[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 39 (Wednesday, March 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Democratic Party

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to talk 
about the priorities, misguided priorities, of the Democrat majority in 
the Senate.
  So far this year, Senate Democrats have ignored the most important 
issues that are facing our country. Democrats are focused on cramming 
through Joe Biden's radical leftwing nominees.
  Looking at the Senate floor, you would think that everything is going 
well in the world and well across the United States. I have news for 
Joe Biden and for Chuck Schumer: People all across this country are not 
happy. The country is heading in the wrong direction.
  In meeting after meeting in Wyoming last week, as I traveled the 
State, people talked about sky-high prices, the sky-high debt that we 
have as a nation, and China's spy balloon.
  Under Joe Biden, America is in crisis--inflation crisis, energy 
crisis, crime crisis, and a spending crisis.
  Inflation went up again in January. The numbers came out Friday. The 
headlines don't lie. They said inflation remains entrenched--
entrenched--and that is what people are feeling all across the country.
  In addition to inflation, drugs are pouring across the southern 
border, killing record numbers of people, even in my home State of 
Wyoming. When the numbers are like they are in Wyoming, that tells you 
every State is a border State.
  Crime is out of control in Democrat strongholds in cities like 
Washington, DC. We see it here. We see yesterday in Chicago, the mayor 
didn't even make it through the primary process--didn't finish first, 
didn't finish second, not even in the runoff. And according to people I 
have talked to from that State and watching the news reports, the No. 1 
issue is crime; the No. 2 issue is crime; and the No. 3 issue is crime.
  Internationally, Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly going to 
Moscow. Why? Well, to strengthen his ties with Vladimir Putin.
  The list goes on and on of failures and crises that this 
administration is facing and, for the most part, has caused and 
created. Democrats are doing nothing to deal with it.
  There is a lot we should be doing in the U.S. Senate. We should be 
unleashing American energy. We should stop the reckless tax and 
spending that the Democrats continue to promote. We should secure the 
border. Stop this flow of illegal drugs. We need to crack down on the 
criminals who are terrorizing communities. We need to put China on 
notice. Yet the Democrats are disinterested and ignoring it all.
  Senate Republicans are going to force a vote today that will actually 
help people. We are going to vote to protect America's retirement 
savings accounts.
  The American people know that Joe Biden continues to spread lies 
about Social Security and Medicare. If Joe Biden is so concerned about 
people's retirements, he needs to look in the mirror. The only 
politician meddling with people's retirements is Joe Biden. That is 
right. The only politician actually meddling with people's retirements 
is President Biden.

  The Biden administration wants retirement plan managers to invest 
people's retirement funds based not on the best return for the money--
nope--but based on woke ideology. Democrats want this so they can 
funnel trillions of dollars to their climate elites.
  It is called ESG: environmental, social, and governance. The more 
accurate name might be ``extreme socialist greed.'' Now, this is going 
to rob American people of a lot of money. ESG is legalized theft from 
American workers.
  Numerous studies have shown that these woke investments are bad 
investments. People wanting to maximize their savings and their 
investment and the investment income to benefit their families long 
term are being held hostage by these new regulations coming out of the 
Joe Biden administration.
  Bloomberg analysts looked at these numbers of the people who invest 
in this ESG. What did they find? Well, they found that the return for 
the ESG investments fell way behind the general market--way behind. 
Year after year, that means less money growing in your retirement 
account.
  This is a slap in the face to the working men and women of the 
country who are trying to save for their future. I am proud of the 
State of Wyoming because we have actually sued the Biden administration 
to stop this.
  Retirement accounts are not for promoting a political agenda. They 
are for helping people retire with money in the bank. They are about 
giving people some safety, some security, and peace of mind. If woke 
investors want to promote a political agenda, then they should do it 
with their own money, not force investors to do so. The only people who 
benefit from ESG are the climate elites and the professional activists. 
Everyone else loses money.
  Now, let me point out that the analysts from Bloomberg not only said 
that the return is much less but that the expenses of investing in 
those programs, with the management fees, is much higher. So you get 
hammered at both ends: lower returns and higher expenses.
  ESG means you can't invest in things like oil, gas, coal, American 
energy. It means less American energy for people in our country. It 
means higher energy costs. It means fewer energy jobs and less money in 
people's retirement accounts.
  This is an all-around disaster for the American people, but it is 
what the Biden administration and so many Democrats want. Democrats 
know the American people would never vote for this; it would never 
become law. That is why the Democrats attack American energy through 
the bureaucracy and through the courts, through their wealthy friends 
on Wall Street.
  Now, Democrats have friends on Wall Street who have been doing their 
bidding for years. A couple of examples: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, 
Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank. They refuse to finance oil and gas 
projects near the Arctic. Citibank refuses to fund coal mining. HSBC 
refuses to fund any oil, gas, or coal projects.
  The American people need to remember this next time Democrats say 
they oppose the big banks. Democrats and the big banks are practically 
joined at the hip.
  Citigroup won't give a loan to a coal company, yet Citibank is happy 
to do business with China. Some Chinese companies have higher ESG 
scores than American companies. These include Chinese companies using 
slave labor.
  This tells you ESG is a scam by the radical left. Now, Joe Biden 
wants the ESG scam at every bank in America--every bank, every savings 
account, every investment. That would mean trillions of dollars 
funneled to politically driven, woke investments. People who have saved 
their entire lives under this Democrat scheme would actually retire 
with less money in their accounts.
  So I am going to join all of my Republican colleagues today to vote 
to stop this. Republicans are ready to stand up and say no to Joe Biden 
and the administration and this reckless policy. No more command and 
control from Biden's bureaucratic bullies, no to defunding American 
energy, no to woke corporations, and no to Democrats meddling in 
people's retirements.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nebraska.