[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 131 (Thursday, August 4, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4003-S4013]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

                                 ______
                                 

  PROVIDING FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL UNDER CHAPTER 8 OF TITLE 5, 
      UNITED STATES CODE, OF THE RULE SUBMITTED BY THE COUNCIL ON 
 ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY RELATING TO ``NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT 
                  IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS REVISIONS''

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the 
Senate will proceed to consideration of S.J. Res. 55, which the clerk 
will report.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A joint resolution (S.J. Res. 55) providing for 
     congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United 
     States Code, of the rule submitted by the Council on 
     Environmental Quality relating to ``National Environmental 
     Policy Act Implementing Regulations Revisions''.


                   Recognition of the Minority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader is 
recognized.


                          Flooding in Kentucky

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Kentucky officials are working 
literally overtime to deliver supplies to those affected by ongoing 
flooding. Heat and humidity are rising to dangerous levels in the areas 
that still lack power.
  My team is helping coordinate relief efforts in any way we can. With 
the Senate still in session, my State director joined the Kentucky 
National

[[Page S4004]]

Guard yesterday as they distributed food and water to displaced 
residents.
  Many of the roads in Eastern Kentucky are still impassable, so the 
Kentucky National Guard is flying dozens of helicopter missions daily 
to drop water, MREs, and vital supplies to Kentuckians in remote areas 
of our State. My State director was on board as they flew over flooded 
roadways and homes to visit the community centers operating as supply 
hubs in areas isolated by rising water. The landings are difficult, 
sometimes nearly impossible, but the heroes of the Kentucky National 
Guard will do whatever it takes to reach those stranded by the floods.
  And that is just one part of the flurry of activity. Emergency 
responders have deployed boats and trucks across the affected region. 
In Buckhorn, residents are even loading up horses to take supplies to 
areas where the roads are literally washed out. It is truly, truly 
heroic work.
  This emergency is far from over, but when their neighbors are in 
need, Kentuckians will always help other Kentuckians. I will visit the 
region myself soon to survey the damage and help with relief efforts. 
While here in Washington, I remain in close contact with those who are 
out on the ground.
  I am grateful to everyone for taking on the colossal task of 
providing for Kentucky amid this disaster.


      Remembering Jackie Walorski, Emma Thomson, and Zachery Potts

  Mr. President, now on another sad note, yesterday, Congress was 
shaken by the news that a tragic automobile accident had killed 
Congresswoman Jackie Walorski and three others, including Emma Thomson 
and Zachery Potts, members of her staff.
  Our former colleague here in the Capitol was back home among her 
fellow Hoosiers in Indiana's Second District, in circumstances that are 
familiar to each of us: long days on the road with trusted aides, 
meeting with the people we represent.
  By all accounts, Congresswoman Walorski had two stellar young people 
by her side.
  At 27, Zach was already a 7-year veteran of her team, having served 
as both campaign manager and district director.
  Emma, her 28-year-old communications director, was already a Capitol 
Hill veteran, whose ``intelligence'' and ``drive,'' one former boss 
described as ``second-to-none.''
  The last day's outpourings of grief and admiration demonstrate just 
how great a hole Jackie Walorski is leaving behind among her friends 
here in the Capitol. They marveled at both her tremendous personal 
kindness and her fierce advocacy for the families she represented.
  I had the personal pleasure of breaking bread with Congresswoman 
Walorski several years ago and looked forward to every time that our 
paths would actually cross.
  According to those who knew Jackie best, her infectious passion and 
boundless energy for service were rooted in the faith that guided her 
entire life. That faith also led her and her beloved husband Dean to 
found a charity and to spend years living and serving needy people in 
Romania.
  Today, we trust that this faith has reunited our colleague with her 
eternal Father, and we pray that He will comfort Dean, all her family 
and friends, and those who mourn Zach and Emma, in these terrible days.


                              S.J. Res. 55

  Mr. President, later today, the Senate will vote on a resolution to 
peel back a significant layer of regulatory redtape that has been 
causing headaches all across our country.
  Thanks to the leadership of the junior Senator from Alaska, this 
resolution would overturn a Biden administration action that aims to 
give the Federal Government even more authority to slow and stall 
critical infrastructure projects.
  For years, our Republican government made headway in rolling back 
some of the countless roadblocks liberal bureaucrats have put in the 
path of new highways, bridges, and pipelines. We took big bites out of 
the bloated permitting process, and, just last year, Republicans 
ensured that bipartisan infrastructure legislation included clear 
limits designed to speed up Federal permitting reviews.
  But earlier this year, the President fired off a far-left Executive 
action that directly contradicted some of that bipartisan headway. 
Catering to radical environmentalists, the new Biden rule reinstates 
sweeping jurisdiction for Federal bureaucrats to slow down all sorts of 
critical infrastructure. This Democratic action is taking a process 
that is already known for years-long waiting periods and multihundred-
page Federal reports and actually making it worse.
  Every single Senate Republican is proud to cosponsor Senator 
Sullivan's resolution. The future of our infrastructure needs at least 
one Democrat to see the light as well.


                               Inflation

  Mr. President, now on one final matter, a year and a half ago, every 
Senate Democrat cast the deciding vote for a $1.9 trillion disaster 
that caused the worst inflation in 40 years.
  Democrats have crushed working families with runaway prices. More 
than 80 percent of the country says our economy is in bad shape. 
President Biden's approval on the economy is down to 30 percent and 
falling. By the traditional rule of thumb, our country is now in a 
recession, and a supermajority of Americans are aware of it.
  American families are crying out for relief, but Democrats have 
decided to spend hundreds of billions of dollars of the people's money 
on a bill that laughs at the people's priorities.
  Americans say their No. 1 concern is inflation and the cost of 
living. So here is what the Democrats' taxing-and-spending spree would 
accomplish on that issue: It would make inflation worse over the next 
few years and then do nothing to cut inflation in the long term.
  Even the Democrats' favorite estimates say that their bill would take 
9 years--9 years--to subtract the amount of inflation we have been 
adding every single week.

  I will say that again. Even the Democrats' favorite estimates say 
their bill would take 9 years--9--to subtract the amount of inflation 
we have been adding every single week.
  After inflation, in particular, another huge group of Americans say 
that their biggest issue is the overall state of the economy in 
general, and here is what Democrats want to accomplish on that subject. 
They want to ram through giant new tax hikes in the middle of the 
recession--new multihundred-billion-dollar tax hikes on American jobs 
that specifically target the manufacturing sector, leaving Americans 
with fewer jobs and lower wages; new tax hikes on American natural gas 
and crude oil, higher fees for producing energy on Federal land--
leaving Americans with higher electric bills, higher utility bills, 
higher gas prices, and more dependence on foreign countries that don't 
like us.
  In a time of inflation, Democrats also want to spend $80 billion to 
roughly double the size of the IRS so they can shake more money out of 
the American people through harassment and audits--using taxpayer money 
to make taxpayers' lives worse.
  So what do Democrats want to do with all the money they want to drain 
out of Americans' pockets in the midst of this recession? They want to 
lavish hundreds of billions of dollars on an issue that exactly 3 
percent of the country says is our biggest problem: far-left 
environmental and climate spending.
  American families have been hemorrhaging financially for a year and a 
half. Working people can barely tread water. And the Democrats' focus 
is Green New Deal nonsense that only 3 percent of the country wants 
prioritized, big subsidies to help rich people to buy luxury cars and 
new stoves, taxpayer funding for environmental protesters--a huge 
catalog of nonsense that would not put a dent in global emissions, 
while countries like China continue to emit more and more.
  So I dare any of our Democratic colleagues to walk up to a working-
class American on the street and ask them what the government ought to 
spend hundreds of billions of dollars on.
  Well, first off, in a time of inflation, they would probably tell 
them not to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in the first place. 
But I doubt a single American worker or middle-class parent would say: 
You know what? My top priorities are doubling the size of the IRS and 
giving my boss a government kickback if he buys an $80,000 electric 
car.
  Do you know a single normal American family that is clamoring for 
this

[[Page S4005]]

nonsense? Americans want lower prices. They want border security. They 
want more police and public safety. Americans don't want tens of 
thousands more IRS agents. They want more Border Patrol and ICE agents. 
Americans don't want Democrats to regulate us into an even deeper 
recession. They want liberals to let police officers bring law and 
order back to our streets.
  Democrats want to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on a 3-
percent issue while they completely neglect crime and border security 
and make inflation and the recession even worse.
  Democrats are catastrophically out of touch with what American 
families actually do care about. Their approval ratings show it, and 
their reckless taxing-and-spending spree proves it as well.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.


                   Recognition of the Majority Leader

  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.


                     Nomination of Roopali H. Desai

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, today the Senate will continue fulfilling 
its constitutional duty to confirm the President's highly qualified 
judicial nominees.
  This afternoon, we will vote to confirm the 76th Federal judge since 
the beginning of President Biden's term, Roopali Desai, nominated to 
serve as a circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit.
  Not long ago, a nominee like Ms. Desai would have been rarely seen in 
the Senate. But under President Biden, the Senate is confirming more 
and more nominees who break away from that norm. Over 75 percent of 
President Biden's nominees are women and nearly half are women are 
color. Let's not forget the bench. People say: Why shouldn't it be the 
same percentage of the population? That is what we are trying to get 
to, but we are way behind and putting more women and people of color on 
the bench gets those percentages a little closer to the American norm, 
but we have a ways to go.
  Moreover, Ms. Desai will make history as the first South Asian judge 
to serve on the Ninth Circuit and only the fifth AAPI woman ever to sit 
on the Federal Circuit Court.
  Ms. Desai's resume leaves no doubt she merits confirmation: a 
graduate of Arizona School of Law; a clerk for Judge Mary Schroeder, 
the first woman to ever serve as a Ninth Circuit chief judge. She has 
excelled in every step of her legal career. She is one of Arizona's top 
election lawyers, having played a crucial role in protecting her 
State's elections in 2020. She has fought for everyone from children in 
foster care to children in public schools during the pandemic.
  As my Arizona colleagues Senator Sinema and Senator Kelly will attest 
to, Ms. Desai is deeply respected by all corners of Arizona's legal 
community and will make an excellent judge when we confirm her later 
today.


                         Senate Accomplishments

  Mr. President, Senate Democrats are getting things done. This has 
been one of the most productive stretches the Senate has seen in recent 
times.
  In the past few months, we have seen an amazing string of 
achievements passed through this Chamber in extremely fast succession: 
the first major gun safety bill in 30 years, the largest investment in 
American manufacturing and science in a generation, the largest expanse 
of veterans' benefits in decades. And just last night, we strengthened 
NATO by approving the accession of Sweden and Finland, sending Russia a 
signal that they cannot intimidate America or Europe. Gun safety, 
CHIPS, PACT, NATO--getting any one of these accomplishments done is a 
significant feat for the Senate. The fact is, we have done them all 
since Memorial Day, and that is quite remarkable.
  This doesn't even include a once-in-a-generation infrastructure bill, 
a historic rescue package to vaccinate the Nation and lift America out 
of the pandemic, and the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the 
first Black woman to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
  I always said that when the opportunity arises, Democrats would be 
ready to work with our Republican colleagues on important legislation, 
and many of the accomplishments I have listed are examples of just 
that. But when we must, Democrats have also made clear we are ready to 
go at it alone to deliver big things that the American people sent us 
here to work on, like fighting inflation and lowering healthcare and 
prescription drug costs; like holding drug companies accountable and 
making Big Business play by the rules, the same rules as everyone else; 
like passing historic investments in clean energy to create millions of 
good-paying jobs and make energy more affordable for American families.


                    Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

  Mr. President, Democrats are going to deliver on all these things and 
more when we pass the Inflation Reduction Act in coming days.
  Let me talk a little bit about the Inflation Reduction Act. Soon the 
Senate will vote on this groundbreaking legislation. I expect we will 
have some late nights and extended debates here on the floor. But in 
the end, we are going to make good on our word to pass the Inflation 
Reduction Act.
  For years, many in Washington have promised to tackle some of the 
biggest challenges facing our Nation only to fall short. But with the 
Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Democrats will finally hold drug 
companies accountable and make prescription drugs cheaper.
  Senate Democrats will lower energy costs while passing the largest 
investment in clean energy ever. Our clean energy proposals will reduce 
air pollution, prevent thousands of needless deaths each year, and 
reduce asthma attacks by about 100,000 per year. We have all seen kids, 
often in poor neighborhoods, struggling with asthma because they have 
so much pollution put in their areas by transportation and factories 
and whatever. Reducing that by 100,000 a year is amazing.
  Senate Democrats will also close tax loopholes and reduce the 
deficits and will ensure that no small business or family under 
$400,000 a year will see their taxes go up. Leader McConnell, himself, 
conceded yesterday that our proposal ``includes no new tax rate 
increases, that's true.'' Those are McConnell's words: ``includes no 
new tax rate increases, that's true.'' Let me repeat that again. Leader 
McConnell concedes that now the Inflation Reduction Act includes no new 
tax rate increases.
  The American people overwhelmingly support these steps. A recent poll 
by the well-respected Navigator shows 65 percent of Americans approve 
of our plan to reduce drug prices, keep premiums low, and invest in 
clean energy. A Morning Consult poll found that over 70 percent of 
Americans--over 70 percent--support letting Medicare negotiate 
prescription drug prices, which our plan will do. Another group, Data 
for Progress, found the Inflation Reduction Act has a net approval of 
51 points--51 points--wow.

  It is not hard to understand why Americans feel this way. Democrats' 
agenda prioritizes them. We prioritize the middle class and working 
families instead of those at the very top. God bless them; they are 
doing fine.
  But when Senate Republicans had the majority, they tried to rip 
healthcare away from millions of Americans and blew a $2 trillion hole 
in our deficit in order to soak the ultrarich with massive tax cuts.
  Just this week, one Republican called for ending the days that 
Medicare and Social Security are guaranteed by turning them into 
discretionary spending. Do you know what that means when we make things 
discretionary? Do we want to tell our senior citizens that your Social 
Security, which you paid into, was discretionary? That is what Senator 
Johnson from Wisconsin wants to do. That is so wrong. But, 
unfortunately, it represents a lot of the views of lots of Republicans 
who don't want to say it publicly because they know it is so unpopular.
  Back in February--listen to this one--the chair of the Republican 
Senate Campaign Arm, the junior Senator from Florida, released a 
platform for raising taxes not on the wealthy but on millions of low-
income Americans. You can't make this stuff up.

[[Page S4006]]

  They want to make your Social Security discretionary but then want to 
raise your taxes. What kind of bull is that?
  Just listen to this tsunami of disastrous proposals: taking away 
people's healthcare, tax cuts for the rich, putting Medicare and Social 
Security on the chopping block, raising taxes on working Americans. 
These are just some of the things that Senate Republicans have openly 
called for recently.
  Democrats' agenda is something entirely different. The Inflation 
Reduction Act will lower inflation, lower the cost of prescription 
drugs, close loopholes long exploited by Big Business that pays no or 
little taxes. That is what the Inflation Reduction Act is at its core.
  It is what the American people want; it is what the country so 
desperately needs; and it is what Democrats will deliver on in the 
coming days.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Maryland.


                    Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. President, I was just listening to the majority 
leader outline some of the disastrous policies that Republicans have 
proposed to make, including putting Medicare on the chopping block by 
making it discretionary.
  I want to talk a little bit about the good things that Democrats have 
done, some on a bipartisan basis and some which it looks like we are 
going to have to do alone for the American people. In just the last few 
weeks, this U.S. Senate has made historic progress tackling a number of 
very real and very urgent challenges that our country faces.
  We passed the first major gun reform bill in 30 years. We passed 
historic legislation to boost American manufacturing of essential 
semiconductor chips--important to our economy and our national 
security. We passed the PACT Act so that veterans exposed to toxins 
will get the care they deserve. Just yesterday, we voted to admit 
Finland and Sweden as new members of NATO, therefore expanding and 
strengthening the Atlantic alliance in the face of Putin's brutal war 
against Ukraine.
  These are major accomplishments, but now is not the time to rest on 
our laurels, now is not the time to coast, because we have to do 
everything we can to fight back against rising prices, against 
inflation, which has been driven in recent months by what I call the 
three p's: Putin's war and its impact on energy and food prices; the 
pandemic and the supply chain disruptions it has caused; and price 
gouging by big oil companies that are reaping record profits. Those 
have been big drivers of inflation.
  I have listened to my Republican Senate colleagues here on the floor 
week after week trying to exploit inflation as a campaign issue, as if 
it were all caused by the policies of President Biden. The American 
people know much better. They also know that while Republicans are 
talking up inflation and talking down the economy, we in the Democratic 
majority had a plan to do something about rising costs, and it is 
called the Inflation Reduction Act.
  In coming days, we are going to be voting on that, and I hope--I 
hope--our Republican colleagues will have a change of heart, at least 
some of them, because here is the bottom line: The Inflation Reduction 
Act will drive down prices over time, it will reduce the deficit, and 
it will do that without raising taxes on anyone making under $400,000 a 
year, not by one dime. It does all that while addressing four major 
issues facing our country: the need to lower healthcare costs, the need 
to address the climate crisis, the need to fix parts of our broken tax 
system--this is a start on that--and reducing the deficit.
  First, on healthcare, all of us in this Chamber have known that the 
costs of prescription drugs in the United States are way too high, out 
of control. Our constituents--Americans--pay twice as much on 
prescription drugs as people in other advanced economies around the 
world. And it is not just squeezing people's pocketbooks--that, of 
course, hurts--it is also jeopardizing their health.
  If you look at the 2022 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, they 
found that nearly one in three adults reported that they had not taken 
their medications as prescribed due to cost. They were too expensive. 
They couldn't afford them. That financial pressure is hard on 
everybody. It is especially so on many of our seniors. Nearly 9 in 10 
older adults take prescription medication, but millions of Americans 65 
and older say they struggle to afford their medicine.
  Here is what adds insult to injury: American taxpayers spend over $40 
billion every year to support cutting-edge medical research happening 
at the National Institutes of Health in my State of Maryland. That is a 
great investment for our country. It helps discover and it helps 
develop and produce many of the life-changing medications that are 
available to American families today and to people around the world. 
But it is just not right for American taxpayers to invest $40 billion a 
year in developing drugs that are then sold by American pharmaceutical 
companies here in the United States for two, three, four times as much 
as they are sold overseas.
  People throughout the world benefit from the great research done at 
places like NIH, and they pay lower costs on the medicines developed 
from that research than Americans who helped fund the research in the 
first place. That is just not right. That is why the Inflation 
Reduction Act finally empowers the Medicare Program to negotiate prices 
with the pharmaceutical industry. Private insurance companies negotiate 
volume discounts every day, all the time, to try to get a better deal 
for their members. Why should we tie the hands of the Medicare Program?
  I say ``finally'' because the Presiding Officer and I and many others 
in this Chamber have worked for not just 1 or 2 years but for decades 
to try to achieve this, and every time, the pharmaceutical industry has 
succeeded in blocking it because if you take away the power of Medicare 
to negotiate drug prices, it means they get to write the bill 
themselves. So this is important.
  It is also accompanied by a cap on Medicare Part D out-of-pocket 
spending to $2,000 a year.
  Last but not least, this legislation extends the important work we 
achieved through the American Rescue Plan to lower the healthcare costs 
for people who get their insurance through the affordable care 
exchanges. In my State, Marylanders are saving an average of $80 every 
month on their healthcare premiums because of that provision from the 
American Rescue Plan, which this bill will extend for 3 more years.
  We are joined in this effort by a vast coalition of Americans who 
have been pushing for years to address prescription drug prices, 
including AARP and its 38 million members who support this bill.
  Meanwhile, we have seen some billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies 
pouring their profits into negative ads to try to defeat this bill. In 
fact, just last night, I saw two or three of them within the space of 
about an hour as I was flipping channels at home. But I think the 
country is pretty clear on what is at stake here. On the one hand, you 
have tens and tens of millions of Americans who will benefit from 
lowering the costs of prescription drugs. Yet you have Big Pharma 
trying to maintain this privileged position where we don't have to 
negotiate with them in order to boost their profits.
  So let's be clear on what we are going to do. We are going to allow 
Medicare to negotiate prices, and that will lower the costs for 
seniors. We are capping out-of-pocket spending for seniors. We are 
making it more affordable to get health insurance through the 
Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Yet, right now, as of today, we have 
every one of our Republicans voting no.
  When I go around Maryland, this is not a party or a partisan issue. 
All of my constituents want us to take this action. The same is true of 
climate change. Most Americans, regardless of party, recognize the very 
real harm caused by climate change. They just have to look around them 
or turn on the news. But apparently, when you enter the Senate 
Republican Cloakroom, you go into a science-free and fact-free zone. 
Many of our colleagues still doubt the fact of human-caused climate 
change. But that is out of touch with the American people, who see the 
harm every day and also see the promise of developing a clean energy 
industry.

[[Page S4007]]

  That is why our legislation makes this big investment in more rapidly 
deploying clean energy technology, and in doing so, we are projected to 
cut U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases by 40 
percent by 2030. We should move even faster, but at least this gets us 
in the game to hitting the targets that we have to. We will do that 
while supercharging the development, manufacturing, and deployment of 
wind, solar, and battery power.

  I want to talk about a couple of provisions in this bill--there are 
many--a couple that I have worked on over the years.
  First, this bill includes what is called the Greenhouse Gas Reduction 
Fund, $27 billion, some of which could support a national climate bank, 
which is an initiative I have been working on since my time in the 
House of Representatives and now in the Senate with my colleague Ed 
Markey and in the House today with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell.
  A national climate bank would be a magnet for private investment in 
new sustainable technology, channeling more capital into the clean 
energy space and lowering the risk to investors. For every $1 of public 
financing through a national climate bank, we project it will draw in 
$7 to $10 of private investment, to turbocharge investments and jobs in 
clean energy. In addition, it targets a large share of investments to 
low-income and disadvantaged communities that often lack access to 
financing for clean energy and energy efficiency projects.
  This bill also includes another provision I have worked on for a long 
time, the bill I introduced called HOPE for HOMES. I have worked on it 
with a bipartisan group of colleagues in both the House and Senate. In 
the House, that includes Congressman Peter Welch and Congressman  Dave 
McKinley and, here in the Senate, Senator Coons and Senator Shaheen.
  The HOPE for HOMES legislation that has been incorporated into this 
bill will provide Americans with sizable rebates and with tax credits 
to retrofit their homes with clean energy and energy efficiency 
technology. So it will not only help us meet our climate goals and our 
pollution reduction goals, it is also going to save consumers up to 
$750 every year on their heating and cooling bills. So we are going to 
give people a rebate to make their homes more energy efficient, and 
they will save money as a result.
  It also invests in clean energy jobs training so that we have the 
people power to help folks in every neighborhood around the country 
access the help and the workers they need. It is estimated to help 
generate 80,000 jobs over the next couple years in this important area.
  The Inflation Reduction Act also includes major investments to 
develop a clean energy manufacturing base to reduce our reliance on 
foreign imports of clean energy products, including $30 billion in tax 
credits designed to accelerate the manufacturing of solar panels, wind 
turbines, batteries, and critical minerals right here in the United 
States.
  China has made it one of its goals--and they have been very open 
about it--to dominate the clean energy technology space for years to 
come. We need to make sure that we manufacture critical technologies 
and products right here in the United States.
  I want to give you a great example from my State of Maryland, which 
is at the vanguard of a budding offshore wind industry. Right now, we 
have two companies in Maryland--Orsted and U.S. Wind--that are building 
new wind turbine fabrication centers in our State to support their 
offshore wind farms coming to the mid-Atlantic--two major projects off 
Maryland's Atlantic coast.
  The Deputy Secretary of Commerce was just in Baltimore yesterday 
talking about apprenticeship programs that will help support 10,000 
jobs, 10,000 Maryland jobs, as part of this offshore wind 
manufacturing. That is just in the State of Maryland, and we can do 
that across the country in terms of offshore wind in coastal States 
and, of course, interior wind for others.
  These are really important provisions that I have talked about--
fighting the climate crisis, lowering the cost of prescription drugs--
so let's talk about how they are paid for.
  Unlike the Republican tax bill in 2017, which provided huge tax 
giveaways to big corporations and very wealthy individuals, this 
legislation actually will both pay for itself through the cuts made and 
recycled and through fixing parts of our broken tax system. We have a 
lot of work to do to fix our tax system, but this is a downpayment in 
terms of the policy changes in this bill.
  First, we are going to beef up IRS enforcement to go after wealthy 
tax cheats, and this is an important issue. I chair the subcommittee 
that oversees the IRS, and we have been pushing for years to make sure 
that the IRS has the resources and the expertise to track down taxes 
that are already due and owing from very wealthy people who come up 
with elaborate tax dodges.
  Right now, we estimate there is anywhere from $500 billion to $1 
trillion in taxes each year that are owed but not paid. Think about 
that--up to $1 trillion every year in taxes that are owed but not paid, 
and the people who are suckered are all the people who pay when you 
have these very wealthy tax cheats skirting their responsibilities. So 
this bill will address that issue.

  Second, we make sure that big corporations invest in the success of 
everyday Americans. In 2020, 55 huge American corporations paid zero--
zero--in taxes, despite a combined $40.5 billion in profits--$40.5 
billion in profits from these 55 companies; zero taxes paid.
  Small businesses across the country are paying their taxes while some 
of these big corporations are not. That is not fair. It needs to 
change.
  That is why the Inflation Reduction Act includes the 15 percent 
minimum tax on profits of corporations that have over $1 billion in 
annual profits.
  And I want to thank the Presiding Officer for his leadership on this 
issue.
  Third, our legislation would tighten the rules on what is known as 
carried interest, which allows hedge fund managers to pay a lower rate 
on their income than the rate their employees pay on theirs--the 
classic example of how a big hedge fund CEO can pay a lower tax rate 
than their receptionist. This is a fact under our current Tax Code, and 
I hope we will keep this provision in this bill because this loophole, 
the carried interest loophole, is Exhibit A of some of the biggest 
unfairnesses in our Tax Code.
  So taken together, the measures to lower the cost of prescription 
drugs, lower the cost of energy to American households and consumers, 
reduce the deficit--these measures will reduce inflationary pressures 
that are bearing down on working families. You don't have to take my 
word for it. In just the last few days, economists from all over the 
country have spoken out in favor of this approach and supporting this 
legislation.
  One hundred twenty-six leading economists recently wrote to the 
congressional leadership:

       This proposal addresses some of the country's biggest 
     challenges at a significant scale. And because it is deficit-
     reducing, it does so while putting downward pressure on 
     inflation.

  And that is key. Unlike that Republican tax giveaway in 2017 that 
added $2 trillion to our national debt, we are actually reducing our 
deficit, and by reducing the deficit, you also put downward pressure on 
inflation.
  In recent months, I have heard the Republican leader, Senator 
McConnell, often citing former Secretary of Treasury Larry Summers 
about Larry Summers' views on the economy and inflation.
  Well, here is what Larry Summers had to say recently about the bill 
we will be voting on:

       The prescription drug provisions, energy incentives, and 
     the increased Medicare benefits will all contribute over time 
     to much needed inflation reduction.

  And just yesterday, former Secretary Summers was joined by former 
Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, who, of course, served under 
former President George W. Bush, who with other Secretaries wrote:

     . . . we support the Inflation Reduction Act which is 
     financed by prudent tax policy that will collect more from 
     top-earners and large corporations.

  And, again, by using those revenues to reduce the deficit, we put 
downward pressure on inflation.
  I just, as we close here, want to contrast that to the approach that 
Republicans took in 2017 with their tax giveaway.

[[Page S4008]]

  As I said, that ballooned the deficit by $2 trillion. It also handed 
the top 1 percent income earners an average tax cut of $69,000 each in 
2018 alone. So just in 1 year, about a $70,000 tax cut to the top 1 
percent. And the Congressional Budget Office estimated that 43 percent 
of the growth in economic output from the 2017 tax law flowed to 
foreign investors in that space. So foreign investors have holdings in 
U.S. corporations. That tax cut to American corporations--yes, it 
flowed to some very wealthy Americans, but a lot of it flowed offshore 
to foreign investors.
  So what we have seen from our colleagues across the aisle is big tax 
cuts to corporations and the very wealthy, not just here at home but 
benefiting others around the world, in contrast to this, which does ask 
big corporations to pay their fair share--minimum of 15 percent--and 
reduces the deficit as we invest in job creation and reduce prices here 
at home.
  So this is a win for families; it is a win for seniors; it is a win 
for our planet, our economy. It is a win for the country.
  So I hope as this debate goes forward, that we will focus on the 
facts, listen to what it does, because this is a comprehensive piece of 
legislation that does help us tackle some of the key priorities in 
front of our country, and we are hearing that from our constituents 
every day.
  So I am proud to support this legislation. Let's get it done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. King). The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, last week, Democrats unveiled their so-
called Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that will do nothing to reduce 
inflation but will double down on Democrats' wasteful government 
spending, along with imposing hundreds of billions of dollars in tax 
hikes--yes, hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes.
  Our economy has posted negative economic growth for the past two 
quarters, and Democrats think it is a good idea to raise taxes on 
American businesses. Perhaps Democrats think that current prices aren't 
high enough or that businesses aren't struggling enough with the 
inflation that Democrats helped create.
  The worst part, of course, is that a substantial part of the burden 
of these tax hikes will fall on ordinary Americans, Americans who are 
already struggling with historically high inflation, Americans who are 
seeing their grocery bills balloon and their rent skyrocket, Americans 
who are paying more than $4 per gallon every time they fill up their 
car.

  Now, Democrats are going to pass tax hikes that will hit these 
Americans hard--a tax hike on businesses that will almost undoubtedly 
result in lower growth, lower wages, and fewer jobs; a tax hike on 
investment--investment that we need to grow our economy and create 
opportunities for American workers; and tax hikes on energy production.
  That is right, tax hikes on energy production to the tune of $60 
billion.
  Now, as I mentioned, Americans are still, on average, paying more 
than $4 a gallon every time they go to fill up their cars, as they have 
been for months. Their electricity bills are up. The price for utility 
gas service is up by almost 40 percent. And Democrats think now is a 
good time to raise taxes on oil and gas production?
  I guess maybe they are hoping that they can force Americans off 
conventional energy by continuing to keep gas and energy prices high.
  And in case anyone was thinking that Democrats would be content with 
shutting down domestic production--with a methane tax, higher 
royalties, excise taxes, and costly permitting delays--and would rather 
Americans receive conventional energy from abroad, well, Democrats have 
a tax hike for that too.
  The Democrats' bill would impose a new tax hike on U.S. refiners 
importing crude oil and petroleum products intended to make 
conventional energy prohibitively expensive.
  But, of course, Americans will need conventional energy, and that 
will continue to be true for a while yet, no matter how much wishful 
thinking Democrats engage in.
  And Democrats' energy tax hikes are setting ordinary Americans up to 
continue to suffer under high energy prices for the foreseeable future.
  So what are all these tax hikes for? What government spending is 
worth imposing tax hikes that run the risk of pushing our economy into 
a longer recession or, worse yet, stagflation?
  Well, let me just review some of the priorities that Democrats will 
be spending that tax hike money on.
  There is $1.5 billion--billion dollars--for a grant program to plant 
trees, and $1.9 billion for things like identifying gaps in tree canopy 
coverage. That is right, identifying gaps in tree canopy coverage.
  There is $1 billion for electric heavy-duty vehicles like garbage 
trucks. I am not really sure why the Federal Government is going to be 
spending money on electric garbage trucks or how that is going to 
reduce inflation.
  There is $3 billion for the U.S. Postal Service to purchase zero-
emission delivery vehicles. Quite a lot of money, I might add, for an 
Agency that is supposedly self-funded.
  There is funding for road equity.
  All told, there is more than $60 billion in funding for 
``environmental justice''--$60 billion. That is more than the Federal 
Government spent on highways in 2019.
  There is also at least $30 billion in climate slush funds, part of 
which is allocated for, among other things, climate-related political 
activity--yeah, political activity.
  So, in other words, Democrats are raising taxes on Americans so that 
they can provide Federal funding for Green New Deal activism. And I 
haven't even talked about all the tax credits for adopting Democrats' 
preferred green energy technologies.
  There are tax credits for purchasing electric vehicles and for 
refitting windows and skylights and doors to meet Democrats' required 
level of energy efficiency. That is right, Democrats are raising the 
tax burden on working Americans to pay for tax credits for wealthy 
Americans to purchase a brandnew electric vehicle or to do some home 
remodeling.
  Of course, these tax credits aren't officially limited to wealthy 
Americans, but I am hard-pressed to think of many working families who 
can afford to spend $60,000 on a new electric vehicle while inflation 
is at a 40-year high.
  I am a longtime supporter of clean energy. I come from a State that 
is leading the way toward cleaner and more efficient energy 
technologies, and I have worked with colleagues from both parties to 
advance clean energy, including through the responsible use of energy 
tax credits to bring clean energy technologies to the point where they 
can compete on their own.
  But this bill has nothing in common with the bipartisan work I and 
many others have done to responsibly advance clean energy. This bill is 
wasteful and irresponsible and will do essentially nothing to reduce 
warming globally as others nations continue to skate by.
  It will, however, waste a lot of taxpayer dollars and create a lot of 
economic pain for hard-working Americans.
  One think tank analyzed a plan similar to the one Democrats are 
pushing and found that it would result in staggering job losses, higher 
energy bills, and a tremendous reduction in economic growth.
  One sensible move to advance clean energy and necessary investment in 
conventional energy would be to address the arduous permitting process 
which can hold up both renewable and conventional energy projects for 
years. That is something we should be focused on, to promote investment 
in the conventional energy we still need and in the renewable energy 
technologies of the future.
  Instead, we are being asked to support a bill that will squander 
billions and billions of taxpayer dollars on Green New Deal activism 
and road equity and monitoring tree canopies.
  And we are supposed to vote for it based on the vague promise that 
the Senate will consider--consider, mind you, not pass--permitting 
legislation; permitting legislation that may or may not meaningfully 
address the broken and burdensome permitting process or negate spurious 
lawsuits from far-left environmentalists. And even if it did provide 
meaningful reform, my hopes are not high that the Biden administration 
would actually act on the legislation.

[[Page S4009]]

  Canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline, a project that endured a decade 
of permitting, was already underway, and was to be paired with $1.7 
billion in private--yes, private--investment for renewables--it doesn't 
install confidence that even approved projects are safe from the 
President and Democrats' Green New Deal ideology.
  The Democrats' reckless $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan spending 
spree helped plunge our economy into an inflation crisis that has left 
Americans struggling to make ends meet. If this new, partisan tax-and-
spending spree passes, Americans can look forward to a lot more 
economic pain in the future. But at least they will be able to console 
themselves with the knowledge that their tax dollars are going to fund 
tree canopies.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I rise today to support Senator 
Sullivan's resolution of disapproval to nullify the Biden 
administration's rollback of reforms to the National Environmental 
Policy Act, or NEPA, process.
  We have heard a lot about permitting and how everything is going to 
be improved. If you want to make a statement on how you want to improve 
permitting, this should be a ``yes'' vote for everybody.
  I want to thank my colleague from Alaska for his leadership on 
bringing together half of this Chamber in support of S.J. Res. 55, 
which is cosponsored by 50 Senators.
  This resolution is vital to take us towards a path of quicker, more 
predictable environmental reviews as we seek to improve our 
transportation--remember, we just passed a big infrastructure bill with 
a lot of transportation--our water infrastructure, energy 
infrastructure, reclaim our energy independence, and build our domestic 
supply chain.
  Instead of making the environmental review process more efficient, 
the Biden administration is doing everything in its power to make it 
much, much more difficult.
  Environmental reviews are notorious for holding up energy and 
infrastructure projects. What happens? Well, some of them don't get 
done, and a lot of them get a heck of a lot more expensive and take 
longer to do.
  We all know it is important to make sure that we assess the 
environmental impacts that a project will have before moving forward on 
construction, but the Biden administration is focused on making them 
more complicated and longer when the status quo is already 
unacceptable.
  In 2020, the White House's Council on Environmental Quality found 
that it took an average of 4\1/2\ years to complete an environmental 
impact statement under NEPA. One-quarter of the 1,276 projects analyzed 
took more than 6 years to complete their environmental impact 
statement. The average time for a Federal highway project was more than 
7 years on their EIS. The average time for the U.S. Corps of Engineers 
was 6 years.
  The average length of a final EIS was 661 pages, and many of these 
swelled to thousands of pages, running contrary to the original intent 
of NEPA, which was to provide transparency of Federal Agencies' 
decision making to the American people.
  The previous administration tried to streamline the Federal 
environmental review process by reforming the implementing regulations 
for NEPA. Now, rather than continuing to improve environmental reviews 
under NEPA, the Biden administration has decided to make them more 
burdensome.
  Earlier this year, the Biden administration rolled back key 
modernizations the previous administration made to the more than 40-
year-old NEPA regulations through its so-called phase 1--which tells me 
phase 2 is coming--NEPA rule.
  The Biden administration has created sweeping new obstacles to the 
environmental review process, including new avenues for delays and 
lawsuits that will slow down or, as I said, kill projects. In 
particular, the phase 1 rule's expanded definition of ``effects''--to 
include ``indirect'' and ``cumulative effects'' of projects--will 
greatly delay and kill energy projects when we sorely need them right 
now.
  With the damaging phase 1 rule already in place, the Biden 
administration is now working on even more onerous revisions to the 
NEPA process. If these revisions are not stopped, they will enshrine 
lengthier, more burdensome, and even, in some cases, insurmountable 
hurdles for any infrastructure, whether it is mining, industrial, or 
energy.
  We keep hearing we need more energy. Well, if you can't get 
permitted, you can't do these projects, and that is what is happening.
  The Biden administration is hamstringing our Nation's ability to 
source materials and build infrastructure of all kinds for all 
Americans. Whether it is roads and bridges, pipelines, electric 
transmission, mining, or renewable energy projects, an efficient 
environmental review process is critical to completing projects that 
support job creation and economic activity. It is also vital to 
building out and securing our domestic supply chains to ensure we have 
the fuel and mineral inputs to power critical services and to 
manufacture those products.
  We are not going to have all the solar farms and wind turbines and 
critical minerals and green jobs that the administration has promised 
to energy workers when the environmental process takes 5 to 7 to 10 
years.
  So how do you build an economy out of a recession when you can't 
build at all? Now it is time to come together and reform the 
environmental review process to expand our infrastructure, invigorate 
our economy, increase our energy capacity and supplies, advance our 
domestic industries to lower prices, create those much wanted jobs, and 
build a brighter future for Americans and certainly for my State of 
West Virginia. It starts with doing away with the roadblocks the 
administration is throwing up by passing this resolution and us moving 
on to legislate commonsense environmental review reforms.
  We are told that in September, Senate Democrats will cast aside their 
``regulate first'' philosophy and pass strong permitting reform 
legislation. After years of regulatory actions that decimated energy 
production in my State and permitting delays that have held up 
important infrastructure projects across the country, I am skeptical 
that the Democrats will reverse course next month.
  So here we have an opportunity to have a test vote. As this NEPA 
rulemaking reflects, the Biden administration is hard at work creating 
more hurdles for our projects. If there isn't overwhelming bipartisan 
support for this resolution of disapproval that simply stops the 
permitting process from getting worse, then I don't know how anybody 
can believe that Senate Democrats will join to pass meaningful 
legislation to make the process better.

  I urge my colleagues to vote for this resolution to free our country 
from the stagnation and endless delays the administration is pressing 
forward with.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, normally at this time of the week, Senator 
Capito and I are gathering for a face-to-face meeting or maybe having a 
meeting by phone as she heads back to West Virginia. Today, it looked 
like we were not going to have a chance to meet, but here we are. 
Ironically, most of those conversations we have--we are in sync. It is 
pretty amazing. Most folks around the country probably think we never 
agree on anything here, but we do. And we actually turned out to be 
pretty good friends--a couple of West Virginia kids who grew up and 
made out all right. It is always a pleasure to be with her and to serve 
with her, like with the bipartisan infrastructure legislation.
  Last week, we were here to pass not one, not two, but three 
bipartisan pieces of legislation. A couple of them were pretty big. 
There were two big recycling bills and then another one dealing with 
the Water Resources Development Act with the Army Corps of Engineers. I 
think we had only one negative vote on the reauthorization--one. The 
vote on the recycling legislation--one of which was your bill and one 
of which was mine, and we were cosponsors--we had no opposition on 
those bills.
  So I would say to folks who are watching today who say: Oh, there 
they go again, well, you should have tuned in last week because we were 
on the same page.

[[Page S4010]]

  Having said that, let me say that I rise today to speak on the joint 
resolution of disapproval to nullify President Biden's National 
Environmental Policy Act regulations, oftentimes referred to as NEPA.
  Last year, as we drafted legislation that became the bipartisan 
infrastructure law for our country, Senator Capito and I, along with 
our colleagues on the Environment and Public Works Committee, of which 
my colleague from Alaska is a valued member--the Senator is here. He 
has offered this resolution today, and he will be back here in a 
minute, I am sure.
  But as we drafted legislation that became the bipartisan 
infrastructure law, Senator Capito and I, along with our colleagues on 
the EPW Committee, considered ways to get infrastructure projects done 
more efficiently while maintaining environmental protections.
  I will say that again. We considered a number of ways to get 
infrastructure projects done more efficiently while maintaining 
environmental protections.
  We included several changes that were reflective of those shared 
goals. In fact, we included quite a few of those changes. I will give 
an example of one of those. The bipartisan infrastructure law codified 
something that is called One Federal Decision, the One Federal Decision 
permitting structure. It set a goal for completing environmental 
reviews of transportation projects within 2 years--within 2 years. It 
also permanently authorized the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering 
Council and more.
  But, as we considered changes to the way we deliver infrastructure 
projects, we always tried to make sure that we were not undermining 
important environmental safeguards. That sentiment reflects really the 
essence of the law that we call NEPA.
  Over 50 years ago, President Richard Nixon--a Republican, as you will 
recall--signed this bedrock environmental policy into law with 
overwhelming bipartisan support. In the time since then, NEPA has 
helped to ensure that Federal actions protect our quality of life and 
avoid costly environmental impacts.
  NEPA is not just a means of protecting resources and conserving a 
pristine environment; NEPA also helps to improve Federal decisions. How 
is that? Well, by requiring Agencies to take a hard look at the impacts 
of their actions before they make decisions--before they make 
decisions.
  For example, through the NEPA process, just a few years ago, 
officials in Colorado--this is a good example--officials in Colorado 
heard robust public feedback when planning improvements on State 
Highway 9 that led them to take steps to minimize disturbances to 
communities and to the environment. The final project was ultimately 
delivered with lower emissions, less harm to wildlife, and safer spaces 
for cyclists. Importantly, these benefits did not come at the cost of 
efficiency. The project was done on time and under budget. And this is 
only one of any number of examples that I can cite today.
  Making smart decisions has never been more important. After all, the 
science is clear: We must rapidly drive down greenhouse gas emissions 
if we hope to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
  Unfortunately, the Trump administration made changes to the NEPA 
rules. These changes prevented Agencies from considering how their 
actions impact climate change and from taking commonsense steps to 
minimize environmental harm. The regulatory rollbacks also undermined 
public involvement in the Federal decisionmaking process. This rollback 
harmed communities of color, including Tribal and Native Alaskan 
communities, that rely on NEPA to defend their voices.
  Fortunately, the Biden administration has taken steps to fix the 
error of these regulatory revisions. Under President Biden's 
instruction, the Council on Environmental Quality finalized a rule in 
April to make narrow, targeted changes to NEPA regulations. One of the 
most important changes was restoring the requirement for Agencies to 
consider the cumulative and indirect impacts of their actions. 
Considering such impacts can help ensure that we avoid actions that 
worsen climate change and negatively impact communities.
  President Biden's NEPA rule would ensure that Agencies conduct 
environmental review processes in a commonsense, holistic manner, one 
that neither sacrifices efficiency for environmental protection nor the 
other way around.
  This action comes at a critical time for our Nation. The bipartisan 
infrastructure law will fund more than $1 trillion of investments in 
projects that will last not for years but for decades and maybe even 
longer.
  I believe the decision here is clear. The projects under review today 
will either help address the climate crisis and protect communities or 
they will exacerbate emissions and make us more vulnerable.
  With thoughtful environmental analysis, we can build new facilities 
that are less emissions-intensive. We can build highways and bridges to 
withstand the kind of extreme weather that we are experiencing all over 
this country--in fact, all over the planet--and we can save money while 
we do it with infrastructure that is built to last.
  Blocking these regulations from taking effect is the policy 
equivalent of burying our heads in the sand, unfortunately, with the 
rate at which the sea level is rising around us--and it is. During the 
course of debate on this one proposal today, we are going to see in the 
State of Louisiana terrible sea-level rises going on. Every 100 
minutes, they lose a piece of land in Louisiana that is the size of a 
football field. During the course of this debate alone, they are going 
to lose several more football fields in Louisiana and a lot more in the 
days to come.
  Refusing to consider the impacts of climate change will not stop the 
climate from changing. It will not save lives from being lost from 
wildfires, from floods, and heat waves. It will not stop asphalt from 
melting under extreme heat, which is what was happening a couple of 
weeks ago in England. Then, over at the Tour de France, we had to spill 
thousands--tens of thousands--of gallons of water on the course they 
were running the bicycle races on. This was for the Tour de France--
literally tens of thousands of gallons on the course in order to keep 
the roads from melting. Can you believe that?
  By refusing to consider the impacts of climate change now, we will 
only help to ensure that its worst impacts come to pass. It will 
continue to cost us. It will cost us not just in dollars but also in 
lives.
  With that, I urge my colleagues to vote on this well-intentioned but, 
I think, misguided resolution.
  Before I yield the floor, let me just say what a privilege it is to 
work with my colleague from Alaska. He and I actually agree on more 
than you might imagine. We both wore the uniform of our country for 
many years, those of the Marine Corps and Navy. The Navy salutes the 
Marine Corps today. I like to say: different uniforms, same team. While 
I can't be with him on this one, we will find other things that we can 
agree on today.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be able to 
complete my remarks before the 1:45 p.m. vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I want to compliment my friend from 
Delaware. He and I do work together on a number of issues. We are going 
to part ways on this really important issue for me today. I do want to 
just make a comment to his comments.
  I would say--I wouldn't say--I know there is no group that has 
suffered more at the hands of the Biden administration's Executive 
orders and far-left environmental groups than Alaska Natives. I know 
that for a fact.
  I would invite my colleague to come up to Alaska with me, and I will 
take him to these communities. They can't do anything--no jobs, no 
nothing--because every far-left group in America wants to shut down 
their opportunities. It happens all the time.
  So I would love to take him and others up to Alaska to let them see 
that when people talk about Alaska Native groups and try to speak for 
them. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle do that. No

[[Page S4011]]

way. You are not going to get away with that on this one.
  Mr. President, we have a resolution that we are going to be voting on 
here in about 10 minutes. This is my Congressional Review Act 
resolution, and I have spoken on the Senate floor a number of times 
about this.
  The CRA today, what we call a CRA, is quite simple. It would rescind 
the new Biden administration's NEPA rule--that is the National 
Environmental Policy Act rule--promulgated in April, which will clearly 
have the impact of slowing down the construction of literally every 
infrastructure project in America: the construction of roads, bridges, 
wind, solar, hydro--heck--even chip fabrication facilities, critical 
mineral projects. Pretty much everything is going to be slowed down by 
this.
  It is pretty straightforward. Our resolution just says: We want to 
rescind the resolution, the regulation, from April.
  But the vote on this is much more significant than just one Senate 
resolution. It is a test for all Senators on two key issues.
  First, are you really serious about permitting reform so that America 
can build the infrastructure that everybody knows our country 
desperately needs?
  Second, who do you stand with--the working men and women of our great 
Nation who build things or the far-left elite special interest groups 
who want to shut this country down?
  Let's take these two issues in order.
  First, permitting reform. My colleagues know this is a passion of 
mine. Actually, it is a passion of a number of Senators. It sounds 
wonky; it sounds boring; it sounds technical--``permitting reform.'' 
But in reality, it is so important for our Nation--for every community 
in America, for the dignity of work, for good jobs in this country.
  Here is why: We used to build big things in America--engineering 
marvels on time, on budget--the source of pride for literally all 
Americans and the envy of the world. We did that all the time. Think 
about it: the Empire State Building--410 days to build; the Pentagon, 
the biggest building in the world--16 months; a little closer to home 
for me is the 1,700-mile Alaska-Canadian Highway through some of the 
world's most rugged terrain--11 months; the Trans-Alaska Pipeline 
system that feeds a hungry nation with energy from Alaska to the lower 
48--800 miles with 70,000 sections of 48-inch pipe joined and welded 
together, 3 mountain ranges, 800 river beds from the Arctic Ocean to 
the Pacific--3 years. Incredible.
  Why did we do this? Why can we do this? Why can we still do this in 
America? Because we have the best workers--the most productive 
workforce--in the world.
  Unfortunately, those days of building great things in America in an 
efficient, timely fashion are gone. We all know it. Every mayor knows 
it; every city council member knows it; every Governor knows it; and, 
yes, every U.S. Senator knows it.
  We see it every day. We don't see the great building of things, but 
we see the other things: 8 to 9 years to permit a bridge--yes, in 
America, to permit a bridge; 9 to 19 years to permit and build a 
highway. The Gross water reservoir in Colorado, for clean water, took 
20 years to permit. The Kensington mine, which is a gold mine in Alaska 
that is now employing hundreds of people with an average wage of 
$110,000--really good jobs--took 20 years to permit with litigation.
  This is killing our country, our economy, and good jobs. We all know 
it, and we all know the reason for it. Every single Senator knows the 
reason: a broken Federal permitting system that has turned into a 
labyrinth of redtape; a system that invites and incentivizes delay and 
litigation by groups whose goal is to shut down the building of our 
country. Everybody knows it. It is a fact.
  Now, how can I be so sure? Because everybody in this body likes to 
talk about the need for permitting reform so we can get back to 
building this country and putting Americans who do these hard jobs to 
work.
  Last year, I worked hard with a number of my colleagues on the 
bipartisan infrastructure bill, which I voted on. In the EPW 
Committee--and my colleague from Delaware is still here--we got some 
important permitting reforms in it. That was good. They were not 
enough, in my view, but it was a good start.
  Today, as we consider Senator Schumer's reconciliation bill, which I 
will oppose, we are all now being assured that Senator Schumer, Speaker 
Pelosi, and even the President are fully committed to additional robust 
permitting legislation in the fall, sometime in the future, once their 
massive tax-and-spending reconciliation bill passes. So everybody is 
talking about permitting. We all know we need it.
  But here is what happened. In the meantime, between the ``important 
but not as ambitious as I would have liked'' permitting reforms in the 
infrastructure bill last fall and all of the talk of permitting today, 
something happened. What happened?
  The Biden administration promulgated a new NEPA rule, supported by 
far-left environmental groups, that will clearly have the effect of 
slowing down the permitting of infrastructure, inviting endless 
litigation and putting people out of work. No one who has seriously 
looked at this broad, nebulous, and destructive Biden rule disputes 
this. I have read it. It is a delay bomb for infrastructure.
  So here is the first test. It was noted in a very good, recent Wall 
Street Journal editorial this week. It is this: If my colleagues--all 
of my colleagues but especially my Democratic colleagues--really 
support permitting reform so we can get back to building America, let's 
get rid of this destructive, overbroad, vague, litigation-inviting 
rule. Vote yes on my resolution. Right now, 50 Republican Senators are 
cosponsors of this resolution.
  To my Democratic colleagues, join us. Do the right thing for America. 
We all know that this is the right thing for America.
  Here is the second test. I asked you to join us in doing the right 
thing for America. Join us in doing the right thing for the working 
Americans and building trades that heroically built this country and 
continue to do so today.
  Now, I love this photo. It is iconic. It says so much, and I have had 
it on the floor a number of times. But these are the kind of men and 
women who built this great Nation--hard-working Americans who are doing 
incredible stuff. That is a lunch break, by the way, in the building of 
the Empire State Building.
  This shouldn't be hard to support the men and women who build this 
country, and this shouldn't be hard for my Democratic colleagues who 
often claim to support the working men and women of America. In the 
past, I certainly will acknowledge that that has been true, but today--
and I have learned this lesson the hard way back home in Alaska. Today, 
whenever national Democrats have to choose between the interests of the 
far-left elite environmental groups and these men and women who produce 
things and build things in America, they sell out the working class 
every time--every time. I see this every day in my State.
  I mentioned this in a Congress committee hearing a few months ago. 
One of my Democratic colleagues, who is a friend--and almost everybody 
on the other side of the aisle is a good friend of mine--got upset with 
me.
  He said: Hey, that is not true. You shouldn't have said that.
  Well, here is what I say: All right. Prove it.
  Today's vote is a chance to prove me wrong or to prove me right. Here 
is why, and this is really important.
  Let's look at the lineup of the groups that support my resolution 
today and those that oppose it. These are just some of the 50 groups in 
America that are supporting my resolution that we are going to vote on 
here in a couple of minutes, and I am very proud of this incredible, 
broad, and diverse groups of Americans who are saying to vote yes on 
the Sullivan resolution. They all have one thing in common: They 
produce things and they build things for this great Nation.
  Take a look at this chart. It is kind of hard to decipher who is on 
it. Let me give you a couple.
  The American Farm Bureau: So this is all of our farmers and 
cattlemen--all of our cattlemen, farmers and ranchers, and ag 
retailers.
  The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association: These are the guys who 
build infrastructure.

[[Page S4012]]

  It is the same with the Associated General Contractors of America, 
the same with the U.S. Chamber, the same with the National Association 
of Manufacturers, the same with the American Mining Rights Association.
  Of course, the entire energy sector is supporting this, groups from 
Alaska, the resource development sector, groups from West Virginia, and 
groups from Ohio. This is a huge, broad-based group of supporters.
  I will tell you this. I am most proud of the strong, robust support 
for my resolution from organizations that represent the men and women 
who build stuff and keep our country's economy humming.
  Take a look at some of them: The North America's Building Trades 
Union--that is all the unions that build things. The Laborers' 
International, LIUNA--that is the largest construction trade union in 
the country. The Operating Engineers--these guys do everything. Another 
trade union: the Alaska Teamsters, the Alaska AFL-CIO.
  These are the great men and women who built this country and built 
the middle class of America. I have the utmost respect for them, and, 
indeed, my family is part of this labor union heritage. My great-
grandfather was one of the cofounders of the International Brotherhood 
of Electrical Workers. That is a source of pride in my family.
  But here is the question: Why are they all strongly supporting my 
resolution to rescind the Biden NEPA regulations? It is a simple 
answer: because they know that these are job-killing regs. They know 
that these are the types of regs in America that delay or indefinitely 
stop the building of infrastructure in our country, and their members 
are the ones who suffer the most. And the dignity of the work--the 
dignity of work that we all say we care about--also suffers.
  Don't take my word for it. Here is what some of the leaders of these 
organizations have said--and they are great Americans. Let me begin 
with Terry O'Sullivan, the head of the Laborers' International. This 
was his letter to the Biden White House when they were contemplating 
this rule in April. Just take a look. He said:

       The rollback of updates to NEPA reinstates burdensome 
     requirements that will cause excessive permit delays and 
     allow project adversaries--

  Far-left environmental groups--

     to use frivolous lawsuits--

  Which they always do--

     to disrupt or upend long overdue construction. Once again, 
     communities in need of vital infrastructure and the hard-
     working men and women who build America will be waiting as 
     project details are subjected to onerous reviews.

  That was Terry O'Sullivan saying: Don't issue the rule.
  They ignored him. They ignored him because they chose the interests 
of the far-left environmentalists.
  Here is James Callahan writing in support of today's resolution. He 
is the head of the Operating Engineers. You want to talk about great 
unions--LIUNA, Operating Engineers--these are men and women who build 
things. This is an incredible statement, and he nails it. This guy 
really knows what he is talking about.

       Since its modest beginnings, NEPA has evolved into a 
     massive edifice, capable of destroying project after project, 
     job after job, in virtually every sector of the economy. 
     Dilatory strategies employed by the project opponents--

  Far-left environmental groups--

     frequently exploit provisions in NEPA, weighing down 
     projects, frustrating communities, and raising costs to the 
     point that many applicants, whether public or private, simply 
     walk away.

  And when they walk away, it kills jobs. That is from James Callahan's 
letter, 1 of the 50 groups that is supporting this resolution.
  The men and women who build our Nation support my resolution, like so 
many groups.
  So who is opposed? Well, it is pretty simple. It is pretty obvious. 
It is the usual groups of far-left, coastal-elite environmental groups 
that I see every day in Alaska trying to crush jobs and stop 
infrastructure and put people out of work.
  I will just give you few. You know, they are the usual suspects: 
Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, CODEPINK--I am not sure 
why they jumped in on this--Friends of the Earth.
  By the way, if you are watching this speech, go take a look at some 
of those websites and see what they stand for. So that is who is 
opposed.
  One more point that I think is important to raise. To be honest, 
there is something else going on here. Not only is there always 
opposition by those groups to building anything in America--including 
my resolution--regardless of how many pink slips result from the 
actions of these groups to shut down things, there is sometimes a 
subtle and not so subtle condescension looking down on the Americans 
who build things. Workers can feel it. Workers can sense it.
  No one epitomizes this condescending elitist attitude toward American 
workers more than this guy. You might remember that last year, around 
this time, he was asked if the Biden administration's Green New Deal 
policies would put American coal and natural gas workers out of work 
and end their livelihoods. John Kerry responded:

       What President Biden wants to do is make sure that those 
     folks--

  Men and women who build stuff, coal miners, natural gas workers--

     have better choices--

  Better choices--

       That they can be the people who go to work to make solar 
     panels.

  Sure, ``better choices,'' from a guy who flies in a jet, owned a 76-
foot yacht, several mansions, and has the carbon footprint of a small 
nation. Yet he tells American energy workers to go make solar panels, 
when the Biden administration's regulations are killing their jobs.
  I will end with this, back to the workers: When you are voting today, 
keep the heritage of these men and women in mind. The Biden NEPA rule 
that we are trying to rescind today will kill jobs. I am sure it has 
already killed jobs. That is why we need to rescind it.
  This should be an easy vote for all of my Senate colleagues today. If 
you really care about permitting reform, so we can get back to building 
things in America, you should vote yes. If you really put the interests 
of working men and women like these incredible Americans over those of 
elite far-left environmental groups, you should vote yes. And if you 
truly support the men and women who build this country, feed this 
country, and grow this country, you should vote yes.
  I yield the floor.
  I ask for the yeas and nays on this resolution.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Delaware.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, before you do that, I would ask to be 
recognized for 3 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for not objecting.
  Let's just stop for a moment before we vote. The National 
Environmental Policy Act was not signed into law by FDR, not signed 
into law by Lyndon Johnson or John Kennedy, not signed into law by 
Barack Obama. It was signed into law by Richard Nixon, with bipartisan 
support--strong bipartisan support--some 50 years ago.
  The reason for the law was that they wanted--President Nixon and 
those who served in the Congress at the time--to make sure that, as we 
are proposing to build, we will say, large infrastructure projects 
around the country with Federal support, they wanted to make sure that 
the voices of the people whose lives would be affected by that would 
actually be heard. That was the idea behind doing this.
  I have been in the Senate about 21, 22 years and served on the 
Environment and Public Works Committee with Senator Simpson and others, 
and am privileged to chair the committee now. And about every year or 
2, we pass major infrastructure legislation, and, a year ago, the 
largest infrastructure bill in the history of the country--roads, 
highways, bridges, water, drinking water, wastewater, you name it.
  Just last week, we passed, with one dissenting vote, the Water 
Resources Development Act legislation to reauthorize the Army Corps of 
Engineers to do projects all over America.
  I live in Wilmington, DE. I-95 goes right through Wilmington, DE. It 
cuts my city in half. I-95 is being rebuilt for about a 5-mile space, 
from Route 202, which goes up into PA, on down to

[[Page S4013]]

Route 141--5 miles, right through the middle of our major city. It is 
going to be done in, I think, less than 2 years. Imagine that: 4 lanes, 
6 lanes, all the exits, done in 2 years.
  They are talking about not being able to get a big project done. We 
are doing big projects in a little State all the time.
  The last thing I would say is that our colleagues Joe Manchin and 
Lisa Murkowski cohosted bipartisan meetings a month or 2 ago--6 or 7 or 
8 of them--in the afternoon to talk about a path forward on 
reconciliation and infrastructure legislation, but also to talk about 
permitting and permitting reform.
  Every time we do a major infrastructure bill, we do permitting 
reform, and we do streamlining. We have done it. We did it last year, 
and we are going to do it again with the WRDA legislation too.
  Later, sometime this fall, in September, October, we will do 
permitting reform debate and legislation again. We can't do it in the 
context of reconciliation because the Parliamentarian won't let us do 
that. It has to be as stand-alone legislation.
  We will have the opportunity to do that. People can offer their 
ideas. We will debate them. We will vote them up, and we will vote them 
down.
  I just wanted to add that for the record.
  With that, I guess we ought to ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, all time is expired.
  The clerk will read the title of the joint resolution for the third 
time.
  The joint resolution was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading 
and was read the third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The joint resolution having been read the 
third time, the question is, Shall the joint resolution pass?
  The yeas and nays have been previously requested.
  Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Leahy) and 
the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Merkley) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Texas (Mr. Cornyn).
  The result was announced--yeas 50, nays 47, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 283 Leg.]

                                YEAS--50

     Barrasso
     Blackburn
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Braun
     Burr
     Capito
     Cassidy
     Collins
     Cotton
     Cramer
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagerty
     Hawley
     Hoeven
     Hyde-Smith
     Inhofe
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Lankford
     Lee
     Lummis
     Manchin
     Marshall
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Paul
     Portman
     Risch
     Romney
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott (FL)
     Scott (SC)
     Shelby
     Sullivan
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Tuberville
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--47

     Baldwin
     Bennet
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Coons
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Hassan
     Heinrich
     Hickenlooper
     Hirono
     Kaine
     Kelly
     King
     Klobuchar
     Lujan
     Markey
     Menendez
     Murphy
     Murray
     Ossoff
     Padilla
     Peters
     Reed
     Rosen
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Sinema
     Smith
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Van Hollen
     Warner
     Warnock
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Cornyn
     Leahy
     Merkley
  The joint resolution (S.J. Res. 55) was passed, as follows:

                              S.J. Res. 55

       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled, That Congress 
     disapproves the rule submitted by the Council on 
     Environmental Quality relating to ``National Environmental 
     Policy Act Implementing Regulations Revisions'' (87 Fed. Reg. 
     23453 (April 20, 2022)), and such rule shall have no force or 
     effect.

     

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