bringing more -- home more than $400,000, despite the fact that the president repeatedly pledged not to raise taxes on families making less than that. the nonpartisan committee showed that lower and middle-income taxpayers will face significant hits on the proposed tax hike. the joint committee on taxation analysis, again, a nonpartisan organization, studies the implications of taxes on the economy and different classes of the people in this country. they found that more than half of those earning less than $100,000 or $200,000 will experience a tax hike as well has those making $75,000 and $100,000 a year.

raising taxes on small businesses, including pass-throughs in south dakota and across this country is a reckless approach -- reckless approach to the economy. mr. president, we have an economy that's would bably. i mention -- wobbly. i mentioned that the inflation numbers are historic. 9.1%. we haven't seen that kind of inflation since 1981, back when i was in college. we've got an economy that some argue is already in recession depending on what the numbers are for the second quarter of this year. some economists are expecting negative g.d.p. growth for the second quarter which would put the country already into a recession. most economists and people who study this suggest there is a likelihood, certainly a likelihood of a recession within the next year. and so we have the prospect of a recession. we're looking down at the

possibility of record inflation coupled with a recession, and what do the democrats want to do? raise taxes. raise taxes and grow government. spend more. flood us all with more spending, hit businesses with higher taxes which will get passed on in the form of lower wages and higher prices. so, democrats apparently are content with the idea of a recession. they almost want to seem to guarantee that we want to get there, and i am at a loss to understand any other reason why they would be contemplating increasing the tax burden on small businesses and middle-class during an inflation crisis. democrats tried to double down on the strategy that helped

plunge us into this crisis in the first place. mercifully, and i say mercifully and thank god for a couple of discerning democrats who saw otherwise, mercifully they failed. let's hope that common sense will once again prevail and that democrats' latest reckless taks taks -- tax-and-spending proposal will come to nothing. american families are already suffering. they should not, not have to deal with the economic consequences of yet another ill-advised piece of democrat legislation. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the

senator from texas. mr. cornyn: mr. president, during my time in the senate, i've spent a lot of time learning from folks who live and work along our 1,200 mile border with mexico about the challenges that that region and that that border presents. i've worked with local leaders who know the advantages and the challenges of living along an international border better than anyone else in the country. of course i spoke with a number of border patrol agents. these of course are frontline law enforcement officers, as well as our local sheriffs and others who have come face-to-face with human tragedy, exploitation and many other forms of heartbreak and hardship. and i've learned a great deal from the nongovernmental organizations, the so-called n.g.o.'s that go above and beyond the call of duty to care for the migrants who often

arrive sick, abused, and malnourished. when it comes to border security and commonsense immigration policies, the input of these experts is invaluable. it's irreplaceable. later this week i will be traveling back home to the rio grande valley along with a number of my republican colleagues so that they too can learn from the true experts about the border crisis. senator cruz and i are leading a visit to the rio grande valley to receive an update on the current state of circumstances at the border. i know with everything happening here in washington, d.c., and around the country, it's easy to lose sight of what's happening on the border, the humanitarian crisis that's occurring at the border. so i want to remind anybody

who's listening about what we've seen over the last two years during -- well, actually it's the first year and a half of the biden administration. for a year and a half now border communities have been overwhelmed by the sheer number, the volume of migrants crossing the border. since president biden took office, the border patrol has encountered nearly three million, three million people along the southwest border. that's almost an incomprehensible figure, and it's far from the normal situation. let me provide a little historical context. at this point during the obama administration, an average of about 46,000 migrants were apprehended each month along the border. 46,000 during the obama administration. during the trump administration, that number was cut in half to 24,000 migrants

every month. but during the biden administration, so far that figure has skyrocketed. on average more than 185,000 migrants cross our southern border every month. that's seven and a half times more than we were just seeing a few years ago. and there's no question, certainly in my mind -- and i don't think any rational view of the facts would lead to any other conclusion other than president biden's policies are the driving force for this crisis. the president ran on the promise of policies that would lead to this exact result, and we've heard stories from migrants who explicitly came to the united states because of the signals the federal government is sending that if you can make it to the border, you're going to be able to make it into the

interior of the united states. but even though the president's policies have encouraged many people to make this dangerous trip from their homes across the border, particularly in temperatures like we're encountering in texas now, where for the last 33 days we've seen 100-degree-plus temperatures, these migrants are coming tbr their home -- from their home, traversing huge expanses of land and showing up at the border, if they do show up, as i said, sick, dehydrated, suffering from assault. the fact of the matter is if you visit brooks county, texas, where falfurrias is located, they have a border patrol checkpoint. and what the coyotes do -- that's the name given to the human smugglers -- is they'll transport people from the stash houses on this side of the border up the highway. but then before they get to the

border checkpoint where the border patrol is, they'll tell all the migrants to get out of the vehicle, and here's a jug of water and maybe a power bar and we'll see you on the north side. and they'll have to walk around the checkpoint and then reconnect with the coyote, with the smuggler on the north side. but the fact of the matter is that a number of these individuals don't make it. they die in brooks county from exposure. certainly the coyotes, who cares nothing about humanity but only about money, if someone is sick or lame or can't keep cup, they get left behind to die. it's clear too that this administration has failed to prepare for what i think most people could have predicted given the green light that the

biden administration has posted at the border welcoming anybody and everybody who wants to come to the united states from anywhere in the world without complying with our immigration laws. when thousands of people are crossing the border every day, it overwhelms the border patrol's capabilities. that's part of the plan, because when thousands of people overwhelm the border patrol at the border, many of them have to go away from the border for paperwork, to process unaccompanied children, and to perform other tasks, and so they're not there when, guess what? here come the drugs. last year alone 108,000 americans died of drug overdoses. virtually all of those came across the southern border. the one we're most concerned about now but we're concerned about all of them, is our opioids, synthetic opioids like

fentanyl which are enormously powerful and resulted in the death of far too many americans. and part of that is because of the border crisis. the drug cartels make a lot of money doing this. the human smugglers charge $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 a head to bring people across the border. this is a huge money-making criminal enterprise. but in response, the biden administration has failed to prepare and failed to embrace policies that would deter people from making this dangerous trip in the first place. last fall i visited in the del rio sector with a group of about 30 border patrol l agents at their muster. that's their meeting before they're deployed into the field. when they were asked to raise their hand if they would be working in the field that day patrolling, not a single hand was raised.

these men and women who would normally be out on the front lines stopping dangerous people and drugs from sneaking across the border, they're filling out paperwork. they're watching unaccompanied children. and they're transporting migrants. this is part of the cartel's plan. it looks like, to coin a phrase, we're playing checkers when they are playing three-dimensional chess. the the cartels have simply adapted their policies to exploit what they see as weakness at the border. this is a dangerous situation. if border patrol agents are caring for unaccompanied children, obviously they can't control the front lines. if they're knee-deep in paperwork, they can't stop criminals and drugs from coming across the border. and the chaos at the border provides an excellent camouflage and disguise for dangerous people coming across.

gangs, cartels, criminal organizations are paying close attention. they see the gaps, some of which they create themselves, and they're taking full advantage. every day criminals attempt to sneak across our border. the dedicated men and women of the border patrol arrest a number of them if they can locate them. many of them get p away. but since october agents apprehended more than 450 gang members. but as we know, they're outnumbered and overwhelmed meaning countless others slip through the cracks. according to some reports, more than 300,000 migrants evaded border patrol between october and the end of march. that's 300,000 on top of the three million that i mentioned a moment ago that have been encountered during the biden administration. so that's 300,000 additional who have evaded border patrol in just six months.

these are known as got-aways, the ones border patrol see on surveillance cameras, but the number could well be significantly higher. the cartels and human smugglers who help people enter our country are not fools. they pay close attention to the rhetoric of the president and politicians here in washington, and they watch television from their home country and see that people who show up at the border can by and large enter the country without any consequences. they know our immigration laws better than the average american, better than the average member of congress. and they know how to exploit them to their advantage. they'll p flood the system in one area to distract the border patrol and take advantage of the security gaps. this is an important point. these cartels and criminal

organizations are what one border patrol agent called commodity agnostic. in other words, they're in it for the money. if they can make money by smuggling, by trafficking in young girls or in economic migrants or drugs, they will do it because that is why they exist, because of the money they derive from their crimes. as i suggested, one of the biggest money makers is drug trafficking. since october, cums -- customs and 0 border protection seized more than 120 pounds of methamphetamine. add in other dangerous drugs that have been seized you have 440 pounds of drugs that came into our country in only eight months, and that's just the drugs we were able to locate and

confiscate. these criminal groups also profit off the backs of migrants. again, to them a migrant is not a human being. it's a commodity. it's a moneymaker. a way to wring a dollar out of somebody else's misery. and a couple of weeks ago we received a tragic reminder of how ruthless these criminals are. smugglers abandoned a tractor-trailer packed with migrants in san antonio, my hometown, leaving the truck to bake in the texas heat. 53 migrants died in what has been described as the deadliest human smuggling incident in human -- in u.s. history. it's a devastating reminder that this isn't about politics. lives are actually on the line. president biden has talked about the need to treat immigrants

hugh mainly -- humanely. i agree. this isn't about treating them inhumanely, but 53 migrants dying in the back of a tractor-trailer rig in 100-degree texas temperature is not humane either. migrants are dying, drugs are pouring into our country, and all the while these criminal organizations are getting richer and richer. i don't know how president biden and vice president harris harris look in the mirror knowing that this is happening on their watch. i do know that president biden and vice president harris harris have not been down to the border and talked to the same experts that i've learned from over the years. i think they would learn a lot. i would welcome them if they decided to come. instead, the president has sent a signal to the cartels and human smugglers that they can continue to abuse, rape, and get rich off of vulnerable migrants.

we've even seen some in the administration villainize the dedicated law enforcement officers trying to keep our communities and our country safe. despite the record breaking levels of migraine -- migration, we know the president still refuses to visit the border. he's in the middle east. he's visiting -- visiting mohammed bin salman and other officials in israel and elsewhere, but he won't go to the border where this crisis is happening, in large part because of his failed policies. so mr. president, as i said, throughout my time in the senate i've learned a lot from these dedicated leaders in border communities who deal with this crisis firsthand. their input has been invaluable to my work in the senate, and i look forward to seeing some of these folks later this week and i introducing them to a number of our senate colleagues.

i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to speak for up to five minutes prior to the scheduled vote. the presiding officer: is there objection? hearing none. without objection. mr. tillis: thank you, mr. president. i will be briefly. i want to talk about a serious subject. 30 years ago, we wouldn't have been talking about e-mail or social media or other things that we now rely on to receive communications, to be informed on political choices, and to potentially even support candidates that we want to support. the reality is today we've all got two or three e-mail accounts, probably most of them based on gmail. we've got access to twitter, instagram, facebook, a number of social media platforms. i have a concern that maybe it's not a level playing field for political views. we've always had that accurate, but recently n.c. state issued a

report that seems to find that, particularly with gmail, we have an imbalance between how information is disseminated, how candidates are able to reach out for support. what the study found is a potential political bias against republicans in favor of democratic candidates. now, i'm a technology person and a -- i think my staff called me a bit of a nerd. i've been in technology almost 40 years. i'm not willing to jump to the conclusion that google has necessarily created a strategy for benefiting democrats over republicans, but this study seems to suggest that there are legitimate questions that need to be answered. i don't think any platform should favor either policy. i think more speech, more access is better.

more-informed voters, more people participating in elections. but this study seems to suggest that there is a bias in the way that we receive our information through gmail. i joined a letter with senator daines to say take a look at that report, take a look at your operations and give us your response to the assertions in the report. i know that this is very important for the future of elections, for the future of participation in elections. again, i don't want a platform that biases itself towards conservatives any more than i want one that biases itself towards liberals. but i did have an opportunity to talk with a technologist at google who dismissed the record. but -- dismissed the report. that's not enough. the report has findings, in this case i think it's google's, but other platforms we can ask the same questions. ins incidentally, twitter two

ago informed me i was not who i said i was, so they suspended my aaccount. i tried to go through an appeal process. i finally decided i don't need that twitter account. i wonder if that was a result of algorithm or somebody in twitter who didn't like what i had to say about my mother, my wife or kids on my twitter account, because i haen to have an official -- because i happen to have an official can the that is somehow okay. we've got to get this straightened up. google with -- google can help us by providing hard answers to identify others that may be responsible for the outcomes that we are assuming are the responsibility of google. i think it's very important for us to go through the report, give us the information we need, because we may find out that google is in fact not responsible for the -- for what some of my colleagues believe is the vast majority of appeals from conservatives going into

their spam filter and never being reached. there may be other reasons. we already know that russia, china, other state actors influence public opinion in the united states through their use and exploitation of social platforms. the reason i come to the floor today is to basically reassert what i did in the letter to google -- do the homework. prove to us that there are no operations or conscious decisions made by management or individuals in the organization to bias towards one ideology or the other. i need that information so we can figure out how he can can have more speech and more engagements in the political process. i will say this, if there's any social media platform that has an employer or organization that is biased, those folks should no locker be -- no longer be working for those platforms. if i find evidence to that effect, i will pursue it aggressively. i come to the floor to encourage google to do the homework, know

i'll be objective and i'd like a response soon. thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: under the previous order, all postcloture time is expired. the question is on the nomination. mr. tester: i ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there sufficient second? there appears to be. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: vote:

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the presiding officer: under the previous order, the motion to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be needly notified of the senate's actions. the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: cloture motion: we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive calendar number the 76, michael s. barr of michigan to be vice chairman for supervision for the board of governors of the federal reserve system, signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of michael s. barr of

michigan to be vice chairman for supervision of the board of governors of the federal reserve system for a term of four years shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

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the presiding officer: the yeas are 66, the nays 28, and the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: federal reserve system, michael s. barr, of michigan, to be vice chair for supervision of the board of governors. mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the whip from illinois. mr. durbin: i ask unanimous consent that the senate vote at

2:30 p.m. on confirmation of executive calendar number 976. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: there will be two roll call votes starting at 2:3. they will be on confirmation of the barr nomination to be vice chair of the federal reserve and motion to invoke cloaks on -- cloture vote on the herrnstadt nomination and more votes at 5:30. that will be confirmation on the herrnstadt nomination and the heinzelmanman nomination. i have a request for nine committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted.

mr. durbin: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, earlier this week i introduced the senate and those who follow our proceedings to an 8-year-old boy who lives in highland park, illinois. his name is cooper roberts. he's a twin and his twin's brother name is luke. cooper and luke and the mom and dad decided a few days ago, last week, in fact, to attend the 4th of july parade in highland park. it was a natural choice. beautiful day. a is a lawsuit to our country -- a salute to our country in one of the nicest states of illinois. we know what happened, a shooter took an assault-style weapon to

the rout of a downtown business and in a minute or two fired 90 rounds into a crowd. as a result, cooper roberts, this 8-year-old boy, was paralyzed after being shot in the 4th of july highland park parade mass shooting. he's undergone a series of surgeries since. i tell this story on the floor for two reasons. the family has been open about cooper's struggle and i'm glad he has because he has a cheering section now that reached far beyond illinois and is around the nation. and secondly because this poor little boy's situation is a reflection on what assault rifles can do to the human body. i'm not an expert on firearms. i don't pretend to be. but i watched programs and read a lot on the subject and i know

the assault rifle, the ar-15, and those in the same class are not your ordinary firearms. they discharge their bullets an ammunition at two to three times of velocity of an ordinary firearm. when that ammunition hits the body of a person, it starts tumbling and tearing apart the body as it goes through. cooper, this 8-year-old boy, had his spinal cord severed by a bullet, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. sadly, the family reported that he is in critical condition at the children's hospital. he showed some improvement last fry, -- friday. things are not going well, at least they were not yesterday, according to the family. the bullet that entered this little boy's abdomen left a hole

in the esophagus which was sewn shut and now it is reopened. as a result he's facing an urgent, complex and lengthy surgery today to, again, attempt to repair his torn esophagus. this will be his tenth surgery since the 4th of july and is at high risk given his age and condition. by tuesday evening, there was an update that he was able to close the opening in his esophagus. one of cooper's lungs is partially collapsed, his fever is spiking due to the complications. cooper was one of dozens of

people shot at the parade. seven have died. an individual is being held on murder charges in the mass shooting. cooper and others in highland park were shot with a military-style smith & wesson m and p rifle. m and p suggests it is for military and police use, but it was purchased by the individual charged with these murders who is neither a member of the military or police. in an interview in chicago, a trauma surgeon who is treating cooper at highland park hospital said the injuries were devastating, in her words. they create very large wounds, she told the station, she

basically destroy organs, they destroy soft tissue, they destroy bone. cooper received what we call a massive transfusion, an enormous amount of blood in order to keep him alive during the operation. the boy's a acoria aorta injury had to be reconstructed. yesterday senator duck worth and i had a -- duckworth and i had a meeting with the residents of highland park, and they came to washington to plead congress to do something about these military weapons being sold to the united states and did such devastating damage to this beautiful little boy. joining them from highland park was a group from uvalde, texas. they know this story

individually and personally. they lost 19 kids at their grade school. they came in with pictures of them, prayer cards from the funeral parlors and the point they were making, this is madness, to allow people who are not policemen or a member of the military and to use these weapons is unthinkable. what in the world is america thinking to believe this has something to do with a constitutional right -- a constitutional right. what were cooper's constitutional rights to go to a parade in highland park and come home safely? where was the respect for them? and of course when you're discharging 90 rounds in a crowd -- i think it's time for us to focus on mass shooting in

america. while this was going on in highland park that same weekend, dozens were shot and some killed in cities in chicago and cities across america. it is imaffordable me to believe that -- impossible for me to believe that we can do nothing about this. the people of highland park and uvalde, texas, were shaking their head with the filibuster rule in the senate. do you think that makes a difference to this family of this little boy. they could care less about the rules of the senate and wonder why the congress can't do anything about the shootings. i said before when i came to the floor, when i left for the 4th of july recess, i had no idea that i was going to personally join this fraternity of grief, senators and congressmen from cities and towns across america who have endured these mass

shootings and have to sit down with families in tears and explain by their senator and congressmen on doing something. we came together to pass a bill, but it didn't call for eliminating the purchase of these assault rifles. there is no need for anyone to own this military-style weapon and for it to be sold to the average individual who has no training to prove that he is eligible to own it and to use it in circumstances that cannot be controlled is it not acceptable. what would be said if i wanted to buy a grenade launcher? we would say that is ridiculous. that is for war. these military weapons are for

war as well and they should not be sold in the country. i believe the military assault weapon ban i voted for in 1994 is the right thing to do. it was a ten-year ban. we should have extended it. during that year, there was a lot of controversies, but there were less deaths from mass shootings. so, madam president, i hope that we continue to tell the story of the victims and their families so that our colleagues in the senate, of both political parties, will come to understand that it is time for us to step up, except our -- being accept r responsibility of office. i ask that the second part of my statement be placed in a separate part of the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: the food and drug agency is one of the most important agencies, not one of the largest but it has the responsibility to determine the safety and effectiveness of more products than most americans can

imagine. i've been a big fan of the food and drug administration in the years i've served in congress. i've seen some wonderful things happen there. they are the ones who decide whether drugs are safe and effective before they can be sold in america. and they have regulatory authority over so many different issues. but it's sad to say, madam president, the food and drug administration of the united states of america today is at a crossroads. in fact, it may be in free fall. the agency's missteps, its close connection with the industries it regulates, its delayed response to formula safety and decisions that fuel the opioid epidemic have shaken public confidence and endangered public health. but the f.d.a.'s ongoing and competence and failure to regulate tobacco products stands in its own distinctive grim category. last month the food and drug administration announced a long

awaited decision to remove all e-cigarettes produced by joule company from the market after two years of scientific review of data that had been submitted by the company joule to the food and drug administration. new studies have determined that joule is one of the most popular e-cigarettes used by children. let's get to the bottom line. when tobacco companies found their cigarettes falling into disfavor, they needed a replacement product. their marketing proposal and strategy has always been addict children. they did it with cigarettes. they did it with tobacco products, whether they were spit tobacco or smoking products, and unfortunately millions of americans, particularly children, became addicted to their products. when those tobacco products fell out of favor, the industry needed a replacement. they found one. in vaping and e-cigarettes. today at least two million

american kids are addicted to e-cigarettes and vaping. if you don't believe me, ask a student in high school or middle school what's going on with vaping and you're going to be told the grim reality. numerous federal health studies have determined that joule is the most popular e-cigarette used by kids in america. more than two million children in america are using them, including 750,000 kids who became addicted to these products in the nine months since the food and drug administration missed a court-ordered deadline to regulate their products. that's right. the court ordered the food and drug administration to regulate these products and unfortunately for nine months the f.d.a. refused to do it. to put a new tobacco product on the market, an e-cigarette know has the burden to prove to the food and drug administration that it's appropriate for the protection of public health,

unquote, before they can put the product on the market. that's the law. makes since. you can't sell a tobacco product at this point without f.d.a. approval. that's what it requires. it has to be appropriate for the protection of public health. tobacco products can't groove that. neither can e-cigarettes but f.d.a. and jewell ignored this law for years as it sold its products without f.d.a. authorization. i was relieved when it finally announced it was going to ban the kid-friendly dowcted after determining the company could not prove they presented a public health benefit. for anyone who spoken to a teenager, parent or teacher in the last five years and seen the powerful addiction to nicotine that juul causes, f.d.a.'s finding makes sense. so imagine my surprise when after f.d.a. commissioner kay left called to tell me the good news, the agency a few days

later suddenly reversed course. not two weeks after according juul after the market, the fatd backtracked and halted its own decision. juul sued the f.d.a. you expect that. these tobacco companies have more lawyers than sense. big tobacco loves nothing more than a lawsuit to preserve its ability to addict children to their products. now f.d.a. and juul have jointly asked the d.c. circuit court to suspend the litigation now pending on their products while the f.d.a. resumes its regulatory review. but here's what baffled me. health experts and parents across america wonder why is f.d.a. in a legal free fall at this moment? one day they're banning the products. a week later they're putting them back on the market. when we need the agency the most, it's proven to be adrift and lives are at stake. juul is now free to continue selling its deadly products again and f.d.a. has now not

stated how long they're going to suspend this litigation while they review information. f.d.a. has a choice. rely on science and public health to protect america's kids or cower to big tobacco's lawyers. adding to the chaos on friday -- listen to this -- we learned that the f.d.a. is neglecting to enforce still another part of the law which i passed this spring. that clarified their authority to cover synthetic nicotine. the tobacco companies thought they had found an escape hatch. they wouldn't have to justify their products if the nicotine wasn't derived from tobacco but was derived from a synthetic source. we changed the law and made it clear that was not going to be a loophole. f.d.a. sounded the alarm over this emerging public health challenge of e-cigarette companies trying to evade oversight, including the number one e-cigarette used by children today. it's called puff bar. f.d.a. added another deadline today to clear the market of unauthorized synthetic nicotine

e-cigarettes. and i hope the agency doesn't repeat its history of failed enforcement. the f.d.a. is a cop on the beat. they're supposed to protect all americans and particularly our children. they know there's a product on the market that's addictive to kids and leads them into a tobacco addiction. that product is e-cigarettes and vaping. the law says you can't sell the product until you prove it's effective for public health. the tobacco companies could never prove that. but yet the f.d.a. allows them to continue to sell the product, to ignore the law, to ignore the court order and does nothing. i don't know what it takes. i'm calling on the f.d.a. to finally come to its senses. if you're going to, ear on the public side of public safety, on the side of kids, not tobacco companies. this free fall in the legal department at the f.d.a. is unimaginable. it's not safe for america. and it's not safe for our future. i yield the floor.

a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. sanders: madam president, at a time of massive income, wealth inequality. the american people are sick and tired of the unprecedented level of corporate greed that we are seeing right now. the american people are sick and tired of paying outrageously high prices at the gas pump and at the grocery store while at the same time oil companies and

food companies are making record breaking profits. the american people are sick and tired of struggling to pay for the basic necessities of life while at the same time 700 bill favors -- billionaires in this country became $2 trillion richer. and income inequality today is worse than it has been for a hundred years. people on top doing phenol naturally well. working class families falling further and further behind. the american people are sick and tired of seeing multibillionaires like mr. musk and mr. bezos and mr. branson taking joy rides to outer space in their spaceships, buying $500

million super yachts and living in mansions all over the world while some 600,000 people in our country are homeless. in other wordses, we're looking at -- in other words, we're looking at two worlds. people on top never did better. the middle class continuing to decline and the poor living in amiss balance conditions. and in the midst of all of this, the american people want congress, want their elected officials to address corporate greed, to address income and wealth inequality, and end a tax system in which some of the wealthiest people in this country in a given year do not pay a nickel in federal taxes. where large profitable corporations do not pay a nickel in federal taxes. and they want a tax system which is fair where the wealthy and large corporations pay their

fair share. madam president, the last poll that i saw had congress, the united states congress with a 16% approval rating, 16%. and to me this was shocking, really quite shocking because i suspect that the 16% who believe that congress was doing something meaningful really don't know what's going on. so what is congress doing right now at a time in which we face so many massive problems, not to mention climate change, not to mention a massive housing crisis where 18 million families are being half of their income into housing, not to mention the student debt that 45 million americans are carrying? what is congress about?

what are we working on right this minute? and the answer is that for two months 107-member conference committee has been meeting behind closed doors to provide over $50 billion in corporate wealth -- corporate welfare with no strings attached to the highly profitable microchip industry. no, we're not talking about health care for all. no, we're not talking about making higher education affordable. no, we're not talking about making sure that young people can earn decent salaries when they become teachers. no, we're not talking about leading the world in combating climate change. we're talking about giving $50 billion in corporate welfare with no strings attached, a blank check to the highly profitable microchip industry. and, yes, if you can believe it

-- and i'm talking to the 16% of americans who have a favorable opinion of congress -- if you can believe it, this legislation may also provide a $10 billion bailout to jeff bezos, the second wealthiest person in america, so that his company blue origin can launch a rocketship to the moon. madam president, for all of my colleagues who tell us how deeply, deeply concerned they are about the deficit, oh, my goodness, we cannot help working families with a child tax credit. we cannot command medicare to cover dental and hearing aids and eye blahses. we can't -- glasses. we can't have affordable housing. we can't do that. what about the deficit when it comes to giving $52 billion in corporate welfare to some of the most profitable corporations in

america? i guess when you're giving corporate welfare to big and powerful interests, the deficit no longer matters. madam president, there is no doubt in my mind that there is a global shortage in microchips and semiconductors, which is making it harder for manufacturers to produce the automobiles, the cell phones, the electronic equipment that we need. the shortage is costing american workers good jobs and raising prices for families. i don't think there is a debate about that reality, which is why i and i think many others here in the senate fully support efforts to expand u.s. microchip production. but the question that we should be asking is this. should american taxpayers

provide the microchip industry with a blank check of over $50 billion at a time when semiconductor companies are making tens of billions of dollars in profits and paying their executives exorbitant compensation packages? my answer to that question,and i think the american people's answer to that question, is a resounding no. let's review some recent history about the microchip industry, which i do not hear discussed very often here on the floor. over the last 20 years, the microchip industry has shut down -- has shut down -- over 780 manufacturing plants in the united states. shut down over 780 manufacturing plants in the united states and

eliminated 150,000 american jobs while moving most of their production overseas after receiving some $9.5 billion in government subsidies and loans. you got that? they have shut down over 780 plants, thrown 150,000 american workers out on the street as they have gone abroad. in other words, in order to make more profits, these companies took government money and used that money to ship good-paying jobs abroad. and what are we doing about that? you shut down plants in america, you jeopardize the production of microchips here in america. you throw 150,000 workers out on the street. and what is is our response no

hey, here's $52 billion. thank you very much for your patriotism and your respect for american workers. now, that approach may make sense to some people. and maybe people get a lot of money from the microchip industry in campaign contributions -- i don't know -- but it sure as hell does not make sense to me. in total, madam president, it has been estimated -- estimated -- that five major semiconductor companies will receive a lion's share of this taxpayer handout. those companies are intel, texas instruments, micron industry, and samsung. these five companies, my friends, made $70 billion in profits last year. so if if you're a worker in america trying to get by on

$12,$13 an hour, nothing we can do for you. if you can't afford the outrageous costs of health care in america, we can't do anything for you. can't buy the prescription drugs that your doctor prescribes because they're too expensive, can't do anything for you. but if you are an industry where the top five companies made $70 billion in profits last year, well, we got some good news for you. keep the campaign contributions coming. we're there for you, and we're going to give you a $52 billion handout. madam president, the company that will likely benefit the most from this taxpayer assistance is intel. i have nothing against intel. i wish them the best. but let's be clear. intel is not a poor, struggling company. it is not a company which is going broke.

in 2021, last year, intel made nearly $20 billion in profits. that's not a bad year, $20 billion in profits. during the pandemic, intel had enough money to spend $16.6 billion -- not on research and development, not on starting new plants in america, but on buying back its own stock to reward its executives and wealthy shareholders. that's what intel did with its $20 billion in profits. last year intel could afford to give its c.e.o., pat gelsinger, $179 million compensation package. $179 million compensation package. does that sound like a company that needs a corporate bailout, that needs taxpayer money, to

survive in? over the past 020 years, intel has spent over $100 million on lobbying and campaign contributions. that is the definition of the corrupt political system under which we live, while at the same time shipping thousands of jobs to china and other low-income countries. and that is a company that the american people should be bailing out? really? now another company that would receive taxpayer assistance under this legislation is texas instruments. last year texas instruments made $7.8 billion in profits. in 2020, that company spent $2.5 billion buying back its own stock while it also, like intel, has outsourced thousands of

good-paying american jobs to low-wage countries. who else is in line to receive corporate welfare under this bill? well, how about the taiwan semiconductor manufacturing company, tsmc. it is in line to potentially receive billions of dollars in federal grants under this bill. madam president, it might be interesting to know who the largest shareholder of tsmc is. well, if you guessed the government of taiwan, you would be correct. which should come as no surprise to anybody who studies how other countries throughout the world conduct industrial policy. so let us be clear. when we provide tsmc money, we are giving that taxpayer money directly to the government of taiwan. samsung, another very large corporate entity from south korea, is also in line to receive federal funding under this bill. in other words, not only would

this bill be providing corporate welfare to profitable american corporations, but we would literally be handing over u.s. taxpayer dollars to corporations that are owned or controlled by other nations. and on and on it goes. so, madam president, let me be very clear. i believe in industrial policy. i do. i believe that it makes sense on certain occasions for the federal government and the private sector to work together to address a pressing need in america, to sit down and say, okay, you want to make some -- you want to make some money? we have national needs that need to be addressed. how do we work well together so that you, as a corporation, do okay and so that the taxpayers of this country do okay? that's called sensible industrial policy. industrial policy means cooperation between the government and private sector,

cooperation. it does not mean the government providing massive amounts of corporate welfare to profitable corporations without getting anything in return. that's not industrial policy. that's just giving money to large, profitable corporations who make a lot of campaign contributions. so,madam president, the question is -- will the united states government develop an industrial policy that benefits all of our people or will we continue to have an industrial policy that benefits the wealthy and the powerful? madam president, in 1968, dr. martin luther king jr. said -- and i quote -- the problem is that we all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free enterprise capitalism for the poor, end quote. i am afraid that what dr. king said 54 years ago was accurate back then and it is even more

accurate today. we hear a lot of talk in the halls much congress about the need to create -- of congress about the need to create public-private partnerships, and that all sounds very nice. when the government adopts an industrial policy that socializes all of the risk and privatizes all of the profits, that is not a partnership; that is crony capitalism. now, some of my colleagues make the point that the microchip industry is enormously important for our economy and that we must become less dependent on foreign nations for microchips. i agree. there is no argument about that a there is no argument about that. l but we can and must accomplish that goal without simply throwing money at these companies while the taxpayer gets nothing in return p. in my view, we must prevent

microchip companies from receiving taxpayer assistance, unless they agree to issue warrants or equity stakes to the federal government. if private companies are going to benefit from generous taxpayer subsidies, the financial gains made by these companies must be shared with the american people, not just wealthy shareholders. that's what a real partnership -- private-public partnership is about. in other words, if microchip companies mawk a profit as a result of these grants, the taxpayers of this country have a right to get a reasonable return on that investment. further, if microchip companies receive taxpayer assistance, they must agree that they will not buy back their own stock, outsource american jobs, repeal existing collective bargaining agreements, and must remain neutral in any union organizing

effort. this is not a radical idea. in fact, all of these conditions were imposed on companies that received taxpayer assistance during the pandemic and passed a -- and passed the senate by a vote of 96-0. these are not radical demands a. moreover, madam president, i know this may be a radical idea in the halls of congress, but, no, i do not believe that this legislation should approve a $10 billion bailout for jeff bezos to fly to the moon. i know that that is a very radical idea. but maybe, just maybe, a middle class which is struggling, which is falling behind, should not see their taxpayer dollars go to the second-wealthiest person in america. radical idea, i know, but that is my view.

mr. bezos is worth some $138 billion. he became $33 billion richer during the pandemic. and in a given year, mr. bezos has paid nothing in federal income taxes because he and his friends write a tax system that benefits the wealthy. so you sty moo bay so, if he -- so i say to mr. bay so, if he wants to go to the money, let him go to the moon. that's okay. but he should do it on his own dime, no that of the u.s. taxpayers. so, madam president, this is where we are. this country faces enormous issues. we are not dealing with those issues. and instead we are talking about a massive pail-out for profitable corporations and a $10 billion check for the second-wealthiest guy in this country. so i would hope that members of congress listen to the american people, stand up for the working class and the middle class of

this country, and not give a massive amount of corporate welfare to people who don't need it. with that, madam president, i yield the floor. ms. ernst: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: madam president, 200 years ago the senate went about their business without computers, without cell phones, and any of our other modern conveniences that run on electricity, including the very lights in this room. working by candlelight might sound quaint today, but many americans may find themselves doing just that in the not-too-distant future because the biden administration is taking the country back to the era of no electricity.

folks, with president biden and his same team of advisors who created a nationwide baby formula shortage and out-of-control inflation overseeing their, quote, energy transition, end quote, what is could possibly go wrong? you don't have to look any further than your energy bills to get an answer. prices at the pump have nearly doubled since biden's first day in office when he started signing executive orders to turn off american energy supplies. and home electricity prices have increased more than 10% since just last summer. what's worse than these expensive energy bills? well, folks, how about no power at all.

most of the nation is currently in danger of experiencing power outages due to energy shortages caused by the closure of power plants as part of the democrats' push towards renewables. these biden blackouts will make it impossible to even run fans and air conditioners on the hottest days of the summer. but not to worry, folks. biden's energy department has issued some tips of what to do in case of an outage, which include stocking up on candles, keeping an ice chest on hand, and having a gallon of water available for every person in your house for each day you are

without electricity. folks, that's not the most reassuring advice since no one knows how many days we could be kept in the dark during a biden blackout. the reality is these power outages pose a bigger problem than just the inconvenience of being uncomfortably warm or unable to watch tv for a few hours or possibly days. extended outages could be a matter of life or death for many folks who depend upon electronic medical devices or temperature-sensitive medicines. you're probably wondering how it's even possible in 2022 for there to be an energy shortage right here in the united states of america. it's simple math.

democrat policies, the ongoing closure of traditional power plants is reducing our capacity to supply enough electricity for millions of homes. and renewables are not yet producing enough energy on their own to make up the difference. the democrats are predictably blaming global warming, but the truth is the rolling blackouts and rising prices are really being caused by manmade energy change. just this year the biden administration has reduced domestic oil and gas leasing, created regulatory barriers for building pipelines and taken administrative actions that put hundreds of solar energy projects across the u.s. on hold. we can't just turn off the power

sources we depend upon without having reliable, abundant, and affordable alternatives readily available, yet that's exactly what the democrats at president biden's direction are doing. i am proud that my home state of iowa was the first state in the nation to adopt a renewable portfolio standard nearly 40 years ago. today iowa generates most of our energy from renewables with wind power being our primary source. iowa also leads the nation in the production of ethanol and biodiesel. and despite what critics say, the use of corn, ethanol, and soybean biodiesel reduce greenhouse gas emissions while helping to keep our nation

energy independent and our state green and clean. however, renewables still only produce a fraction of the total electricity the nation relies on to run, making it impossible and irresponsible to simply unplug our traditional energy sources. just look at california, which has set a goal of achieving a carbon-free power grid. the state is forecasting that energy shortages could leave as many as four million california residents without power this summer. the state's utility provider wants to build five new fossil fuel power generators to ensure the availability of reliable electricity in the future. but the challenge is more than

just making up for the reduction and power production, because the transition to renewables is creating new demands for electricity. for example, our increasingly unreliable power grid will face even greater strains as more and more electric vehicles are plugged into it. to drive just 100 miles, an e.v. requires about the same amount of electricity as it takes to run a home for an entire day, including lights, heating and air conditioning, and appliances. tesla, the world's top e.v. carmaker, is already asking e.v. owners to not charge their cars during certain hours of the day to better ration the use of

electricity. and while president biden and the democrats keep telling americans to buy an electric vehicle to cut down on the cost of gas, the high sticker price makes e.v.'s unaffordable. folks, the cold, hard truth is electric vehicles are not as economical, environmental, or ethical as the democrats want us to believe. proponents of the green new deal portray themselves as heroes in a fairy tale riding to the rescue on an e.v., of course, to defeat the greedy corporations polluting the planet for profit so we can all live happily ever after. but the truth is it ain't that easy being green.

consider the component parts used in both e.v.'s and solar panels. well, they are largely produced by communist china's state-supported corporations, often using slave and child labor. as a result, the world will be more dependent on communist china for some energy products in a postcarbon economy than we are on opec for petroleum today. president biden's own energy department admits that u.s. decombonlization goals are reliant on chinese firms and the chinese government. while we will rely on china for the technology, the communist regime will rely more heavily on the forced labor of children and modern-day slaves to produce it.

consider almost half of the world's supply of poly silicon use in solar panels is made in communist china often by the hands of forced labor, of ethnic and religious minorities. and nearly every silicon-based solar panel is likely to contain components that originated in the area of china where forced labor camps are widespread. china also has significant financial control over the world's supply of cobalt, which is an essential element used in the batteries of e.v.'s. the congo produces 70% of the world's cobalt, and chinese-backed companies own or have a financial interest in most of the african nation's

cobalt mines. these chinese corporations are subjecting the miners to physical abuse and hazardous conditions in exchange for very little money. tens of thousands of children, some as young as four years old, are exploited to work in the mines with few safety protections. president biden promised to create green jobs, but he didn't mention that they would be done by children in africa or slaves in china. these poor kids are mistreated and malnourished and even drugged to suppress their hunger so they can work for longer hours. breathing in toxic fumes causes long-term health problems, including lung disease and heart

failure as well as birth defects. and miners are often buried alive when tunnels cave in. these are some of the kids who mine the cobalt to make an e.v. run. and in the other photo are some of the folks who produce ethanol for motor vehicles. i know which photo i would rather see. who powers your vehicle? in addition to the toxic harm to humans, the extraction of cobalt also causes severe environmental pollution to the water, air, and to the soil. just take a look at this picture. this is a mine in congo where cobalt is extracted to make batteries for e.v.'s. nothing about this happen

landscape looks like an environmental success story to me. by contrast, the picture over here is a beautiful farm in iowa where corn is grown to make fuel for motor vehicles. every year i drive through mile after mile of cornfields on my 99-county tour. it's the type of scenic drive that reconnects you with nature and reminds you of the importance of proper stewardship of the land we live off of. folks, we can all have a cleaner conscience knowing that energy made in iowa is creating economic opportunities for our neighbors while keeping our communities green rather than exploiting children or creating a toxic waste land. can the same be said about the

initiatives that are being pushed by the biden administration, like begging opec to pump more oil, sending our nation's strategic oil reserves to china, or subsidizing china's market in slave and child labor. are we going to tell the truth to the children that riding the electric school buses, that the p biden administration is spending $5 billion on to purchase, what really makes the wheels on these buses go round and round is the exploitation of other children who are their age or even younger? or are we just going to tell them more green fairy tales? it's time to come clean about the democrats' green new deal. just like president biden's other policies, this radical agenda is creating problems, not solving them, including

greater dependency on foreign adversaries like china and russia, reliance on child and slave forced labor, harm to human health and the environment, higher costs, and energy shortages and blackouts. democrats are literally trying to keep america in the dark about these inconvenient truths. folks, the biden blackouts will be the latest unneeded reminder that the democrats' green new deal can't hold a candle to the republicans' record of producing an abundant p supply of affordable energy right here in the good old united states of america. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee.

mrs. blackburn: thank you, madam president. it's so interesting being home for jul 4nd talking with tennesseans, and it sounds like senator ernst heard some of the same things from her constituents there in iowa. but what came up a lot in our conversation was the feeling and the awareness that the democrats and the media have spent the past few months trying to convince the american people that oil companies are to blame for biden's energy crisis. at one point they even tried to blame the people running the local gas stations, all the moms and pops. but tennesseans know whose fault it is. tennesseans are smart. they're watching very closely, and they know that president biden became responsible for their pain the moment he chose a

radical environmental agenda over the fully realized vision of american energy independence. that's right. we were energy independent the day he took office. so president biden canceled the keystone xl pipeline, he canceled leases in energy infrastructure and got behind dozens of regulations that made it almost impossible for american energy producers to do their job. at the time, democrats claimed this was all for the greater good. it's temporary, it's trans trangsing to the world order. i think any reasonable person would agree that what has happened things have gotten worse, terribly worse.

if you don't want to take my word for it, talk to the local leaders who are responsible for keeping the lights on in their communities. city budgets are stretched thin, school budgets aren't doing any better, parents want to know if the school buses will keep rung and what -- running and what will happen in august if schools can't afford to turn the air conditioning on. everyone wants to know what will happen to public transportation, to emergency services and to law enforcement if the price of a gallon of gas gets too expensive. they have no idea how far the biden administration will allow this to go and that is what concerns them the most. joe biden hasn't just failed we the people, he has sabotaged the pocketbook of millions of americans, and given our

adversaries a huge advantage. the democrats gambled on the green new deal. it is evident they lost. their gas holiday was a gimmick, and that failed. energy prices are through the roof, but they still pulled a million barrels of oil out of the strategic petroleum reserve and they sent it to communist china. and now the president of the united states has gone hat in hand to saudi arabia so that he can beg for oil. he's even trying to cozy up to the iranians with the new iran nuclear deal, begging for oil. our hard-fought energy independence is gone along with our nation's credibility on this

issue. the world is watching joe biden. they're watching the biden blackouts that are really taking a toll on american energy and american consumers, and you and i both know that all the wrong people are seeing this as an opportunity to profit. if the biden administration continues to squander our country's resources, we will lose even more ground to the axis of evil. russia still has a stranglehold on european energy, american supply chains are still hopelessly entangled with china. iran is ready to steamroll biden for that new nuclear deal, north korea is deploying hackers to the west at an alarming rate. madam president, i don't think a

civilian climate corps has a chance in this matchup. i would admonish the president to remember that the new axis of evil is playing by a different set of rules. their only goal is to find our vulnerabilities and exploit them to try to take us down. and i would remind my democratic colleagues that biden's energy crisis is a vulnerability and it is your duty to help lead the country out of it. don't be explicit. -- complicit. restart the keystone pipeline, open up those leases on federal lands, get the regulators out of the way and unleash american energy before it's too late. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa.

mr. grassley: i've been asked to make a unanimous consent request for senator scott, hoeven, barasso, and i to be permitted to speak for up to five minutes each prior to the votes, and senator bennet be permitted to speak for up to ten minutes prior to the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: over the july fourth recess of congress, i held q and a in 17 counties as part of my annual 99-counties meetings. the need for energy independence and the concern over soaring gas prices were raced at nearly -- raised at nearly every meeting. as an example at woodford equipment, farmers raised their concerns over the high cost of diesel and their pricey commutes to work at that business caused

by president biden's failed energy policies. today is a very difficult time for american families and businesses. with gas and diesel prices at record highs, more than doubling since president biden took office. americans who drive every day are feeling the impact of an administration that is making it harder to drill and refine fossil fuels. president biden has stated it is the administration's goal to have half of the nation's vehicles be electric by the year 2030. the energy secretary has said that to beat the high gas prices, americans should purchase electric vehicles. now, that's practically impossible for most families because the average price of an electric vehicle, according to kelly bluebook, is $56,000.

that happens to be practically equivalent to iowa's median equipment. even if having all electric vehicles by 2030 is attainable, which of course it isn't, that presents another real problem. large swaths of the united states electric grid are in trouble. in may, the american reliability corporation released its assessment and denied the west and midwest as being at heightened risk of energy shortfalls. the area where i live is serviced by cedar falls

municipal electricity and this is the first time i got a warning from that electric company that we might have brownouts. if the vehicles were all electric, this country would need 25% more electricity than what we have today. we can't ray ford that. -- afford that. from june last year to may this year, the consumer price index for electricity rose 12%. that is the largest increase in the past 15 years. with reliability concerns increasing this summer and energy prices rising, democrats still continue to pursue their great new deal agenda. there continues to be rumors of another massive tax and spending

spree pushed on a partisan vote that would push prices even higher. it is past time for democrats in congress and the white house to rethink our nation's energy policy. instead of becoming more like europe, the united states must have an all-of-the-above strategy. our country has bountiful resources for energy generation. i'm very proud of iowa, a state that produces over 60% of its electricity from wind, but i know that this does not work in every state of the nation. fossil fuels still account for 60% of electricity generated in the united states. so instead of focusing on domestic energy production, the president and his administration have caved to environmentalist in shaping our energy policies.

utilities and energy companies are up to the task to provide affordable energy to all americans. every year these companies are becoming cleaner and reducing our carbon footprint. nevertheless, washington continues to layer regulation upon regulation, making costs go up. between new requirements on banking, blocking new oil leasing, and blocking key pipelines, democrats in congress seem determined to inflict pain at the pump and also on our energy bills. the world has dramatically changed since president biden took office. democrats need to adjust their priorities and stop this madness. i yield. the presiding officer: the senator from florida. mr. scott: madam president, i'm here today along with my

republican colleagues because american families are suffering. florida families are suffering at the hand of the biden administration's war on energy independence. last month i heard about a church in st. petersburg that makes hot meals for those who have fallen on tough times. like many other churches across the country, they started making meals for treang. this -- thanksgiving, but they decided to keep it going and have made thousands of meals. fewer people are coming because people who need meals can't afford to make the trip because gas is so expensive. the poorest families in my state are having to make the -- impossible choice of a hot meal because they can't afford to put gas in the car. democrats, like joe biden, think inflation is a high-class

program and an incredible transition to understand the gravity of this -- this administration's inflation crisis. families in my state have to turn down a free hot meal because they can't afford the gas to get over and get it. it makes me furious that this is happening in my state and all across the country all the while joe biden has done nothing to fix it. he's done nothing. as of today the average price of a gallon of gas is $4.63. the day joe biden took office, gas was averaging $2.37 per gallon. according to the u.s. energy association, the national average for gas prices has risen since joe biden has taken office. but democrats don't care. the senior senator from michigan explained to the finance committee, that unlike her constituents, she doesn't worry about gas prices because she has

the means to afford an electric car. she actually said that and then when she gets to work in washington, she gets to charge her car for free while taxpayers foot the bill. good for her, but that's not the situation for the millions of americans suffering under joe biden's failed energy policy. democrats are celebrating because their radically progressive campaign against energy independence is working. but americans are not celebrating. they're struggling and unlike the liberal elites running our government, i'm not going to stand for it. that's why earlier this year, i introduced the free american energy act to expedite the federal agency's review process for application for permits, waivers, or licenses related to energy production. i introduced the gas price act. it would direct the energy enery

information agency to overrule any energy costs to american families. i asked to pass the gas price act this past october but senate democrats blocked this package. it is as if they want to keep americans in the dark on why energy prices are rising. we also need to speak up the approval process for oil permitting. and americans need to know that this administration is purposely trying to make life more difficult and more expensive. we have the resources within our borders to be energy independent and for every day life to be affordable. and while we are ramping up american production, we need to completely halt u.s. sales to communist china. that's right, while gas prices remain sky high here, the biden administration is still giving a green light for american oil to be sold to our communist enemies like communist china. i was proud to join with marco

rubio to introduce the china export prohibition act last month to stop these sales.