tv U.S. Senate CSPAN October 20, 2021 6:00pm-6:31pm EDT
6:00 pm
indeed what you have is a build back broke agenda. and my colleague from missouri really laid that out. it is build back broke. that is what they are bringing forward. and that has -- that agenda of president biden's and the democratic party is really -- has really destroyed a lot of the hopes and the dreams and some of the new renewed prosperity of tennesseans whose job isn't to study the economy but to move it forward. they do the heavy lift every single day. last night i spoke with business owners who feel like they're under attack by this administration and their economic policy. the cost of doing business has gone up. customers, they're bleeding customers because they have less
6:01 pm
disposable income because of inflation, because of the price at the pump. supply chains are collapse be around them. it is difficult to get raw materials like lumber and steel. they have no confidence at all in the administration's willingness or ability to solve this problem. they feel as if the administration does not give a ripping flip about what happens to them in upper east tennessee. this administration has forgotten them. on top of everything else, these vaccine mandates -- now, we are hearing a lot about that. and we're hearing from people who know they are going to lose their job. many times these are women who are the sole source, the sole source of income for their families. and these families are very concerned about how they're
6:02 pm
going to handle inflation, collapsing supply lines, how they are going to handle some of the broken social policies that this administration and their allies are trying to sneak into law. so far this year we've seen our colleagues across the aisle and down at the white house try to force through provisions of the green new deal that would bankrupt your average family and destroy economic development opportunities in rural areas. we know that it is expected that the cost to heat your home this winter is going to increase 30%. now, mr. president, how do you handle that when you've lost your job? do you just sit there and freeze? and say you're losing your job because of a federal mandate
6:03 pm
that says you got to go get a shot in order to keep a job that you love, in order to put food on the table to feed your family. this makes no sense i also heard from parents very upset about critical race theory and the way this administration is trying to hijack education and force this curriculum, force cradle-to-grave socialism, daylight to dark, 24/7, depend on the federal government one of the things that frightens tennesseans the most and came up regularly on our telephone town haul was the broken -- town hal was the -- townhall was the broken. this administration and my colleagues across the aisle need to get that the point through
6:04 pm
their heads. tennesseans are afraid because they look at the border. what they are seeing is vulnerability. they see the drugs coming across that border, mr. president, because the drugs end up in their streets. fentanyl, meth, heroin -- every town is a border town. every state is a border state because joe biden's border policy, it is open up the border, hang out the y'all come sign, and give everybody a plane ticket to wherever they're going in the country. and oh, by the way, if the commercial flights are full, don't worry about it. we'll go charter to you a jet -- charter you a jet and send you into chattanooga or knoxville or westchester county. that is what concerns tennesseans. they are seeing what is
6:05 pm
happening with sex trafficking, with human trafficking. they're afraid of what the cartels are doing because the cartels are saying, thank you, joe biden. the door is open. we are not fearful. we are setting up distribution centers on u.s. soils. that's right. the cartels setting up their distribution centers. why? because joe biden is weak and feckless and doesn't stand up to protect the southern border. there's another thing that they were quite exercised about last night, and it is the issue of election integrity. indeed, i had a tennessean call me at 6:45 this morning and he said, marsha is you got to be kidding me. you mean they want to pass a bill that says anybody can go vote, that you can go vote the day of the election, that you don't have to show an i.d. to
6:06 pm
vote? he said, you know, i recently had to show not only a vaccine card but my i.d. to prove that was my vaccine card to go sit inside at the n-and-outburger. this is why people are so frustrated with joe biden. this is why they're so frustrated with the democrats. what are they looking for? the they are looking for legislators to have some -- they are looking for legislators to have some backbone, to stand up and stand for freedom. not to kowtow to a socialist agenda because they know if the democratic leadership and joe biden had their way with one vote, they would take one vote and they would push to a socialist agenda. i yield the floor.
6:07 pm
a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from minnesota. ms. smith: i ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 22, at 10:30 a.m. on thursday, october 21, the senate vote on on on motion to invoke cloture on the lin and parker nominations. all postcloture time will be considered expired at 1:45 p.m. further, that if cloture is invoked on the lin nomination, the confirmation vote occur at 1:45 on thursday. finally, that if cloture is invoked on either the parker or perez nomination, the confirmation votes begin at 5:30 p.m. on monday, october 25. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection.
6:08 pm
ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to legislative session and be in aered pooh of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the judiciary committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 2899 and the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: s. 2899, a bill to require the director of the bureau of prisons to address deficiencies and make necessary upgrades to the security camera and radio systems of the bureau of prisons to ensure the health and safety of employees and inmates. the presiding officer: without objection, the committee is discharged and the senate will proceed to the measure. ms. smith: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: mr. president, i
6:09 pm
ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its bliss today, it adjourn until 10:00 a.m. thursday, october 21. that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed. that upon the conclusion of morning business, the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the lin nomination, as provided under the previous order. further, that if the lin nomination is confirmed, the the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table, and the president be immediately notified of the senate's action. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. smith: for the information of senators, the first roll call vote will be -- of the day will be at approximately 10:30 a.m. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of senators tuberville, marshall and hoeven. the presiding officer: without
6:10 pm
objection. the senator from from alabama. mr. tuberville: thank you, mr. president. i think americans must look at what's happening up here in washington, d.c. and think that the democrats look like squirrels dodging cars from traffic. this is biden's america, one where the policy is is being thrown around in the hopes that one of their hairbrained ideas would stick. it would be almost funny if our country wasn't staring down multiple problems as a result of the biden administration's policy failures. and it's time the democrats face the facts. but after ten months of president biden running the country, how are ordinary americans doing? let's just take a look.
6:11 pm
take the border crisis. the complete predictable self-inflicted disaster. on his first day in office, president biden made the radical decision to open our borders by undoing many successful policies put in place by the trump administration. they were working. and we changed them. you can draw a straight line from those ill-advised policy decisions to where we are as we speak. two million illegal immigrants will have been apprehended by the end of this year, and those are just the ones that we caught. oddly enough, this is one issue that the mainstream media and conservative media agree on. here's a few recent headshrines. from cnn, is it,000 migrants have been waiting in makeshift camps under the del rio bridge
6:12 pm
in texas. that's from cnn. and this from the "daily caller." migrants illegally crossing the u.s.-mexico border think -- they think, president biden's -- they thank president biden's administration. do those headlines sound like the southwest border is under control? here's another headline for you. in a remarkable about-face, the biden administration announced that it would reimplement the trump-era remain-in-mexico policy after doing away with it on election day. they're going to reinstate it, only because of a federal judge. it's clear president biden could have prevented this border crisis if he had not been focused on playing politics from his first day in office. this is biden's america. how about the fact that
6:13 pm
president biden didn't listen to the best military advice his top commanders gave him when it came to withdrawing troops in afghanistan? america's best experts -- general mark milley, general frank mackenzie, and general scott miller -- all advised the president to keep 2,500 troops in afghanistan, so it would remain stable. basically, at the end of the day, this was a state department and president's decision. instead, the president's strategy turned into billions in american equipment handed over to the taliban, our most valuable airfield, bagram, maybe one of the most valuable in the world, abandoned in the dead of the night, americans left behind in enemy lines that are still there, and a complete
6:14 pm
abandonment of our allies. -- in afghanistan. what a disaster. president biden was more concerned about a good september 11 headline than a great strategy, more concerned about his press than saving american lives. the president's withdrawal will continue to be a stain on his legacy. joe biden created the worst american military foreign policy disaster in recent history. and the united states will be haunted by this decision for many years to come. another fact about this is biden's america. president biden's policies have undercut economic growth and derailed rapid recovery that was taking place under the trump administration. and this was even during a pandemic. now prices are skyrocketing,
6:15 pm
businesses can't find people to work, and the u.s. is facing an unprecedented disruption in the supply chains. and this is administration didn't know it was coming. incredibly, the white house and its defenders continue to say that all of these deeply concerning realities are due to the fact that president biden has been so successful in his economic policy. they're using the everything is so bad because president biden is doing so good argument. where in the world are they getting that from? this month the president's own chief of staff promoted the idea that inflation is only a high-class problem, the 1%. where has this guy been hiding? try telling that to the middle-class families in alabama who are seeing hard-earned money cover less at the grocery store and at the pump. the fact is prices are rising not just for the wealthy, but
6:16 pm
for everybody. consumer prices are at the highest point in 13 years and inflation is costing american taxpayers $175 a month. somebody has screwed up. again, you can draw a straight line from the president's decision to where we are now. it's what happens when you pay people to not rejoin the workforce, force vaccine mandates on workers, stifle growth with regulations, waste trillions and trillions of dollars as our country attempts to recover from a pandemic. and it will only get worse with this $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend spree not if when we raise taxes, but when we raise taxes to pay for this socialist package. the american people aren't going to buy into it. the fact is that the biden's america, his agenda has led to border crisis, foreign policy
6:17 pm
disasters, and a financial strain on the american families. this is biden's america where democrats are focused on finger pointing, scoring political points instead of paying attention to cold, hard facts of their policy failures. mr. president, i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following interns in my office
6:18 pm
be granted floor privileges until october 21, 2021. mr. marshall: dominic rupp mason wiskey and francis proffer. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. marshall: mr. president, i come to the senate floor today with a warning for kansans and all americans, that the inflation we're seeing, biden inflation as i call it is here to stay as long as those on the left support tax and spend bills. unfortunately the inflation is a double whammy, you have less money to spend and the things you want to buy cost more. it's hurting every hardworking american but none more than our seniors and young families living paycheck to paycheck. no, president biden, inflation is not a problem of just the high class. indeed, there's no equity in
6:19 pm
bidenflation. make no mistake, inflation and lingering effects rests squarely on the shoulder of president biden's failed socialist policies. it's yet another crisis created by this administration. having personally lived through the 1970's and 1980's, i've seen inflation happen firsthand i've seen it bring many businesses down and to put it in simple terms inflation is a vicious cycle like a dog chasing its tail and the tail is on fire. of course the biden administration has been throwing gasoline on this fire since the moment they took office. today's inflation crisis began with joe biden's boondoggle stimulus bill and the proceeding labor shortages. for months now we've seen help wanted signs everywhere from the small mom and pop shops on main street to big hotel chains and fast-food restaurants, employers are struggle to fill the open jobs they have despite raising wages and offering return to wornlg bonuses.
6:20 pm
this shortage is having a ripple effect across our economy from slowing down the supply logistics chains to putting an unfair burden on employees who choose to show up. this ripple has turned into a tidal wave of inflation, and now a full-flown tsunami. but the storm waves don't stop there. the cost of living increase as a result of production delays caused by labor shortages, higher costs at home such as the cost of gasoline, vehicles, groceries and energy costs cause workers to go on strike asking for higher wages to make ends meet. folks, i've got news for you -- wages never keep up with inflation. all this in turn drives up the cost in goods and services even more. you get the point. inflation is a vicious cycle. this is the dog chasing its own tail, but bidenflation doesn't stop there now. why? because president biden is throwing more gasoline on the flier with his unconstitutional vaccine mandate.
6:21 pm
i too have seen this firsthand. just last week i was in kansas to meet with union members who are facing the difficult choice of keeping their jobs oring getting the covid -- or getting the covid vaccine. these folks aren't just mad. they're panicked and it's literally job or jab for them. in fact, the unions i spoke with estimate they will lose 30% to 50% of their workforce due to joe biden's vaccine mandate. this will make both our supply chain shortages as well as inflation even worse. mr. president, while i support the covid vaccine and encourage folks to talk to their doctor about whether to get it, there is no doubt that president biden's vaccination decree is an all-out assault on our private businesses, our civil liberties and our entire constitutional system of limited government. and it's a slap in the face of so many people that stood on the front lines of covid battle last year and never stopped working. nurses, doctors, first responders, and those union
6:22 pm
members i met with last week. trust me, mr. president, i've heard loud and clear that these few weeks from kansans about what they want, and it's not an unconstitutional vaccine mandate. it's not the socialism that's borne out of trillion dollars worth of spending and taxing that led to reckless inflation, hampered our economy and killed our jobs. the question is, do americans want big-government socialism or do we want economic freedom and prosperity? kansans agree that if you want strong roads, bridges, high-speed internet, good schools and a strong military, we need a strong economy. that should be our focus right now, not continuing down this administration's socialist economic policies. pre-covid we had the greatest economy in my lifetime. that came about because we lowered people's taxes, we lowered regulations and we lowered energy prices. we need smart, targeted investments, not radical spending that leaves the country at a disadvantage.
6:23 pm
unfortunately, in the meantime, everyone better buckle up and grab your wallets. bidenflation is here to stay as long as this administration continues its reckless taxing, reckless borrowing and reckless spending agenda. mr. president, before i wrap up i want to voice my support for cangsz bid to serve -- kansas city's bid to serve as host city for the fifa visit. kansas is home to some of the most devoted fanatic soccer fans in the world ready to cheer on team u.s.a. and what better place to do it than in america's heartland. the kansas city community alongside sporting k.c. has shown commitment to make this dream a reality and kansas city is no stranger to hosting major sporting events. from the big 12 men's basketball conference championships and ncaa march madness and with plans to host the nfl football
6:24 pm
draft in 2023, we have a great fan-friendly facility and something for everyone in the family to do. we have the lodging, public transportation and dining options needed to make the world cup a great success. the fifa world cup is the largest and most single sporting event in the world and there is no greater place for it to be held than kansas city. thank you, mr. president, and i yield back. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. mr. hoeven: mr. president, i rise today to talk about the harmful impacts of president biden'ss policies are having on the global supply chain and consumer energy prices. americans today are facing the highest increase in costs for goods and services in over a decade. with inflation now more than 5% and rising. our workforce participation rate
6:25 pm
is stagnant. there's still 4.3 million fewer workers today than there were in february of 2020. nationally there are more than 10 million job openings, more than in any other year. record-high job openings coupled with rapidly increasing consumer demand is causing disruptions to global supply chains and further increasing costs, increasing inflation. rather than working to spur economic growth, encourage workforce participation and encourage our economy to growth, president biden and the democrats in congress are focused on raising taxes and enacting harmful job-killing policies. the prime example of what i'm talking about, harmful policies being pushed by the biden administration is the green new deal that will hinder domestic energy production and increase the expense for every american household. affordable and reliable energy
6:26 pm
is foundational to our economy, l quality of life and national security. across the country and in my home state of north dakota we're seeing energy prices riez across the board. drivers are paying more for fuel at the pump and homes and businesses are prepared for record-high heating costs as we go into the winter months. because the cost of energy is built into virtually every product we consume, we're seeing the inflationary pressures of higher prices on goods across the entire economy all the way to the dinner table. for an energy-rich nation such as ours, the situation we find ourselves in is unacceptable and it is certainly avoidable. in the first week of his administration, president biden yanked the permit for the keystone x.l. pipeline and halted new oil and gas leases on federal lands and offshore. president biden's party also called for new taxes and fees on
6:27 pm
american energy production. in addition, the biden administration is promoting foreign energy production as he stifles energy production here at home. he's allowed completion of russia's nord stream 2 pipeline while calling on russia, saudi arabia and other opec nations to increase more oil production. think about that. at a time when he's holding back energy production in our country, oil production in our country, he's asking opec, saudi arabia and russia to increase oil. it defies common sense. think about it. if the biden administration continues down this path, it will not only cause further increased prices for consumers, but it will undermine our energy independence and harm our national security by forcing reliance on foreign energy production. it's time we recognize the fact that our country's vast oil, gas, and coal resources are a strategic national security and economic asset. as we've seen over the past decade, greater u.s. energy
6:28 pm
production has strengthened our national security and lowered energy prices for hardworking american families. the fact is we should be focused on increasing economic growth, encouraging workforce participation and restoring our economy to its prepandemic highs. support for our domestic energy production is a vital step to bringing down prices for consumers, and we need to do it. with that, mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 stands adjourned until 10:00
6:30 pm
34 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CSPAN2 Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on