[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 30, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1842-S1843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Business Before the Senate

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, so today is going to be a very busy day 
on the Senate floor, as we continue advancing even more of President 
Biden's well-qualified nominees.
  Later this morning, we hold an especially important vote to proceed 
on the nomination of Alvaro Bedoya, tapped by President Biden to sit as 
a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.
  The FTC right now is one of the best Agencies for protecting 
Americans from price gougers, manipulators, and those trying to rip off 
American consumers, or at least it would be if it had full membership. 
Instead, the FTC has remained deadlocked for just about the entirety of 
the Biden administration because of Republican obstruction, and the 
consequences for American consumers have cascaded one after the other.
  We all know that prices have been going way up and hurting a lot of 
Americans. There are serious reasons to fear a lot is due to some 
gouging and manipulation. The FTC is about the best Agency to look for 
this. But as long as its membership is deadlocked, it cannot act.
  This is especially urgent when it comes to energy prices. Americans 
are seeing higher prices at the pump, despite massive profits for oil 
companies. So we need a fully operational FTC to investigate and take 
action if warranted.
  That is why moving forward on Mr. Bedoya is so urgently needed. And, 
frankly, the obstruction over Mr. Bedoya is truly unacceptable, given 
the FTC is so important for fighting potential price manipulations.

[[Page S1843]]

  Republicans know this. Yet his nomination has been deadlocked not 
once but twice at the committee level. For all the howling our 
Republican friends are doing about rising costs, they are truly content 
with dragging their feet on public servants who could actually help 
solve the problem. So shame on those who are blocking that.
  Without Mr. Bedoya, the FTC and members are left handicapped and 
incapable of moving forward. So today's motion to discharge is a matter 
of immense importance, and I hope all my colleagues who care about 
fighting inflation and price manipulation and collusion vote to proceed 
with Mr. Bedoya's nomination.
  And on one other point I wanted to make, I read that stock buybacks 
by the oil companies have dramatically increased this year. Why is that 
money going into stock buybacks instead of into other much more 
productive uses? This is another thing the FTC could take a look at.
  Now, as the day progresses, I also want my colleagues to realize the 
possibility of additional votes later today. On Monday, I filed cloture 
on five individuals to fill other important roles across the 
administration. Today, we will move on the first of these nominees, but 
we are working to move forward with the rest as soon as we can.