Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, my colleague's amendment, unlike some others offered, would not eliminate requirements for inflation-impacted assessments. What it would do is overburden the assessments with a host of issues that do not have much to do with inflation.
What are those issues? The list is quite extensive, but let me highlight a few. There are the annual economic values of publicly provided goods and services, higher education, and time spent on leisure activities and outdoor recreation. There are the annual economic costs of lost leisure time due to traffic congestion, accidents involving motor vehicles, and the depletion of the ozone layer.
In other words, inflation would no longer be the bill's focus. Under this amendment, it would just be one factor among many other things, but that is how we got to where we are. Inflation is running rampant precisely because the administration is ignoring the inflationary impact of its policies, and it is ignoring the deep harm that inflation is inflicting on the American people. That is why inflation should be the focus of this bill.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Perry amendment.
My colleague's amendment extends the bill's coverage to executive orders with annual impacts of $1 million or more. This makes sure inflation assessments will be prepared for most executive orders.
This is not an undue burden on the President. Even at President Biden's relatively blistering pace, he has issued only 107 executive orders over more than 2 years.
I submit that, with today's sky-high inflation continuing and with no clear end in sight, it is important that the inflationary impacts of most of President Biden's executive orders should be assessed. If my colleague's amendment is adopted, they will be.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Perry amendment.
The one thing that has become clearly obvious to me, Mr. Chairman, is the fact that my friends on the other side of the aisle, they have no idea how much inflation this administration's policies have created for the American people.
That is the perfect reason why we need to support this bill, as amended; if for no other reason, so we can help our friends on the other side of the aisle have some type of measurement so they can see how damaging their policies and their out-of-control spending has been on everyday, average Americans when they go to the grocery store, when they fill up their gas tank, when they try to pay their rents now.
My colleague's amendment is a wise one. This bill requires inflation impact assessments to be prepared for the President's executive orders, but as we all know, the executive branch routinely does as little as possible to comply with assessment and reporting requirements Congress imposes on it.
This amendment makes sure the executive branch will include in its inflation impact assessments detailed descriptions of the effects the President's executive orders have on inflation, not just back-of-the- envelope sketches.
In other words, it makes sure the executive branch will comply with the spirit of the bill, not just its letter.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the Perry amendment.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the Roy amendment. My colleague's amendment removes exceptions in the bill to the requirement that inflation impact assessments be prepared for all major executive orders.
With historic inflation created by this administration's inflationary policies, as well as the previous House majority's excessive, unnecessary spending spree, historic inflation is harming households across the Nation.
Our focus should be on doing everything we can to protect our constituents against further inflation. Extending the bill's requirement to all major executive orders is one way we can do that, and that will not unduly burden the President.
After all, the bill's requirements do not prevent any executive order from being issued. They just make sure the President is aware of the inflationary impact that his orders may threaten because I don't think my friends on the other side of the aisle realize how much these orders have impacted inflation.
So I hope that this helps stop the Bidenflation at its source by helping President Biden to see that the inflationary consequences of his actions at the time he is considering them. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes''.
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Mr. COMER. Mr. Chair, I rise in support of the amendment.
Perhaps no part of Bidenflation has been more painful than its impacts on food and energy prices. One can hardly imagine kitchen-table issues greater than those.
Bidenflation is causing food prices to skyrocket, as well as the prices for energy to cook it and the prices of the gasoline needed to get to the market. The list goes painfully on.
My colleague's amendment makes sure that when the President is considering major executive orders, he will be informed in a crystal- clear way of the inflationary impacts his orders may have on food and energy prices. It is my hope that will bring some relief to our constituents at their kitchen tables.
Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.
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