[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)]
[House]
[Pages H1342-H1343]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       COST OF LIVING STILL HIGH

  (Mr. Courtney of Connecticut was recognized to address the House for 
5 minutes.)
  Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, candidate Trump and President-elect Trump 
consistently and repeatedly promised the American people that when he 
was elected, on day one that he would lower the cost of living for 
Americans. He very effectively campaigned on that issue, and I think 
that that was a major driving force in terms of why he prevailed on 
November 5. In fact, he said that in a number of interviews after the 
election.
  However, then-President Trump was sworn in on January 20, and to this 
day, despite over 100 executive orders, countless rescissions that have 
come out of the White House, not one has been directed in terms of 
lowering the cost of living for Americans in this country.
  In fact, last week, the Consumer Price Index was released. It showed 
that prices jumped again at 2.8 percent, well above the Federal 
Reserve's target of 2 percent, which is why interest rates are going to 
continue to stay unnecessarily high.
  On Wednesday, a couple days from now, so-called Liberation Day, he is 
now going to announce another wave of tariffs that every economist of 
every stripe will tell you is going to, in fact, raise the price of 
goods for Americans.
  Don't take my word for it, listen to the National Association of Home 
Builders, a staunch Republican organization that has warned this 
administration that putting tariffs on everything from steel to copper 
and nickel is going to drive up the price of home construction.
  In fact, screws and nails, made from steel, are already showing huge 
increases. They have already been hit with a 25 percent tariff from one 
of our biggest importers of steel, our friend and ally for many years, 
Canada. I now suddenly sort of wonder where this White House is coming 
from.

[[Page H1343]]

  Steel and lumber used in home construction were one of the biggest 
factors of increased prices on last Friday's Consumer Price Index. That 
is, again, why the homebuilders are warning us at this time of a 
housing crisis. We are seeing an administration that is doing 
everything in terms of driving those prices up still further.

                              {time}  1215

  There is a belief in the White House that somehow Americans are going 
to be inoculated from tariffed goods from other countries because we 
are going to have this burst of output that is going to happen, even 
though we don't mine for things like copper and nickel, and even though 
the steel industry in the U.S. will tell you they do not have the 
capacity to replace incoming foreign steel. Yet, they somehow believe 
that commodity price is not going to leak into what American importers 
are actually going to be paying, which is going to get passed along to 
the American consumer.
  He has invoked a law, a 1976 law, the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act, which was put into place by Congress in this 
Chamber to provide the President with the ability to raise tariffs 
against a foreign adversary or threat. That is the law that he used 
against Canada, and the reason he said was that fentanyl is coming into 
Canada.
  Last week, the Director of National Intelligence testified before the 
House Intelligence Committee. They released their annual threat 
assessment listing all the countries that are threats to the U.S. Do 
you know what country was not on that list? Canada. Because, in fact, 
if you look at the data from DEA and people who work at the border, 
less than 1 percent of fentanyl comes from Canada. Yet, he used that 
law, without Congress' approval, to strike at that nation.
  We have already heard from the new Prime Minister that they are going 
to raise countertariffs against the U.S. This is a vicious cycle where 
there is not going to be a good ending unless this Congress, led by Mr. 
Trump's party, grabs the steering wheel and listens to the people who 
are out there on the front lines of our economy and says: Stop. Enough.
  The Dow tanked on Friday, dropping 700 points. Futures opened today 
down 400 points. The warning lights are everywhere. Liberation day is 
just going to worsen the situation that we are seeing, not only for 
people who are in the stock market, which, you know, they are big boys 
and girls. They can handle themselves. It is really the people on Main 
Street who are going to feel the brunt of a tariff policy that goes 
completely in the opposite direction of the promises that he made on 
the campaign trail.
  It is time for Congress as a coequal branch of government--and, 
Speaker Johnson, if you are listening, please, you have the ability to 
bring to the floor a countermeasure to the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act and stop the madness in terms of where this 
administration is taking our economy.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor). Members are reminded to direct 
their remarks to the Chair.

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