Cloture Motion
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to oppose the Biden administration's agenda, which is anti-American energy. That is what we are facing in the country today.
President Biden just got back from a trip to Europe. He went there to attend the United Nations' Climate Change Conference. I noted the previous speaker said he was jetting off to there this weekend, heading to Scotland.
He also made reference to the Climate Corps, which is part of President Biden's agenda. He said: Who could criticize it? Well, I am happy to criticize it. That legislation is asking to hire 1 million Americans--1 million Americans--to protest, to wage war on oil, gas, and coal jobs, energy jobs in this country. This is at a time when we have 10 million open jobs in this country and ``Help Wanted'' signs all around my State and the States of all the Members on the floor today. Yet the Biden administration's answer to rising energy costs is to hire a million people to protest American energy and American jobs as the prices continue to go up and inflation continues to ravage the paychecks of the American people.
So, yes, they are flying off to Scotland, so many of the Members on that side of the aisle. The Democrats have joined John Kerry. Nancy Pelosi is heading there. Many in this body from the Democratic side of the aisle will be joining them, heading there soon. Well, back at home, people are struggling with inflation that is at a 30-year high as a result of the policies of this administration.
One in five American families has cut their spending this year. Why? To pay for the energy bills that are being brought forth by the policies of this administration, which is anti-American energy.
The cost of a gallon of gasoline has gone up a dollar a gallon since President Biden has come into office. It means the cost of everything else is up as well because higher prices aren't just prices you pay at the pump; they are prices you pay at the grocery store.
At the same time, the cost of natural gas has doubled, and it is now at a point where it is at the highest price it has been in 7 years. Half of the homes in this country are heated with natural gas. Winter is coming, and it is going to get worse.
This leaves less money in people's paychecks. They pay so much to fill up, so much to heat their home, there is less money for their family. That is why the New York Times' front page story last week talked about Thanksgiving and the cost of walloping the wallet of American families. People are soon going to have to decide whether they will have the money to heat or to eat.
That is what we are facing as a result of the agenda of this administration. So what is the President doing about it? Well, he went to Europe, and, astonishingly, he apologized to the world for America. He made unrealistic pledges to cut emissions. He said he was going to cut 1 billion tons in the next 8 years and went so far as to say the United States would reach zero emissions in 28 years. That would be a most dramatic change in the history of the American economy. It is a reckless promise. Yet the President did get the applause from the global elite. Well, the American people aren't applauding. The American people are wringing their hands today.
The average European doesn't have reason to applaud either. Joe Biden left out a few important facts in his speech in Europe. He forgot to mention he had given Vladimir Putin the green light to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany. He failed to mention that Putin can now hold half of Europe hostage with natural gas. He failed to mention that today--today--in America, we are using more oil from Vladimir Putin's Russia than we are from the State of Alaska.
Listen to this, Senators from Alaska, who follow these figures every day. The President failed to mention that he is actually asking Vladimir Putin to sell more oil to the United States, pump more oil, because he doesn't want it produced in the United States, and he is willing to kill American jobs in the process.
Well, due to the policies of this President and his radical attacks on American energy, Vladimir Putin has hit the jackpot, and he is going to cash in for years to come.
Working families all across Europe know better. They have seen this movie before. That is why, this morning, I have released a report. I have it here. It is called ``Europe's Energy Crisis: A Warning to America.'' The subheadline: ``Democrat plans to mimic Europe's energy and climate policies will lead to sky-high prices, less reliability, and shortages.''
That is where President Biden is leading the United States. It is no wonder that the national poll released last Sunday by NBC News showed only 22 percent of the American people believe the country is heading in the right direction under the Democrats and under this President.
This report details how Europe has tried many of the environmental policies that the Democrats are proposing and want to pass today. The consequences have been devastating to families there and will be devastating to families here.
Because of the policies, Europeans are paying some of the highest energy prices in the world, and much of the energy they use is undependable and unreliable.
Prices are really high in America right now, but they are even higher in Europe. This spring, gasoline prices were at least 65 percent higher in Europe than they were in America. From 2005 to 2020, the cost of energy in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom increased between 28 and 71 percent, depending on the country.
European industries pay at least 90 percent more for natural gas than American industries do. This is a major competitive advantage for American companies. Yet President Biden is doing everything he can to throw our competitive advantage away.
This President is trying to pass legislation that will make it worse here at home. The largest piece of the President's spending bill is over $500 billion for the heavily criticized Green New Deal. It includes high payoffs for electric vehicle owners and an army of full- time climate activists that I just talked about. It includes higher taxes on American energy and higher prices for consumers. It would ban exploration for oil and gas off our shores and in the Arctic. All of these ideas will raise costs additionally for working families.
My new report shows that Europe already tried the Democrats' environmental policies. The results were disastrous for Europe. They will be disastrous here.
I urge my Democratic colleagues: Don't make this same mistake. Don't subject the people of the United States to the same punishing pain of the high cost of energy that people are sustaining right now in Europe. Stop raising prices. Stop making life harder. The American people and American producers and American families deserve better.
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