over half the american people who take out new credit cards are being charged interest rates of over 24%. 24%. during his campaign, president-elect trump promised that he was going to cap credit card interest rates at 10%. if i happen to think that that is a very good idea. and i will soon the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: madam president, i want to open with a few words on the announcement from china by deep seek. today's announcement from china has been called a.i.'s sputnik moment for america. this announcement is precisely why i made a.i. a top priority in the last congress and will continue to do so. our competitors are going to use every single opportunity to overtake the united states's lead on the technologies of the future, particularly a.i. if congress does not lead the

way, we're going to fall behind. so i hope our bipartisan efforts on a.i., which made some progress last year, will continue and even in a more robust way this year. next, on the price of eggs, earlier today i was in upstate new york at two beloved family-owned diners -- outens near buffalo and giants in rochester to talk about bird flu and prevent higher egg prices. for many families across new york and across the country have been shell shocked by higher egg prices as more bird flew outbreaks -- bird flu outbreaks continue. so far, president trump has not anonesated any plan to address the outbreak. he spent his first week pa pardoning insurrectionists,

instead of focusing on things ordinary americans care about, like the price of groceries. the president owes the american people some answers. what is he going to do about the price of eggs has been exacerbated by bird flu, when husband hundreds of -- hundreds of thousands of birds die, fewer eggs, and price goes up. in november, a dozen eggs cost approximately $4 in new york. already too high. it used to be $2 a year earlier. now, that same dozen eggs costs $6. experts believe that the price of eggs could increase as much as 20% more this year if outbreaks continue, meaning that the same dozen eggs would be $8. every day we hear about the spread of bird flu. last week, farmers on long island had to slaughter 100,000 ducks, long island is one of the

duck-producing capitals of the country, in response to another outbreak. president trump, what's your plan to stop the spread of bird flu? the more bird flu spreads, the higher egg prices will go, and the less money in people's pockets for rent, gas, and other expenses. we need some action. luckily, we have resources available. last year, i helped secure over $300 million in federal funding ahead of the new administration, to keep the government laser focused on ending the bird flu crisis. should the $300 million prove insufficient, i'll keep working in a bipartisan way to push for more federal resources in the upcoming budget negotiation. one thing is certain, we have a lot of budget cutters out there, none with a sharper axe than russell vought. the trump administration and mr. vought should not try to

impound these congressionally approved funds, because we know mr. vought wants to impound in many, many places and not spend money that's needed. this is a small but classic example of how the federal government's action, not inaction, can get your prices lower, real action, spending the $300 million we put in the budget in december and more funds if needed can reduce bird flu, department of agriculture knows how to do it, can help farmers reduce the bird flu in their flocks, and get our prices of eggs back down again. let's get to work. the money is there and ready to be used. we need the federal government to work overtime with experts in the coming months to keep the outbreak in check and keep grocery prices in check for families. now, on the i.g.'s, last friday, while most americans were asleep, president trump conducted a midnight massacre of

many of the federal government's nonpartisan independent watchdogs. the president did not notify the congress of his decision, as is required by law. the president did not offer any substantive explanation for these firings. instead, the president simply said these positions were, quote, terminated effective immediately. this is a chilling, potentially unlawful decision by the president. it's a reminder that if there's anything president trump fears most it's accountability. he likes to talk about one thing, then another, then doesn't like to be held accountable. when people stand up to president trump, when people present him with facts and evidence that he doesn't like, his solution is to fire them and replace them with loyalists. i fear that this is what will happen here. purging the government of its independent watchdogs begs an obvious question -- what is the president trying to hide? what does the president not want

the american people to see? does the president want to avoid accountability for empoundment of congressionally approved funding? does he want to hold up foreign aid as blackmail without getting caught? does he want to eliminate scrutiny of improper government cont contracts? an independent inspector general could prevent many of these abuses. an inspector general's job can be boiled down to two words -- transparency and accountability. that is what president trump is apparently afraid of, but it's something most americans want to have in their government. january 6 -- for all the talkdoes about stan and order, he spent the first few days in office doing the opposite, pardoning lawless rioters who invaded the capitol and attacked police officers on january 6. today i'm joining all 47 of my

senate democratic colleagues in introducing a resolution condemning the pardon of individuals who were found guilty of assaulting capitol police officers on january 6. senator murray will seek passage of this resolution this week. i hope our republican colleagues join us in condemning these par pardons. many of them saw the violence of january 6 firsthand. i did. this should be an easy resolution to pass. by handing out these pardons to convicted criminals, president trump is effectively saying you want to attack our brave police officers? that's okay, you're exonerated. the president is saying you want to try and thwart our democracy? fine by me. the president is saying, want to break the law and engage in political violence? be my guest. one individual who received a pardon -- listen to this, one individual who received a pardon was convicted of seditious

cons conspiracy. a few days after the attack, he said, quote, his only regret is that they should have brought rifles, unquote. that man is being pardoned. what a disgrace. to repeat, his only regret is that they should have brought rifles? and president trump pardoned him? who could believe that? who could believe in america that would happen? a few years back no one would even imagine it. that's in some ways how our country has deteriorated, with president trump doing what he's doing. the people who invaded the capitol on january 6, whether they engaged in violence or not, committed a very serious crime. there's no gray area here, especially not when it comes to people who attack police off officers. the pardons must be condemned by the senate, and democrats will try to do that through our resolution this week. on nominations, this week three of the president's most controversial nominees will

testify before senate committees -- kash patel, tulsi gabbard and robert f. kennedy jr. all three have deeply troubling backgrounds and equally troubling views. if pete hegseth's process was any indication, these controversial nominees can expect to face immense scrutiny from both sides of the aisle and the american people. americans deserve to know, will the trump administration strengthen our health and security or big drug companies and pseudoscience? mr. kennedy's hearing will give us answers. also, we have to know from mr. kennedy, does he want to eliminate lifesaving vaccines that have saved the lives and health of so many millions of children in the united states and around the globe? americans also deserve to know will the fbi focus on public safety and rule of law or focus

on donald trump's personal grievances? mr. patel in his hearing will give us answers. americans need to know will the trump administration protect us from foreign adversaries and deal in truth and facts when it comes to classified intelligence, if there is ever a need for a fact-based agency, it's the intelligence agencies which gather information that keep us safe. or will these agencies be turned to give shelter to conspiracy and misinformation in our intelligence? ms. gabbard's hearing will give us very important answers here. the people entrusted to oversee matters of public health, law enforcement, and classified intellige beyond reproach. their qualifications should not be in doubt. but president trump has seemed to choose three deeply unqualified, deeply untrustworthy individuals to these positions. like mr. hegseth, it's hard to

imagine they're the best for the job or even close to to. holocaust remembrance today, today is international holocaust remembrance day. we cambium rate it -- commemorate it because it is the 80th anniversary of the -- never again can we allow anti-semitism or any other hatred to fester and grow as we saw during the nazi regime. we must always tell the truth about what happened to the jewish people 80 years ago. we can never allow history to be forgotten, shunned, or deliberately erased. it saddens me this year holocaust remembrance day comes at a time of rising hatred against jewish people, especially here in america after october 7. just yesterday i visited a popular israeli restaurant a few weeks from my home in brooklyn, called miriam.

the night before, the restaurant and its owners were the victims of a despicable act of vandalism. their windows were smeared with red paint and defiled with messages of hate. the attack happened simply because the owners are jewish. just because the owners are jewish. that is anti-semitism, pure and simple, and we must condemn it together and forcefully. as ugly as this was, i was inspired by how the owners and the community responded. they chose to leave the vandalism up for a day so people in the media could see the dangers of letting anti-semitism gain strength. many in the area stopped by for lunch, offered to help with the clean-up, or shared in a message of support. i visited the restaurant in the evening, with an order to go. that is the best, that is new york at its best, when these neighbors look after each other in the face of hate.

we must never, never fail to condemn anti-semitism or whenever it rears its ugly head. it comes in many new dimensions. some seem impervious to things that seem to many jewish people o outright anti-semitic. we have to be so vigilant. that's the best way to honor what holocaust remembrance day represents. yield the floor, note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

barack obama or whoever. not the terrorists. the tariffs increasing supply chains. they will increase prices on our farmers. increase prices on american

spirit i want to ask you, do you think we are in an environment where exporting products and growing markets outside the united states is a big economic opportunity and what will you do to build coalitions to help us be able to achieve opening up those markets. >> actually went and looked at some older data. in 2000 and terms of the labor share of aggregate income in the u.s. 69% accrued to labor. today, that is 60. you can see a sharp drop after what is called the china sock. i agree with you that opening markets is good but the free

trade must be balanced against fair trade and, clearly, what has happened is the trade has not been fair. we cannot allow as i think i mentioned to you china is the most in the history of the world they may have minus 4% and they are attempting to export their way out of that as opposed to the internal rebalance, i am with you on the need to open markets, but we cannot allow a player like this to flood our markets or to flood the world. >> i'm saying i believe in

coalitions. technology, i think you thought that was a good idea. i can get upset with my colleagues on the other aisle all the time and object, but that does not move me forward. i hope that you will look at what we will do to build allies. these numbers that are talking about just the tariffs and what it would do to price gasoline in canada is concerning. i want to know that the trump administration will focus as much on innovating our way to success as we are on the terrace i do think we will see retaliatory tariffs in our state it hurt us in our agriculture. there are people buying farmland goldman sachs, bill gates. in the middle of the trade wars

and that is a concern i have. by the way, thank you so much for mentioning housing. i so appreciate that that was in your statement. i look forward to working with you. if the president will push forward it is a way for us to lower costs. thank you. >> thank you. senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for being with us today. i very much appreciate the conversation we had in the office. touching on several topics. i will ask you some yes or no questions. i thank you in advance for your remedy. many observing today the immense responsibility that the secretary of treasury has extending the flow of sentinel and other substances. yes or no, when you commit to continuing the biden administration counter strike force which brought together the office of terrorism and financial intelligence and irs criminal investigation to fight financial crime.

>> thank you, senator. i enjoyed our visit. this is personal for me. personal to families who have lost children to the crisis. i will commit and know that it is my belief that president trump is laser focused on this issue. >> yes or no, when you work with me to ensure that there is more transparency over suspicious activity reports at the financial crimes and network for congress. >> i believe, as you and i discussed, there is a sleeve of trevor e belief that terrorism finance that deals with this, within and i believe that we, i believe that we have to have 20,

25 approach, as you and i talked about, digital currencies and all branches of government, so, yes. >> your role as treasury secretary, do you agree that you will play an important role in advising president trump and congressional republicans on policy related to the economy, including investment and government programs? >> yes, senator. >> i was pleased in our meeting that you stated "no cuts will be needed". to achieve your economic goals. that may surprise some of my republican colleagues were very much appreciate that conversation that we had. now, yes or no, would you recommend cutting medicaid? >> i'm sorry. i did not hear whether you said medicaid or medicare. >> yes or no, would you recommend cutting medicaid.

>> medicaid? i will, the business of congress to the budget. i am in favor of empowering states and i believe that for some states, that will be an increase. for some states, that will be a decrease. >> will you recommend cutting medicaid to president trump and i will remind you that you acknowledge one of your responsibilities as secretary of the treasury will be to providing this advice. >> i will get back to you on this. i have seen the details of the full budget proposal, once president trump is in office and if confirmed. >> will you recommend cuts to broadband following the investments that we have seen across the country and immense

progress in connecting more people across the country that were included in the bipartisan infrastructure law. >> senator, i am unfamiliar with the exact program. it is my understanding that much of the allocated funding has not been dispersed yet. so, i will get back to you on that. >> a lot of folks back in south carolina, including some of your farming neighbors are getting connectivity because of these programs. you may be just need to chat with them about the importance of what this program means. as my time expires, it may surprise many here that there are only a couple of us in this body that are members of headstart and i imagine we may hear little bit more of that from my brother and head start mr. warnock here. but when you talk about the importance of early education in america, the benefit, yes or no, would you recommend cuts to

headstart. >> again, senator, i will have to get back to you on this. i do not understand the intricacies of that program. >> of headstart. >> do not headstart's? >> i believe it is an earlier childhood education program. >> i realized that you have to qualify to get into that program so the family that i was raised in, we qualified to get into that program. but it opens up doors. got a couple of those to the united states senate. i certainly hope that we will be able to find some agreement and protecting that program. if someone tries to eliminate that in early childhood education that we can count on you on behalf of mexican, south carolinians and people across the america to say we will not do that one. mr. chairman, thank you for the time today. >> thank you. sarah, thank you so much for

your willingness to serve. thank you for being here. i enjoyed our discussion quite a bit in talking about the future for the country and the role of the treasury secretary getting our economy back on track. this means lower prices, higher wages, more jobs and stronger economic growth for america. it also means protecting people in states like wyoming from crushing regulations and devastating tax hikes. it means getting wasteful spending under control. and i am greatly encouraged by our meeting that we had i believe a strong vision for america, a strong vision for unleashing american energy, are getting tough on china, getting tough on our adversaries in getting the federal government out of the way for so many of us i would like to talk a bit about energy. another committee yesterday, secretary of energy earlier today, the secretary of the interior, i am glad that we agree a key ingredient in reigniting the economy is to unleash american energy in my home state of wyoming.

we are an energy superpower as a nation and we are america's energy breadbasket in wyoming. energy is the heart of our wyoming economy in the nation's economy. it supports workers as well as schools and infrastructures and the money that comes from that, the tax revenue, wyoming is the least populated state but it is the third largest net energy supplier producing 12 times more energy than we can consume. the for-profit of oil, natural gas -- gaskill production, many alternative sources of energy. what is happened is energy producers in wyoming, of course the government faced a whole of government assault from the biden administration on american energy production. taxes, crippling regulations, weapon icing the tax code in ways that are just unthinkable, conventional american energy production. things that joe biden signed

into law just making things worse. the good news is with you there, president trump in the white house, things are about to change. you have talked extensively about boosting american energy production. what role do you see yourself playing as treasury secretary and making sure we become american energy dominant in terms of energy security as well >> senator, i very much enjoyed our meeting and wide ranging discussion. a fantastic vacation in wyoming this summer. in terms of within the potential trump administration, i am sure that you have heard it from secretary right and program. we referred to as emanate -- energy dominant spirit energy dominance, one of the reasons that i believe we have not been able to apply the sanctions

against the russian federation or unwilling was because the supply of energy was constrained in the u.s. so, the same with the terrorist regime in iran. i would view that as we can raise u.s. production, we would squeeze down the bad actors, especially iran, i think that i'm right, maybe not in the exact numbers, but in order of magnitude, i believe that iran was down to 100,000 barrels of oil exports from when president trump left office i believe now exporting in excess are approximately 1.7 million. so, through sanctions policy, i believe that we can, again, as i like to say, take iran poor again, not the iranian people, the iranian government and then,

at the same time, have our domestic reducers push that up with the highest energy standards in the world. >> we do it, we are the best stewards in the land. what we have also seen with iran increasing the sales, selling to china, they are buying at a discount. cheap energy. iran is getting cash back essentially. using that money for terrorism. i have one last question with the time remaining. the tax cuts and jobs act we passed in 2017. if that were to expire we are talking about a massive tax hike of over $4 trillion. what kind of tax hike without me for small businesses, job creators as well as our global competitiveness if all of a sudden we put the heavy wet blanket before trillion dollar tax increase on our nation. >> senator, i think that it would be devastating, especially for small businesses, one of the

things, someone that came from a very small town, lived in new york, fairly big town and came back to a small town. i believe wall street has done great the past few years. main street has suffered. i think that it is main streets time. wall street can continue to do well. maybe not as well. it is time to have a main street small business led recovery led by small banks, regional banks, as i call it re- privatizing the economy and as i said earlier since november 15, since president trump's election, we have seen the biggest jump in the history of the small business confidence index. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you for being here. congratulations to you, your spouse, john, and your children.

i leaned over to senator johnson when you were being attacked on, by one of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. the guy looks like he has a heart rate of 40. you are very composed. thank you for staying on the facts and demonstrating all the knowledge you possess. when i was not here, someone put in a question your viability because of a neck -- lack of public service which i found interesting. sometimes i think we have too much public service in people's background and not enough real-world experience. can you give me an idea of why this may represent your first entry into public service? >> yes, senator tillis. again, as in adjacent state and someone who was a homeowner in north carolina, i appreciated our conversation in your office. look, i have been in public service, just not in the

government. when i lived in new york, i was a strong supporter of a charter school called harlem children's zone which takes the young residents and a multi- block, gigantic walk, keeps getting bigger area of harlem and takes them from cradle through high school. but, i have found that my service, anyone can write a check or anyone with my means can write a check fulfilling for me is men touring many of these young people. still in touch with them today. also a trustee for the university, one of the great research universities in the world. i was on the executive committee and chair the investment committee. but, sitting here today is especially meaningful for me because this is my third try at public service. in 1979 when i was 17 years old,

i wanted to fight for my country my father had just experienced a string of financial difficulties i wanted to attend the u.s. naval academy. i was offered by our congressmen in the sixth district of south carolina an appointment, but was unable to take that appointment because of my sexual preference. i managed to go to yale, worked several jobs to do that. while at yale, i wanted to do public service enjoying the foreign service. i was told also know. sitting here today is my third attempt at public service and i sit here knowing that president trump chose me because he believes i am the best candidate not because of my sexual preference, not because treasury secretary's with green eyes do better and i think that it is a tribute to president trump that he looks at people as people. >> i agree.

i appreciate that answer. i will go into a lightning round tear. first off, this is the joint committee on taxation distribution analysis on what happens to the various socioeconomic strata if we do not managed to pass the jobs and tax cut extension without objection. >> without objection. >> senator johnson does big foam boards, i do handouts. i'm handing this all my republican colleagues right now saying if we fail to extend this , we will own a fiscal crisis for people in middle america. 93 million people will be affected in terms of an added tax burden if we fail to pass an extension of tc ja. the last time that i checked, there are not 93 million rich people in this country. there are people that struggle like you did when you were a kid and like i did when i was a kid

who had to work themselves through college and every times we had some well-intentioned program from government to make things better for me, it made it harder for me to dig myself out of the economic situation i was born into. so, the facts are sovereign things. this tells us what happens if we fail to pass the jobs and tax cuts. it does not even get to the impact that i have. turns out at that very table, jellyroll was here for finance committee hearing. he lived in the same trailer park that i did 20 years later in south nashville tennessee. what i found interesting is we were right on the economic edge. every time government had some well-intentioned program to tax the rich, i went from house to a trailer park and every time government let us do we wanted to do, we lived in a house. i am living example. i am sure some other people have

had those experiences. you've gotta go back and look historically out when people like me and people like you had real opportunities. i look forward to supporting your nomination and mr. chair, i will support, i will send some questions for the record. this is just to reinforce the message that republicans have to deliver. anyone who says that we should not is advocating for a $5 trillion tax increase that will hurt the people who are on the economic edge worse than anybody else. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. senator warnock. >> thank you. i am grateful and honored to be joining this committee. look forward to working with you and ranking member to ensure our tax code supports working families to protect social security medicare and medicaid and promote trade policies that work for georgia businesses and that boost our economy. good morning and good to see you

again. i enjoyed our conversation earlier this week and in that conversation you outlined ambitious goals for the federal government and deficit reduction i would like to follow up on our discussion about your economic plan. according to a new report from the tax policy center, the largest tax cuts from extending the trump tax bill would go to those with the highest income, especially those in the top 1% making more than $1 million per year. in fact, the top 1% of owners will take home roughly one quarter of the benefits of the law in the last top 5% will get almost half of that. do you believe that the wealthiest 1% of americans deserve, or need an additional tax cut? >> senator, i greatly enjoyed visiting with you.

i think probably a better way to look at it is a percentage basis when i think about the distribution —-dash distributional access of the tax cuts and job act that most of the benefits accrue for the working and middle people as opposed to the operations. absolute dollars that is correct what i think that it is important to look at it in percentage terms. it provided one quarter of the law. they actually benefited. i believe in 2018 and 2019 that the households in the bottom 50% of and commerce, the wealth increase from those households

was three times higher. than the wealth increase. >> so we should continue to move in that direction to give more tax cuts. you have talked about deficits. . mr. barrasso: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles where applicable be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table all en bloc. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks.

it is time for mainstream to do well and small businesses need to drive when i called the reprioritize nation away from government spending. >> i agree that it is main streams time. some other locations in my stay. making more than 10 million. we reduce the deficit by extending those tax cuts for folks making $10 million. >> i think it is important that we put incentives for them to invest so going back to the 100%

depreciation for each equipment, i think -- >> i do not mean to keep interrupting, but i'm the pastor , but i'm running out of time here. what about $1 billion. >> again, i think that these are the job creators. >> so there is no income level for which he would support raising taxes. is that fair? >> there is no income level that i do not think we should continue as it was. >> all right. i think our country is facing structural deficits, however, continuing to reduce taxes for the wealthy. taxes based on what they already all will not get us out of that problem. but i look forward to continuing

that discussion. thank you very much. >> thank you, senator. before we go on to senator blackburn i want to state that there are a lot of facts that have been thrown around in this hearing today. of this 4.3-$4.6 trillion tax increase that could happen, this is actual dollars, 2.6 trillion of that goes to families and individuals who make less than $400,000. that is simply the distribution of this tax increase. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for bringing that clarification. if we do not extend the tax cut and jobs act, it is about $4 trillion tax hike that people will see. i appreciate your comments about a main street small business recovery. that is something that is so

vitally important as the chairman knows, we have had much discussion over the last few years with the biden administration over how they determined that $400,000 number. if it is the gross, if it isn't the adjusted gross, they came up with the term of total positive income which is everything you make. and, we know that the biden administration approach on this would be a killer for main street businesses. we know that 199 a is vital to them and that they need to see that in the trump tax cuts and in that permanent so that we can have that main street small business recovery and revival. i appreciate that and i appreciate that president trump has nominated you for treasury

secretary because you are sensitive to that. and what your work means to main street and two individuals and getting the irs under control and looking at some of these provisions that are going to be in front of you. so, we appreciate that you would come back third time and look at public service and that john and caroline, by the way, they are behaving so beautifully. whatever they want, they get. senate orders. we will be right there to support them. i do want to talk to you for a moment and some of the polish that the biden administration had. they did an executive order for treasury to research development

in the united states. and, of course, this causes a lot of us heartburn because we look at what the ccp did with the digital in connection with the olympics. so, upon confirmation, how would you approach this discussion of cbd sees and argue for them or against them? could you and the biden administration project to create a us-based cbc b. >> thank you for your remarks. i may have a little trouble disciplining the two behind me as i am sure that i will hear as a u.s. senator has vouched for their behavior. on cbc fees, i see no reason for the u.s. to have a central bank digital currency.

in my mind is central bank digital currency is for countries who have no other investment alternatives. so, if we think about a reserve manager, a high surplus country, whether it is saudi arabia, singapore who ends up with chinese currency, brn b, if you own that currency, you have to have something to invest in that there is very little to invest in. chinese government just don't yield. >> so your view of that would be a negative view. >> many of these countries are doing it out of necessity whereas the u.s., if you hold u.s. dollars, you could hold a variety. >> i appreciate that. i appreciate your comments earlier to the senator about the pillar to negotiations.

this is something that we would be well served to extract ourselves from this. currently, the preliminary data that we have, 40%, right at 40% of the total pillar to tax burden is on us. china, of course, has found a way to exempt themselves from this. so that is in need of a revisit. and i look forward to you doing that. and standing with our companies. i want to get, and this i think that you can just submit to me in writing. advanced persistent threat, which is china, they were able to override treasury security system and remotely access work stations where they reported access to unclassified documents and, of course, this is chinese communist party at work again.

and, this is, we found this out after finding out from the treasury inspector general that 2800 irs employees still had tiktok on their government devices. if confirmed and when confirmed, will you take steps to improve treasury security systems? >> senator blackburn, one of the earlier questions was what policies do the current treasury secretary do you disagree with, and, as you noted, the december 8 hack and do treasury was via a work from home system. so, i as treasury secretary have confirmed plan to be in the office every day that i am in washington, d.c. and i expect all of the other employees to do that, too.

i think as a matter of national security for everyone to be at 1500 pennsylvania avenue. >> thank you. that is very, very well received >> senator welch. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. it is delightful to be a new member of the committee. i look forward to working with you and all of our colleagues. thank you for our visit yesterday and welcome to your family. as we have discussed, the situation working incredibly hard is very task. vermont actually has one of the widest the widest gap between what people can earn and what their expenses are. so it is tough at the end of the month to pay all of the bills. the grocery bills, the health care bills, all of these things. we are talking in a way about this tax plan and the reality for most folks in this country is that for the past 40 years,

working americans have actually had a pay cut. not a pay increase. and, my hope is that whatever tax policy we have will start with a commitment to making life better for the main street folks that you mentioned and i am glad that you did. but, there will be a lot of negotiation on how to pay for these tax cuts. one of the things on the block is something that is very, very important to vermonters and that is the affordable tax care credits. that we have now. in vermont it is incredibly expensive for everybody. but if we have just as an example analytic attrition in vermont who was making $67,000 a year with the tax credits that are set to expire, that family would have a $700 a month increase in their healthcare

bill. that will hammer them. it is like $9000. my question to you putting together this tax proposal where you will have to be making recommendations about how to pay for it, will we continue to provide this help to vermonters like this electrician so that he does not get hammered on healthcare premiums going well beyond what he can afford. >> senator, as we discussed in your office, and i have not had time to do my homework on this, i think that i told you my family friends, business colleagues often get sick of hearing my phrase of no data, no opinion so i will get up to speed. >> i appreciate that. but there are couple of things that really make a difference for working americans in south carolina and vermont. the child tax credit.

reduce poverty for children by 50%. that is really elemental for hard-working families and the premium support where healthcare is just a brutal expense for employers, too, by the way. so my hope is that in the design we will start by making certain we do no harm to working vermonters and working south carolinians. second, on the terrace, i am in support of the china tariffs. that is defending us against unfair trade practices by china. i am concerned about the impact of tariffs on canada and what that does to us in vermont. our major business partner for export partners canada and from what we have seen, it would raise a cost to businesses, probably jobs and consumers. so, with reassurance, what can we get from the trump

administration that there will be a do no harm policy to american consumers for vermont workers and small businesses in the policy. >> very difficult for me to isolate vermont especially, but, in terms of working americans, i believe that president trump understands that it is working america, he had a very unique coalition. >> he does and i hope that the policy will reflect that the i appreciate the opportunity to work with you on that. >> i look forward to working with you. i think that he understands that it is the affordability crisis. >> it is. last thing, very little time. talking about credit card rates for consumers. credit card fees for small businesses are the highest in the whole world. the highest in the c whole worl. why can we not bring them down

and pay what europe pays? small businesses, it is like the second-highest expense for them. you willss have some impact the, but those costs on our small business, including the would like to get them down and get your help in doing that lower c for hardworking people or to give billionaires another break. now, mr. bessent has a long history as an investment manager helping rich clients get even richer. in fact, helping rich people get richer has been a very profitable business for him. mr. bessent is now a billionaire himself. he owns not one but two multimillion-dollar mansions, including one in the about a ham has and he has hundreds of millions of dollars in investments. he spent a lot of motion to proceed, but he saved money in one area. he hasn't paid the taxes he

owes. according to an aanalysis from the congressional tax experts, mr. bessent has refused to pay $2 million in taxes that he owed on his hedge fund earnings just in the past three years. and mr. bessent has no demonstrated track record of fighting to make life better or more affordable for working people. so let's start with some of trump's economic plans that mr. bessent would be in charge of advancing. right now republicans in the white house and in congress are working through their plans to extend tax breaks for billionaires and giant corporations, paid for in part with major cuts to health care. in plain english, republicans are hoping you won't notice major budget cuts for nursing homes that take care of your grandpa or the cuts in school lunches for poor kids.

move grandpa out of the nursing home and let the little kids go hungry in order to make sure that a tiny handful of billionaires get a few more truckloads of cash from uncle sam. there's a truth no one can escape -- someone has to pay to run this country. folks like scott bessent think the burden should be just a little heavier on working people because billionaires like him are smarter than everyone else. one place or the other, someone has to pay. so during his hearing, i asked mr. bessent about those cuts for billionaires. i asked if there were any billionaires already rich enough that they didn't need north tax cut. and mr. bessent said, with that it was unwise to single out anyone. not even billionaires. you wouldn't want to single out

a billionaire like jeff bezos who pays a lower rate than a boston schoolteacher. you wouldn't want to single out a billionaire like mark zuckerberg whose company paid a small tax rate despite making $40 billion in profits. you wouldn't want to single sought a billionaire like elon musk who is more focused on flying to mars than making life better phon working families here on earth. those billionaires had better seats at donald trump's inauguration than trump's own cabinet members. those billionaires dominate the american economy and republican plans to give them more tax breaks. this is the payout for trump's, quote, rich-as-hell donors. and mr. bessent is another billionaire ready to do the hard work of cutting taxes for every

billionaire in america, himself included. the top economic issue today is how do we lower costs for families and build an economy that works, not just for the wealthy and the well-connected but an economy that works for everyone? i'm hammering out plans to make it a little easier for families to be able to pay their bills, to buy a home, a -- and to build some financial security. trump's tax breaks for billionaires is the same old republican playbook of trickle-down economics -- help the rich get rich he had and leave everyone else behind. but that's not the trump administration's only bad economic idea. mr. bessent has been an advocate for deregulating wall street and letting big banks load up on risk. deregulate wall street -- yeah, a lot of people remember how that pproach brought our economy

to its knees back in 2008. people who remember include the millions of people who lost their homes, the millions who lost their jobs, the millions who lost their savings. and now, once again, president trump wants to run that same economic play, and mr. bessent is the guy he's picked to do it. we don't need less oversight of giant banks and wall street morphs and shake he is -- movers and shakers. risk is building in the system. the too-big-too-fail banks are quietly taking on riskier investments. the shadowy private credit market has loaded up on highly leveraged loans. and after waves of catastrophic losses, the insurance industry is facing a reckoning that even climate change deniers can't ignore. without significant changes, another financial crash is

coming. as we learned, those big crashes fall hardest on hardworking people who are just trying to make a living. a billionaire willing to roll along on deregulation poses a threat to the economic well-being of every american. and a billionaire who spout -- who supports more tax cuts for every single billionaire in america is not someone who is watching out for hardworking families. for me, this is simple -- i am ready to work together with president trump's team where every we agree to help working families. but pip a also -- but i'm also ready to fight like hell when republicans pursue economic policies that load up the risk in our financial system or tax policies that mostly benefit billionaires. i will vote no on mr. bessent to be the next secretary of the

treasury, and i urge my colleagues to do the same. thank you, madam president. and i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: will the senator withhold her request? ms. warren: yes. a senator: madam president. the presiding officer: the senator from wisconsin. ms. baldwin: madam president, i rise in support of the nomination of sean duffy to serve as our next secretary of transportation. sean duffy and i have known each other for many yoers and worked -- years and worked together in the wisconsins delegation in the house of representatives. as a wisconsin native, mr. duffy is a p former congressman who represented wisconsin's seventh congressional district from 2011 to 2019, and in that time we partnered on shared priorities

for our constituents, including the st. croix bridge in western wisconsin. during his confirmation hearing before the commerce committee, i shared this story. it usually does not take an act of congress to build a bridge, but in this case it was needed to build a new bridge over the st. croix river connecting wisconsin to minnesota. with help from senators klobuchar, kohl and johnson, sean duffy whipped our respective caucus and brought a house majority necessary to pass legislation to replace the 80-year-old stillwater bridge. as sean can attest, this was a decades-long battle which resulted in significant, significant bipartisan win for our state and our region. it was not a matter of right or left, just what was good for our

constituents, our economy, and our state. today the st. croix crossing which opened in 2017 has shortened traffic times, reduced congestion, and most importantly, improved safety. this type of bipartisan work for the american people is what i the american people is what i

at the top of the republican agenda is extending the tax relief to help our economy and the american people thrive. i deeply appreciate the fact that mr. bessent shares that commitment and i'm looking forward to working with him on extending the tax cuts and jobs act. last four years we went in the biden administration mr

i hope that we can get this trump cabinet to keep their word that they are going to answer letters. because they need to focus from the standpoint of the constitution. you'll learn in eighth grade civics that we not only pass the laws here and appropriate

money on checks and balances we have the responsibility to make sure the executive branch executes that law. or spends the money appropriately. so checking up on that requires a lot of communication between us and the congress and the executive branch that's true whether it's republican or democrat president. but i hope this administration is committed to fully cooperating with congress on and oversight responsibilities. there's another item i always stress with treasury nominees, that's the importance of irs whistleblower program that are author critical updates to 2006. to date this program has brought in over $6 billion to

the treasury thanks to whistleblowers who often risk their career is to blow the whistle on ããthis legislation is meant to make sure that the irs has total information on who is paying their taxes and who isn't. if you're working with some corporation that's not paying their taxes and you can report that successfully the collection of thosetaxes today irs . that whistleblower can get a share of the return. and so far since 2006, $6 billion $6 billion has coming back to the federal treasury as a result of the program. however, in regard to that program, for much of the program's history there has

been an embedded culture in treasury and the irs has hampered the success of the program. i look forward to working with mr. bessent to turn that culture around so that the 2006 legislation will be much more productive in getting the federal government not having the federal government cheated out of taxes that people owe. based on my discussions with mr. bessent, there is no doubt in my mind that he is well qualified to be treasury secretary. so i urge all of my colleagues to join me in voting in favor of his nomination later today. i yield the floor and suggest the absence of

>> today's announcement from china has been called ai sputnik moment for america. this announcement is precisely why i made ai a top priority in the last congress and will continue to do so. our competitors are going to use every single opportunity to overtake the united states lead on the technologies of the future, particularly a high. if congress does not lead the way, we are going to fall behind. help our bipartisan efforts on ai which made progress last year, will continue even in a more robust way this year. next on the price of eggs, earlier today i was in upstate new york two beloved family-owned diners out in near buffalo and giants near rochester to call for all hands on deck approach to stop the spread of bird flu and prevent higher egg prices. too many families across new york and across country, far

too many, have been shellshocked by higher egg prices as more bird flu outbreaks continue to happen. but so far, it seems president trump has not enunciated any plan to ããhe spent his first week pardoning insurrectionist, firing government watchdogs instead of focusing on things ordinary americans care about like the price of groceries. the ckpresident owes the americ people some answers. what is he gonna do about the price of eggs has been exasperated by virtually 100 of thousands even millions of chickens die they lay fewer eggs and when there's fewer eggs, the price goes up. the problem is reaching crisis levels in november a dozen eggs cost approximately four dollars at a grocery store in new york already too high to be two dollars a year earlier. now the same dozen eggs cost six dollars and experts believe

that the price of eggs could increase as much as 20% more this year if outbreaks continue meeting the same dozen eggs would be eight dollars. everyday we hear about the spread of bird flu last week farmers on long island had slaughter 100,000 ducks in response to another outbreak. president trump, what's the plan to stop the spread of bird flu. the more it spreads, the higher egg prices work go and the less money people pockets for rent and gas and other expenses. we need some action. luckily we have some resources available last year to help secure over $300 million in federal funding ahead of the new administration to keep the government laser focused on ending the bird flu crisis.

panda should the $300 million proved insufficient, i will keep working at a bipartisan way to push for more federal resources in the upcoming budget negotiation. one thing is certain, we have a lot of budget cutters, none with a sharper acts than we know he wants to impound many many places and not spend money that's needed. this is a small but classic example of how the federal government action, not inaction, can get your price is lower. real action spending the $300 million we put in the budget in december and more funds if needed, can reduce aybird flu t department of agriculture knows how to do it, can help farmers reduce the bird flu in their

flocks and get our prices of eggs back down again. let's get to work, the money is there and ready to be used, we need the federal government to work overtime with experts in the coming months to keep the outbreak and check and keep the grocery prices and check for families. now on the ig's, last friday while most americans were asleep, president trump conducted a midnight massacre of many of the federal government's nonpartisan independent watchdogs. the president did not notify the congress of his decision as is required by law. the president did not offer subs a negative explanation for the firings. instead the president simply said these positions were "terminated effective immediately. this is a chilling potentially unlawful decision led by the president. it's a reminder that if there is anything president trump fears most is accountability.

he likes to talk about one thing and then another and then doesn't like to be held,. when people stand up to president trump, when people present him with facts and evidence that he doesn't like, his solution is to fire them replace them with loyalists. i fear this is what will happen here. urging the government of its independent watchdogs begs an obvious question, what is the president trying to hide? what does the president not want the american people to see? does the president want to avoid accountability for empowerment of congressional approved funding does he want to hold up foreign aid as blackmail without getting caught? inspector general's job can be boiled down to transparency and accountability. that's what president trump is apparently afraid of.

but something most americans want to have in their government. for everything he does for standing up against love and order he spent the first few days in office doing the opposite they invaded capital and attacked police officers on january 6. today i'm joining all 47 of my senate democratic colleagues introducing a resolution condemning the pardon of individuals who were found guilty of assaulting capital police officers on january 6. senator murray will see passage of this resolution this week. i hope our republican colleagues join us in condemning these pardons. many of them saw the violence of january 6 firsthand, i did. this should be an easy resolution to pass. handing out these pardons to convicted criminals president

trump is effectively saying, you want to attack our brave police officers, that's okay, you're exonerated beast of the president is saying, you can thwart our democracy, fine by me. the president is saying, do you want to break the law and engage in political violence? be my guest. one individual who received a pardon, one individual who received a pardon was convicted of seditious conspiracy, a few days after the attack he said "his only regret is that they should've brought rifles". that man is being pardoned, what a disgrace. is only regret is that they should have brought rifles? and president trump pardoned him. who could believe that could believe in america that could happen. a few years back nobody will even imagine it. that's in some ways our country has deteriorated. who the people who invaded the

capitol january 6 whether they engaged in violence are not committed a very serious crime. there is no gray area here, especially not when it comes to people who attacked police officers. pardons must be condemned by the senate, democrats who try to do that through our resolution this week. are nominations for this week three of the president's most controversial nominees will testify before senate committees. cash patel, tulsi gabbard, robert kennedy junior. all three nominees have deeply troubling backgrounds and equally troubling views step if both sides of the aisle and from the american people. americans deserve to know, will the trump administration strengthener health and security or strengthen big drug companies and pseudoscience. mr. kennedy hearing will give

us answers. also, we have to know from mr. kennedy, does he want to eliminate life-saving vaccines that have saved the lives and the help of so many millions of children states and around the globe? americans also deserve to know, will the fbi focus on public safety and rule of law or focus on donald trump's personal grievances. mr. patel and his hearing will give us answers. americans need to know will the trump administration protect us from foreign adversaries in dealing in truth and facts when it comes to classified intelligence if there is ever a need for fact-based agency it's the intelligence agencies which gather information to keep us safe. or, will these agencies be turned to give shelter to conspiracy and misinformation in our intelligence.

miss gabbert's hearing will give us some very important answers here. the people entrusted to oversee matters of public health and law enforcement and classified intelligence should be beyond reproach. their qualifications should not be in doubt president trump has nonqualified deeply on eply trustworthy individuals for these positions. it's hard to imagine they're the best for the job or even close to it. holocaust remembrance day, today is international holocaust remembrance day we commemorate it because it was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the few jews who survive. never again can we allow anti-semitism or any other form of hatred we must always tell the truth about what happened to the jewish people 80 years

ago we could never allow history to be forgotten, shunned, or deliberately erased. excitedly this year holocaust remembrance it comes at a time were rising hatred against jewish people especially here in america after october 7, just yesterday i visited a popular israeli restaurant a few blocks from my home in brooklyn ,called marion. the night before, the restaurant and its owners were the victims of a despicable act of vandalism. the windows were smeared with red paint and found messages of hate, the attack happened simply because the owners are jewish. just because the owners are jewish. that's anti-semitism, pure and simple and we must condemn it to gather forcefully. as ugly as this incident was i was inspired by how the owners of the community and the community responded. they chose to leave the

vandalism up for a day so the people in the media could see the dangers of letting anti-semitism gain strength. many in the area stopped by for lunch, offered to help with the cleanup, or just shared in a message of support. i visited the restaurant in the evening with an order to go. that's the best that is new york at its best when these numbers look after each other in the face of hate. we must never fail to condemn anti-semitism wherever or whenever it veers its ugly head. it comes in many new dimensions some people seem impervious to things that seem to many jewish people outright anti-somatic stop we have to be so vigilant. that's the best day to honor what holocaust remembrance day represents. >>. >> i'm in opposition to scott bessette to be the next secretary of the treasury and

and supports of tens of millions of working families who need a government on their side. the treasury secretary is one of the president's top economic advisors he has the power to lower cost for hard-working people or to give billionaires another break. mr. bessent has a long history as an investment manager helping rich clients get even richer.in fact, helping rich people get richer it has been a very profitable business for him. he is now a billionaire himself. he owns not one but two multimillion dollar mansions including one of the homeowners and he has hundreds of dollars in investments. he spent a lot of money, but he saved money in one area he hasn't paid the taxes he owes. according to an analysis from

the congressional tax expert. mr. bessent has refused to pay $2 million in taxes that he owed on his hedge fund earning just in the past three years. he has no demonstrated track record of fighting to make life better or more affordable for working people. let's start with some of trump's economic plans that mr. bessent would be in charge of advancing. right now republicans in the white house and congress are working through their plans to extend tax breaks for millionaires and giant corporations. paid for in part with major cuts to health care. in plain english, republicans are hoping you won't notice major budget cuts for nursing homes that take care of your grandpa or the cuts in school lunches for orchids.

the burden should be just a little heavier on working people because billionaires like him are smarter than everyone else. one place or the other, someone has to pay. so, during his hearing i asked him about the cuts for billionaires. i asked if there were any billionaires already rich enough that they did not need another tax cut? he said it was unwise to single out anyone. not even billionaires. known to single out a billionaire like jeff bezos who pays a lower tax rate than a

boston public school teacher quote you now to single out a billion out like a mark zuckerberg whose company mehta had a tax rate of 11 and a half% in 2023 despite making nearly $40 billion iner profit? you would not want to single out a billionaire like elon musk who is more focused on flying to martin's and making life better for working families here on earth? those billionaires had better see that donald trump's inauguration then trumps own cabinet members. billionaires dominate the american economy republican plans to give them more tax breaks. this is the payout per trumps quotes riches belief donors. mr. bessent's another billionaire rented to the hard work to cut taxes for every billionaire in america, himself

included. tap top economic issue is how to lower costs for families and build an economy that works not just for the wealthy and well-connected but in economy that works for everyone. i am hammering out plans to make it a little easier for families to be able to pay their bills. and build financial security trumps tax breaks for billionaires is the same republican playbook of trickle-down economics for the rich get richer leave everyone else behind. that's not the trump administration only bad economic idea. mr. bessent has been an advocate for the advocating or wall street let big banks load up. deet regulate wall street. a lot of people brought its economy to the knees back in

2008. people who remember include includedmillions of people who t their homes. that millions who lost their jobs, the millions who lost their savings. once again president trump wants to run the same economic play and it mr. bessent is the guy he has picked to do it. we do not need less oversight in movers and shakers risk is building in the system. the two big to fail banks are quietly taking on riskier investments. the shadowy private market has loaded up highly leveraged loans. after waves have catastrophic losses the insurance industry is facing a reckoning that even climate change deniers cannot ignore. without significant changes another financial crash is coming. as we learned those big crashes

fall hardest on hard-working people who are just trying to make a living. a billionaire to roll along the d regulation poses a threat to the economic well-being of every american. a billionaire who supports more tax cuts for every single billionaire in america is not someone who's watching out for hard-working families. for me this a simple bird i'm ready to work together with president trump's team were ever we agree to help working families. i'm also ready to fight when republicans pursue economic policy that load up their risk and our financial system or tax policies that most will benefit billionaires. i will vote no on hegseth to be secretary of the treasury and i urge my colleagues to do the

same. >> met at present the senate will vote shortly on the nomination of scott bessent for treasury secretary i urge opposition to the opposition. here is why. first off nearly a million dollars in unpaid taxes to the vast majority of americans paying medicare taxes is automatic. they come straight out of every paycheck. not so for individuals like mr. bessent. those at the very top who operate under different set of tax rules operate a different way. mr. bessent comes from wall street to opt out of paying its fair share into medicare follows the tax dodge that's common among cultural wealthy head fund managers. they spend top dollar to get the best tax lawyers and

accountants. they mash together loopholes and twist the law until proof medicare taxes just disappear. mr. bessent has avoided paying almost a million dollars in three years of tax returns, the finance committee has reviewed. there could be a lot more in other years. now the treasury department says what mr. bessent is doing is a violation of the law. the irs is gone to court twice to close this loophole. it won both times. we urged him to pay what he owes. santa weighed out the appeals process so if mr. bessent is confirmed, the day he is sworn in the treasury secretary will be in violation of treasury

policy. let me repeat that madam president. if mr. bessent is confirmed the day that he is sworn in, we will have a treasury secretary who is in violation of treasury policy. it is an absurd double standard to maintain for the benefit of one individual with immense power. under the previous order, the motions to reconsider is considered made and laid upon the table and the president will be immediately notified of the senate's action. mr. barrasso: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call be waived with respect to the duffy nomination. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. barrasso: thank you, mr. president. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. the clerk: 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 sean duffy of

wisconsin to be secretary of transportation, 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 the debate on the nomination of sean duffy of wisconsin to be secretary of transportation shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: the clerk: ms. alsobrooks. ms. baldwin. mr. banks. mr. barrasso.

the clerk: mr. bennet. mrs. blackburn.

>> good morning everybody. welcome to the grand finale. we and davos on a high note and i am so excited and honored to be here. i'm hosted cnbc. we are going to have a conversation everybody has been waiting for. the global debate in the global outlook on the economy. obviously we have a tremendous line appear the minister for economy and planning. and saudi arabia, thank you. larry sealant founder of blackrock. kristine is the president of the ecb. the president of singapore thank you all for joining us. this has been very interesting for there's so much optimism around president trump, policies and the u.s. outlook.

i sort of wonder as an asset manager, as a risk manager should weto take the other side? are you worried everyone's too excited right now? larry? >> it is hard to hear. >> i was just asking if there's too much optimism around the u.s. outlook and whether that was worrisome? >> think you now i can hear you. is there too much optimism in the u.s.? no. but that being said there is risk in every economy. i can say much more forcibly there's too much pessimism in europe for someone who has been a pessimistic and you're up for like 10 years. my number one observation the pessimism i have never felt its

larger and more profound. and i believe it is probably time to be investing back into europe. focusing on it. i see the problems in europe i believe that pessimism is too large for the main thing on the market unit which we could talk about later on. but, back to the united states, i think all the ingredients for the united states will be continuation of its strength. the foundation of its capital markets for any entrepreneur, any small company, any large company can find capitol. much more entrepreneurialism. much more creativity. i believe the u.s. has the

ability because of the strength of the capital markets which is so underappreciated. allows it to rebuild itself, change directions, modify it faster than any economy in the world. i do believe the economy changes depending upon the clitoral political party and the president. the economy is larger than any one political party or any one president. obviously they can be additive to any economy. president trump's policies if we are able to unlock private capitol and put private capitol faster easier with less regulation will the allow than s own physical problems. some issues that can be worked out. there's not too much optimism in the u.s.

this probably more to be optimistic here in europe. >> i bet you did not expect to kick off the panel with a vote of confidence for europe. what we have been hearing here lots is in europe's economy is underperforming for the trump factors going to bad for europe. how have you digested all of this? >> good morning to everyone. i was going to say to larry if ever you look for a pro bono job, come and join us in europe. given where i am if i'm in my quiet. with decisions coming up soon. i would like to underscore what europe is good at. look at the scorecard for the moment that gdp, about 80%. about 3%. inflation latest reading is 2.4

confidence it's going down rather thanha up. interest rates, 3%. a huge amount of talent. a huge amount of savings. i beg a wake-up call that's really calling the europeans to action. if the european leaders could canactually get their act toget, respond to this a wake-up call an existential threat that can be identified. is that huge potential for europe to respond to the call. i am really optimistic. i am a reality about the points larry made. we need capitol market union. we need to keep the savings at home. and maybe it's time to import a few of the talents for when written or another from another

side of the sea. >> just quickly way to call the next essential why is it existential right now? >> why is it? because as larry was suggesting a talk to the ceo's comic talk to the corporate world at the moment news that are making major investment decisions, they are not very upbeats right now. when you ask them why they are not there making reference to the price of energy. energy costs are going down the energy is going up in europe and a significant way when you consider electricity production into your area is 70% originated. they talk about the excessive red tape and the excessive bureaucratic spirit that is the wake-up call that we europeans, those in policy making places

have to really take to heart and respond fast too. there is a great incentive to go invest in the united states because of the inflation reduction act and the significant subsidies we are going to be given to those invested in the u.s. i think the ira has been removed in the subsidies under the ira will not be paid out. people are going after re- think with the prism of confidence but with the prism of cost which is often the case and the prism of opportunities. there is no questioning what is happening outside is a challenge. but it is also a big opportunity for revisiting and deciding whether or not europe was to be a key player. i am contending it has the talent, the memes and the ambition. bricks will talk of the ira. of the present is a lot to say about industrial policy. first if you could give us a global overview right now.

you just bet your big world economic outlook. while there's a lot of optimism in cell growth in the u.s. and it's a little lopsided around the world. >> it's great to be understandable. we published our projections for 25 through 26 just before the fall. they paint a nice picture with some undertones. nice picture because we project growth at three-point to percent this year. and next is a slight upgrade for 2020. but under this average number of very strong performance for the u.s. we actually upgraded growth protections for the u.s. by half of a percentage point from two-point to we have meant a great european performance and then we had the rest of the

world, more or less a little bit up, a little bit down. these most important message you have for the audience is to ask the question why? why growth in the united states is so strong? why growth is somewhat underwhelming? why the emerging markets are not doing fantastically well? the answer is primarily in growth. that u.s. is emerging i had with high productivity because capital markets allocate many because technology turned into business and advancement when it grows fast. and because the u.s. is relatively speaking abundant,

relatively cheap productivity. we look at the united states year after year after year as close to a percentage point. you look at the rest of the world, advanced economies drop in productivity pre-pandemic times for 1% productivity growth to meager zero-point to percent now. even more worrisome and emerging markets productivity drop from 2.5% to 0.7%. low income countries two -- zero. my first message is the world is changing very rapidly. we are experiencing tremendous technological transformation.

go where it would make the biggest difference. you look at capitol, or does capitol go with us longlegs? it went to the united states. if countries want to move forward, they have to be very aggressive and opening up opportunities for entrepreneurship and yes bureaucrats and deep capital markets. it has to have a unified market that makes it possible to compete. i went to say i am eight european i'm a proud european. as a european i want to make an observation in terms of culture. united states has a culture of confidence. europe has a culture of modesty. when i first went to the united states i went there if something

is done fantastically well, my parents would say not too bad. that was the highest praise. you just move your legs you are fantastic. you blink and you are great. [applause] believe in yourself and others that you do. >> good message. everybody is wondering how the trump presidency which is so focus on economics and has so many changes from the prior regime is going to change the outlook for the respective regions and economies. how are you thinking about it for emerging markets, the reasons that you follow? >> first, let me say and i do not want to be a spoiler here,

if you look at all the evidence on what ordinary people think and feel, they are not feeling good in the u.s. and europe. everywhere. confidence is down. optimism is down. trust is down. so the real task is how do we read the basis for optimism in today's world? not going back to the era with institutions were formed. the u.s. treasury secretary said prosperity is indivisible, just think about that disparity is individual meaning i can't prosper and list your prosper. no nation even the largest will prosper unless the rest of the world. it's passed us i may have

arrested on a moment in time when that u.s. had it unavailabledeed and had that coo say prosperity is indivisible. but what we've got to avoid is going to the other extreme of a zero-sum world. some tent in that direction but we are nowhere near it. we have to avoid moving in a gradual grinding way towards fragmentation and toward some breaking up into blocks. it is a real risk. so what do we do using the agency we have the international institutions. what do we do in between those extremes? the unattainable ideal of prosperity and avoiding it at

all costs zero-sum world. there's a lot we can do. start with the reality is strength in each of our very well described. of institutions that drive innovation in a way no other does. europe has human capitol not just in terms of expertise but values values we admire in today's world. asia has a desire to keep opening up. to keep breaking barriers. you have the uk joining there are several others in the waiting list. the desire on the part of most

of the world to stay open, to be interdependent so that we can all grow. realistic basis for optimism from starting the position where people are despondent today's generation of parents is very little faith and their children doing as well as them. as you basis for optimism. quick she would not have any disagreement on this panel have you spoken with president trump or your prime minister has a view shared this view of openness? >> i'm saying something that comes naturally to a small country by other small condition think alike. your basis is to be relevant to the rest of the world.

you never get too complacent you're always trying to find a way in which work complementing someone else's strength in someone else's able to complement your strength. that should not be the providence of small countries alone we have no choice but to have that. it also has to be the way in which the major think of president trump speech yesterday. it was the way you spoke about china and the u.s. it suggested a desire for a new understanding. and a desire continuous unraveling collects your excellency to important questions. in that speech president trump called on saudi arabia to lower

oil prices. will you do that? >> before you answer this question i am just going to comment on what was discussed. >> is going to move on to that as well. i will get your question. the way we look at the world is into lenses. one is a data driven to explain to us why we are here, how we are here where exactly we are. another lens that is more future focus what is the potential we need to unlock. if you look at the first lens there is growth. also the same time talking about potential positive promise of technological advancements. this economic stalemate needs to be addressed or disrupted. we cannot stay here for keeping our eyes on the second lens like we have discussed in the past

few days is intrepid leadership. we need intrepid leadership that's all but inclusive. it's disruptive ingrained in the things to do. also action oriented to get us out of where we are. you see signs of hope or it signals their art direction or momentum in the direction where leadership that's required for us to get out of where we are from. it's an example of that. he talked about complacency complacency is punched in the face we need to make the transformation count. every region or innovation. and whether a shift to

consumption drive have middle east ability the need for more vision. there are some pressing questions the globe needs to address one is energy security i don't think we can get or cannot afford not getting right this time. we need to get it right. essential for global growth, global prosperity to change the position opec's position is all about long-term market stability enough to supply for the growing demand and there is growing demand. with its current demands coming demand comingfrom a i, demand we need to make sure we supply energy the most efficient way without jeopardizing energy supply without jeopardizing our ability to use technology and collaboration to address climate change. one of the most stressed serious

about climate action. without jeopardizing the opportunities for developing countries and emerging companies. their access the value of company. >> what about your transition since you are the manager planning? how important at this point is the economy? downgrade the outlook based on the extension of the cuts how are you tracking toward your goal of 2030? >> vision 2030 as a long-term restructuring of the saudi economy present a short-term campaign. it is not a short-term program. we look at our numbers of one of the indicators of where we are going. represents 52% of total for the first time is not everything. it's a good sign to keep in mind. and growth has been steady we expect to close 2824 and 3.9%,

2025 at 4.8% in 2026 that is we care about the numbers revised down oil gdp that includes oil production and voluntary cuts. what we really care about is transitioning from what economic structure to another economic structure that's reliant on productivity, human capitol and leverage all of her assets and capabilities to transition from one to another. >> one more really quickie this is brought by the president yesterday. big 600 billion-dollar commitment from the crown prince. how about rounding up to a trillion is from suggested is that easy to do? >> i will tell you that there is a long-standing strong partnership between the u.s. and that kingdom that less of our eight decades it worked very on

global work, all administrations no matter which administration is in office. investment, procurement, public and private sector it is a mirrored reflection of strong relations. it is 12 times that number. >> that might satisfy him. you can't have a global discussion without talking about inflation. or that's been the case in the last few years certainly. a managing director how do we put the inflation genie back in the bottle? >> that is a very, very good question. here's the bottle, here's the genie. the head of the genie is in the bottle. most of the body of that genie is in the bottle. >> , getting stuck there. >> the legs are hanging still need to push it all the way

down. it is remarkable how much progress has been made. i want to say something we worry about today and tomorrow. we not always reflect on, when we look into the past over the last decades every inflation go up and the response would be inflation would go down. but at the price of recession. this is the first time so far when inflation is being brought down interest rates are still somewhat high. and yet we have admittedly below historic average but still a positive growth of 3.3% historic

coverage 3.8. when we look at the next stage, if we succeed to bring inflation down and yet people have jobs and they get more confidence. that would be a very good outcome. on the audience asked himself a question. how come this time it was different? what is different this time? what is it different this time is twofold. after the global financial crisis the world created mechanisms for economic policy that did not exist before. we had the g20, very active role

of settlement. every central bank government gets together. twice year meetings per policy coordination. what that translates into is more consistent coordination when necessary. also divergence and policies when necessary. the second thing that is different. >> larry, i thought i keep reading headlines. we are not done with inflation. larry is very word worried about inflation. why? >> i'm not terribly worried. >> we think the markets been too complacent about inflation? what's the bond market is a best reflection of what's going on in the world. it is the barometer for every

politician, for every central bank it informs us every day with the mood of the global economy. i believe the bond market is indicating inflation may be higher than we think. the genie may be coming out of the bottle. i look at this in so many different ways. if you think about ai for a minute in the united states without data centers represents about 50 gigawatts of power. the niceties we are estimating alone data centers will represent a need of 300 gigawatts of power in the next five years to meet the needs. we are talking about if you expand that throughout the world, this is my optimism about growth.

but at the same time will have labor shortages they'll be driving up wages. i think we'll see more persistent wages. that may be a good outcome. but it's going to be an inflationary outcome. we are going to have material shortages with all this building out. and so i think we are somewhat complacent that inflation can hit us again. i would also say if we look where the bond market was a year end a half ago we are experiencing very elevated places. we had a very inverted yield curve the short rates were higher than the long rates. we are seeing now is that normalizing of the curve. i also believe will have a steeper yield curve. that is a function of four inflation expectations.

one of my fears is because of this complacency and i have not said the most ugly word facing economies and that's called the deficits in that debt of so many countries. many think about the amount of capitol were going to need to be financing all these amazing transformations, we have growing deficits worldwide. the cost will go up that yield curve is showing you that. and so i have said repeatedly here i can see a scenario. i'm not calling for but i can't see a scenario where we have five and a half% per. >> you think the gun that is the fed is done cutting resistor? >> no, they still have room to cut that will put a more steepening of the euchre. i think the next few months of

data and information will identify. i would say to you the economy is very strong. it is very strong in the fourth quarter the evidence we are hearing from different corporations this is strong in the first quarter. you see that and that labor statistic. they may pause for another period of time it may ease a little bit. i'm not were about the short short-term moves over the next year rate hikes. >> i'm not calling for that. i see probabilities of that. >> i've kind of got a headline here larry. >> am trying to avoid one. [laughter] >> very good.

just on the inflation story not everyone is feeling inflation right now globally i think we should mention the global context try dispensing deflation mr. president. i do wonder how you assess the chinese economy right now and the outlook and the spillover effect. >> well, i think the chinese will avoid an extreme downturn they know what toil do. departo transportation, sean duffy of wisconsin to be secretary.

the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota. the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: mr. president, i move to proceed to excessive session to consider calendar number 8. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, environmental protection agency, lee zeldin of new york to be administrator. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask -- i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. 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 lee zeldin of new

york to be administrator of the environmental protection agency signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. . the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: mr. president, i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 9. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of the interior, douglas burgum of north dakota to be secretary. mr. thune: mr. president, i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the. the clerk: will report. 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 douglas burgum of north dakota to be secretary of the interior signed by 17 senators as follows. mr. thune: mr. president, i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president, i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: mr. president, i move to proceed to excessive session to consider calendar number 10. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination, department of energy, christopher wright of colorado to be secretary. mr. thune: mr. president, i second a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. 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 christopher wright of cool doll to be --

mr. thune: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 7. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all those in favor say aye. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: department of veterans affairs, douglas collins of josh josh to be secretary. mr. thune: i send a cloture motion to the desk. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. 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 douglas collins of georgia to be secretary of veterans affairs, signed by 17 senators as follows -- mr. thune: i ask consent the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without

objection. mr. thune: i move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion to proceed. all those in favor say aye. all opposed, no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that the senate be in a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i ask unanimous the appointments at the desk appear separately in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: i ask unanimous consent that when the senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on tuesday, january 28. that following the prayer and pledge, the journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed and the senate proceed to executive session and resume executive calendar number 6, sean duffy, under the order of january 25. further, that the senate recess following disposition of the duffy nomination until 2:00 p.m. to allow for the weekly conference meetings. finally, that if any nominations are confirmed during tuesday's

session the motions 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. mr. thune: mr. president, if there is no further business to come before the senate, i can a that the senate stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until the senate today confirmed scott bessent and seanuffy's nomination to be transrtation secretary centers will come from the former congresan at noon eastern part later in the day lawmakers will vot on whether to begin work on the house built to sanctionnternational criminal court officials for issuing an arrest warrant for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu over his actions during israel's war against hama in the gaza strip. watch live coverage when the senate returns here on cspan2. ♪ c-span's "washington journal"

form involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics, public policy. washington d.c. and across the country coming up tuesday morning chomp administration agenda to dismantle federal di programs tuesday morning on c-span, c-span now on c-span.org. on tuesday former service members advocates discuss the community care program before the senate veterans affairs committee of the hearing is being held amid concerns president trump's order on impact veterans access to healthcare. watch the hearing alive at 10:30 a.m. eastern on c-span three. c-span now free mobile video app

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