Providing for Consideration of H.R. Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, Providing for Consideration of H.R. Right to Contraception Act; Providing for Consideration of H.R. Respect for Marriage Act, and for Other Purposes; and for Other Purposes
Floor Speech
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from my home State of Pennsylvania for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, the rule before us today makes in order three pieces of legislation, including H.R. 8294, a bill to fund 6 of the 12 appropriations bills.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I want to just say I am extremely grateful to Ranking Member Granger and Chairwoman DeLauro for all the hard work that they put in, and also the committee staff. I know a lot of effort went into this legislation.
Unfortunately, the product before us was flawed from the very start. House Democrats drastically underfunded our national defense while providing major increases to the same social programs that have already received trillions of dollars in funding under the Biden administration.
It is clear that the Democrats' out-of-control spending has been the key driver to inflation. Don't take my word for it. Larry Summers, former economic adviser to President Biden, went so far as to call the American Rescue Plan ``the least responsible macroeconomic policy we've had in the last 40 years.'' Again, that was Larry Summers, Democrat adviser to the President.
You know what? He was right. Last month, inflation hit 9.1 percent. That is the highest inflation rate in my lifetime. It is the highest inflation rate since 1981.
President Biden's inflation crisis has cost the American worker over $3,000 in annual income, and the skyrocketing cost of goods and services will cost the average American family over $6,000. That is what is so nefarious about inflation, it hits the working class and those on a fixed income the hardest.
Yet, the Big Government Democrats with their reckless spending policies have these six bills before us today included in the package. The six bills included in today's package received a total increase of 11 percent over the previous fiscal year with some accounts, like the Federal Trade Commission and the Office of Personnel Management, receiving double-digit and triple-digit percentage increases, which will, of course, fuel additional inflation.
Keep in mind, the Defense appropriations bill approved by the Appropriations Committee had just a 4.4 percent increase. Additionally, instead of addressing record-high gas prices, Democrats are pushing this partisan Green New Deal initiative that will only worsen Biden's energy crisis.
Under this measure, offshore oil and gas activities are restricted and oil and gas inspection fees are increased. This is just going to drive up the cost of energy for working families.
H.R. 8294 also includes numerous far-left, radical, liberal policies like allowing taxpayer dollars to fund abortions, and keeping our critical and strategic minerals in the ground. Alarmingly, it includes provisions that threaten our national security, including allowing for the closure of Guantanamo Bay, which houses some of the world's most dangerous terrorists. It also fails to modernize the nuclear weapons stockpile and complex, and provides incentives for illegal immigration.
Further, the rule before us today provides for consideration of H.R. 8373, which goes far beyond supporting access to contraception. Let me just be clear about this point. Not a single State in the Union, not a single general assembly in any State is debating considering making contraception illegal.
This poorly drafted bill has extreme provisions that could harm the health of women, send taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, and force people to violate their religious and sincerely held beliefs.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, my friend and colleague from Pennsylvania asked me which programs I would cut funding from as if this were some kind of checkmate in floor debate. It is not because the answer is very obvious. I have an extensive list of where I would cut.
Just for starters, let's look at some of the increases in the appropriations package and, of course, where I would cut.
We have a 20 percent increase for the Environmental Protection Agency. That could be cut.
We have a $1 billion increase for the Internal Revenue Service. That could be cut right there.
There is a 30 percent increase for the Federal Trade Commission. That could be cut. Don't take my word for it. Not one but two of the Commissioners of the FTC said that they don't even need this increase. There is money that you could cut right there, Madam Speaker.
There is a 12 percent increase to maintain and improve Federal buildings. I don't know if anybody across the aisle has been paying attention, but most of the people in these Federal buildings have been working remotely from home for the last 2 years. Yet, we need to increase funding to Federal buildings that are literally sitting empty as people work from home?
Then, we have a lot of bad ideas regarding climate. $100 million is provided for the President's proposal to use the Defense Production Act authorities to accelerate domestic manufacturing of select clean energy technologies. That can be cut.
While we are talking about the shift to clean energy technologies, let's just be honest about who benefits from this. It is China because they are the ones who are selling the rare earth elements that are going into things like solar panels. By the way, they are bringing more nuclear power plants online and more coal-fired plants online while we hamstring our economy and our energy sector with these absurd climate change proposals.
I have more, actually, but for the sake of time and brevity, I will save them for later if the issue comes up.
Additionally, this notion that inflation is a worldwide issue, I am not sure when they stopped teaching economics in school, but we are the world's largest GDP. If we have inflation, then the world has inflation because we literally export it. That is just how economics works.
To blame Ukraine, Ukraine might play a part in this, but who is to blame for Ukraine? It is President Biden. It was the weakness and vacillation--his surrender in Afghanistan--that emboldened Putin. It was the vacillation. It was the ``minor incursion'' comment that he had that gave Vladimir Putin the green light to invade. Had he just been more resolute in our national security, then we could have deterred this invasion. So, he owns Ukraine, as well.
The gentlewoman from North Carolina brought up Dobbs. I want to quote the actual decision because I think a lot of the points in Dobbs were taken out of context. The Court made it clear in that decision that the decision on abortion should ``not be misunderstood or mischaracterized . . . to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.''
The Court went out of its way to state that they are not concerned about contraception, despite the gentlewoman from North Carolina saying otherwise.
But let's go back to Dobbs. Since the point of the leak of the Dobbs draft Supreme Court decision, there have been 70 violent attacks and threats on churches, pregnancy centers, and pro-life organizations.
These attacks consist of vandalism. They consist of destruction of property, arson, and even included protesters breaching the Arizona State Capitol, forcing legislators to evacuate.
Radical pro-abortion groups have proudly declared ``open season'' on pro-life pregnancy centers while these organizations are providing critical resources to pregnant women, infants, and families.
Republicans want to protect public safety. We want to ensure pro-life organizations can continue helping women and babies in need. That is why if we defeat the previous question, I will personally offer an amendment to the rule to immediately consider H. Res. 1233, a resolution affirming the importance of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers, condemning the violent attacks by far-left extremist groups, and calling upon the Biden administration to use all law enforcement authorities to uphold public safety and protect the rights of pro-life facilities, groups, and churches.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 7 minutes to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson). The vice chairman of the Republican Conference and sponsor of the resolution is here to explain the amendment.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
There was an--I don't know if you want to call it an allegation--an insinuation that the only time I speak to condemn violence is when it is violence that I don't agree with.
I want to be clear about something. I condemn all acts of political violence. I have been very consistent on that; so have my colleagues across the aisle.
Great example: The first time I ever spoke here on the House floor was in support of a resolution rejecting white supremacy, and I talked at length at that time of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting that occurred in Squirrel Hill, Pennsylvania.
As you know, I am from the South Hills of Pittsburgh. I have a lot of friends that actually attend that synagogue. And again, the first time I spoke on the House floor was to condemn violence.
So I just want the Record to reflect my consistency on this issue and the consistency of my colleagues.
I wish my friends on the left would condemn violence that the left has done. It seems that they cherry-pick their own outrage.
But let's just get back to economics. Again, there was this notion floated that inflation is not as bad here as it is internationally, and this is a global problem. Again, it is a global problem because we are the world's largest GDP. We are exporting inflation.
But even with that said, inflation is far worse here than it is in the developed world. Our inflation, by reference, is 9.1 percent. Japan is at 2.4 percent. The U.K. is at 9.1 percent; they are the same as we are. Italy is at 8 percent; Canada, 7.7 percent; France, 5.8 percent.
Again, all those countries I listed, those nations in the developed world have inflation that is lower than where we are, with the exception of the U.K., which is the same. In Brazil--I should say this about Brazil. It is at 11.9 percent in Brazil.
So this idea that everybody is experiencing inflation, and that we have it easier, is just not accurate when you look at the numbers.
Now, I gave a list of what I would cut from the budget. It wasn't an exhaustive list, and neither is this, but I just want to give a few more examples.
$75 million is allocated for public housing, energy efficiency and climate resilience upgrades. That could be cut. There is 75 million right there.
Funding for the FDA--and let's not forget, the FDA was the agency that failed to prevent the infant formula crisis. The Democrats are rewarding the FDA with a 10 percent increase. That can be cut.
And what is so insulting about a 10 percent increase to the FDA is, at the same time Democrats want to increase the funding to the FDA-- again, the agency that led to the baby formula shortage--you have farmers and ranchers that are struggling to make ends meet and to actually harvest food because of the rising food costs and fertilizer costs, and there is no increase to them.
And I think one of the most outrageous items that can be cut is the $90 million that is going to The Presidio park, a park that is in an incredibly affluent area of San Francisco, arguably, one of the wealthiest areas in the entire United States. Yet, that park is getting $90 million, when those around that park can fund it.
And again, what is so insulting about this is we are not even giving allocations to places like Yellowstone and Yosemite that are actually national parks. So those are just some of the areas I would cut.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers at this time, and I yield myself the balance of my time.
Since Democrats jammed through their $1.9 trillion stimulus bill last year, inflation is at an over 40-year high; the value of American paychecks has also fallen; and families are paying more for just about everything.
Yet, the rule before us makes in order a funding package that provides double-digit and triple-digit increases for nondefense programs that will further fuel Biden's inflation crisis.
And by the way, while this bill is providing double-digit and triple- digit increases for nondefense programs, the defense budget has only increased 4.4 percent. That is appalling.
H.R. 8294 also is packed with far-left liberal wish list items like taxpayer-funded abortion, rather than policies that will address Biden's economic crisis and fix our supply chains, secure our border, and invest in national security, and bring down gas and electricity costs through domestic energy production.
Clearly, the Democrats' spending and policy priorities are out of touch with everyday Americans. And that is just not me saying that. According to a poll, a shocking 75 percent of Americans are experiencing hardship because of Joe Biden and House Democrats' inflation crisis. And the majority of Americans expect the economy to get worse this year.
This bill, like the Democratic Party, is tone-deaf and out of touch.
I, therefore, urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on the previous question and ``no'' on the rule, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
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Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
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