Executive Calendar
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, right now, American families are worried. The White House thinks inflation is a high-class problem. I clearly imagine the price of Prada bags has gone up, but what the White House continues to miss is that inflation is killing the buying power of Americans on low and fixed incomes.
Across America, families are going through grocery store aisles, seeing higher prices, and having to figure out what they can afford to eat this week. Folks are passing by gas station after gas station, looking for lower prices--to no avail. These aren't just headlines and stories; these are real families who are living paycheck to paycheck and struggling to keep up.
I grew up poor. When my parents' bills went up, it made it more difficult for my family. When gas prices went up, it meant we had less food to put on the table. None of us would wish that on anyone, but that is exactly what is happening in Biden's America--high prices on food, high prices on gas, empty shelves and supply shortages, skyrocketing debt, and Big Government overreach--and that is just the start. Energy prices are through the roof.
Let's take a look at the rising cost at the pump.
Just this week, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel ran a story with the headline: ``Gas prices hit their highest levels since 2014. When will we get a break?'' As gas prices keep rising, the message from Florida couldn't be more clear.
Last week, the national gas average was $3.36 a gallon. It was $2.16 per gallon this time last year. That is a 55-percent increase in just 1 year. If you are driving a car, that means you are seeing an extra cost of about $800 annually. If you are driving a truck, that means you are probably seeing an extra cost of $1,400 annually.
More than 5,000 gas stations across the country are charging more than $4.50 a gallon. In one California community, gas was nearly $8 per gallon last week. That is insane. Prices may go up even more as forecasters warn that oil could rise to more than $100 a barrel.
But rising costs don't stop at the pump; they follow you home. For the nearly half of U.S. families who use natural gas to heat their homes, it is going to cost them $746 just to stay warm during the winter months. If you are using electric heat, prepare to spend more than $1,200 on your electric bills. Reports show that, this winter, home heating prices are going to rise by more than 40 percent for homes that use heating oil, more than 30 percent for homes using natural gas, and 54 percent for homes using propane. Factor in the rising cost of meat, diapers, milk, and other everyday items, and things are looking pretty dire for the American family.
Last week, President Biden said he ``doesn't have a near-term answer'' for reducing gas prices. He doesn't appear to have a long-term answer either. In the meantime, he expects families to just hang tight while he does nothing until next year, when things will magically get better.
We all know President Biden likes to play the blame game. This time, he is blaming OPEC for not pumping out more foreign oil. Remember when America was energy independent? Not anymore, thanks to Joe Biden. He has done everything in his power to cut off America's domestic supply and resources needed to warm our homes and run our cars.
In his first month in office, he cut the Keystone Pipeline permit and killed thousands of American jobs. Then he suspended new oil and gas leasing and drilling permits for Federal lands.
He filled his administration with people who have been longtime advocates of a carbon tax, including Treasury Secretary Yellen, which would only make the current problem worse. He has others, like Interior Secretary Haaland, who want to completely ban fracking.
Oddly enough, he supported Russia's getting the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline, which gives Russia a massive win, and he has put us back into the Paris climate accords, which are already ruining Europe. European countries are scaling back on oil and gas production to meet the Paris Agreement. In Portugal, electricity prices have tripled over the past 6 months, and Germany's prices are three times the U.S. average. Across Europe, they have to rely on energy imports from Russia.
Instead of pursuing a path of energy independence, Biden continues to push ridiculous energy policies in his massive $5.5 trillion spending package that will cut our legs out from under us and cause America to become even more dependent on Russia and the OPEC countries, and he is relentlessly pursuing a reckless tax-and-spending spree even though we know reckless spending causes inflation.
These effects might not be felt by President Biden, but I can tell you that, since Biden took office, more families across the State of Florida and across the Nation have felt the pain of having to count their pennies.
For the sake of American families, we need to figure out what the heck is going on. This is why I have introduced a very simple bill to get to the bottom of these sky-high prices. I am thankful for Senators Marshall, Lummis, Capito, Johnson, Moran, and Blackburn, who have cosponsored this legislation.
The GAS Price Act will simply require the Energy Information Administration to report publicly to Congress on any Federal Agency policies or regulations that it determines will cause energy prices to rise. All my bill does is ask a Federal Agency to provide important information to us in Congress with a statement of facts on what is causing rising energy prices since President Biden was sworn into office. Then we can take this information, see what needs to be fixed, and help the American people. That is it. Let's tell Americans why this is happening, and let's figure out how to fix it. It is as simple as that.
I am sure none of my colleagues would disagree to keeping Congress informed about new rules or policies that have a negative financial impact on families in our great State.
3086, which is at the desk.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. That would be interesting if it was true. When you think about it--and you can look at oil prices, and they are international oil prices--it is illogical to believe that the American oil companies want to spend the transportation dollars to send the oil overseas if they could sell it in America.
So, first off, I am truly shocked that my colleague would say those things. I am shocked that he would object, but I get it. I know my Democratic colleagues have to bend over backwards to protect the Biden administration's disastrous energy policies. But I find it hard to believe they would go so far as to object to having basic transparency. Maybe, if what my colleague said was true, then my bill would show-- they would come back and say: Yup, that is exactly what happened.
My bill would simply provide us with greater insight into the cause of rising gas and energy prices in the United States.
We must be committed to making the American dream work for everyone, ensuring that every family, including poor families, have a chance to get ahead.
I think about my mom and dad. I watched them struggle to make ends meet. This inflation, these gas prices, food prices, all these things, are hurting the poorest families in this country. When you get very little, like we did, and prices go up--gas prices, food prices--it means it is a very difficult time for these families. Hard-working families are trying to get by.
We need to provide more information to Congress so we can make good decisions to figure out why these gas prices are going up the way they are.
So I am disappointed that my colleague would object to a simple way of trying to figure out exactly what has happened here, why gas prices are going up, and what should Congress be doing to make sure that doesn't continue.
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