[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 18, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H5101-H5102]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PELOTON VIP MEMBERSHIPS

  (Mr. McCARTHY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, it is an open secret that Americans are 
facing serious challenges today. Many of these challenges are 
Washington-inflicted caused by Democrats' incompetence and radicalism. 
Absolute chaos on the southern border, unsafe streets, record-high gas 
prices, rising inflation, a broken supply chain, an ongoing labor 
shortage, a failing education system, and, of course, a baby formula 
shortage they knew about for more than a year.
  Will this Congress be remembered as the Congress that addressed these 
issues? Probably not. Instead, this Congress will go down in history as 
the out-of-touch Congress.
  This week, as families scramble to find baby formula, Speaker 
Pelosi's House decided to add special new perks for Washington 
lawmakers and staff. One of those perks was a VIP membership to Peloton 
gyms; paid for by hardworking American taxpayers. What is next, free 
Jeni's ice cream?
  You may be asking: What is Peloton? It is a bike that costs about 
$2,000. Not only that, each month you pay a monthly subscription fee to 
ride your $2,000 bike. Best of all, it is stationary. They charge you 
about $300 to set it up. It is a $2,000 bike that you pay to use and 
pay to set up that doesn't go anywhere. What a business.
  Speaker Pelosi decided to give everyone in Congress a Peloton gym 
membership; more specifically, the premier employee benefits package. 
You know what, she did it without any debate or discussion with any 
Republicans.
  First, they appoint a political committee and don't allow the 
Republicans to name anybody. Now they decide to use your taxpayer money 
and never talked to the other side. We were left in the dark. Congress, 
meaning taxpayers, will pay Peloton $10,000 up front and $10 per month 
per person. In all, this contract could cost taxpayers

[[Page H5102]]

an extra $100,000 or more per month. I guess New York City isn't the 
only place Speaker Pelosi went on a spending spree last week.
  As the sixth richest Member of Congress, the Speaker might not be 
worried about this costly new program, but American families should 
sweat it. It comes as families are getting crushed by the worst 
inflation in 40 years. It is insane.
  It is also redundant. Members and staff already have access to a 
congressional gym for a membership fee. The Peloton perk did not 
replace it. Instead, it duplicates it.
  I would like to see any Democrat go to their district, my district, 
anyone else's district and defend this; look people straight in the 
face. I will tell you what is happening in our district, there are 
parents who are going to eight or nine stores looking for baby formula, 
paying for gas that you can barely afford.
  Instead of trying to help these struggling families, Democrats are 
plundering their pocketbooks to pay for Pelosi's Peloton membership.
  You can't image a more out-of-touch party. This isn't just an 
exception; it is the rule in the Democratic conference. Let me tell you 
something, Mr. Speaker. I actually heard your conference chair, Hakeem 
Jeffries, say--talking about the Democrat agenda and saying about gas 
prices: ``That issue hasn't come up in our conference.'' It has come up 
in every single American's kitchen table, but not in the Democratic 
conference.
  Mr. Speaker, we also heard a Democrat Member, Congresswoman Porter, 
who said: ``We aren't seeing inflation in the polls.'' I am not sure 
what polls they are taking that they think that Peloton for Members 
and staff is going to solve this problem.

  In the Democratic conference nobody talks about gas prices because 
they haven't heard about it. The polling says inflation doesn't come 
up. Yet, as we speak, Democrats are pushing for more reckless spending 
and higher taxes that will only make this problem worse.
  Mr. Speaker, I remember sitting on this floor, talking in this mike, 
warning the majority party, the Democrats, if they went through with 
the reckless spending of almost $2 trillion that inflation would come. 
The sad part, Mr. Speaker, is that it wasn't just the Republicans 
warning you, it was Democrats; those that had worked in the Obama 
administration and the Biden administration.
  Lo and behold, what have we found, Mr. Speaker? Inflation. They first 
want to tell America, no, it is just temporary. No, it is not. We now 
have the former ex-Fed chair saying you are going to get stagflation, 
just like in the 1970s. Do you remember in the late 1970s when you 
couldn't get gas on an even day if your license plate ended in an odd 
number? Now you don't know if you can afford it when you pull up.
  You don't know if your credit card goes high enough. You don't know 
if you have enough money to go. You are filling it up because you are 
trying to drive to find baby formula that the administration knew about 
for a year and did nothing about.
  We have watched a Congress be so partisan. We have watched a 
Washington with one-party rule and only care about one person--
themselves. Their first bill was about changing election law so they 
could dictate who wins. Then when the polls were bad and they were 
going to lose, they appointed a political committee to go after their 
political opponents.
  That is all going to change in 174 days from now. That focus is going 
to be on you, the American people. It is not going to be more Pelotons 
for those in Congress. It is not going to be wasting your taxpayer 
money. It is not going to be appointing committees and not allowing the 
other side just to go after your political opponents. It is going to be 
focusing on America.
  Do you know what the rise in gas prices with this one-party rule has 
done to America? It is costing every family more than $2,000. The 
rising prices are costing them an extra $5,000. An open border is now 
costing the lives of Americans.
  Fentanyl is the number one cause of death for Americans between the 
ages of 18 and 45. I don't know how that doesn't show up on their 
polls. Now what do they want to do? They want to lift title 42. It is 
not just Republicans warning them, it is Democrats, who sat as 
Secretaries of Homeland Security, warned them not to do it.
  I don't know if they think it will take the attention away from no 
baby formula, can't afford gas, inflation continuing to rise; but they 
think they are doing all right.
  We should reward staff and get them a Peloton membership. Don't just 
get them any membership, get them the VIP. They think it doesn't cost 
you anything because they take it to the American taxpayer, the 
hardworking taxpayer, to spend more of your money. Just like they did 
with $2 trillion. Just like they wanted to do more with their Build 
Back Better.
  Have they not learned enough? If you go to their conferences, I am 
not sure what they talk about. They say they don't bring up the gas 
price. They say inflation doesn't show up in the polls. They are 
probably looking at more perks and spending more tax dollars. That day 
is ending soon and a new Congress with a focus on the American people 
and the future of America is soon to come.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Beyer). Members are reminded to direct 
their comments to the Chair, please.

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