[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S434-S435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            The Environment

  Mr. President, finally, ESG. Reports are out that Republicans will 
introduce a measure targeting a new rule from the Department of Labor 
that allows--repeat: allows; not requires--allows fiduciaries to 
consider the impacts of climate change and other ESG issues when making 
investment decisions.
  Across the country, hard-right State legislatures are up in arms 
trying to stop State investment funds from working with money managers 
who dare commit the oh-so-heinous offense of looking at the big picture 
when making investments, including how climate change and other issues 
can present financial risks.
  I just want to point out the obvious: Nothing in this DOL rule 
imposes any requirement on anyone.
  Let me say that again. Nothing in the DOL rule that they seek to 
repeal imposes any requirement on anyone. In fact, it goes out of its 
way to make sure decision-making remains solely in the hands of the 
fiduciary.
  Republicans love to talk about small government and letting the 
private sector do its work. But their obsession with eliminating ESG 
would do just

[[Page S435]]

the opposite. Many companies realize that as we move to clean energy, 
their path to profitability depends on adapting to those changes. Hard-
right MAGA Republicans--climate deniers, they are--are trying to 
straitjacket those companies with their ideological obsessions and 
prevent them from adapting to the future for their own good and for the 
good of the country.
  I yield the floor.
  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. McCONNELL. 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for the quorum call be rescinded.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.