[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 67 (Monday, April 25, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S2117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Inflation

  Madam President, on an entirely different matter, the Senate 
reconvenes today, after Passover and Easter, to begin a new work 
period, but, unfortunately, the biggest problem facing the American 
people is still the same as it has been all year long. Rising inflation 
is continuing to inflict painful consequences on working families 
across our country. This painful problem isn't getting better; it is 
still getting worse.
  Last month, consumer prices clocked an 8.5-percent year-on-year 
increase. Inflation is now rising at its fastest pace in more than four 
decades. The surge is being led in large part by a 23.6-percent jump in 
airfares, a 35.3-percent increase in used car and truck prices, and a 
48-percent spike in the cost of gasoline. These are exactly the sorts 
of products consumers lean on most heavily in the warmer months.
  But, while March's numbers are an extra cruel twist, the American 
people have been feeling the effects of the Biden administration's war 
on domestic energy for the better part of a year. Before most folks 
even began to consider summer travel and long before Putin launched his 
invasion of Ukraine, working families were already facing soaring 
prices at the gas pump.
  Even as wage growth accelerated for a fifth straight month, workers' 
paychecks once again failed to keep pace with the steep surge of rising 
prices. Raises and bonuses are being swallowed by inflation. Real wages 
are down 2.7 percent year-on-year.
  Democrats' runaway spending has brought us runaway inflation. Prices 
in the United States have risen higher and faster than in other 
developed economies. Even the New York Times now admits that ``risks 
are mounting that America's ambitious spending will end up with a 
checkered legacy.'' Let me say that again. Even the New York Times now 
admits that ``risks are mounting that America's ambitious spending will 
end up with a checkered legacy.''
  But even in the face of this painful reality, even as every 
measurable indicator spells out the clear consequences of reckless 
runaway spending, Washington Democrats are showing no sign of changing 
course. President Biden's response to the shaky economy he created is 
to propose the biggest tax hike in American history and double-digit 
percentage growth in domestic discretionary spending.
  Democrats' policies have working families deep in a financial hole, 
and our colleagues across the aisle just want to keep digging.
  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. SCHUMER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Duckworth). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.