[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 126 (Thursday, July 28, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H7259-H7262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       AMERICA IS IN A RECESSION

  (Mr. McCARTHY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McCARTHY. Mr. Speaker, this morning the government announced what 
every American has been feeling for nearly a year: We are in a 
recession.
  This news is a grim milestone that points toward more hardship, more 
suffering, and more pain for the American people. But even as we were 
expecting today's news, let me address what happened in the past 24 
hours.
  The Senate passed a bill that took a small, discretionary program and 
turned it into a $280 billion blank check, including $79 billion in 
mandatory spending on corporate welfare to be handed out to whoever 
President Biden wants.
  For the record, I am a ``no'' on the Senate CHIPS bill that will come 
to the floor today. I was a ``no'' last week. I was a ``no'' last 
night. And I will be the first ``no'' on the board later today.
  I urge all my Republican colleagues to join me. Reject this deeply 
flawed bill. Let's start from scratch.
  And if that wasn't enough, Senate Democrats then announced they want 
to spend another half a trillion dollars during a recession. Democrats 
say they want to lower inflation, but do you know what their new bill 
does? It gives you a $7,500 tax credit to buy an $80,000 electric 
vehicle for people making up to $300,000.
  They say they want to restore growth, but their new bill adds $700 
billion in new taxes, including a $300 billion made in America tax that 
punishes anyone who wants to build, manufacture, or invest in America.
  They say they want to help struggling families, but do you know what 
their new bill does? Who do they hire? They hire 87,000 new IRS agents 
to audit them and spy on their bank accounts. That is what the Democrat 
majority wants.
  They say they want to lower prices, but their new bill will allow 
bureaucrats to decide what drugs seniors can

[[Page H7260]]

access and destroy the hope of any new cures or treatments for diseases 
like cancer.
  And do you know what? They are not done yet.
  Mr. Speaker, do Democrats really believe that spending hundreds of 
billions of tax dollars right now while pursuing and punishing 
productive investments in the long run will lower inflation? Policies 
like that don't lower inflation; they cause inflation.
  They are going to spend more dollars chasing the same goods with 
fewer jobs and lower income in the long run all during a recession.
  But I know what you are going to say: It is okay because you changed 
the definition of a ``recession'' now. You know, Einstein once said, 
and we all know it: ``The definition of insanity is doing the same 
thing over and over and expecting a different result.'' So what you 
really should do is just go with changing the definition. Maybe people 
won't hear you or understand it.
  We all know across this country what caused inflation: Democrats 
winning the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. And now you are 
doubling down on the same failed policies. Was the worst inflation in 
40 years not enough? Are they trying to see how high they can get it 
all while forcing the American people to pay the bills for your 
failures?
  Democrats just can't help themselves. They simply don't care about 
the consequences.
  Which brings me to this morning's news, the Bureau of Economic 
Analysis announced the GDP fell by 0.9 percent in the second quarter. I 
am not sure, Mr. Speaker, if everybody is lined up to talk about that 
today. This comes after a 1.6 percent decline in the economy in the 
first quarter. So half of this year our economy shrank.
  It is no wonder an overwhelming 8 in 10 Americans feel the economy is 
heading in the wrong direction. And the National Federation of 
Independent Businesses--this is a survey of small businesses--found 
that the confidence is at its lowest level in 48 years. But I guess 
that is Putin's fault.
  Consumers and businesses are losing hope, and there is no secret why. 
Every week the American people know we are able to buy less with the 
money we have. Every week at the gas pump we are paying nearly twice as 
much to fill up our tanks. Every month the American people know when 
they get their pay stubs they are making less in real wages. And every 
day the American people understand the simple truth: We cannot afford 
Democrats' failed policies. But we are certainly paying for them.
  Of course, President Biden and Speaker Pelosi won't admit it. Their 
response to rising prices has been to issue dismissals, denials, 
distortions, and a little deceptive spin.
  Remember when President Biden told us last July that inflation was 
temporary and expected? Remember that right there? Then he told us in 
December that inflation had peaked, no more fear, it has peaked. That 
was at 7.0 percent. Democrats tried to convince us that inflation was a 
good thing.

  Remember Secretary Yellen said this week that a recession isn't a 
recession, but rather, our country is in a period of transition in 
which growth is slowing. That is weird, huh? We all learned that a 
recession is really easy. You take two quarters in a row and you have 
negative growth. But it is weird, beginning this week the White House 
told us, I don't know, I looked in every book, but we are changing the 
definition now. We changed each and every place of where we went.
  When it started, it was temporary. First, it was COVID's fault. Then, 
don't worry, it is transitory, it is not going to stay. Then we found 
out corporate greed is doing this; then it is just a high-class 
problem, their problem, nobody else's. Then it is okay, it has peaked. 
But then when it went a little higher, it is the supply chain's fault 
now. No, no, no, no. Now, it is Putin's fault. Eventually America may 
believe something. Then it is just out of date. Now, no, no it is not a 
recession, the economy is just slowing.
  You would rather redefine a recession than restore a healthy economy?
  You know, the American people know that inflation was not temporary. 
Inflation hadn't peaked, and now we are in a recession. But the 
Democrats continue to talk down to American families no matter the 
increased cost of nearly everything.
  But you know the worst part about all of this? And I see people here 
ready to speak. Madam Speaker, I wonder if anyone is going to speak and 
show us your plan. Show us your plan to get us out of recession. Show 
us your plan to make our streets safe again. Show us your plan that you 
are going to produce more and lower the gas price. I guess your plan is 
just redefine and blame something else.
  Their failed policies have not only made inflation worse, you created 
it. Democrats have increased total government spending by over $9 
trillion in less than 18 months. For every American, if you wonder, do 
elections have consequences? Yes, they do. Oh, yes, they do. $9 
trillion in 18 months.
  The Democrats control the House, they control the Senate, they 
control the White House. This is what they brought us. We have not felt 
this in more than four decades. Sixty percent of every American has 
never lived through inflation above 4 percent.
  They halted energy projects, slowed down pipeline construction, and 
took every step to discourage American oil and gas production. You 
know, when they had the majority like they do right now, they brought 
in all the energy companies. Not one Democrat asked: How could we lower 
the gas price? Do you know what they made every CEO do? They asked 
them: Would you promise to produce less next year because we want the 
gas price higher? We want to punish Americans. That was their question, 
to produce less. They want to intimidate them.
  And they crippled the labor market by paying people to stay home 
instead of going back to work, including themselves.

                              {time}  1015

  This is the only place in America you can go and enjoy a wedding in 
France for some movie star and still vote on this floor and get paid 
for it. This is the only place in America you can be on a boat 
celebrating and still vote in this House or in your committee and get 
paid for it. This is the only place in America, and this is the only 
Congress that has ever allowed it--ever. It doesn't matter what we have 
ever gone through, a pandemic, a war.
  Do you know what, Madam Speaker? I don't see one Member wearing a 
mask, and we were only going to keep that during the pandemic. I see 
one. I stand corrected. But I guess the rest of you feel it is okay.
  If this sounds like a healthy economy to you, I hear there is an 
opening at the White House press office. But for the rest of us that 
live in reality, it is painful.
  I want to ask everybody in America: Can you afford to give up 1 month 
of income? Think about that. Could you afford to give 1 month of your 
pay up? I don't know very many people in my district who can.
  Madam Speaker, maybe Paul Pelosi can, but nobody else that I know 
can.
  But that is exactly what you took from every single American. You 
see, inflation is so high, every single American has lost a full 
month's pay.
  Can Americans afford to keep the Democrats in power? Could you afford 
to lose another month's pay? Or do you feel good that it is not a 
recession or it is Putin's fault?
  If you had a constant salary like everybody in this body, 1 month is 
8.3 percent of those 12 months. Inflation is higher, so you just lost a 
full salary. You have less money, but you pay more at the gas pump.
  But it is okay. Tell everybody to go buy an electric car at $80,000. 
I wonder what your answer is to the homeless. Buy a house?
  If you think about this, this is actually the Pelosi pay cut because 
not one American voted for your $2 trillion inflation-creating bill. 
Not one. The Pelosi pay cut affects every American, but do you know 
what? It is especially hard on families who have extra expenses.
  I don't know if you watched the clip, but I watched this clip of a 
15-year-old girl named Jinger Vincent from Indiana. This poor girl was 
diagnosed with bone cancer, and she has to travel every week for 
treatment. It is located more than an hour away. Last year, her 
parents, Keith and Analiza, paid around $100 each week for that trip, 
but because of the surging gas price--but it

[[Page H7261]]

is okay if I listen to the Democrats; the President said it is a good 
thing--they are now spending more than $200 each week. They also have 
two other children.
  The Vincents said they simply can't afford a price hike, and they 
have turned to loans to cover the costs. Can you imagine having to take 
a loan to pay for the gas to take your 15-year-old daughter to get 
cancer treatment and at the same time losing a full month's pay?
  Do you know what is worse? In this story, that 15-year-old girl, 
Jinger--having to watch her parents say: We have to pay this bill, and 
we have to pay that. This is what she said: And I am downstairs, and I 
hear all that. It just seems so stressful. They shouldn't have to go 
through this.
  Madam Speaker, my question is, do Democrats agree with Secretary 
Buttigieg that the more pain families like the Vincents feel at the 
pump is a good thing? Madam Speaker, that is the Secretary of 
Transportation.
  I guess they seem to agree with them because rather than having a 
plan to lower gas prices, their answer is to tell the Vincents and 
others to buy a Tesla. They are borrowing money to pay for gas, and you 
are telling them to buy a Tesla.
  But do you know who is probably happy because with their new deal, 
you can make $300,000, and that same taxpayer that just lost a month's 
salary that has to get a loan to pay for gas, they have to pay more in 
taxes so somebody else wealthy can get that tax break--that is not 
compassion. It is cruelty, and the American people are suffering the 
consequences every day.
  Americans aren't imagining that their grocery bills are higher than 
ever; they are. Americans aren't imagining that they have to pay more 
to fill up their gas tanks; they do. They are not imagining that their 
savings are shrinking and their 401(k)'s have become 201(k)'s; they 
are.
  But let me tell you what they are actually living through, what they 
are afraid of, and what keeps them up at night: higher taxes and higher 
energy costs; the first house they will never be able to afford because 
prices are rising and their incomes are falling; retirement savings 
that will no longer last long enough. They are worried about how much 
worse it can get if Democrats' failed policies continue.
  You think for all this suffering that they have caused, there is no 
way that Democrats would do this on purpose. Guess again.
  Everything about the Biden recession was predictable and avoidable. 
Only Democrats in Washington chose not to see it coming. I remember 
coming to this exact floor, warning that if you pass nearly $2 trillion 
of the American Rescue Plan, you would cause inflation. I listened to 
the other side. They said it was going to save us. But that inflation 
is exactly what happened.
  It is interesting when you look at these lines, producer price 
inflation. You don't even have to put it here, but I bet you could 
predict when Biden was inaugurated. That is when it all goes up.
  But when did your wages start to drop? The day he was sworn in. The 
day the Democrats took the majority in the House, the Senate, and the 
White House.
  When did it really start dropping hard? The day they passed the 
American Rescue Plan.
  But I know they want to reject what Republicans say. They don't want 
to listen to Republicans. But do you know what? Why don't you listen to 
Larry Summers? He worked in the Obama-Biden administration as the 
Director of the National Economic Council. He was the Secretary of the 
Treasury in Bill Clinton's administration. Before the vote, he told 
everybody the American Rescue Plan could set off inflationary pressures 
of a kind we have not seen in a generation. I guess he was right. Jason 
Furman, an economic adviser to the Obama-Biden administration, said the 
same thing.

  The American Rescue Plan was definitely too big for the moment. I 
don't know any economist that was recommending something the size of 
what was done, but every Democrat was.
  Why don't we go to Steve Rattner, another Obama-Biden economist? What 
did he say? The American Rescue Plan was the Democrats' original sin 
when it comes to inflation. Think about that. Steve Rattner, who worked 
in the Obama-Biden administration to try to help them during an 
economic crisis, especially when it came to the automobile industry, 
says this is the original sin, the American Rescue Plan, that caused 
inflation. He didn't say it was Putin's fault. He didn't say it was 
temporary. He didn't apologize afterward because he didn't have to. He 
warned you about it.
  Treasury Secretary Yellen--I don't know how many calls she made to 
try to twist arms to get people to vote for it or how many times she 
went on TV telling the American public that this was a good thing, that 
this was going to put us on the right path--she admitted in May that 
she missed the biggest explosion of inflation in over 40 years. She 
said, ``I was wrong then about the path that inflation would take.''
  She was wrong when she told us it was transitory. She was wrong when 
she told people to vote for it.
  Either Democrats didn't see the worst inflation in 40 years coming, 
or they did and still believed your suffering was worth the incredible 
transition. That explains why President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, and 
Senator Schumer are still peddling anti-energy policies, plus almost a 
trillion in new spending and new taxes on Main Street, even as these 
policies destroy our country.
  It explains why we have John Kerry, Biden's Special Presidential 
Envoy for Climate, saying: We absolutely don't need to produce more oil 
and gas in America.
  This is the leadership of America. We don't need to produce more oil 
and gas in America, so we will stop the pipeline on the first day. We 
will tell those American workers they are not going to work in America, 
but we are going to go over to Saudi Arabia.
  I guess you keep some promises in a campaign when you say you are 
going to shut down oil and gas in America but don't keep the promise 
about Saudi Arabia. You go there and you fist-bump and hope you are 
going to get more: Could you produce more for America?
  Do you know what is so sad about all of this? You have no plan to fix 
it, but you had the plan to destroy it. It wasn't just Republicans who 
warned you about it. It was your very own Democrats who were in Obama's 
administration, who were economic advisers, who warned you before the 
vote that you would create inflation. Then you took that vote.
  Only Democrats passed that bill. Only Democrats created inflation. 
Only Democrats have shut down our oil and gas, and we haven't even 
gotten to defunding the police. I don't know how many times people can 
warn you.
  You can go to my home State, to the city of San Francisco, 
Republicans there register only about 6.7 percent. They are not even 
the second party, but even San Francisco has had enough. They recalled 
their school board against the same policies you passed on this floor. 
They recalled their DA.
  It is not just Republicans telling you it is hurting; it is America. 
But you still have no plan, not one plan. We are 1 more day here before 
we are out into August. There isn't one plan proposed. Or I guess your 
plan is to follow the President to Saudi Arabia.
  But your plan that you announced yesterday, the plan you are going to 
vote on this floor today, is only going to create more inflation. You 
are going to take another paycheck away.
  It explains why this week and the week before and the week before 
that, and every week in this House you have been in session, the 
Democrats have offered no plan to fight inflation. You only fuel it. It 
is basic economics.
  Madam Speaker, in 40 years, we have never experienced this. The last 
time we experienced this, we had a Democrat-controlled House, Senate, 
and White House.
  You have no plan to increase energy production to lower the price of 
gasoline. In fact, just this week and last week, 218 House Democrats 
voted to continue to sell our strategic oil to Communist China. You 
voted on that on the floor. You have done it twice.
  So, not only do you not have a plan, but you are defending China 
taking the oil we saved to protect America. You have no plan to 
reconnect workers to jobs by ending incentives that pay more to stay 
home than pursue productive work.
  Madam Speaker, Americans know the Democrats have no plan to rebuild

[[Page H7262]]

an economy that works for us--none whatsoever.

                              {time}  1030

  Republicans have a plan. We are prepared to build an economy that is 
strong and one that fights inflation by officially ending this 
disastrous Build Back Better, eliminating wasteful spending, and 
getting Americans back to work in the workforce.
  Do you know where we will start?
  Right here on this floor.
  You will have to show up for work to be paid, just like every other 
American. No, you can't take your European trips and phone it in.
  To the American public: Let's just be honest, Why won't the Democrats 
lift the proxy voting?
  Because every person who votes proxy, signs--by penalty of perjury--
they can't come in because of COVID. I imagine if that person had COVID 
they probably wouldn't have been let into that wedding in France or on 
that houseboat with their family or at the fundraiser in Ohio trying to 
run for the Senate.
  Madam Speaker, it starts by example. If you are not willing to 
produce a plan, if you are not willing to have your own Members show up 
to work, and if you are not willing to be honest with the American 
people, then get out of the way and let somebody else lead.
  We have an economy in our plan that will be driven by pro-growth 
economic policies that deliver higher paychecks and that don't take 
them away from you. They will lower costs, boost Main Street, and 
encourage innovation.
  It will be an economy with lower gasoline prices--yes--by increasing 
production in America with American-made energy, not begging the Saudis 
for more. We will approve more oil and gas pipelines here at home, and 
we will prioritize reliable, resilient energy grids.
  Do you know what it will do to not just the economy, not just more 
Americans working, and not just lowering the fuel price that will lower 
inflation?
  It will improve the environment.
  You see, Madam Speaker, American natural gas is 41 percent cleaner 
than Russian natural gas. We will secure our supply chain and no longer 
be dependent on China.
  Madam Speaker, I know the Democrats will continue to vote to defend 
China to make sure they get our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. We will 
keep bringing it up so that every time I watch a Democrat on TV say 
that they are opposed to it, but they walk into this room--or they are 
in their weddings or on their fundraisers and they phone in their 
votes--and they defend China, we will defend America.
  It is time for a new direction in Washington to get our Nation back 
on track. Americans deserve a future filled with hope, opportunities, 
and freedom, and Republicans stand ready to deliver.
  I wait patiently for one Democrat to tell me their plan to reverse 
inflation, to lower the gasoline prices, and not celebrate the pain 
they are causing every American.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Schrier). Members are reminded to 
address their remarks to the Chair.
  Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, a point of clarification, are we doing 
Special Orders or 1 minutes?
  I think there is a time set aside every day for Special Orders.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair is currently entertaining requests 
for 1-minute speeches. The minority leader was recognized for the 
customary time.

                          ____________________