[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 92 (Thursday, May 26, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2724-S2725]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, most of my people in Louisiana, I think, 
are probably much like your people in Maine. Most of my people--most of 
our people--they just get up every day and go to work. They obey the 
law. They pay their taxes. They try to do the right thing by their 
kids, try to teach their kids morals. And they try to save a little 
money for retirement as they enjoy living in what they believe is the 
greatest country in all of human history. But many of my people, Mr. 
President, are struggling.
  President Biden took office on January 20 of last year. So--what are 
we?--we are in day 490 of Build Back Better. From where many of my 
people sit, nothing has been built and nothing is back and nothing is 
better. There is not a more appropriate example of that than the cost 
of living, inflation.
  When President Biden took office, the cost of gasoline in my State 
was $2--$2 a gallon. It is between $4.15 and $4.25 right now. And it is 
not just gasoline, Mr. President. I mean, I don't need to tell you. A 
dozen eggs now costs $2.52. Ground beef is $5.41. A pound of chicken is 
$4.10.
  The price of oil, the price of gasoline affects so much in terms of 
our economy. I mean, most of our food and our clothes and our plastics, 
the things we use every day, are delivered by air, by van, by tanker, 
all of which use gasoline. Pharmaceuticals are affected by the price of 
oil.
  I don't think it is any secret that the Biden administration is 
trying to disrupt the production of oil in America. I think that is 
just a fact. We see it in the President canceling leases on Federal 
lands in the Gulf of Mexico, in ANWR. We see it from the difficult 
regulatory environment for oil and gas producers.
  The President has just promulgated new rules for the National 
Environmental Policy Act. If those new rules come to fruition, it will 
be impossible to open a new pipeline in America, and I think we have to 
be honest about that.
  Now, to be fair, the Biden administration is trying to disrupt the 
production of oil and gas, especially oil, for environmental reasons, 
of which we are both aware. But, instead, the Biden administration--
this seems curious to me--wants us to buy oil from foreign countries. 
And those foreign countries deliver their oil in tankers that use 2,000 
gallons of fuel an hour and emit 8 tons of carbon dioxide into the 
environment per hour. The irony of this is rich.
  Inflation and oil--once again, I think so much of our inflation in 
all of the products that we need to maintain our standard of living 
today starts with the price of oil. Now, President Biden has said he 
has no control over the price of oil and, therefore, the price of 
gasoline. But, Mr. President, you can't have regulatory control over 
the drilling, the transporting, the storage, the refining, the trading, 
and the taxation of oil as the President does and say you have no 
control over the price of the commodity. I mean, that is just not true.
  Here is what most people in my State see, Mr. President. The 
President, in March of last year, sent every American a $1,400 stimulus 
check. And they were grateful, but then the Biden administration, for 
its next trick, crashed their 401(k)s, increased their food bills by as 
much--for some as much as $3,000 a year; increased their rent, for many 
as much as $2,000 a year; and increased their gas bills for many as 
much as $1,000 a year.
  And they don't see that as a good trade, Mr. President. And it is all 
derived from President Biden's energy policy, which is--here is his 
energy policy: wind, solar, and wishful thinking. It is just not 
realistic. And among other things, it is hurting our country. It is 
hurting my people in Louisiana desperately because of the rise in 
gasoline prices.
  I was very disappointed to see this week that the President has 
changed his approach to inflation and the price of gasoline. He has 
said we are now in a transition period, and he said it as if that were 
a positive thing. He said we are on a transition, and when we get 
through this transition, we are going to be stronger than ever because 
we are not going to have to rely on fossil fuels.
  And I am thinking, you know, I respect the President; but honestly, 
what planet did he parachute in from?
  I had just finished reading JPMorgan's energy report; and JPMorgan, 
looking out until 2030--not 2050, 2030--just 8 years from now--said, in 
2030, at the rate we are going, the demand for energy in America will 
be 20 percent greater than the supply. You know what that is going to 
do to the price, Mr. President. The JPMorgan energy report said that, 
at a minimum, in 2030, 8 years from now, the demand for oil is going to 
be 10 percent higher in America and the demand for natural gas is going 
to be 18 percent higher. You know what that is going to do to

[[Page S2725]]

prices. And the President is talking about this glorious transition as 
if this is going to last forever.
  I don't know about the good people of Maine, but the good people of 
Louisiana, they just can't afford it. And my people deserve better.
  Now, what is the answer? Here is my opinion: We have got to stop 
spending. The Federal Reserve has got to be given a chance to do its 
job. The U.S. Congress has a budget that we have set for the United 
States of America. We need to live within our budget. Except for 
defense spending, we need to freeze spending. We need to freeze it and 
give the Federal Reserve a chance to get this inflation under control.
  Thank you, Mr. President. My people deserve better. The people of 
America deserve better.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.


          Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson PACT Act of 2022

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator from Maine for 
the recognition. I appreciate it very, very much.
  I will be very brief. I ask for up to 5 minutes, which I will use 
less than that.
  Today is a historic day. Today, the Senate has agreed to move one 
step forward to the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson PACT Act of 
2022. I want to thank Ranking Member Moran and Senators Boozman and 
Heinrich for working with me to help deliver this bipartisan solution. 
It is the most comprehensive toxic exposure package for our veterans 
that Congress has ever delivered in this country's history. Frankly, it 
is one that has been years in the making. Actually, it has been decades 
in the making.
  Named after a veteran who died from exposure to a toxic burn pit, 
this bill will address decades of inaction and failure by the U.S. 
Government to do the right thing by delivering toxic-exposed veterans 
their long-overdue healthcare and benefits.
  This bill spans generations of veterans. It expands the presumption 
of Agent Orange exposure for those who served in Vietnam. Yes, that is 
right. That is what I said. We still haven't done right by the Vietnam-
era veterans, but this bill makes it right. It adds new service-
connected conditions to Agent Orange, including hypertension.
  This bill also expands healthcare for more than 3\1/2\ million post-
9/11 combat veterans and service-connects two dozen conditions caused 
by burn pit exposure, from cancers to lung disease.
  To pull this off, we have to give the VA the resources it needs to 
better serve vets. This bill does that by funding more employees to 
process claims, upgrading claims processing technology, authorizing 
innovative ways to hire and retain VA healthcare staff, and investing 
in VA facilities across the country.
  Passing this bill in Congress and getting it to the President's desk 
is the only way to keep our end of the bargain to our All-Volunteer 
military. This cannot be overstated: Freedom is not free. There is a 
price to pay. We send men and women in uniform off to fight wars on our 
behalf. You don't have to be a veteran exposed to Agent Orange and burn 
pits to understand that price.
  The fact is that hundreds of thousands of veterans in my State and 
across this country are already paying for it, and they can no longer 
wait. So now is the time, folks. We are going to get back from Memorial 
Day. We are all going to be at Memorial Day events, and we are going to 
be celebrating the folks who gave the ultimate sacrifice. When we come 
back, we need to vote and celebrate the folks who have survived but yet 
have the impacts of toxic exposure.
  I would encourage your support for this bill when we get back the 
week of June 6.
  I yield the floor.