[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 130 (Wednesday, August 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3994-S3998]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2022

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, my understanding is that the so-called 
Inflation Reduction Act may be coming to the floor in the coming days, 
and there are some people who think it is still worth supporting. There 
are others who think that it is not. But whatever your views on this 
bill may be, let us be clear. As currently written, this is an 
extremely modest piece of legislation that does virtually nothing to 
address the enormous crises that working families all across this 
country are facing today.
  This reconciliation bill falls far short of what the American people 
want, what they need, and what they are begging us to do. Given that 
this is the last reconciliation bill that we will be considering this 
year, it is the only opportunity that we have to do something 
significant for the American people that requires only 50 votes and 
that cannot be filibustered. In other words, this is the opportunity, 
because on anything significant, we are not going to get 60 votes. So 
this, in my view, is a moment that should not be squandered.
  Let us do what we too rarely do here in the Congress or in the 
corporate media, and that is to take a hard look at the reality of what 
is going on in our country today. Very often, we sit here, and we argue 
about this, we argue about that, but we don't take a look at what is 
going on in America today, especially among working people and low-
income people who do not have paid lobbyists here trying to get us to 
pass legislation to benefit them.
  People back home are just too busy working 50, 60 hours a week, 
trying to make it on Social Security, trying to deal with their student 
debt. They don't have the lobbyists here that the drug companies and 
the insurance companies and the fossil fuel industry has.
  What is going on in America today?
  For a start, in the richest country in the history of the world, half 
of our people live paycheck to paycheck, and because of inflation, a 
bad situation has been made worse. Millions of people today are 
wondering how they are going to pay their rent, how they are going to 
buy the food to feed their kids, how they are going to pay off their 
debt. That is what is going on for half of the people in our country. I 
know we don't talk about it. They have no representation here, no 
lobbyists, no nothing. But that is the reality.
  Does this reconciliation bill address their needs? Does it raise the 
minimum wage to a living wage or do we continue to allow so many 
workers to try to get by on 10, 12, 13 bucks an hour?
  Does this bill make it easier for workers who want to join a union to 
be able to do so or they continue to be attacked by their employers, 
making it hard to form a union? No, this bill does nothing to address 
that reality.
  At a time when, tragically, this country has the highest rate of 
childhood poverty of almost any major country on Earth, does this bill 
extend the $300-a-month-per-child tax credit that was so important to 
millions of families last year? Does it address that issue? Does it say 
that, maybe, there is something wrong when millions of children in this 
country are dealing with hunger and with other basic human needs? No, 
not a word in this bill addresses that.
  In my State of Vermont and around this country, families are paying 
on average about $15,000 a year for childcare, if they are lucky enough 
to find a slot. And $15,000 a year is one-third of the salary of a 
family making $45,000. I don't know how people can afford childcare. 
And, meanwhile, childcare workers earn horrifically low wages and have 
poor benefits.
  At a time when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any 
major country on Earth, does this bill address the dysfunctionality of 
our childcare system? No, not a word. And, again, this is a 
reconciliation bill, where we only need 50 votes to make these changes.
  At a time when over 70 million Americans are uninsured or 
underinsured, when we spend twice as much per capita on healthcare as 
the people of almost any other major country while insurance companies 
make tens and tens of billions of dollars a year in profit, when 60 
million people a year die because they can't afford to get to a doctor 
when they are sick because they are uninsured or underinsured, does 
this bill do anything to help us create a rational, cost-effective 
healthcare system that guarantees healthcare for all as a human right, 
something that every other major country on Earth does? No, the bill 
does nothing to address the extraordinary healthcare crisis that we 
face.
  At a time when 45 million Americans are struggling to pay student 
debt and when hundreds of thousands of bright young people every year 
are unable to fulfill their dreams, unable to get a higher education 
because they cannot afford the high cost of higher education in this 
country, does this bill do anything to make it easier for young people 
to get a higher education? No, it does not. It doesn't do a thing. It 
doesn't do a thing on student debt.
  Fifty-five percent of senior citizens in our country are trying to 
survive on incomes of $25,000 a year or less. It is just something hard 
for me to understand. It really is. Think about being 80, 90 years of 
age, trying to make it on $25,000 a year. Maybe your spouse has died. I 
don't know how you do it, but more than half of our people in our 
country who are seniors are trying to do that.
  Many of these seniors cannot afford to go to a dentist, and in 
Vermont--and, I suspect, in Arizona, as well--there are senior citizens 
walking around without teeth in their mouth or with teeth that are 
rotting. There are seniors all over this country who cannot communicate 
with their kids or grandchildren because they can't afford a hearing 
aid. They can't watch TV because they can't afford a decent pair of 
glasses.
  Is there anything in the currently written bill to expand Medicare to 
do what some 75 or 80 percent of the American people think we should 
do, and that is expand Medicare to cover dental care for seniors, 
hearing aids, and eyeglasses? No, the bill doesn't touch that at all.
  When we talk about our seniors and disabled Americans, does this 
legislation do anything to help the millions who would prefer to stay 
in their homes rather than be forced into nursing homes? It is an issue 
I hear quite

[[Page S3995]]

frequently in Vermont: We cannot find help for someone to come to my 
house to help my mother or my disabled father. Does this bill address 
the crisis of home healthcare, a very serious crisis? No, not a word.
  I think there is no disagreement that we have a major housing crisis 
in America. Some 600,000 Americans are homeless, and nearly 18 million 
households are spending an incredible 50 percent of their limited 
incomes for housing. Everybody acknowledges that we have a major 
housing crisis and that rents are soaring. Does this bill that 
supposedly represents the needs of the American people even deal with 
housing? In one word, no, it doesn't.
  I understand that in our politics today, super PACs and billionaires 
play an enormous role in what we do here and what we don't do. Just 
yesterday, we saw the power of billionaire super PACs selecting 
corporate candidates who represent their interests and defeating 
candidates who represent working families. That is the way the 
political system is, and it has been made worse since Citizens United.
  But right now, in our country--and I know we don't talk about it very 
much; I hear almost no discussion on the floor--we have more income 
wealth inequality than at any time in 100 years. How do the American 
people feel knowing that three people own more wealth than the bottom 
half of American society? Does that sound like the America we believe 
in, the America we think we should be?
  We talk about Russia and Putin and the oligarchy over there. It is 
true. An oligarchy robs the country blind.
  We have an oligarchy here as well. Three people own more wealth than 
the bottom half of American society. The top 1 percent owns more wealth 
than the bottom 92 percent, and 45 percent of all new income goes to 
the top 1 percent. And what we have seen during the pandemic is 
billionaires becoming much richer while working people by the thousands 
die because they have to go to work to make a living.
  Today, CEOs of large corporations make 350 times more than their 
average workers. That is what is going on in America. I know we don't 
want to talk about it because we don't want to offend the people who 
fund our campaigns. It makes them uncomfortable to talk about how much 
inequality we have in this country, but that is the reality.
  Not only do we have income and wealth inequality, but we have another 
issue we don't talk about much--or maybe a little bit. We have more 
concentration of ownership than at any time in the modern history of 
this country. In sector after sector after sector, we have a handful of 
giant multinational corporations, often engaging in price-fixing, that 
control what is produced and how much we pay for it.
  I think many Americans now notice that, at a time when we are paying 
increased costs at the gas pump, increased costs at grocery stores for 
food, surprise, surprise, surprise, these large corporations are making 
recordbreaking profits. Paying five bucks for a gallon of gas? Well, 
the good news is that ExxonMobil and these other corporations are 
making huge profits.
  Unbelievably, three Wall Street firms now control assets of over $20 
trillion. That is the GDP of the United States of America being 
controlled by three Wall Street firms. Is that of concern to anybody? 
Think it might be something we might want to talk about in a 
reconciliation bill? Nah, can't do that. These are very powerful guys, 
and we are not supposed to offend the wealthy and the powerful.
  These three Wall Street firms are the major stockholders in 96 
percent of S&P 500 companies. Check out the companies of the products 
that you buy. Find out who owns them. Find out who owns the companies 
that you are familiar with. Time and time and time again, you will find 
that the major stockholders are these three Wall Street firms: 
BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard.
  Does this bill do anything to even begin addressing the enormous 
concentration of ownership in our country and make our economy more 
competitive? Not a word.
  So my point is that we are living in a moment of unprecedented 
crises. This bill does virtually nothing to address any of them, and 
this is the opportunity because, theoretically, it could be done with 
50 votes here in the Senate. If all of the Democrats voted for it--if 
any Republicans voted for it, it would be great--plus the Vice 
President, we could do it. We could do it, but as currently written, it 
is not being done.
  Now, let me say a few words about what is in this legislation, a bill 
which has some good features. There are some good things in it, but it 
also has some very bad features.
  The good news is that the reconciliation bill finally begins to 
address the outrageous price of some of the most expensive prescription 
drugs under Medicare. As you know, we pay, by far, the highest prices 
in the world for our prescription drugs, and for those under Medicare, 
this begins to address that issue.
  Under this legislation, Medicare, for the first time, would be able 
to negotiate with the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices. 
That is the good news.
  The bad news is that we will not see the impact of these negotiated 
prices until 2026--4 years from now. Why? Got me. I don't know, but it 
will not go into effect until 4 years from now.
  By the way, the pharmaceutical industry is the most powerful entity 
here in DC, and if you think, during those 4 years, that whatever 
modest provisions are in this bill they will not attack and get out, 
you would be mistaken. They will certainly work hard to do that, and 
they have 4 years to do that--4 years to come up with an entire pricing 
structure--because if you are not covering all of the drugs, they can 
come up with me-too drugs that look alike, that sound alike, and that 
can evade these price controls.
  Moreover, with the possible exception of insulin--and that is not 
clear yet--this bill does nothing to lower prescription drug prices for 
anyone who is not on Medicare.
  Under this bill, at a time when pharmaceutical companies are making 
outrageous profits, the drug companies will still be allowed to charge 
the American people, by far, the highest prices in the world for 
prescription drugs.
  Now, if we had the courage to seriously address this issue, we would 
know exactly what to do. It is very, very simple. For over 30 years, 
the Veterans Health Administration has been negotiating with the 
pharmaceutical industry to lower the price of prescription drugs. 
Moreover, for decades, virtually every major country on Earth has done 
exactly the same thing. That is why, in Canada, drug prices and, in 
Mexico, drug prices and, in Europe, drug prices are much lower than in 
the United States.
  The result of Medicare not negotiating prices has been that, today, 
Medicare pays twice as much for the same exact prescription drugs as 
the VA, and Americans, in some cases, pay 10 times more for a 
particular drug than the people in Canada or in other countries.
  How insane is it that you have one Federal Agency, called the VA, 
that pays 50 percent of what Medicare pays? I mean, how crazy is that?
  So, when it comes to reducing the price of prescription drugs under 
Medicare, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. We could simply require 
Medicare to pay no more for prescription drugs than the VA pays--end of 
discussion. It is a rather simple solution. If we did that, we could 
save Medicare some $900 billion over the next decade. That is nine 
times more savings than the rather weak negotiation provision in this 
bill--nine times more. They get $100 billion. We would save $900 
billion.
  By the way, that money could be used to add comprehensive dental, 
vision, and hearing benefits to every senior in America; it could be 
used to lower the Medicare eligibility age to at least 60; and it could 
be used to extend the solvency of Medicare.
  That is why I will be introducing an amendment to do just that and to 
make sure that Medicare pays no more for prescription drugs than the 
VA. It is not a very radical idea, and I would hope that that amendment 
gets widespread support.
  In terms of the Affordable Care Act, this legislation will extend 
subsidies for some 13 million Americans who have private 
health insurance plans, as a result of the ACA, over the next 3 years. 
Without this provision, millions of Americans would see their premiums

[[Page S3996]]

skyrocket, and some 3 million Americans could lose their health 
insurance altogether.

  This is a good provision, and I support it, but let us not kid 
ourselves. The $64 billion cost of this provision will go directly into 
the pockets of private health insurance companies that made over $60 
billion in profit last year and paid their CEOs exorbitant compensation 
packages.
  It would also do nothing to help the more than 70 million Americans 
who are uninsured or underinsured, and it would do nothing to reform a 
dysfunctional healthcare system that is not designed to make people 
well but is designed to make the stockholders of private health 
insurance companies even richer.
  Let me talk about the issue of climate change for a moment as it is 
dealt with in this bill.
  This legislation provides $370 billion over the next decade to combat 
climate change and to invest in so-called energy security programs.
  The good news is that, if this legislation, as written, is signed 
into law, it would provide far more funding for energy efficiency and 
sustainable energy than has ever been invested before. Given the 
existential crisis that we face--given the fact that we are fighting to 
make sure that this planet remains habitable and healthy for younger 
generations--this, clearly, is not enough of an investment, but it is a 
step forward.
  It provides serious funding for wind, solar, batteries, heat pumps, 
electric vehicles, energy-efficient appliances, and low-income 
communities that have borne the brunt of climate change. That is the 
good news.
  However, the bad news is that this legislation includes a huge 
giveaway to the fossil fuel industry--the people who are causing the 
climate crisis.
  Now, it might seem a bit incongruous to people as to why we are 
rewarding the people whose emissions are driving the temperature of the 
Earth up and causing massive destruction, but that is, in fact, what 
this bill does.
  Under this legislation, the fossil fuel industry will receive 
billions of dollars in new tax breaks and subsidies over the next 10 
years on top of the $15 billion in tax breaks and corporate welfare 
that they already receive every year. This is above and beyond what 
they currently get.
  In my view, if we are going to make our planet healthy and habitable 
for future generations, which I would hope that every sane human being 
believes we should, we cannot provide billions of dollars in new tax 
breaks to fossil fuel companies that are destroying the planet. On the 
contrary, we should end all of the massive corporate welfare that the 
fossil fuel industry already enjoys.
  Under this legislation, up to 60 million acres of public waters--60 
million acres of public waters--must be offered up for sale each and 
every year to the oil and gas industry before the Federal Government 
could approve any new offshore wind development. To put this in 
perspective, 60 million acres is the size of Michigan.
  Let me read to you the headline that appeared in a July 29 article in 
Bloomberg called: ``Exxon . . . Loves What Manchin Did for Big Oil in 
$370 Billion Deal.''
  According to Bloomberg, the CEO of ExxonMobil called the 
reconciliation bill a ``step in the right direction'' and was 
``pleased'' with the ``comprehensive set of solutions'' included in the 
reconciliation bill.
  Barron's recently reported that ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Occidental 
Petroleum are just a few of the fossil fuel companies that would 
benefit the most under this bill.
  Now, if the CEO of ExxonMobil--a company that, perhaps, has done more 
than any other entity on Earth to cause climate change--is ``pleased'' 
with this bill, I think all of us should have some very deep concerns 
about what is in this legislation.
  Further, under this bill, up to 2 million acres of public lands must 
be offered up for sale each and every year to the oil and gas industry 
before leases can move forward for any renewable energy development on 
public lands.
  In total, this bill will offer the fossil fuel industry up to 700 
million acres of public lands and waters to oil and gas drilling over 
the next decade--far more than the oil and gas industry could possibly 
use.
  That is not all. The fossil fuel industry will not just benefit from 
the provisions in this reconciliation bill. A deal has also been 
reached to make it easier for the industry to receive permits for their 
oil and gas projects.
  This deal would approve a $6.6 billion Mountain Valley Pipeline--a 
fracked gas pipeline that would span 303 miles from West Virginia to 
Virginia and potentially on to North Carolina. This is a pipeline that 
would generate emissions equivalent to that released by 37 coal plants 
or by over 27 million cars each and every year. Well, to my mind, that 
is a heck of a way to address the climate crisis.
  Let me quote from a July 29 letter from over 350 environmental 
organizations, including the Sunrise Movement, Food & Water Watch, 
350.org, and the Climate Justice Alliance, addressed to the President 
and the Senate majority leader, expressing concerns about this bill.
  This is what they say:

       Any approval of new fossil fuel projects or fast-tracking 
     of fossil fuel permitting is incompatible with climate 
     leadership. Oil, gas and coal production are the core drivers 
     of the climate and extinction crises. There can be no new 
     fossil fuel leases, exports, or infrastructure if we have any 
     hope of preventing ever-worsening climate crises, 
     catastrophic floods, deadly wildfires, and more--all of which 
     are ripping across the country as we speak. We are out of 
     time. Therefore, we're calling on you--

the President and majority leader--

     to fulfill your promise to lead on climate, starting with 
     denying approvals for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, rejecting 
     all new federal fossil fuel leases onshore, in the Gulf of 
     Mexico, in Alaska, and everywhere else, and preventing any 
     fast-tracked permits for fossil fuel projects.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
the letter by these 360 environmental groups written on July 29.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                    July 29, 2022.
     Re Hold the line against fossil fuel expansion.

       Dear President Biden and Majority Leader Schumer: As 
     frontline communities and organizations with millions of 
     members and supporters, we thank you for your tireless 
     efforts to secure a climate deal with meaningful renewable 
     energy investments. At the same time, we respectfully urge 
     you to reject any handouts to the fossil fuel industry. Put 
     simply: you cannot address the climate emergency by 
     sacrificing communities, expanding fossil fuel production and 
     embracing fossil fuel industry scams like carbon capture, 
     fossil fuel hydrogen, and carbon offsets.
       Any approval of new fossil fuel projects or fast-tracking 
     of fossil fuel permitting is incompatible with climate 
     leadership. Oil, gas and coal production are the core drivers 
     of the climate and extinction crises. There can be no new 
     fossil fuel leases, exports, or infrastructure if we have any 
     hope of preventing ever-worsening climate crises, 
     catastrophic floods, deadly wildfires, and more--all of which 
     are ripping across the country as we speak. We are out of 
     time. Therefore, we're calling on you to fulfill your promise 
     to lead on climate, starting with denying approvals for the 
     Mountain Valley Pipeline, rejecting all new federal fossil 
     fuel leases onshore, in the Gulf of Mexico, in Alaska, and 
     everywhere else, and preventing any fast-tracked permits for 
     fossil fuel projects.
       Permitting new fossil fuel projects will further entrench 
     us in a fossil fuel economy for decades to come--and 
     constitutes a violent betrayal of your pledge to combat 
     environmental racism and destruction. Today's high gasoline 
     and energy prices cannot be solved with promises of future 
     oil and gas production. Climate chaos harms every person in 
     America, but our communities bear the brunt of the deadly 
     impacts of the toxic fossil fuel industry: primarily 
     Indigenous, Black, Latinx, AAPI and other communities of 
     color, as well as low-wealth communities. Young people, 
     women, and so many others that turned out to elect you and 
     gave you your mandate to govern need climate hope, not 
     climate setbacks. New fossil fuel projects will also lock 
     workers into a dying industry and delay the growth in sectors 
     that will support jobs of the future.
       Critically, none of these negotiations affect the need for 
     President Biden to immediately declare a climate emergency 
     and use his existing authority to reject fossil fuel 
     projects. Declaring a climate emergency will unlock President 
     Biden's full set of powers to not only release Defense 
     funding to build renewable and just energy systems, but also 
     confront fossil fuels head-on by stopping crude oil exports. 
     With non-emergency powers, President Biden can reject new oil 
     and gas leases, and deny all fossil fuel infrastructure that 
     harms countless communities across the country. Unleashing 
     executive powers should be pursued in concert with--and not 
     instead of--passing critical climate legislation, and vice 
     versa.

[[Page S3997]]

       We respectfully implore you to hold the line against any 
     new fossil fuel projects, reject handouts to oil and gas 
     companies, and use every tool available to advance a truly 
     just, renewable energy future that does not sacrifice our 
     communities.
           Sincerely,
       A Community Voice; Act for the Earth of Unity Church 
     Unitarian; Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE); Active San 
     Gabriel Valley; AFGE Local 704; Alabama Interfaith Power & 
     Light; All Our Energy; Allamakee County Protectors--Education 
     Campaign; Alliance for a Green Economy; Alliance for 
     Affordable Energy; Amazon Watch; American Friends Service 
     Committee; American Jewish World Service; Animals Are 
     Sentient Beings Inc; Anthropocene Alliance; Association of 
     Young Americans (AYA); Azul; Ban Single Use Plastics; Beacon 
     UU Congregation in Summit; Bergen County Immigration Strategy 
     Group.
       Berks Gas Truth; Between the Waters; Beyond Extreme Energy; 
     Beyond Plastics; Big Reuse; Black Millennials 4 Flint; Black 
     Warrior Riverkeeper; Bold Alliance; Breast Cancer Action; 
     Bronx Greens/Green Party of NY; Bronx Jews for Climate 
     Action; California Communities Against Toxics; Californians 
     for Western Wilderness; Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation of 
     Texas; CASE; Center for Biological Diversity; Center for 
     International Environmental Law; Central Jersey Coalition 
     Against Endless War; CERBAT; Change Begins With ME 
     (Indivisible).
       Chapel Hill Organization for Clean Energy; Cheyenne River 
     Grassroots Collective; Chicago Area Peace Action (CAPA); 
     Christians For The Mountains; Church Women United in New York 
     State; Citizens Action Coalition of IN; Citizens Awareness 
     Network; Citizens' Resistance at Fermi Two (CRAFT); Clean Air 
     Coalition of Albany County; Clean Energy Action; Climate and 
     Community Project; Climate Hawks Vote; Climate Justice 
     Alliance; ClimateMama; Coal River Mountain Watch; Coalition 
     Against Death Alley; Coalition Against Pilgrim Pipeline--NJ; 
     Coalition for Outreach, Policy & Education; Code Red Hudson 
     Highlands; CODEPINK; CODEPINK Golden Gate Chapter.
       Colorado Dem. Party--Energy and Environment Initiative; 
     Common Ground Relief; Common Ground Rising; Community for 
     Sustainable Energy; Community Health; Community Of Living 
     Traditions, Inc.; Concerned Citizens of Charles City County; 
     Concerned Health Professionals of New York; Concerned Health 
     Professionals of Pennsylvania; Crockett Rodeo United to 
     Defend the Environment; CURE (Clean Up the River 
     Environment); Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action; DC 
     Environmental Network; Democracy Out Loud; Democratic 
     Socialists of America--Knoxville TN; Des Moines County 
     Farmers and Neighbors for Optimal Health; Direct Action 
     Everywhere; Don't Gas the Meadowlands Coalition; Earth Care 
     Alliance, Sonoma Valley.
       Earth Ethics, Inc.; Earthworks; East Bay Community Solar 
     Project; East End Action Network.; Eco-Eating; Ecoaction 
     Committee of the Green Party of the United States; 
     EcoPoetry.org; Eight Rivers Council; Elders Climate Action; 
     Elders Climate Action--Arizona Chapter; Elders Climate Action 
     FL Chapter; Elmirans & Friends Against Fracking; Emerson 
     Unitarian Universalist Church; Empower Our Future; Endangered 
     Species Coalition; Environmental Concerns Committee, Kendal 
     at Oberlin; EnvironmentaLEE; EOF; Extinction Rebellion 
     Austin; Extinction Rebellion Delaware; Extinction Rebellion 
     San Francisco Bay Area; Extinction Rebellion Seattle; FACTS-
     Families Advocating for Chemical and Toxics Safety; Fairbanks 
     Climate Action Coalition; Farmworker Association of Florida; 
     Feminists in Action Los Angeles; Fieldstones; First Unitarian 
     Universalist Church of Austin Social Action Committee; First 
     Wednesdays San Leandro; Florida Springs Council; Florida 
     Student Power Network; Food & Water Watch; Fossil Free 
     Tompkins; Fox Valley Citizens for Peace & Justice; 
     FracTracker Alliance; Fridays for Future U.S.; Friends of the 
     Earth; George Mason University Center for Climate Change 
     Communication; Georgia Conservation Voters; Global 
     Development and Environment Institute.
       Global Zero; Good Neighbor Steering Committee of Benicia; 
     Grassroots Global Justice Alliance; Greater Highland Area 
     Concerned Citizens; Greater New Orleans Climate Reality 
     Project; Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance; Greater New 
     Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition; Green Education and 
     Legal Fund; Green Party of Nassau County; Green Party of 
     Onondaga County; Green Sanctuary Committee of the Unitarian 
     Universalist Church of Palo Alto; Green State Solutions; 
     GreenFaith; GreenLatinos; Greenpeace USA; Greenvest; Hair on 
     Fire Oregon; Healthy Gulf; Healthy Ocean Coalition; 
     Heartwood.
       Hells Kitchen Democrats; Honor the Earth; Humboldt 
     Unitarian Universalist Fellowship's Climate Action Campaign; 
     Ikiya Collective; Inclusive Louisiana; Indigenous 
     Environmental Network; Indigenous Lifeways; Indivisible 
     Howard County MD; Indivisible San Jose; Institute for 
     Agriculture and Trade Policy; Institute for Policy Studies 
     Climate Policy Program; Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary; 
     Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary--Loreto Generalate; 
     Integrated Community Solutions, Inc; Interfaith EarthKeepers; 
     International Student Environmental Coalition; 
     Intheshadowofthewolf; Iowa Citizens for Community 
     Improvement; Ironbound Community Corporation; John Muir 
     Project of Earth Island Institute.
       Just Transition Alliance; Kickapoo Peace Circle; KyotoUSA; 
     La Mesa Boricua de Florida; Larimer Alliance for Health, 
     Safety and Environment; Lisa Hecht & Associates, LLC; 
     Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN); Locust Point 
     Community Garden; Long Island Activists; Long Island Network 
     for Change; Los Padres ForestWatch; Louisiana League of 
     Conscious Voters; Louisiana Progress; Marlborough Democratic 
     Committee; Maryland Ornithological Society; Mazaska Talks; 
     Media Alliance; Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP); 
     Mental Health & Inclusion Ministries; Michigan Environmental 
     Justice Coalition; Mid-Missouri Peaceworks; Mid-Ohio Valley 
     Climate Action; Milwaukee Riverkeeper; Mississippi Rising 
     Coalition; MN Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance; 
     MN350.
       Montana Environmental Information Center; Mothers Out 
     Front; Mountain Valley Watch; Movement Rights; Nassau County 
     Democratic Socialists of America; Nassau Hiking & Outdoor 
     Club; Native Movement; Nature Coast Conservation, Inc; NC 
     WARN; NCEA; NDN Collective; NELA Climate Collective; New 
     Energy Economy; New Paltz Climate Action Coalition; New World 
     Believers; New York Communities for Change; Nicaragua Center 
     for Community Action; North American Climate, Conservation 
     and Environment; North Country Earth Action; North Country 
     Light Brigade; Northeast Oregon Ecosystems; Novasutras; 
     Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS); Nuclear 
     Information and Resource Service; Nurture The Children; 
     NYCD16 Indivisible.
       NYPAN Greene/NYPAN Enviro; Occidental Arts and Ecology 
     Center; Occupy Biden; Ohio Poor People's Campaign; Oil Change 
     International; Organized Uplifting Strategies & Resources; 
     Our Climate; Our Revolution; Our Revolution New Jersey; 
     Pantsuit Nation Long Island; Paradise Las Vegas Indivisible; 
     Pasifika Uprising; Pass the federal green new deal; Pax 
     Christi USA, New Orleans/Vets For Peace; Peace Action 
     Wisconsin; Peace, Justice, Sustainability NOW; Pelican Media; 
     Pennsylvania Council of Churches; People for a Healthy 
     Environment; People Over Pipelines; Physicians for Social 
     Responsibility; Physicians for Social Responsibility 
     Pennsylvania; Plastic Pollution Coalition; Pollution Free 
     Society; Port Arthur Community Action Network; Preserve Bent 
     Mountain; Preserve Giles County; Preserve Monroe (WV).
       Preserve Montgomery County VA; Progressive Democrats of 
     Benicia (CA); Property Rights and Pipeline Center; Protect 
     All Children's Environment; Protect Our Commonwealth; Protect 
     Our Water Heritage Rights (POWHR); Protecting Our Waters; 
     Pueblo Action Alliance; Putnam Progressives; Residents Allied 
     for the Future of Tioga (RAFT); Resist the Pipeline; RESTORE: 
     The North Woods; ReThink Energy Florida, Inc.; Revolving Door 
     Project; Rise St. James; Rivers & Mountains GreenFaith 
     Circle; Rockaway Women for Progress; San Francisco Bay 
     Physicians for Social Responsibility; Santa Barbara Urban 
     Creeks Council; Santa Clara Sunrise.
       Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce; SAVE THE FROGS!; Save 
     the Pine bush; SaveRGV; Scientist Rebellion; Scientist 
     Rebellion, Turtle Island; Seneca Lake Guardian; Sheffield 
     Saves; Shelby County Lead Prevention & Sustainability 
     Commission; Sisters of St. Dominic of Blauvelt, New York; 
     Sisters of St. Joseph of Rochester Justice & Peace Office; 
     Social Justice Ministry of Live Oak Unitarian Universalist 
     Congregation; Society of Fearless Grandmothers; Society of 
     Native Nations; Solar Wind Works; South Asian Fund For 
     Education Scholarship and Training Inc; South Shore Audubon 
     Society; SouthEnd Charlton-Pollard GHCA; Southwest Organizing 
     Project; Sowing Justice.
       Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion; Suffolk 
     Progressives; Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development; 
     Summers County Residents Against the Pipeline; Sunrise 
     Movement; Sunrise Movement Houston; Sunrise New Orleans; 
     Sunrise NYC; Sunrise San Diego; Susanne Moser Research & 
     Consulting; Sustainable Arizona; Sustainable Mill Valley; 
     Syracuse Cultural Workers; Syracuse Peace Council; Tapestry 
     UU Church of Houston; Taproot Earth; Terra Advocati; Texas 
     Campaign for the Environment; Texas Climate Emergency; Texas 
     Grassroots Network.
       Texas Permian For Future Generations; The CLEO Institute; 
     The Climate Mobilization; The Consoria; The Last Plastic 
     Straw; The People's Justice Council; The Shalom Center; The 
     Shame Free Zone; Third Act Virginia; Thomas Berry Forum for 
     Ecological Dialogue at Iona University; Thrive at Life: 
     Working Solutions; TIAA-DIVEST!; Together We Will Long 
     Island; tUrn Climate Crisis Awareness and Action; Turtle 
     Island Restoration Network; Ulster Activists; Unitarian 
     Universalist Action of New Hampshire; Unitarian Universalist 
     Association; Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley; 
     Unitarian Universalist Church of the Brazos Valley.
       Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; Unitarian 
     Universalists for a Just Economic Community; Unitarian 
     Universalists for Social Justice; Unite North Metro Denver; 
     United Native Americans; United Women in Faith; Uranium 
     Watch; Urban Ocean Lab; UU Fellowship of Corvallis Climate 
     Action Team; UUFHCT; ValuesAdvisor; Veterans for Climate 
     Justice; vfp#35; Virginia Pipeline Resisters; Vote Climate; 
     Wall of Women; Warehouse Workers for Justice; Water is Life

[[Page S3998]]

     Walks & Nurture The Children; Waterspirit; Waterway 
     Advocates.
       West Dryden Residents Against the Pipeline; WildEarth 
     Guardians; WILPF; Wisconsin Health Professionals for Climate 
     Action; Women's Earth and Climate Action Network; Women's 
     International League for Peace and Freedom-Triangle Branch; 
     WV Mountain PaRTY; Youth Vs Apocalypse; Zero Hour; IL Green 
     New Deal; 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations; 198 
     methods; 350 Bay Area; 350 Bay Area Action; 350 Colorado; 350 
     Conejo/San Fernando Valley; 350 Eugene; 350 Mass; 350 New 
     Hampshire; 350 New Orleans; 350 Santa Barbara; 350 Seattle; 
     350 Silicon Valley; 350 Tacoma; 350 Triangle; 350 Wisconsin; 
     350.org; 350NYC; 7 Directions of Service.
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, here is what the Center for Biological 
Diversity had to say on this bill:

       This is a climate suicide pact. It's self-defeating to 
     handcuff renewable energy development to massive new oil and 
     gas extraction. The new leasing required in this bill will 
     fan the flames of the climate disasters torching our country, 
     and it's a slap in the face to the communities fighting to 
     protect themselves from filthy fossil fuels.

  In my view, we have got to do everything possible to take on the 
greed of the fossil fuel industry, not give billions of dollars in 
corporate welfare to an industry that has been actively destroying our 
planet. And I will be introducing an amendment to do just that.
  Finally, this bill has a tax provision in it. Under this bill, 
corporations will be required to pay a minimum tax of 15 percent. That 
is good news because we have many, many large, profitable corporations 
in this country, including companies like AT&T, Federal Express, and 
Nike, which, in a given year, make billions in profit and don't pay a 
nickel in Federal income tax. This provision has been estimated to 
raise $313 billion over the next decade.
  Further, under this bill, the IRS will finally begin to receive the 
funding that it needs to audit wealthy tax cheats. Each and every year, 
the top 1 percent are able to avoid paying more than $160 billion in 
taxes that they legally owe because the IRS does not have the resources 
or staffing they need to conduct audits of the extremely wealthy. This 
bill will begin to change that.
  This bill would also make very modest changes to the so-called 
carried interest loophole that has allowed billionaire hedge fund 
managers on Wall Street to pay a lower tax rate than a nurse, a 
teacher, or a firefighter, and that is a good thing.
  But the bad news is that this bill does nothing to repeal the Trump 
tax breaks that went to the very wealthy and large corporations. 
Trump's 2017 tax bill provided over a trillion dollars in tax breaks to 
the top 1 percent and large corporations, and this bill does nothing to 
repeal that.
  Let's not forget, it is very likely that Congress will be doing a so-
called tax extenders bill at the end of this year that could provide 
corporations up to $400 billion over the next decade in new tax breaks. 
If that occurs, that would more than offset the $313 billion in 
corporate revenue included in this bill.
  So that is where we are today. This legislation virtually ignores 
every major crisis facing working families who are struggling so very 
hard to stay alive today. It ignores childcare, pre-K, the expansion of 
Medicare, affordable housing, home healthcare, higher education, 
raising the minimum wage, and more. It ignores all of those issues.
  This is legislation, which at a time of massive profits in the 
pharmaceutical industry, takes a very modest step, which goes into 
effect 4 years from now, to lower or control the price of medicine.
  So this bill has, as I have indicated, some good and important 
provisions. At the same time, it has some pretty bad provisions, 
including massive giveaways to the fossil fuel industry.
  This is a bill of more than 700 pages, which was made public after a 
number of months of secret negotiations. In my view, now is the time 
for every Member of the Senate to study this bill thoroughly and to 
come up with amendments and ideas as to how we can improve it, and I 
intend to play an active role in that process.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________