[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S65-S66]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              S.J. Res. 32

  Mr. KENNEDY. Two minutes, two points, Madam President.
  No. 1, imagine if you are a typical Louisiana middle-class family. 
Mom is making, let's say, $40,000 a year; Dad is making $40,000 a year. 
They have two children. You have a house note. You have a car note--
probably two car notes because both Mom and Dad have to get to work. 
You have to pay for health insurance. You have to eat. You try to save 
a little bit for retirement, and you try to save for your children's 
college education. But, basically, you are living on $80,000 a year for 
a family of four.

  All of a sudden, prices start rising, as they have. Since President 
Biden has been President, we have experienced 17-percent inflation. 
That is how much prices have gone up on average. What does that mean? 
We cite that number a lot. By the way, I know inflation is coming down 
and that is a very good thing and I am glad. I hope it stays down. But 
all that means is that prices are rising less quickly. It doesn't mean 
prices are dropping.
  These high prices caused by the President's inflation are going to be 
permanent. They are. I wish I didn't have to report that. And as a 
result of Bidenomics and inflation, in my State, the average family 
making $80,000 a year is going to have to pay an extra $800 a month 
because of inflation. That is an extra $10,000 a year. You are on a 
fixed income of $80,000 and you have to find an extra $10,000.
  That is happening right now to millions of Louisianians and millions 
of Americans. What are you going to do? Well, the first thing you are 
going to do is ask for a pay raise from your employer. And some of our 
employers have granted pay raises; and I thank them for that. But it is 
not how much of a pay raise you have been given that is relevant. What 
is relevant is how much of a pay raise you have been given vis-a-vis 
the inflation rate. That is why, when we look at wages, we talk about 
real wages. That is the amount that wages have gone up after accounting 
for inflation.
  Well, here is what they look like. Since President Biden has been 
President, this chart represents wages after inflation. We started up 
here. We are down here. They have been a little bit better lately. So 
most Americans who have gotten a pay raise after inflation, it doesn't 
count. It doesn't count. Pay raise doesn't work. It is great to have, 
but inflation eats it up and then some.
  Well, OK. That family still has to find $10,000. What do you do? You 
are going to borrow the money. And that is what is happening. Credit 
card debt--buy now, pay later--and other types of loans. Don't just 
take my word for it. On the last numbers we have in the third quarter 
of this year, credit card spending was up 9 percent at Chase Bank. It 
was up 15 percent at Wells Fargo. It is not just putting more money on 
the card that is relevant; it is also paying down the amount on the 
card.
  People are not only borrowing more on this credit card, but they are 
not able to pay the amount on their credit card off as quickly as they 
were. Unpaid loan balances have gone through the roof--16 percent at 
Chase Bank, up 14 percent at Wells Fargo, up 11 percent at Citigroup. 
People are using credit cards. They are charging more and more, and 
they are paying less and less on those credit cards. And they are 
getting deeper and deeper into the hole.
  What else are people doing in my State and every other State? They 
are raiding their savings. If you look at the numbers, personal 
deposits are down 3 percent year over year at Chase Bank. What does 
that mean? That means people are raiding their savings accounts to deal 
with this inflation. Personal deposits are down 5 percent at Citigroup. 
Personal deposits are down 10 percent at Wells Fargo and 31 percent--31 
percent--in the wealth management division of Wells Fargo.
  My point, Madam President, is that these actions that are taken in 
Washington, DC, have real-life consequences for average, everyday 
American families on fixed incomes.
  As a result of this inflation, which is coming down--but the high 
prices are permanent--people are having to borrow and people are having 
to raid their savings. And it is clearly a cancer on the American 
journey.
  Point 2, Madam President. A month or so ago, the Congress passed a 
resolution. It passed here in the Senate--for us, overwhelmingly--53 to 
43. We passed that resolution on the Congressional Review Act. What did 
we do? Well, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau--we call it the 
CFPB--it is where common sense is illegal. Common sense, I think--I 
know--is illegal at the CFPB. CFPB comes up with these nuggets every 
week.
  If you ever want to understand why the American people hate the 
Federal Government, just look at the output of the CFPB. I mean it. 
Common sense is illegal there. One of their last nuggets, they put out 
a resolution. The title of it was called ``Small Business Lending Under 
the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Resolution B.'' And the Senate said 
no to this resolution. We said, no, can't do it, 53 to 43. And the 
House followed it by saying no to the CFPB, 221 to 202.
  I am very proud of the Senate. Thank you, colleagues. I am very proud 
of the House. Unfortunately, President Biden has vetoed it. If I didn't 
know better, I would think that the President is auditioning to become 
the President of an Ivy League university, because let me tell you what 
this resolution will do unless we override the President's veto. Once 
again, you are a small business woman or small business man. You need a 
loan. Maybe you need a loan to grow your business; maybe you need a 
loan to sustain your business.
  You go to your community bank. You say, I need to borrow some money. 
You submit your financials. The bank does its job. It does accurate 
underwriting, but before the bank can make a decision under this new 
CFPB rule, where common sense is illegal, the small banker has got to 
turn to that applicant and say: Look, I have to ask you a bunch of 
questions. I don't want to, but CFPB says I have to before I can grant 
your loan, so please bear with me.
  Now, the small business woman or small business man is sitting there, 
things have been going pretty well. That small business person is 
feeling warm and toasty, thinking, I am going to get my loan, and I am 
going to be able to keep my business going and keep my people employed. 
But all it sounds like to me, there is a hitch here because my banker 
is being very apologetic, and I can tell he is upset about this, but I 
am going to try to help him and comply.
  So the small banker says: OK. Let's get going. I have got to ask you 
81 questions.
  And the banker from the small bank starts with this small business 
person. First question: Are you female? Next: Are you male? Are you 
Black? Are you White? Are you mixed race? Are you another race? Are you 
Hispanic? Are you a homosexual? Are you a lesbian? Are you gay?
  Now, remember, this is probably a small town in a community bank with 
a small business woman and a small business man applying for a loan. 
And the CFPB, our Federal Government, is telling the small banker, You 
have got to ask these questions.
  The questions continue. The small banker looks the small business 
woman in the eye and says: Are you bisexual? Are you transgender? Are 
you queer? Are you intersex? And on and on and on.
  Now, that small business woman--it could be a small business man--is 
going to have a couple of reactions. First, she is going to be 
thinking, What in God's name has happened to my country? What in God's 
name has happened to the Federal Government?
  And the second emotion she is probably going to feel is anger. What 
business is it of the CFPB--what business

[[Page S66]]

does the CFPB have in knowing what I do in my bedroom? It is none of 
its business. But the other notion that small business woman is 
probably going to have is fear because she needs this loan and, if she 
looks that small banker in the eye and says, It is none of your 
business whether I am gay or straight. It is none of your business what 
I do in the privacy of my bedroom with a consenting adult. It is none 
of the government's business, that small business woman is going to be 
thinking, Man, if I do that, he could deny my loan.
  It is not the fault of the small banker; it is the fault of us in 
Washington, DC. It is the fault of Joe Biden because he has vetoed this 
resolution. He is saying to the world: It is OK for small banks in 
America to be required--be required--to turn to a small business woman 
applying for a loan and say: Are you a lesbian? Are you gay? Are you 
bisexual? Are you transgender?
  And after they answer or don't answer, all of that information is 
sent to a Federal Agency, the CFPB, which has a data breach about every 
other Thursday. This is insanity.
  And today, in about 10 minutes, I am going to ask this body to 
override President Biden's veto. If you believe in fairness, if you 
believe in privacy, if you believe in the freedom of the American 
people, if you have taken your meds today, if you have any semblance of 
common sense left, you will see that this proposal by President Biden 
is like a rock, only dumber.
  I can't think of a better example why the American people have come 
to hate the Federal Government, and I can't think of a better example 
to explain to people why President Biden's poll numbers are on a 
journey to the center of the earth. It is stuff like this.