Advocating for Free and Competitive Markets

Floor Speech

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Mr. CASTEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask for a quick show of hands: How many of us in this room have ever had someone come into our office and ask to make the world safer for their competitors? Me neither.

The Record will show that no hands were raised.

This is because there is no lonelier position in Washington than being an advocate for free and competitive markets.

Competition is hard. Free markets are scary. That is why when markets allocated capital to clean energy, cheaper energy, and it displaced fossil fuel energy and $20 trillion flowed into ESG funds, the losers came to Washington and got the majority of the people in this body, the majority of people in this House to block that free flow of capital.

I thank the minority of my colleagues, and President Biden, who blocked that from happening, who stood up for markets in spite of how hard it was.

To my Republican colleagues who are being pressed by their donors and their colleagues, in William F. Buckley's words: ``Stand athwart history yelling, stop.''

I sympathize. It is hard and it is scary to support progress. It is hard and it is scary to support markets. I hope that you will do what is right in spite of that pressure.

There is no pride in only doing the right thing when it is easy, but history will smile on the brave.

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