras.
  In reality, this $1.5 trillion package was another spending spree. It 
was complete with 4,400 earmarks--4,400 earmarks. Now, these earmarks 
don't have any Federal nexus. They are not connected to your military 
post or your Federal highway. These are things for shopping centers and 
parks and city renovations and--you name it--pet projects. So that is 
not government funding; that is a Big Government windfall that the 
American people simply can't afford.
  As we all know, an inability to pay for these programs has never 
stopped this Democratic majority from shoving through their radical and 
increasingly destructive agenda. By their own admission, the out-of-
control spending habits have contributed to decades-high inflation. 
Imagine that.
  What we know is that, in Tennessee, I am talking to people every day. 
They can't afford food and gas and to pay all of their monthly 
expenses, but for some reason, my Democratic colleagues think taxpayers 
will be happy to pay for their pet projects back home--all 4,400 of 
them. You just can't make this stuff up.
  The American people are really confused by this. They are also 
completely appalled by Joe Biden's refusal to secure the border, his 
refusal to invest in American energy independence, and his willingness 
to keep our economy entangled with the Chinese Communist Party. Every 
one of these points worries them. Yet what really scares them is the 
President's refusal to discuss any of it: Just don't talk about it. It 
will go away. Inflation, that is transitory. If gas is too expensive, 
go buy yourself an electric vehicle. This is just so disrespectful of 
hard-working men and women.

  Joe Biden has caused a lot more problems than he solved during the 
first year of his Presidency, and his constant pivots away from life-
or-death problems have destroyed what little trust the American people 
had left in his ability to get the job done.
  They like to think that the President cares about what happens to 
them--the American people, the citizens--but they haven't seen any 
evidence to suggest that he is thinking about them.
  Last week, I was up on the Plateau in Tennessee, talking to 
Tennesseans about what is going on here in the Senate. Most of what 
they tell me boils down to one simple truth: From where they are 
sitting and the news they are watching and the papers they are reading, 
it is clear that the Democrats have a very aggressive agenda, but they 
have no vision for the future of this country. They feel like what the 
Democrats want is control over their daily life, not a vision of a 
country filled with open doors and opportunity for all. They are not 
seeing that out of this agenda.
  Why, they ask me, do their elected representatives take such drastic 
measures to do things that make their lives harder, that make their 
situations worse? They can't figure it out.
  Since Joe Biden and the Democrats took control, inflation has 
skyrocketed. We have become energy dependent on Russia. We have 
abandoned not one, but two embassies. We hightailed it out of there. 
Two embassies, cut and run. Our Border Patrol, they are apprehending 
known terrorists and MS-13 gang members who are coming into this 
country. If they are apprehending them, we are getting some but not 
all. And now we are hearing about Russia going out, going to Iran, 
saying: Let me have your soldiers for hire; let me have your proxies, 
the Wagner Group, which is closely aligned with Vladimir Putin.
  And all the time, Tennesseans are saying: Well, what about these 
terrorists trying to come over the southern border? Are they 
mercenaries? Are they soldiers for hire?
  People are raising these issues. And this is all part of what the 
Democrats have accomplished this year.
  The American people tolerate quite a bit from their government, but 
one thing they won't accept is a President who shrugs his shoulders, 
runs from the podium, who claims to be a victim of circumstance, who is 
weak-kneed and refuses to lead.
  Even former Obama White House officials have come forward begging the 
Biden administration to stop the spin, face reality, show some 
leadership, deal with the situation. This has to be getting 
embarrassing, even for them.
  The American people have spent the past year watching Joe Biden 
abandon the policies that kept the country from collapsing under the 
weight of the pandemic. And what has he replaced those policies with? 
Mandates, lockdowns that have made the country poorer, increased 
regulation that has stopped oil and gas exploration, increased 
regulation that is making it tougher on manufacturers, a push for 
higher taxes--that is what they are doing. And do you know what? It 
makes people less hopeful. It makes people less free. It gives people 
fewer options.
  See, that is what they are seeing. The Democratic agenda is all about 
government control of your life. It is an agenda; it is not a vision 
for this country, for our children, for our grandchildren that is 
rooted in opportunity for all.
  There is only one way to undo this damage and to stop this train that 
this administration is pushing as hard as they can toward socialism. 
The President needs to stop the spin. He needs to start listening to 
what people are saying, people across the country.
  Here is the thing: They don't want this President to fail. They don't 
want him to fail. They don't want this country to fail, so it means 
that the President is going to have to stop bowing to all of this 
environmentalism as a religion and climate change as a god. They need 
to stop that.
  They need to see, yes, we need to have an Operation Warp Speed, to be 
energy independent, pull everybody together--Federal Agencies, the 
private sector.
  We are the United States of America, and if we had the desire, we 
could do this. We could be energy independent once again. We could 
stand strong. We could stand strong against Russia, against Iran, 
against China and the Chinese Communist Party.
  What that is going to require is an administration and a Democratic 
Party that has a vision for the greatness and goodness of this country.
  I think that what we have to do is we have to lead the way in saying 
it is time to show respect for the American people, to listen to what 
they are telling us, and to make certain that we stand for this 
country, standing strong for future generations.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bennet). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be able to 
complete my remarks.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.