[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 101 (Tuesday, June 14, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2926-S2931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   HONORING OUR PROMISE TO ADDRESS COMPREHENSIVE TOXICS ACT OF 2021--
                               Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.


                         Tribute to Ted Lehman

  Mr. TILLIS. Madam President, I come to the floor today to sadly 
announce the retirement--or not retirement--my chief of staff's 
decision to move on to another great opportunity, and I wanted to take 
a few minutes to talk about Ted Lehman and not only the 5 years he has 
been my chief of staff but the nearly 20 years he has been working in 
the Senate.
  Before I start, though, he attended the University of Pennsylvania, 
where he got his undergrad, and then he went to Georgetown to get his 
law degree. He clerked for Thomas Hogan, who was then the chief judge 
of the DC District Court.
  He came to the Senate about 20 years ago, in 2002. To give you some 
perspective, I didn't enter the legislature in North Carolina until 
2007, so he has years of experience on me. He has knowledge of the 
Senate that I will never gain.
  He started work with Senator Hatch. He worked for a couple of years 
with Senator Sessions, and then he worked for Senator Grassley on the 
Judiciary Committee. He was the chief counsel of nominations and senior 
counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee, and that is where I met 
Ted.
  I remember vividly, when my chief of staff at the time, Ray Starling, 
told me that he was going to be moving back to North Carolina, I told 
him: Great. Now find your replacement.
  It was later that day that he came to me and said: What about Ted 
Lehman?
  I said: I think that is a fantastic idea.
  Ted wasn't looking for a job, and I wondered whether or not he would 
be interested in working for a freshman Senator from the State of North 
Carolina. But he took that job, and he has done extraordinary work, not 
only in terms of the day-to-day institutional grind that a chief has to 
go through but his attention to staff--not only the DC staff but the 
North Carolina staff. I think he is well-regarded among the staff, and 
he is going to be sorely missed.
  I also need to talk about Ted and his family. To say that it is in 
the Lehman blood is an understatement. His brother Dirksen served on 
the HELP Committee with Senator Jeffords. His brother Patrick is the 
legislative director to Senator Sasse. He knows a lot about this 
institution, and he knows a lot about its processes. The first, really, 
opportunity I got to see that in action was when he was responsible for 
moving Justice Gorsuch through the nominations process.
  Ted has a great family--his wife Amy, his son Jackson, his oldest 
son, his oldest daughter, Emma Claire, Sallye, and a young son now. 
Now, Ted is not from North Carolina, and we have speculated as to why 
he named his son what he did. He may say it is related to some sort of 
family tradition, but I think it is no coincidence that he named his 
son ``Raleigh'' after our State's capitol.
  Ted is an avid hunter, fisher, outdoorsman, baseball dad, soccer 
dad--all those sorts of things--and he gets the right balance. He 
understands that family is as important as work, and he figures out how 
to strike that balance. But there is very seldom a morning where he is 
not one of the first people in, and there are so many nights where I am 
the last person he sees before he goes home.
  I appreciate his service. I am going to miss him.
  Thank you, Ted.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.


                               H.R. 3967

  Mr. REED. Madam President, I rise today in support of the Sergeant 
First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promises to Address 
Comprehensive Toxics Act, also known as the Honoring our PACT Act.
  Our Nation asks a great deal of our servicemembers and their 
families. We ask them to be ready to fight and to win against a wide 
range of security challenges across the globe. Our Armed Forces know 
and understand the threats they may face on the battlefield. 
Unfortunately, servicemembers also face threats that aren't as 
apparent--exposure to toxic materials. These exposures can result in 
rare and sometimes fatal medical conditions.
  From exposure to Agent Orange to radiation from nuclear tests, 
veterans have carried an extra burden because of their service. It has 
too often been a struggle to recognize and address those impacts.
  Now, a new generation is dealing with the long-term effects of toxic 
exposure. Indeed, during their service, up to 3\1/2\ million veterans 
have been exposed to toxic burn pits. As the name implies, burn pits 
are pits where all forms of waste, including toxic waste, are disposed 
of by burning. Our servicemembers lived and worked in close proximity 
to these burn pits, often without knowing the potential consequences to 
their long-term health or any way to avoid it.
  Since 2009, the Department of Defense has recognized the harm burn

[[Page S2927]]

pits can cause. The health consequences are so serious that in the 
fiscal year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, within that 
legislation, we included a provision that says that the only way the 
Department of Defense can now use a burn pit overseas is if the 
Secretary of Defense personally issues a waiver. It is an authority 
that cannot be delegated to anyone else in the Department.
  The bill we have before us today would really honor our obligation to 
care for other veterans by acknowledging the injuries and illnesses 
they sustain in serving our country and providing them with treatment.
  The bill would expand eligibility for VA healthcare for the 3\1/2\ 
million veterans who were exposed to burn pits. It would also eliminate 
the burden of proof for veterans for 23 conditions presumed to be 
caused by toxic exposure. It will create a new framework for the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to evaluate the science around burn pits 
and establish other presumptive conditions associated with toxic 
exposure. It will also provide significant resources for the VA to 
carry out the expansion of benefits in this bill, including provisions 
on staffing, retention, pay, and leasing of new VA facilities.
  Every generation of Americans has had men and women who were willing 
to serve our country in uniform. As chairman of the Armed Services 
Committee, I have had the honor of traveling across the globe to meet 
with our deployed servicemembers, including numerous trips to 
Afghanistan and Iraq.
  Our servicemembers and our veterans truly represent what is best in 
our country. We honor and venerate their heroism in combat, but too 
often in the past, we have overlooked and dismissed the long-term 
health effects of their service.
  This is changing.
  With this bill, we will do the right thing for our toxic-exposed and 
combat veterans and their families. We can ensure that they have access 
to the care and services they deserve and have earned.
  I hope all of my colleagues will join me in supporting this important 
piece of legislation.
  Before I yield the floor, I must recognize the extraordinary work of 
Senator Jon Tester and Senator Jerry Moran, the chair and ranking 
member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. This was an extraordinary 
effort. It was bipartisan. It was motivated by the recognition on both 
sides of the aisle of the service and sacrifice of thousands and 
thousands of men and women. But we would not be here today without the 
undaunted and unflagging dedication of Jon Tester and Jerry. I salute 
both of them.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                       Tribute to C. Clyde Jones

  Mr. MORAN. Madam President, this afternoon, I want to recognize a 
longtime Manhattan, KS--known as the Little Apple--a Manhattan, KS, 
public servant, C. Clyde Jones, on his 100th birthday.
  Before building his life in Manhattan, he grew up in West Virginia 
and then swore an oath to our Nation in 1943 to serve our country in 
the U.S. Navy during World World II.
  Following his service, he returned to focus on his education, earning 
a bachelor's, master's, and doctorate concentrated on social science 
and history. After serving several universities in the South and 
Midwest, he received a phone call to come interview at Kansas State 
University. And while his initial reaction to living in the Sunflower 
State was less than thrilled, Kansans easily won him over when he 
visited. The beauty of the Flint Hills, where K-State is located, also 
didn't hurt. That was 60 years ago, and in that time, Clyde has left a 
tremendous impact both on Kansas State and the larger Manhattan 
community.
  He was hired to head the business department within the College of 
Arts and Sciences; but with his leadership, it resulted in the 
transformation of the department into an accredited college. In 1962, 
he opened the Kansas State University College of Business as its first 
dean.
  His involvement in campus life was all-encompassing, also serving as 
chair of the athletic council as it spearheaded the construction of the 
current football stadium, now known as Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It 
continues to welcome thousands of Wildcats to each Saturday's home game 
throughout the fall season.
  His reach extended beyond campus as he invested in the larger 
community, serving on various community boards, including the United 
Way. He also worked as president of the Manhattan Area Chamber of 
Commerce. In 2001, the annual Chamber Volunteer of the Year award was 
renamed in his honor.
  Clyde has also become a staunch advocate for Shepherd's Crossing, a 
local ministry focused on providing caring assistance to those in need 
of financial support. Over the 20 years since its founding, Clyde has 
held every position within the Shepherd's Crossing organization. Even 
today, he holds the title of chief development officer; and in this 
role, he has increased donations to support the work they are doing by 
hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  Clyde's love and dedication to Manhattan has been demonstrated in 
everything he has done for over 60 years. Our community has been made 
better and stronger because of his countless hours of service.
  Clyde, thank you for being an example of a solid, true, and faithful 
public servant. You are what I have in mind when I say we need more 
civics and less politics in our community, State, and Nation. I wish 
you the happiest of birthdays and hope that you can ring in 100 years 
surrounded by the ones you love. Know that there are many of us who 
love you.
  Happy birthday, Clyde.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 3986

  Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, this past Saturday, I got to spend the 
whole morning with the East Central Kansas Model T Club back home. I 
even got to take a joy ride in a 1921 Model T. Among many stories, I 
learned Americans were paying only 21 cents a gallon when this car was 
made. And it wasn't until 1975, 54 years later, that gas had doubled 
from that price, jumping from 39 to 53 cents--54 years it took to 
double.
  I don't have to remind anyone that, thanks to our President's energy 
policies and his reckless spending, he accomplished a doubling in less 
than 2 years. As we all know, gas is now over $5 a gallon, if you can 
believe it or not. We are seeing record prices that have gone now 16 
days in a row without a single downtick.
  And this is why I am here today to ask for unanimous consent to pass 
the Gas Prices Relief Act, which would bar any Federal agency from 
finalizing any rule or regulation that would make it harder to produce 
American fuels.
  My legislation would send the right signal to American producers and 
investors. It would show them that the Congress sees the problem and 
that we are ready to address it. It would set us on a course to bring 
down prices at the pump, not with more reckless spending and more 
regulations, but by getting out of the way of American production and 
allowing them to power the world without more needlessly restrictive 
rules.
  With this more than doubling of price, many families back home are 
telling me they are paying $50, up to $100 a week more for gasoline. 
And that is $2- to $400 a month, in case you are adding it up. And on 
top of that, their monthly utility bills have doubled.
  I am sure this administration will propose more reckless spending to 
fix that problem, too. Unfortunately, Biden-flation is impacting many 
Kansas families to the tune of $6- to $700 a month. That is over $7,000 
a year.
  Now, why the increase, you might ask. Now, I am not an economist, but 
it looks to me like if you increase the regulations on a process, on a 
business, that is a surefire way to decrease the

[[Page S2928]]

supply. And as we all know, our President and his policies are ramping 
up regulations at every step of the American oil and gas business, all 
the while begging for help from other nations. Indeed, he is fulfilling 
his campaign promises to destroy American oil and gas.
  Now, one more thought. As history teaches us, along with reckless 
spending, energy is always a leading indicator of inflation. If we 
don't get our arms around this energy crisis and reckless spending, we 
will never slow down inflation. But it appears our President and his 
party disagree with this, or else, simply stated, they don't care. Or 
maybe they want these high prices. It just seems like yesterday I was 
filling my truck up back home for less than $2 a gallon, and now, 
again, it is over $5 a gallon across most of the Nation.
  Rising energy prices add inflationary pressure to everything. It is 
like a game of dominoes. When the diesel fuel powering our 18-wheelers 
are costing truckers 80 percent more than it did last year, they are 
going to have to pass on that rate to their consumers. When businesses 
are paying 30 percent more for their gas utilities, they are going to 
have to raise their prices to make up the difference. And Kansans, 
already paying more just to get to the store, are continually finding 
that what money they have left is getting them less and less every 
week.
  You don't fix a supply-and-demand problem of this nature with price 
controls or artificial subsidies or more reckless spending. In reality, 
this is not very complicated. You could fix it by decreasing demand or 
increasing supply. Now, demand, unfortunately, is not decreasing, which 
is why we need this regulatory holiday in order to set American energy 
free.
  On some level, the administration knows this and, hence, their knee-
jerk decision to release a million barrels of oil from our Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve every day, reportedly without initially coordinating 
in a meaningful way with our partners overseas. Obviously, 1 million 
barrels a day won't cut it. In 2021, the United States consumed roughly 
nearly 20 million barrels a day. This release is truly a drop in the 
bucket.
  The administration knows that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 
releases are purely cosmetic, to try to convince the American people 
that they have solutions while they run off to beg foreign dictators 
and terrorists to produce more oil. Instead of looking within, instead 
of creating more Americans jobs, high-paying jobs, producing the 
cleanest fuel in the world, they continue their full frontal assault on 
American production and seek to enrich our enemies, like Venezuela and 
Iran.

  But there has been a lot of talk on the left that they are not 
interfering with oil and gas production in the United States. These 
claims are simply untrue. On the campaign trail, President Biden 
promised to end the leasing of oil and gas production on Federal lands, 
and his climate czar recently said the administration ``remains 
absolutely committed to not moving forward with additional drilling on 
public lands.'' Most Presidents brag when they fulfill a campaign 
promise but apparently not when the results are this bad.
  It is hard to imagine that this is not all by design. This 
administration is getting exactly what they want. In the President's 
own words, the world is currently going through an ``incredible 
transition,'' and he thinks we will ``be stronger and the world will be 
stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over.''
  Well, the obvious question then is this: When--when will it be over? 
The Department of Energy has estimated that demand for oil and gas will 
increase through 2050. That is a simple fact. Yet we have a President 
who is perfectly willing to inflict pain on the people who elected him 
to force his climate policies--his costly climate policies--and ignore 
the economic reality that the American people are facing.
  Now, why else would he propose a budget that gets rid of key tax 
provisions for the oil and gas industry? Why else would he promote 
policies that will make it more difficult and more expensive to drill? 
Does anyone think these policies are going to help the American people?
  Let's talk about the stream of bad policies causing the crippling 
uncertainty that is making American producers hesitant to increase 
drilling.
  Last November, the EPA started the process of updating methane 
regulations. While the proposed rule they put forward was criminally 
devoid of any details, their intent was clear: an increase in costly 
regulations that will harm the oil and national gas industry, run small 
businesses out of business, and further increase energy costs.
  On February 18, by a completely partisan vote, FERC issued and made 
immediately effective two new policy statements that would have had 
disastrous implications for pipeline development in the U.S., pipelines 
critical to getting that oil to American consumers. Their off-the-deep-
end proposal would have potentially put pipeline operators on the hook 
for mitigating the emissions of the end user of the product they 
transport. In other words, to get approval to build a pipeline, 
operators could have been forced to develop and pay for a way to 
mitigate the emissions caused by Americans driving to work every day or 
perhaps by Americans heating their homes or cooking their breakfast. 
Thankfully, in the face of fierce outcry from opponents on both sides 
of the aisle, they have temporarily pulled these changes back for 
further consideration. Though, that likely has more to do with the 
upcoming nomination process--the renomination process--for FERC 
Chairman Glick than it does with good energy policy.
  On March 21, the SEC followed suit and proposed a rule that would 
require companies to disclose climate emission data, including 
greenhouse emissions, caused by their suppliers and their customers. 
This would require companies to calculate and disclose the emissions 
for how everyday Americans use their products, all in an effort to make 
doing business with American oil and gas producers seem even more risky 
and less deserving of financing.
  And, finally, an issue that is at the top of mind of many producers 
in Kansas right now, the Fish and Wildlife Service is poised to list 
the lesser prairie-chicken as a threatened species. This is despite the 
incredible work being done by conservationists that have made the 
lesser prairie-chicken better protected now than ever. If the Fish and 
Wildlife Service goes through with this classification, it would have 
serious consequences for oil and gas producers in Kansas and severely 
limit their ability to increase production, not to mention the impact 
it will have on our utilities.
  Once again, let me state, these reasons and more are why I am here 
today to ask unanimous consent to pass the Gas Prices Relief Act, which 
would bar any Federal agency from finalizing any rule regulation that 
would make it harder to produce American fuels. Our legislation would 
send the right signal to American producers and investors. It would 
show them that Congress sees the problem and that we are ready to 
address it. It would set us on course to bring down prices at the pump 
by getting out of the way and releasing American production and 
allowing them to power the world without more needlessly restrictive 
rules and regulations. Good energy policy will fix the current crisis, 
not more reckless spending.
  Before I yield, I would like to turn the floor over to the Senator 
from Montana for his thoughts on the record gas prices we are facing 
and the need to pass our Gas Price Relief Act.
  Mr. DAINES. I want to thank the Senator from Kansas for his work on 
this bill.
  Madam President, the price at the pump has skyrocketed. Let's do a 
quick trip down memory lane. When President Biden was inaugurated, the 
weekly average price for gas was about $2.30 a gallon. In fact, when we 
introduced the bill that we are trying to pass today, the Gas Price 
Relief Act, that was on March 31 of this year, the weekly average was 
$4.02 a gallon. The weekly average today is $4.84. In fact, other 
studies show it is now at $5 and climbing. We think these numbers will 
keep going up. Most analysts agree. We may be facing $6-a-gallon gas by 
this summer.
  I filled up my pickup in Belgrade, MT, Friday night. My wife and I 
pulled into a gas station. And when the tank was full, the price tag 
was $138.
  The pain at the pump that Montana families are feeling today is 
because of

[[Page S2929]]

the Democrats' anti-American energy policies.
  When President Biden killed the Keystone Pipeline 6 hours after being 
sworn in--by the way, that had tremendous benefits for the State of 
Montana. They help our impoverished Eastern Montana counties with tax 
revenues, not to mention providing nearly a million barrels of oil a 
day for the United States. By stopping and eliminating oil and gas 
leases, removing essential relief for small refiners, and then building 
an administration of, frankly, some far-left anti--anti--oil and 
natural gas ideologues, this administration has gone above and beyond 
to hinder traditional American energy development.
  And what is the solution that we are hearing from President Biden? 
Turn to foreign dictators for more oil, tap into our oil reserves, beg 
OPEC to increase production, and perhaps the most out-of-touch solution 
I have heard, simply suggest families buy electric vehicles. I can tell 
you that won't work in a State like Montana.
  The real solution is to unleash American energy and encourage 
American energy investment. This bill I have with Senator Marshall is 
simple. It prevents the Biden administration from imposing any new 
rules or regulations that would decrease oil, gas, or renewable fuel 
production, which would, therefore, increase gas prices of hard-working 
Montanans.
  I am urging my colleagues across the aisle to think about hard-
working families across this country, how are they trying to make ends 
meet, to think about their constituents who depend on affordable gas 
prices to get to work or drop kids off at school.
  I am urging my colleagues across the aisle who say they support 
American energy development, and they want to lower gas costs, to 
support this bill.
  We need to pass this bill for American families.
  I yield back my time to the Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I would like to ask unanimous consent 
that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be discharged from 
further consideration of S. 3986 and the Senate proceed to its 
immediate consideration.
  I further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and 
passed and that the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I have been listening with interest to my two 
distinguished colleagues discuss this measure, referring to it 
repeatedly as ``governing American energy.'' But, of course, what it 
really governs is fossil fuel energy. That is the intention here, and 
that is the result.
  Let's start with a basic factual proposition, which is that the price 
of oil is set by oil companies.
  In a market economy, the producer of a product chooses the price. And 
what has happened in this instance is that the oil industry has chosen 
to depart from market economics, to depart from the costs that were the 
same just a few years ago, and instead to follow upward the 
international cartel that our oil industry is a part of.
  This international cartel has driven world oil prices extremely high. 
And American oil companies have chosen--have chosen--to follow that 
price, raise the prices at the pump, punish American drivers, in order 
to blow out their profits.
  We know that this is true because the companies themselves are 
reporting unprecedented profits--massive profits. We know they are not 
tracking the cost of production at a reasonable profit because their 
profits have soared as they have chosen--chosen--to pursue this 
international cartel price and punish American drivers. It is their 
choice.
  And then they have the colossal nerve to take their choice, what they 
have done to American drivers, and then start using that for leverage 
to try to get other fossil fuel industry prerogatives accomplished 
politically.
  And let me say, don't be mad at the gas station owner. The gas 
station owner is not the one who is jacking up the prices. For a lot of 
gas station owners, they don't even make money on the gas. You have got 
to go in and buy a coffee or snacks to have them make money.
  Your local gas station is not the problem with these prices. The 
problem is Chevron, Exxon, Marathon, all of the big oil companies that 
have chosen to drive gas prices through the roof so they can fill their 
pockets with profit, so they can prepare for the fact that their 
product has got an end point.
  We can't keep polluting the Earth the way we are with the emissions 
of fossil fuel. I noticed that neither of my colleagues mentioned that 
this fossil fuel actually gets burned. We don't eat it; we burn it. And 
when we burn it, it emits CO2 and other gases, and we are 
seeing the effect of that all over the planet.
  Pollution increases. CO2 levels continue to increase. We 
constantly set new records for CO2 levels in the atmosphere. 
Heat increases. We are heating the ocean so fast--there is a new term 
that we have, a new term of measurement, a ``zettajoule.'' Do you know 
what a zettajoule is? A joule is a unit of heat energy measurement. A 
zettajoule is that unit with 21 zeros after it. It is an enormous 
number. All of the fossil fuel burned by all of the people across this 
entire planet amounts to less than half of a zettajoule of energy--all 
of it, less than half.
  And for the price of that--because of the emissions, because of the 
pollution, because of the CO2, because of the methane--we 
are heating up the planet so fast that every year 14 zettajoules of 
excess heat go into the ocean, where my fishermen in Rhode Island see 
their catches disappear, see their lives turned upside down, see 
fisheries that their fathers and their grandfathers fished completely 
upturned.
  This comes home in Rhode Island. Our Coastal Resources Management 
Council predicts that all that ocean warming is going to raise sea 
levels so that in my lifetime we are going to start to see flooding. 
Things that are now part of our State are going to become islands. 
Warwick Neck becomes Warwick Neck Island. Bristol becomes Bristol 
Island. Poppasquash Point becomes Poppasquash Island. Newport divides 
into a mainland and an island.
  We become the Rhode Island archipelago. We lose enormous amounts of 
our shoreline to sea level rise. Never mention--never mention that 
harm. So when you come here and say, we want to help more fossil fuel 
get burned, remember that on the other end of that are places like 
Rhode Island.
  And if we want to have a conversation about how we solve price now 
and how we protect against emissions later, that is a conversation I am 
more than willing to have. But a one-sided conversation that is 
only about more burning, more pollution, more emissions, more of that 
for Rhode Island, I don't think so.

  And it is not, of course, just Rhode Island. Other States are having 
unprecedented wildfires. They are having unprecedented droughts. We are 
seeing a planet whose basic operating systems are being changed by 
fossil fuel emissions. And until we grapple with that seriously, you 
can bet I will object--which I do.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 4217

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I would actually ask, in response, 
that we pass a different measure, and I would ask unanimous consent 
that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be 
discharged from further consideration of S. 4217, and the Senate 
proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and that the motions to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. MARSHALL. Reserving the right to object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I think we should start calling 
electric cars coal-powered cars. We should start thinking about a 
cradle-to-grave environmental impact to some of the alternatives, but I 
want to reassure to my colleague, the folks on the other side of the 
aisle, that I want to leave this world cleaner, healthier, and safer 
than we found it.
  But on the other hand, we can't create such high inflation with 
reckless

[[Page S2930]]

spending and energy policies that stifle American energy. I do believe 
that there is a balance. I do believe that there are opportunities, but 
we can't go from zero to 90 miles an hour overnight, nor can we throw 
the brakes on our current energy supply.
  I grew up in the oil patch. I lived in the oil patch. The prices of 
oil are being driven up by the uncertainty created by this 
administration. Make no mistake about it, the price of oil is people 
who are thinking about investing, what will they get 2 years from now? 
It would take 2 years probably to see any type of return on investment 
from an oilfield exploration.
  But this President and his policies, his regulations continue to 
create uncertainty and drive the price up for all Americans.
  Just the thought of $5-a-gallon gasoline makes my heart shiver. The 
people I talk to back home, there is no conversation I am going to have 
without someone bringing up the price of gasoline right now.
  And I am so proud that we are taking traditional energies, and we are 
making them cleaner; that we are using biofuels to help decrease the 
tailpipe emissions through E15 year round and higher ethanol as well. I 
am proud of the biodiesel that we are using as well.
  I think that there are incredible opportunities out there, but 
inflation, reckless spending inflation, driving up the price of 
gasoline very purposefully is what this President has accomplished, and 
it is hurting people back home.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. My colleague may care to object.
  Mr. MARSHALL. So I object to Senator Whitehouse.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Or at least to the motion I propounded anyway.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Yes, I specifically object to the motion. My apologies.
  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Senator Whitehouse, of course, as well, but I think 
the intention was to object to the measure.
  I see that my friend Senator Barrasso has joined us. I had mentioned 
zettajoules. I want to add one other figure. This is from a report by 
the corporate accounting and consulting firm, Deloitte Consulting, 
which has said that if we don't get ahead of this climate problem that 
my colleague seems so scrupulously interested in ignoring, the cost to 
society in the next five decades will be, if I remember correctly--the 
number is $178 trillion in economic harm across those years.
  You want to talk about big numbers? And if we do get it right, if we 
grow up, treat this as a factual scientific problem and put in serious, 
real economic solutions, then the win side is $43 trillion.
  So the swing is $220 trillion. You want to talk about big numbers? 
That is a big number. And it is going to depend on decisions we make 
now, and I hope we start making good decisions.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming.


                                 Energy

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor as I see my 
colleagues debating issues related to energy, and I come to the floor 
to also debate and discuss the issue of energy and, specifically, the 
need of the American people for more energy.
  Because right now, America, in terms of energy, is running on empty. 
Gas prices have broken records day after day after day over the last 
several months. Inflation increased again last month to a new record 
40-year high. Just this morning, we found out that inflation from 
producers is even higher than inflation for consumers. Wholesale prices 
are up by nearly 11 percent in the last year.
  That means higher prices for people who grow our food, who build our 
buildings, and who work so hard to keep the lights on.
  Inflation for producers means inflation for consumers tomorrow. After 
13 months of this inflation crisis, there is still no light at the end 
of the tunnel. The average price of gasoline across the United States 
today is over $5 a gallon.
  That is a big number. We just heard colleagues discussing big 
numbers. Five dollars a gallon is a big number for anyone who is 
driving a gas-powered car or a diesel-powered car or truck in America.
  Gas prices are at an alltime high in all 50 States, and there is no 
end in sight. Experts tell us that the price of gas is going to 
continue to go higher. We may actually see $6 a gallon this summer 
across the country, and today, gas is already $6 a gallon in a number 
of locations.
  Now, for most Americans, this is unthinkable. So what are families 
doing? Well, they are kind of buckling up for what may be a summer of 
financial suffering for the American people. For many, it means a 
summer of staying home. People are having to change the way they drive, 
the way they eat, the way they live. Family vacations are being 
canceled left and right. People are cutting back on shopping to the 
point that retail jobs disappeared last month, thousands and thousands 
of retail jobs.
  Coronavirus caused one lockdown. Now we are headed into a new 
lockdown because people don't have the money to get out--get out to go 
to dinner, get out to go to a movie, get out to go on vacation. People 
are staying home because they can't afford to do anything else.
  Many working families are being pushed to the breaking point. Savings 
have melted away. Household debt is now at a record high. More and more 
people are having to borrow money just to get through the end of the 
month. The purchasing power of the American people keeps going lower 
and lower and lower. That is providing very little relief--even for 
people who are getting raises, they are having a hard time keeping up 
and feel they are falling further behind.
  Home energy costs are up and will continue to go up this summer. We 
hear that our energy grid is vulnerable for blackouts this summer. 
Democrats have been in power for over 17 months. They continue to do 
nothing to help the American people with this Biden-caused energy 
crisis.
  Now, Joe Biden's Cabinet has been on tour, talking and trying to 
mislead the American people about the energy crisis. We saw Pete 
Buttigieg and Gina Raimondo. They said that Joe Biden is just an 
innocent bystander, just standing there, watching the world go by. 
Nothing he could do about it.
  The Commerce Secretary last week said--and this was on a national 
news show--she said there isn't much that can be done to produce more 
energy. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Joe Biden has ``done 
everything he can to bring down energy prices.'' Everything he can? 
This is a blatant, boldfaced lie to the American people.
  Joe Biden and the Democrats have caused this American energy crisis. 
Joe Biden seemed to brag about it at first when, on his first day in 
office, he killed the Keystone XL Pipeline, killing 800,000 barrels of 
oil a day to the United States--more than we would have ever gotten 
from Putin. Joe Biden bragged about it, proud of himself. Stopped those 
oil and gas leases as well. What the President has done with the oil 
and gas leases was blatantly illegal and brutally punished working 
families in my home State of Wyoming.
  You know, after 16 months in office, President Obama had held 44 oil 
and gas lease sales. Joe Biden? Not a single one.
  If the Senator from Alaska were here, she would say that Joe Biden 
shut down oil and gas production in the Arctic. For leases that were 
out there, drilling applications, thousands and thousands are in limbo 
because the administration just wants them to sit there.
  Now Joe Biden is furthering his attack on American energy. He is not 
just blocking new leases, he is even going after thousands of existing 
leases that were sold during previous administrations, the Obama and 
the Trump administrations.
  After just 16 months in office--and the American people know this; I 
am not making any news here--Joe Biden is already the most anti-
American energy President in American history. He has kept our energy 
production on lockdown, he has kept workers on the sideline, and he has 
kept energy buried in the ground. As a result, today, we are still 
producing 1 million fewer barrels of oil today and every single day 
than we were producing in America before the pandemic.

[[Page S2931]]

  So, despite what the administration claims, Joe Biden could do things 
right now to actually produce more energy. First, instead of blocking 
all Federal land, he needs to hold Federal oil and gas lease sales. He 
should approve the 4,300 drilling applications that he is holding in 
limbo. Finally, instead of shutting down pipelines, he should approve 
more pipelines so we can transmit energy. He should speed up the 
pipeline approval process. Right now, it takes a lot longer to get 
approval to build a pipeline than it does to actually build a pipeline. 
But Joe Biden refuses to change his policies. That is why I say that 
Joe Biden actually wants high gas prices.
  Democrats keep bragging about the so-called incredible transition. It 
is a transition that is strangling the American people. Joe Biden went 
on a late-night comedy show last week. He was asked about climate 
change. He said right now ``there's an opportunity to move more rapidly 
. . . to alternative energy.'' He seems to think everything is going 
according to plan.
  The climate elitists want prices so high that people can't afford to 
buy gas. The economists call this demand destruction. Democrats are 
working to achieve demand destruction through supply destruction, and 
the result is economic destruction--a destruction of the standard of 
living for the American people--all because they want their climate 
ideology.
  So Democrats have kept supply slow and low. They have driven up 
prices. Now the American people are forced to stay home.
  Well, the Transportation Secretary continues to say: Just get an 
electric vehicle. Gas prices are no big deal.
  The average electric vehicle costs over $55,000. The American people 
can barely afford groceries right now, let alone an electric vehicle. 
CNN ran a story recently about single mothers skipping meals so their 
kids can eat. I would say to the Secretary of Transportation: How are 
they going to afford the electric vehicle, let alone find a place to 
charge it?

  Astonishing stories have been written in the press recently. People 
trying to drive electric vehicles from point A to point B said: Never 
again. Oh, no.
  I have heard stories of someone renting an electric vehicle in 
Wyoming, driving it from one place to another, using a regular plug-in, 
coming back an hour later, and it had charged the battery enough extra 
in that full hour that they could go an additional 4 miles. That is 
what Joe Biden wants for America. That is his view of America--``stay 
at home'' Joe.
  The Transportation Secretary refuses to admit that gas prices drive 
up the cost of other things like food, the cost of retail, the cost of 
almost everything.
  Democrats tell us that we just need a little more wind energy, a 
little more solar power, and things would be great. So what is Joe 
Biden doing? He listens to them, and he uses wartime Executive powers 
to demand that we make more solar panels.
  This is another dangerous Democrat delusion. We don't have high gas 
prices and high food prices because of a lack of solar panels; we have 
high gas prices and high food prices because of a lack of American 
gasoline, oil, energy.
  Democrats keep repeating the talking points about renewable energy. 
Yet they never do the math. The most affordable and most reliable 
energy known to man is traditional energy--oil, natural gas, coal. 
Electric vehicles still use energy. This energy comes mostly, in this 
country, from natural gas and coal.
  The only way to bring the price of gas down is to bring the supply of 
gas up. It is the one thing the Democrats refuse to do.
  It is interesting to listen to some of Joe Biden's allies in the 
Senate who are threatening to make the Biden energy crisis even worse. 
They want to talk about bringing back their reckless tax-and-spending 
bill. This bill is more reckless today than it was last year. You put 
that kind of additional spending on the economy, that kind of 
additional debt--inflation today is a lot higher than it was the last 
time they forced this kind of money onto the economy. This will be 
adding fuel to the fire.
  Then the Democrats are talking about raising taxes and specifically 
raising taxes on American energy. More taxes on American energy means 
higher prices at the pump. It is as simple as that. Higher prices at 
the pump means higher prices at the grocery store. Now isn't the time 
to raise taxes on the American people.
  Janet Yellen was surprised. She said it last week. She talked to the 
New York Times. She said she was surprised at how negative people's 
opinion was of the economy. She said she was amazed at how pessimistic 
people were about the economy. How out of touch can one be for the 
Secretary of Treasury to say that at a time when there are the highest 
gas prices in the history of the country, food prices at an alltime 
high, and inflation at a 40-year high?
  Over three out of four Americans think the country is heading in the 
wrong direction under Joe Biden and the Democrats. The American people 
have seen what 16 months of Democrat rule has done to them, and Janet 
Yellen is surprised at the pessimism and the negativity.
  Record inflation, record gas prices, record debt, disappearing 
savings, empty shelves, labor shortages, a looming recession--it is 
long past time to change course. It is time to stop this reckless 
spending, unleash American energy. The American public cannot afford to 
pay the price, but they will make the Democrats pay the price come 
November.
  I yield the floor.
  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. MURPHY assumed the Chair.)
  (Mr. DURBIN assumed the Chair.)
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________