The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Energy (Executive Calendar)” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the in the Senate section section on pages S6758-S6759 on Sept. 29.
The Department provides billions in unemployment insurance, which peaked around 2011 though spending had declined before the pandemic. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, claimed the Department funds "ineffective and duplicative services" and overregulates the workplace.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Energy
Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. President, the difference between medicine and politics--because I am a doctor--is that in medicine, you are forced to look at reality as reality is, whereas in politics we can make up reality. It is: Oh, my gosh, I want it to be this way; so let's assume that it is.
I think it is a time for, at least--one, I think it is always better to look at reality, but, particularly right now, let's talk about it as regards inflation.
Inflation is really hurting middle-income families. We are seeing higher prices in the grocery store, electricity bills, at the gasoline pump eating up their budgets.
President Biden has repeatedly said he would not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 a year, but rising inflation as a result of his harmful economic and energy agenda is effectively a tax.
This is predictable. Democrats and left-of-center economists like Larry Summers warned about the risk of inflation and predicted a sharp rise in prices. He sounded the alarm at the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. He said that could overheat the economy. It did.
This summer, used car prices were up 45 percent, gasoline 45 percent, whole milk 7.5 percent. American families are paying higher prices for goods and services that are essential, and it continues to go higher. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that consumer prices in June increased 5.4 percent relative to a year ago--the largest increase since August 2008, more than double the target rate of 2 percent the Federal Reserve establishes.
Now, President Biden and his administration, his Treasury Department, have reassured that this inflation is transitory or temporary.
Just last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Federal Reserve sees inflation ``lasting quite a while,'' given their recent and upcoming actions--so, if you will, belying the reassurances of the administration.
Looking particularly at energy, it is not surprising that electricity and gasoline prices are soaring, and the average price of gas has now gone over $3 a gallon since May. The national average is $3.19, $1 more per gallon than a year ago--now, again, predictable.
One of the first things President Biden did when he took office was to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline, killing 11,000 jobs that went with it--by the way, not jobs for bureaucrats in Washington, DC, doing quite well during the pandemic because they continue to get paid, but jobs for construction workers who, if they don't have this job, don't have another job and have less ability to take care of their family and to better provide for their child's future.
He stopped domestic oil and gas leases and only does that which the court tells him he has to do.
Oddly, since he did all of this in the name of addressing issues of carbon emission, the administration then removed sanctions so that Russia can complete the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, going from Russia to Germany, and now is asking OPEC, which includes Iran, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, to increase oil production so we can import their oil--so much for the energy independence our country, researchers, and companies worked so hard to develop.
And now we see with every draft of the Democrats' reckless tax-and-
spend bill that the Democratic Party seems intent on driving prices higher, increasing our energy dependence on other countries, and hurting our domestic workforce. And I think, if we are going to go back to reality, the American people would ask not to describe these actions as being done for the good of the environment or the climate. I totally believe we must address climate, but the stark truth is that President Biden's energy policies prioritize shutting down domestic production and domestic jobs in favor of using dirtier Russian gas.
Why do I say dirtier? There is a National Lab that recently reported of natural gas produced in Louisiana and exported to Europe compared to gas coming to Europe from Russia, that over the 20-year horizon the carbon intensity is 43 percent less for gas that comes from the United States to Europe than from Russian gas coming to Europe, and 10 percent less over 100 years.
If you really cared about lowering greenhouse gas emissions, creating jobs for the American worker, and strengthening our economy and our national security, you would encourage the production of U.S. natural gas and ship it around the world, displacing that which was coming from countries such as Russia.
It seems as if the administration is more interested in virtue-
signaling than truly pursuing a low-carbon solution, and I would love for someone to explain why the administration is so hell-bent on shutting down energy production in the United States, with the good-
paying jobs and the economic opportunity, especially in Louisiana but not only in Louisiana. And it is done in a cleaner, more environmentally friendly way than in almost every other part of the Nation. It is as if they would rather the United States be dependent on foreign sources, those that are often not allies, than to produce energy cleanly, creating American jobs in the United States of America.
The United States is a global leader in decreasing greenhouse gas emissions entirely, almost, because of the increased production of U.S. natural gas.
As production increased and prices fell, natural gas replaced coal, so that now, off the top of my head, I think I know that, in absolute amounts, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States are less now than they were in 2004. And if not, they are almost there.
Our economy is a lot bigger, and we have a lot more people, and yet we have managed to hold greenhouse gas emissions at a declining rate because we produced natural gas.
We need to encourage exploration and production in our country. We should not be shutting it down, and we should not be shutting down the good jobs that go with it. The administration's backward and disastrous energy policy is playing out before our eyes. It is not good--destroying American jobs, contributing to inflation, and strengthening the geopolitical position of our geopolitical rivals. The administration's actions are directly leading to higher gas and utility prices.
There is a way out of the inflation, but it is not empty virtue-
signaling. It is not putting American workers out of jobs. It is to restart American energy production, hold lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, and get American energy in our country back on track, recreating the jobs that have been destroyed, and, by the way, increasing a greater ability to export to other countries around the world, helping to lower global greenhouse gas emissions.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
