[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 99 (Wednesday, June 12, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4036-S4037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, here we go again. I rise today in this 
Chamber as President Biden and his administration enter yet another 
summer of executive overreach as the administration adds layer after 
layer of bureaucracy that spells negative consequences for nearly every 
aspect of American life. Actually, I just had the homebuilders in my 
office today making this very point--the West Virginia Home Builders 
Association.
  Throughout the President's time in the White House, we haven't really 
seen much consistency except when it comes to his desire to grow the 
influence of unelected government bureaucrats or to defy congressional 
intent or to impose unnecessary rules, regulations, and redtape. These 
things will forever define his administration, and as of June 7 of this 
year, the 946 final rules imposed by President Biden have cost the 
American taxpayer over $1.6 trillion.
  So, for President Biden and his administration, I would recommend a 
brief refresher on the history of the United States and the intent that 
inspired the Framers of our Constitution.
  Our Founding Fathers were quick to recognize that power and authority 
vested in one body would create devastating costs for the future of our 
Nation. That was the motivation behind establishing separated powers, 
of creating a system of checks and balances across three equal branches 
of government. However, President Biden's advocacy for the growth of 
the administrative state has put this separation into question. It kind 
of goes against article I of the Constitution, which states:

       All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a 
     Congress of the United States.

  Let's just take a few examples that we have seen recently of what I 
would consider to be outrageous overreach.
  No. 1, first--something I have been very vocal about--is the EPA's 
Clean Power Plan 2.0, which will eliminate coal-powered generation 
completely, but it will also block new natural gas plants from coming 
online in the future. Don't ask me how we are going to power the 
Nation.
  This rule from the EPA is meant to put coal and natural gas employees 
out of work and shutter those baseload power plants once and for all.
  Next, we have the final rule from the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services that imposes burdensome Federal staffing mandates on 
long-term care facilities.
  This is something that could be incredibly harmful to rural States 
like mine. Now, safety is first in a long-term care facility, but 
unattainable employee requirements like this one would force many of 
our rural nursing homes to shut their doors, especially as rural health 
facilities are facing staffing challenges all across the country.
  Then there is the Biden HHS rule that endangers the safety and well-
being of unaccompanied migrant children.
  Currently, migrant children who enter into the country illegally 
without an adult are detained and placed in the Unaccompanied Children 
Program. The HHS rule that I am referring to includes many harmful 
practices like optional sponsor-vetting. That is the refusal to 
consider a sponsor's criminal record. So we are going to put children 
into the care and sponsorship of people, and we are refusing to see if 
they have criminal records. Think about somebody who has a history of 
abuse or neglect or somebody who has a drug problem. We wouldn't know. 
And there are weak standards for post-release home studies to determine 
a child's status or safety once the child is in the custody of that 
sponsor.
  There are many heartbreaking stories we see with the border crisis, 
but this exploitation of children is one of the most devastating. I 
would add we have seen article after article about child labor and 
child trafficking that is occurring, and the administration is changing 
a rule to make it less protective of those children.
  Over at the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, 
they have an interim final rule that targets U.S. businesses that 
support America's use of their Second Amendment rights. Specifically, 
it restricts the ability of American firearm--ammunition--and related 
component manufacturers to obtain a license to export their products 
for sale.
  Aside from the fact that it is unlawful, the interim rule will have a 
negative impact again on these American manufacturers, their suppliers, 
and the jobs that they support.
  Additionally at the EPA, we saw the coal combustion residuals final 
rule, also known as coal ash, that imposes retroactive and costly 
regulations on coal ash management at inactive coal-fired powerplants.
  This highlights, yet again, another anti-energy rule from the Biden 
administration that would throw our power grid into even more 
uncertainty. The volume of these efforts truly goes to show the broken 
rulemaking process of this administration. It underscores the 
President's bureaucratic blunders and his administration's ineffective 
style of governing.
  While each rule may seem unrelated to one another, they strike a 
common cord. President Biden's administrative state is out of control. 
They would rather impose harmful regulations--remember, I said 900 of 
them--that would restrict America's rights and make life more difficult 
for our families than work with this Congress on pragmatic solutions, 
and they further escalate the hidden tax generated by these 
regulations--a tax that often receives too little attention.
  The growth of the administrative state has distorted the way that 
policy and policymaking and lawmaking works right here in Washington, 
DC. This shifts away from letting Congress legislate; it openly defies 
the basis on which our country was built; and it takes the power away 
from the people. When you take the power away from the Representatives, 
you are taking power away from the people. Remember, the Constitution 
starts with ``We the People.'' It does not start with ``We the 
Administration'' or ``Me the President.''
  I encourage President Biden and my colleagues in Congress to 
recognize that.

[[Page S4037]]

  So, if we look at the summer bucket list, you will see--I talked 
about all of these--eliminate coal power, check; block new natural gas 
plants, check; add burdensome Federal staffing mandates on long-term 
care facilities, check; restrict Second Amendment rights, check.
  The President's summer bucket list has been fulfilled already, and we 
don't even have summer officially here yet.
  So while President Biden and his bloated bureaucracy attempt to put 
major restrictions on American energy, decimate the healthcare 
workforce for our seniors, tax and spend their way to higher prices, 
cast our southern border into chaos, and put restrictions on Americans' 
constitutional rights, Senate Republicans will continue to fight and 
hold the administration accountable and return authority to the 
American people on the issues that impact them every single day. That 
is why we were sent here. That is what we were sent to do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.