Providing for Congressional Disapproval Under Chapter 8 of Title United States Code, of the Rule Submitted By the Federal Communications Commission Relating to ``Addressing the Homework Gap Through the E-Rate Program''
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, this week, I had an opportunity, as part of Veterans Appreciation Week, to speak with incredible Wyoming veterans from all across our State. I thanked them for their service and also took the opportunity to listen closely to their concerns.
On Tuesday, Senator Cynthia Lummis and I hosted a telephone townhall meeting with Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. Also, Col. Tim Sheppard, who is executive director of the Wyoming Veterans Commission, joined us on the call.
The call was very productive and informative. Wyoming veterans shared their experience directly with Secretary Collins. They shared with us what works with the VA and how improvements can still be made. We heard many ideas for improvement. Suggestions ranged from changes to online scheduling to more flexibility for out-of-State appointments.
Secretary Collins took this feedback seriously. He himself is a veteran. He knows that the VA is too bureaucratic. He is committed to fixing it. So I am proud to partner with him to deliver the care that our veterans deserve.
On Wednesday, here in Washington, I met with 16 Wyoming Vietnam veterans. They came to town to visit their memorial. These 16 veteran heroes come from across the State: Guernsey, Thermopolis, Powell, Casper, Cheyenne, Mountain View, Douglas, Newcastle, and Green River. Their stories of service and sacrifice are moving.
This weekend in Wyoming, we will be holding ``Welcome Home'' events across the State in Afton, Riverton, Sheridan, and Wheatland. It is a welcome home many veterans from Vietnam never really received. It is sad to report but true. This weekend, we honor all of our Wyoming veterans.
Wyoming has one of the highest per-capita rates of veterans in America. The pride in those individuals runs deep.
It is an honor to represent them here in the Senate, and I am going to continue to listen to the concerns of our veterans and work to improve the care they need and continue to honor their sacrifices. Electric Vehicle Mandate
Mr. President, on another matter, in 2024, in November, on election day, voters demanded more economic freedom and less government overreach. President Trump and Republicans in Congress heard them. The State of California did not.
California wants to export its radical and impractical electric vehicle mandate to all 50 States. California's mandates are a progressive power grab. They dictate what cars and what trucks Americans can buy and can drive. These mandates aren't limited to California; they are calculated to control the policy of the entire Nation.
Congress must now act to protect the rights of the American people to drive the gas-powered vehicles they want to drive. Last week, House Republicans--with 35 House Democrats joining all of the Republicans-- voted to defend that freedom and to defeat this California mandate, and it is now up to the Senate to finish the job.
California mandates spread far and wide. They affect 133 million Americans--nearly 40 percent of the population of this country. Here is why: Twelve States copy the California mandate to ban gas-powered cars by 2036. Ten States copy the California mandate to ban gas-powered trucks by 2036. These include large-population States, like New York.
Even the junior Senator from California admits that California's liberal mandates affect the entire country, and he says he is very proud of it. The American people think differently.
The Washington Post reported last month that ``Americans are losing interest in EVs.'' That is the quote. The Washington Post: ``Americans are losing interest in EVs.'' Interest in owning an EV has dropped 8 percent since 2023.
The message is clear: Americans don't want these EVs even when the government tries to bribe them--bribe them--into buying them and using them. People want to buy the car and truck that works best for them and where they live and the life they lead.
The average price of an electric vehicle is $62,000, which is $16,000 more than comparable gas-powered vehicles. The California mandates that the Democrats are pushing would raise prices even more. It would also limit options.
This isn't progress. This is a policy that punishes working families, punishes farmers, punishes truckers, punishes the people that live in rural areas.
Worse, EV batteries rely on China. Eighty percent of EV battery components come from China. Republicans here in the Senate are fighting to end America's dependence on China. The California mandate supported by the Democrats makes that dependence even more dangerous. It risks our safety, it risks our security, and it risks our strategic independence.
The Biden administration used its final days in office to grant California permission to export its EV mandate across the country. They did this just 1 month before President Trump took office. They had already lost the election. They already knew the American people rejected what they stood for. Yet they still tried to push this onto the American people, and are trying to push it today.
This is midnight meddling. Senate Republicans are ready to use the Congressional Review Act to stop it. We will protect Americans' rights--the rights to purchase a gas-powered vehicle. That is what we are fighting for, and we have every right to do so.
California's mandates have already taken root in a dozen States. They affect 40 percent of all the new light-duty vehicle registrations and a quarter of the new heavy-duty vehicle registrations nationwide. They clearly affect the kinds of vehicles which will be manufactured and sold in America. These California mandates affect the cost and the availability of gas-powered cars and trucks all across the country, even in the States that do not adopt the mandates.
To my Democrat colleagues who will tolerate California controlling what Americans can drive: Do you think the American people really support what you are trying to shove down their throats? No, they don't.
No wonder the Democrats lost the election.
Are the Democrats willing to strip consumers and small businesses of their right to choose the vehicles that work for their needs and for their budgets? Do Democrats want to continue to protect the failures and the fallacies of the Green New Deal? Or for once, will the Democrats join Republicans who are trying to protect working families?
It is no surprise, then, that Republicans have become the party supporting and protecting the rights of working families. People have rejected the Democrats.
The Senate also needs to reject the cheerleading by these climate extremists for more regulations by unelected bureaucrats, but that is what the Democrats are here supporting. The Senate should use the Congressional Review Act to reject this Joe Biden midnight madness. By doing so, we would be protecting consumer choice, protecting affordability, and protecting congressional authority.
It is time to put Americans, Mr. President, back in the driver's seat.
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Mr. BARRASSO. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Wyoming (Ms. Lummis), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), and the Senator from Mississippi (Mr. Wicker).
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