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Floor Speech

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Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, I rise today to call up my resolution to undo a regulation about appliances, which was imposed by the Biden- Harris administration weeks after American voters had overwhelmingly rejected that administration and its policies and which, if left in place, would increase costs and limit the options of everyday Texans and everyday Americans across our Nation.

After the election, President Trump and the new Republican Congress systemically moved in exactly the opposite direction to decrease costs and to expand the options of Americans.

Indeed, on January 20, in his Executive order on American energy, President Trump made it the policy of the United States ``to safeguard the American people's freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including, but not limited to, lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads, and to promote market competition and innovation within the manufacturing and appliance industries.''

What refreshing common sense that was missing from the previous administration.

My resolution deals with a rule imposed by the Biden-Harris Department of Energy in December, after the election, and which deals with what they describe as the energy efficiency of non-condensing tankless gas water heaters, which millions of Americans rely upon in their homes.

The Biden-Harris administration knew that they were increasing costs on Americans. Indeed, that is what they were deliberately doing. They acknowledge that because of their rule, the cost of each affected unit would increase by at least $200--and industry experts say the true increase is double even that estimate. The administration's own numbers show that as many as 40 percent of affected customers would experience a net cost increase over the appliance's lifetime.

They didn't care, and it is worth discussing some of the reasons they didn't care about the hardship they were inflicting on hard-working American families and why it is so important today for the Senate to pass my resolution to undo their actions.

First and foremost, hypocrisy. The Biden administration believes in rules for others but not for themselves and conveniences for themselves but not for others. This was an administration that believed in shutting down businesses and banning events all across the United States because of COVID but exempting themselves and what they cared about. If you were at an antifa riot, the COVID virus could not affect you, but God help you if you wanted to go to church, clearly, everyone in the congregation was going to die of COVID that day.

The American people saw that hypocrisy play out again and again, including with appliance regulations such as gas stoves, and, indeed, the hypocrisy played out again with the water heater regulation that my resolution will overturn. Left in place, this regulation would force American consumers to either pay more for these heaters or, if they can't afford to pay more, to shift to less efficient models.

Democrats used to pitch themselves as the party of the working class, as a blue-collar party. No more. Today's Democratic Party is the party of rich coastal elites, and the blue-collar working men and women, Mr. President, that elected you, that elected me--blue-collar workers are now the base of the Republican Party.

Second, corruption. The administration used regulations, mandates, and grants to enrich their allies, including especially radical climate activists. Just to give you an example in one of these infamous ``gold bar schemes,'' Biden's EPA funneled $2 billion--that is billion with a ``b''--into Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams' ``Power Forward Communities.'' They said the money was going toward purchasing new home appliances for low-income families to help ``the decarbonization of homes.'' But that funding was only available to families who worked with Power Forward Communities after the grant was issued.

Biden's very generous, taxpayer-funded gift went to Stacey Abrams' coalition in a brazen attempt to buy Georgians' votes.

And, third, power. For advocates of these regulations, limiting consumer choice is the point. It is a feature, not a bug. Their goal is to control the choices and freedoms of Americans.

I believe it should be you, the consumer, that makes those choices, not unelected bureaucrats in Washington.

Last year, I spoke on this floor about a different Department of Energy appliance regulation. That regulation was about gas furnaces. It would have required over half of American households to purchase new furnaces, which they also didn't care about. Their goal was to target the natural gas industry.

Today's vote is about protecting such fundamental issues as fairness, consumer choice, and affordability. I strongly urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote yes, especially if you care about blue- collar workers, if you care about families struggling to make ends meet. Vote yes and vote to end this government mandate driving up the costs on Americans across this country.
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