Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, the underlying bill requires the President to have prepared for the American people and consider the inflation impacts of all major executive orders. This provides transparency to the American people of the economic impacts of such executive orders.

At the Rules Committee last night, the minority raised concerns that these requirements would apply to a limited number of circumstances. This amendment actually appeases these concerns by lowering the threshold at which an executive order is considered major for the requirements of the bill from $1 billion to $1 million.

This reduced threshold will ensure the President is required to assess the inflationary impacts of significantly more executive orders than the underlying bill would require, which actually increases the amount of transparency provided by this bill.

I am sure the minority would agree with increased transparency. They asked for it just last night. They asked for it just in the last debate over the last amendment.

Mr. Chairman, I am sure we have all heard from our constituents about the impact of inflation. This amendment allows us to expand our efforts to address their concerns.

While some of my friends on the other side of the aisle might say, well, we need a different index, or we need an additional index, here is what the American people don't need: They don't need some report of progress or you name whatever you want to name it.

What the American people know is this: When they go to the store, everything they are buying costs more. It is unaffordable. When they go to the gas station to try to fill up their tank, it costs them more. When they go to the lumberyard, when they go to the bank, when they try to buy a new home, everything costs more.

They don't need some index to tell them that the cost of living is going up and something is causing it, and one of the things is this. Regardless of which party is in power in the executive branch, executive orders would maybe actually reduce the cost of inflation. We need to know that, too. We just want to know what the answer is regardless of which way. This amendment would provide for that.

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I will just say this. I am not from Maryland, and I don't live around the beltway here, where everything is just fine. I live up in Pennsylvania, where $1 billion or $1 million is a lot of money to hardworking people who get up in the dark of night and head out to work. A million dollars is a lot of money, and they would like to know where we are spending it here.

Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), the chairman of the committee.

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.
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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, let me just say this. There were no disparaging remarks about Maryland, only the fact that people in Pennsylvania understand the value of $1 million or $1 billion, and they want to know how it is being spent in Washington, D.C. It is their government. The citizens of the United States, it is their government, and it is their tax money.

This amendment seeks to provide that transparency so that they know the effect of executive orders coming out of the White House, how it affects their wallet. They should know that. We should all be for that.

If you want to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act, you can call any bill here anything you want to. You can call it kids are beautiful and the Sun is going to shine today. But here is what I know: In central Pennsylvania, where I live, the good citizens that I represent are paying $5, $6, $7 for a dozen eggs. They are paying $6, $7 for a pound of hamburger. They can't afford to drive to work. They can't afford to pay their energy bills. They are having a hard time paying their mortgage.

That is inflation, sir. That is inflation, to the good gentleman from Maryland. Part of that is caused by the White House's edicts that impose things on the American people. They want to know and have the right to know what that is so they can inform their votes.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, as we all should know by now, this bill requires the President to consider for any major executive order the impact of the executive order on inflation. I mean, the President is the President of the United States and the well-being of every citizen should be of the President's concern, and I believe it is.

When the American people have been suffering this inflation for years, it makes sense to require the President, no matter which party, to at least consider the impact of his actions on the American people, because they don't have any choice in the matter till the next election.

This amendment requires for executive orders that are found to have an impact on the Consumer Price Index--we have got to have some measure, right? Most people recognize the Consumer Price Index--a detailed description of that impact so that we can all be on the same page and we can all reference the same data point.

Folks, this is common sense, and it is reasonable. The way this bill is currently written, I support the bill. The statement prepared by the President must simply include whether it has an impact on inflation and maybe the impact is to lower inflation. That would be awesome.

I think we are going to have to wait a couple years until we get a President that actually does that. So be it, we will accept that, even this legislation under a new President that lowers the cost of inflation by executive order.

The current bill doesn't talk about the extent of the impact, which is what this amendment seeks to remedy. This amendment requires that statement to provide actual information on the extent of the impact regarding the Consumer Price Index.

With that, Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), chairman of the House Oversight Committee.
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Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), my friend, talks about increased bureaucracy, the increased bureaucracy of informing the American people.

My goodness. My goodness. I have never heard that from my friends on the other side of the aisle, ``increased bureaucracy.'' I mean, all they do around here is infuse more government into our lives with every single thing they do.

The gentleman talks about the medical situation and price-fixing. He doesn't call it price-fixing, but that is what it is. It is price- fixing. More bureaucracy taking more drugs off the market, more lifesaving research off the market, but they are good with that.

They talk about 12 million new jobs, but don't talk about the fact that in one of the reporting periods a million jobs were created but then it was only months later we find out that only 10,000 were created.

Oh, and that first report? Right before the election. Interesting how that happened.

He doesn't want to talk about that or the workforce participation rate. He talks about lowering inflation. You can talk about that all you want to but people that pay for things don't experience it. So you can say it is true, but the reality is that it is not true. All these years he has been saying it is unnecessary to do this.

My goodness. My good friend from Maryland is a member of the legislature. You would think he would want to preserve the power of the legislature instead of handing it to the executive branch, which is what this place has done for years upon years.

Now we have a chance, and my friend wants to hand yet more power to the executive branch instead of preserving the power of the branch that he serves in.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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