Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. COMER. 347.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 347, the Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act, or REIN IN Act.
This legislation is timely and clearly needed. Sky-high inflation started sweeping across the Nation soon after the Biden administration came into power.
Pushing one big-spending policy after another, President Biden has continued to throw fuel on the inflationary fire. That fire is rapidly consuming the wages of our constituents. They have had to pay higher and higher prices for everything from eggs to electricity, all while inflation pushes their real wages further and further behind.
President Biden just does not seem to get it or admit it. At first, he and his administration ignored warnings his policies would spark inflation. Then, they tried to spin the tale that inflation was only temporary. Then, when it became obvious to everyone that was not the case, they attempted to claim that a monthly decrease in the rate of how fast inflation was rising meant inflation was actually falling, but anyone could see that made no sense.
It is long past time the President learned and admitted more about how his actions have led to this harmful inflation. That is why we need this bill.
The REIN IN Act ensures that costly actions the President decides to take solely under his own authority through executive orders will not go into effect until he is informed of and considers the potential inflationary effects.
How does the bill require that? Simple. It requires the President to receive and consider inflation estimates from the Office of Management and Budget and the Council of Economic Advisers for each executive order that is projected to cause an annual gross budgetary effect of at least $1 billion.
The hope is the President, once he is informed of and understands the potential for inflationary harm from his own policy initiatives, will think twice about inflicting such harm. Here is hoping he does.
In addition, the bill requires regular reports to Congress on these new inflation estimates that are prepared for and considered by the President. That way, if the President ignores the dangers and marches ahead with an inflation-inducing policy, Congress will be better equipped to take timely action to rein in an irresponsible use of Presidential power.
That is our constitutional role in the legislative branch, which the REIN IN Act recognizes. This powerful legislative medicine will, I hope, lead the President to stop his inflationary onslaught on our economy.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik), the sponsor of the bill.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman from New York.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Colorado (Mrs. Boebert).
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I have no further speakers, and I am prepared to close.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I yield myself the balance of my time.
This legislation asks every Member to answer two simple questions.
First, do you want the President to know what the inflationary dangers are before he takes executive actions?
Second, when the President knows about the economic dangers of a policy and inflicts them on our constituents anyway, do you want to be better informed so that Congress can take the necessary action to rein in the executive branch?
The answers to both of those questions ought to be yes. This bill makes sure both the President and the Congress have the necessary information so we can discharge our duties more efficiently and responsibly.
Our constituents back home, who have been suffering from the inflationary effects of Washington's poorly thought-out policies, deserve nothing less.
I urge my colleagues to support this much-needed bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I rise in support of my colleague's amendment, which makes an important improvement to the bill.
The sky-high inflation America is experiencing under the Biden administration hits hard military families, rural areas, and farm households. Too often, these vital groups of our constituents get short shrift in Washington's policy considerations.
My friend's amendment makes sure that will not happen when it comes to the inflation impact assessments this bill requires.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
My amendment is a manager's amendment to enhance in two ways this already very good bill.
First, my amendment expands the bill's coverage. Instead of just covering executive orders with more than $1 billion in annual effect on the Federal budget, it would also cover executive orders with overall economic impact on our Nation's economy of $1 billion or more.
We should have inflation-impact assessments for executive orders with such significant economic effects. One such order, for example, would surely be Executive Order No. 13992, by which President Biden revoked President Trump's major regulatory reform orders.
As we all know, President Trump's orders contributed massively to the booming economy America had during the last administration. Beyond doubt, their revocation inflicted more than $1 billion of annual harm on the economy. Their repeal also makes it harder for American companies to produce a host of goods and services. That will raise inflation by making those goods and services scarcer and more costly.
Other good examples are Executive Orders Nos. 13990 and 14008. These are whole-of-government executive orders by President Biden on climate policy. These orders canceled the Keystone pipeline and launched a host of high-cost regulatory actions, particularly affecting energy.
Those executive orders surely contributed to the sky-high energy inflation Americans have experienced under President Biden.
The second way my amendment improves the bill is by requiring the White House's inflation-impact assessments to be reported not just to the House and Senate Budget Committees but also to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. These committees of cross-cutting jurisdiction should receive these annual reports.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I rise in support of the amendment.
The REIN IN Act already ensures both the President and Congress receive the inflation impact assessment the bill requires. My colleague's amendment guarantees another vital recipient gets these assessments, as well: that recipient is the American people, who are bearing the brunt of Bidenflation.
Once the White House assessments are posted on the Office of Management and Budget's website plain as day, as my friend's amendment requires, the American people will be able to know and judge better for themselves how the President is impacting their daily lives.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the amendment.
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Mr. COMER. Madam Chair, I rise in support of the amendment.
Often when inflation is considered, people fail to consider one of its important effects. That effect is on how much more it costs taxpayers to pay interest on our Federal debt. Those interest payments are high, and they spike higher when interest rates rise.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Federal Government would pay $400 billion in interest on the Federal debt during fiscal year 2022. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget projected at the time that for every 1 percent increase in interest rates, those annual payments would rise by $38 billion. Remember, that was for fiscal year 2022, when the Federal debt and interest rates were lower than they are now.
My colleague's amendment makes sure the impact on the Federal debt service costs will not be overlooked in the inflation impact assessments the bill requires.
Madam Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.
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