[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 16, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1205-S1206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Inflation

  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, on Thursday, the February inflation 
numbers were released, and the news wasn't pretty. Inflation for 
February was 7.9 percent, the highest inflation since January of 1982--
January of 1982, 40 years ago. We are in the grip of the worst 
inflation in 40 years.
  American families have been hit hard by this crisis as the price of 
everyday necessities has soared, and energy prices, particularly gas 
prices, are one of the top challenges facing Americans. Energy prices 
are up 25 percent on average from a year ago. Electricity is up 9 
percent. Propane, kerosene, and fire wood are up 19 percent. Utility 
gas services are up 23 percent, and prices at the pump for gasoline are 
up 38 percent.
  The national average for a gallon of gas was $4.31 on Tuesday, up 
from $2.86 a year ago. That is $1.45 more per gallon. That is a big 
problem for American families. That is a big problem for our entire 
economy.
  High energy prices don't just have an impact when Americans fill up 
their cars; they affect prices across the economy. High energy prices 
drive up the cost of operating a factory. They drive up the cost of raw 
materials, and they drive up the cost of getting goods to customers.
  President Biden would like to blame the inflation situation, 
particularly high energy prices, on Vladimir Putin. I don't need to 
tell anyone how ludicrous that is. Our inflation crisis has been going 
on for a year. Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine 3 weeks ago. I am afraid 
passing the buck to Putin doesn't hold water.
  Now, it is true that the uncertainty surrounding Putin's war and 
corresponding sanctions on Russia are partly to blame for the most 
recent spike in gas prices. But had gas prices been lower to start 
with, Americans wouldn't be feeling the sanctions-triggered bump to the 
extent that they are.
  Democrats' American Rescue Plan spending spree helped create our 
inflation crisis. Americans need to look no further than the White 
House when wondering how the United States, a recent net exporter of 
energy, is not on stronger footing to weather these tumultuous times.
  The President has pursued an energy agenda that has done next to 
nothing to help drive energy prices down and is, in fact, almost 
guaranteed to increase energy prices long term and increase our 
reliance on foreign sources of oil.
  From the moment he took office, the President sent a negative signal 
to energy producers by making it clear that his administration was not 
going to be embracing conventional energy production.
  He set the tone for his administration on day 1 by canceling the 
Keystone XL Pipeline--an environmentally responsible pipeline project 
that was already underway and that was to be paired with $1.7 billion 
in private investment and renewable energy to fully offset its 
operating emissions.
  He also almost immediately froze new oil and gas leases on Federal 
lands, sending a clear signal to oil and gas producers that his 
administration would be reluctant to work with them to increase 
American energy production.
  Now, President Biden has recently been touting the number of 
available permits for oil and gas development, which is positive as far 
as it goes, but new permits have dropped precipitously this year. And 
issuing permits alone isn't enough to get development going.
  The Biden administration has thrown up roadblock after roadblock to 
actual energy development. Companies are struggling to break through 
regulatory redtape to actually get oil and gas development up and 
running. For example, they have struggled to obtain right of way to 
build essential development infrastructure, like access roads to oil 
rig sites. They are also struggling to get timely pipeline permits to 
transport the oil and gas that they extract.
  Unfortunately, they know exactly how this administration feels about 
building pipelines. And the Biden administration is fully responsible 
for

[[Page S1206]]

these problems. The administration has the ability to immediately take 
action to expedite American oil and gas development by clearing away 
the redtape that companies are facing.
  It is refusing to do so. Instead, President Biden seems ready to 
increase our reliance on energy imports from despotic governments in 
volatile areas of the world. That is not acceptable. Energy 
independence, relying on homegrown production instead of foreign energy 
sources, is key for a number of reasons.
  For starters, energy security is national security. The more we rely 
on imports from other countries, the more that we are dependent on 
those countries. We have seen that during the current conflict in 
Ukraine. European companies like Germany have been unable to divest 
from Russian energy because they rely on that production.
  Without Russian energy, more than one country in Europe would face a 
dire energy shortage--as Putin is well aware. We don't want to give 
another country that much power over us.
  Energy independence, and the robust energy production that comes with 
it, also reduces the risk to Americans from price hikes in the global 
market. The more oil and gas the United States produces as a share of 
the global market, the more we are able to influence global supply, 
which is the leading driver of cost.
  The Biden administration has not been good for American energy 
independence. We have increased our reliance on foreign sources of 
energy during this administration, including our reliance on Russian 
energy production.
  And now that we have banned Russian energy imports, President Biden 
seems ready to replace Russian energy, not with increased American 
production but with oil and gas from human rights-challenged countries 
like Venezuela.
  I realize that President Biden and many Democrats would like to see 
the United States focus solely on alternative energy production, but 
the fact of the matter is that we are a long way from being able to 
rely exclusively on alternative energy technologies. Whether Democrats 
like it or not, our country is going to need oil and natural gas for 
quite a while yet, and all of Democrats' wishful thinking isn't going 
to change that.
  The answer is not to get that oil and natural gas from despots in 
volatile areas of the world but to get it from American energy 
production.
  President Biden and his administration may not be solely to blame for 
high gas prices, but they have the power. They have the power to help 
lower energy prices by unleashing American energy production--all of 
it, both alternative and conventional--and they are responsible for 
their failure to do so.
  We need an ``all of the above'' energy policy that embraces 
everything from oil and gas to hydroelectric and nuclear, to solar and 
wind. And when it comes to alternative energy production, we need to 
invest in all proven clean energy technologies, not just the 
administration's preferred technologies like electric vehicles. The 
administration has neglected important clean energy technologies like 
biofuels, which have demonstrated significant emissions reductions 
versus conventional gasoline.
  As a resident of a rural state, I would like to see the 
administration get serious about leveraging agriculture as an energy 
solution and work to expand biofuel production and consumption. This 
means not only setting robust blending targets and rejecting specious 
small refinery exemptions but approving advanced fuels from corn kernel 
fiber and restoring the year-round sale of E15.
  Last week, I led a letter to the President with the Democratic whip 
and colleagues from both parties urging the President to enable E15 to 
be sold during the upcoming travel season to provide Americans with a 
lower cost fuel that would help displace Russian oil.
  Yesterday, the President's Press Secretary said that ``E15 was on the 
menu.'' Well, it deserves real consideration. American drivers can't 
afford for the President not to take action. The President could get us 
on a path to lower energy prices today--today--by announcing that his 
administration will get serious about expediting American production of 
oil and natural gas. If he fails to do so, then he really will be 
responsible for the prices that Americans are facing at the pump and 
for the hit that our national security will take from our increasing 
reliance on foreign sources of energy.
  I hope the President will decide to unleash American production and 
put our Nation on a path to long-term energy independence.
  I yield the floor.

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