Laken Riley Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, it is 4 days until President Trump will be inaugurated for the second time as President of the United States. That means we only have 4 more days of President Biden's absentee leadership, but he seems to be making the most of his final days as he goes out the door, and he certainly isn't letting it kick him on the way out.

I think the most egregious example of the abuse of power, really, that President Biden is engaged in, now that the election is over and he doesn't have to stand for a vote among the American people--so he pretty much has given them a thumb in the eye. Perhaps one of the most egregious examples of this was his pardon of his son Hunter on December 1 of last year.

Despite numerous efforts by the FBI and DOJ to protect Hunter Biden from accountability for his crimes, President Biden decided to attack his own Department of Justice and say his son was selectively and unfairly prosecuted. Well, it is hard to imagine someone thinking they were unfairly targeted when the entire government Agencies did everything they could to protect him from coming to justice.

And thanks to a diligent and careful judge who was able to expose a sweetheart deal that would have exonerated Hunter Biden previously, he was convicted of illegally possessing a firearm, and he stood charged with massive tax fraud.

President Biden said time and time again: I promise I am not going to pardon him. And then he turned around, and he did.

But he didn't stop there. He used his last days in office to go on a little pardon spree, granting clemency to 39 individuals, as well as commuting the sentences of convicted murderers on death row.

These people were convicted of crimes ranging from conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a mortgage fraud scheme to stealing government property, to signing false documents, bank theft, participating in income tax fraud, and the misuse of a Social Security number.

But the truth is, these are not victimless crimes, and they are not the sort of occurrences we want to see happening more frequently. There is a reason why our criminal justice system provides for accountability and punishment in appropriate circumstances. That is to set an example for others not to go down that path and to have some measure of accountability, which is an important part of justice.

These criminals were not the only people that got a last-minute gift from President Biden. On January 4, President Biden announced a list of 19--19--new recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This included George Soros and others.

George Soros, of course, is a billionaire philanthropist who has doled out billions of dollars for leftwing political causes, from ``defund the police'' movements to anti-Israel organizations, to those who promote open borders, such as we have experienced, tragically, over the last four years.

Of course, these are the same policies that have caused so much suffering and frustration among the American people, which they voted on. I believe it was a referendum on November 5. The people voted to change the direction the country was headed in because most Americans, according to public opinion polling, felt like America was on the wrong path and needed a change of course.

And now a key architect of those failed policies was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Talk about devaluing an award that is supposed to be given for extraordinary service to the country.

Of course, I support the rights of individuals to be generous with their wealth. America is one of the most generous countries in the world, and I think it is something we should be proud of.

I imagine how our colleagues on the other side of the aisle might act if Republicans honored a prominent conservative philanthropist. Do you think the media or our Democratic colleagues would applaud it in the same way? No chance. Conservative philanthropists have been not only not given Medals of Freedom, they have been subjected to endless scrutiny, including politically motivated subpoenas from our Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee, just this last year. But now, Democrats are rewarding their own with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

It is like the hearing we had this morning on the Finance Committee. Scott Bessent, the next Secretary of the Treasury, was there. We had to listen to the ranking member go on a diatribe about why it is so important that American taxpayers be exposed to a multitrillion-dollar tax increase. He said this is about tax cuts for the wealthy. But the fact of the matter is--and the nominee pointed this out--that the top 1 percent in the country pay the vast majority of income taxes. But the facts, apparently, are not all that important to our Democratic colleagues.

President Biden wasn't finished rewarding his friends with grants of clemency and Presidential honors before he left office. He also sent a parting gift to one of his favorite beneficiaries, which are radical climate activists.

I don't doubt that the climate is changing. I don't doubt humans have an impact on it. But to say this is the end-all and be-all of all of our policies, to the detriment of our economy, job creation, and so many other important issues, just strikes me as misguided.

One of the consequences is that Americans have been suffering under high prices for energy under President Biden's Presidency. Electricity prices have risen more than 30 percent. We know that these high prices are the direct result of President Biden's policies, which put climate activists in the front seat, while working families are left behind.

But the President couldn't help himself from doing more damage on the way out the door. The day after Christmas, President Biden's Energy Department finalized new climate regulations that would functionally ban almost all natural gas-powered water heaters. Why would he do something like that?

An analysis from the American Gas Association estimates that 40 percent of customers will be directly impacted by a rule with a net cost increase, since they will be required to buy a new electric water heater. The AGA notes that the households affected are largely low income and senior citizens on a fixed income, who are more likely to choose a cost-effective water heater that will now be banned under the rule.

I am all for the freedom to do so. But to impose additional costs on seniors who have fixed incomes and other low-income families who are struggling to get by under the high prices and the 40-year high inflation under the Biden administration simply adds insult to injury.

But President Biden didn't stop there. Two weeks ago, the Biden administration gave the State of California permission to enforce zero- emissions rules for lawn mowers and leaf blowers. This may sound like a small thing, but it is emblematic of much bigger things, and it adds up. This rule would prohibit the sale of new equipment under 25 horsepower or 19 kilowatts that failed to achieve ``zero emissions.''

Is there no home appliance or device that is safe from this radical agenda? The Biden administration has targeted gas-powered cars, gas stoves, water heaters, and now they want to get after our lawn mowers and leaf blowers.

As I have said before, I don't have any objection to anyone who wants to improve their carbon footprint, if that is important to them, by purchasing new low-emissions lawn mowers. God bless them if they want to do that. But for working families to have to deal with this mandate, who are just trying to keep up with inflation, a new lawn mower just might not be in their budget.

Well, suffice it to say, the Biden administration is working hard on the way out the door and wreaking havoc in the process.

Mr. President, Republicans are taking note. We know that, with President Trump being sworn into office next Monday, with new majorities in the House and the Senate, things are going to change. The American people voted for change, and they are going to see a change--a change away from these radical policies and special interest pieces of legislation or regulation that hurt the vast majority of Americans for the benefit of an ideological agenda.

One of the tools we are going to be using is something called the Congressional Review Act. As the Presiding Officer knows, this is a powerful tool which allows a vote of Congress and a Presidential signature to essentially veto an administrative Agency rule. There is a timeframe. I believe it is 60 legislative days during which we can look back and essentially impose a legislative veto of that rule.

Using this mechanism, Congress can review and rescind regulations that it disapproves of, because, of course, many of these regulations are promulgated by administrative Agencies that never have to stand for election. They never have to appeal to the voters. They never have to explain themselves to the voters. They just do what they do, which is create more and more redtape and regulation.

So I am glad we are going to be able to focus, soon after we confirm President Trump's Cabinet, on Congressional Review Act regulatory disapprovals. I plan on introducing a few of these myself so we can reverse many of the Biden administration's misguided regulations. I know other colleagues plan to do the same thing.

President Biden may have been busy over the last few months, since the November 5 election, but we are gearing up to be even busier, undoing much of the mischief that he has wrought during these last couple of months on his way out the door.

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