Floor Statements

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to join my Republican colleagues to oppose President Biden's vaccine mandates.

Last December, President-elect Joe Biden told the American people that he would not issue a vaccine mandate. Just a year ago, as President-elect, Joe Biden said:

I don't think they should be mandatory.

He said:

I wouldn't demand it to be mandatory.

Last October, as a Presidential candidate, Joe Biden said:

You can't say ``Everyone has to do [it].''

Then, this summer, his Press Secretary said it is ``not a role the federal government even has the power to make''--``not a role even the federal government has the power to make.''

In July, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control said:

There will be no nationwide vaccine mandate.

Then, in early September, with this Nation in shock and reeling because of the disastrous collapse in Afghanistan, suddenly and unexpectedly and completely opposite of everything this administration has promised, the Biden administration broke the law, and in doing so, violated the rights of the American people by calling for this vaccine mandate.

Joe Biden issued a nationwide mandate, and in doing so, he has taken a sledgehammer to the American workforce and the American economy. Because of the President's irresponsible policies, we now have the worst labor shortage in American history, and we have broken new records for unfilled jobs. As a result, we also have the worst supply chain crisis in 40 years. We don't have enough goods on the shelves. We don't have enough workers to fill the shelves.

The President must have known that many wouldn't comply with his mandate. He must have known people would be forced out of their jobs as a result of the mandate. He didn't seem to care. He imposed the mandate anyway.

Now people are losing their jobs, shelves are empty, and prices continue to rise. Inflation is the No. 1 concern of the American people.

Now, I am a doctor. I am vaccinated, so is my entire family. I am pro-vaccine and anti-mandate. Vaccines work. Nationwide mandates don't work.

Courts have already ruled that the President's mandates are illegal. Yesterday, a Federal judge in Georgia blocked the mandate on Federal contractors. Not only are these mandates illegal, they are ineffective.

Joe Biden's mandates have only hardened people against the vaccine. They have increased resistance to getting vaccinated because President Biden has politicized the vaccines, and all the mandates have accomplished is making people lose their jobs.

In the Joe Biden world, his mantra seems to be, vaccinate or terminate.

What we ought to be doing, instead, is giving people information. Let them work with their doctors to make the right decision for them and their families.

That is what I have been doing for decades in Wyoming as a doctor. We don't need mandates. We don't need public health officials who can give Americans reliable information, saying they have to enforce and apply a mandate. They are there to give the information and then the vaccine if the person chooses to have it.

The Biden administration spent 10 months flip-flopping on this issue. President Biden ran from his basement during the campaign saying he was the answer to COVID. He is not, hasn't been. He has sent one mixed message after another, and then he has issued a nationwide mandate. It has been inconsistent, ineffective, and incompetent.

When President Biden issued his mandate, he said, ``We've been patient [with the unvaccinated] but our patience is running thin.''

Well, I will tell you, Mr. President, the American people have been patient. It is the patience of the American people now with you, President Biden, that is wearing thin.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I come to the floor to join my friend and colleague from South Dakota to oppose the Democrats' reckless tax- and-spending spree.

There are 18 days left until Christmas. So who is on the Democrats' shopping list this year?

Well, it is the same people who are on the list every year: illegal immigrants, union bosses, professional activists, and the donor class of millionaires.

In the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spending bill, they all get big presents from the government. The rest of America gets more spending, more taxes, more debt, and higher prices as they are already struggling and suffering under the largest, highest inflation in the last 30 years.

Democrats call the bill Build Back Better. For most Americans, it is a break-your-back bill.

In this bill, Chuck Schumer's hometown will get tens of billions of dollars to bail out their public housing authority.

Joe Biden likes to say, if you want to know somebody's values, he says, look at their budget.

Well, let's look at the budget that the Democrats are putting forth, because the second most expensive item in this bill is a tax break for millionaires and billionaires in New York, in New Jersey, in California, and in Chicago.

The cost of that sole component: $275 billion, which will have to be paid by the hard-working men and women in this country.

This is one of the bill's top expenses because it is a top priority for Democrat elites. Under the Democrats' bill, the bottom 60 percent of Americans would get zero of those dollars; $275 billion to the richest of the rich.

In 2016, nearly half of the money went to just four States: California, New York, Illinois, and New Jersey.

Rural States like Wyoming, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and West Virginia received the lowest amounts of tax relief. Democrats want the people in States like Wyoming and West Virginia to pay for these tax cuts for the millionaires of California and New York.

Under this legislation, low-tax States would essentially subsidize high-tax States. What is this going to do to the high-tax States? Well, it will encourage them to raise State taxes, which is probably another reason that Democrats support it.

Democrats also have lots of Christmas presents in this bill for people who come to this country illegally. The Parliamentarian said Democrats can't pass amnesty for illegal immigrants in a previous version of the bill, but Democrats want illegal amnesty so badly that they are going to try all over again.

Let me remind you: This is a spending bill; it is not an immigration bill. Democrats know that they don't have the votes to pass the immigration bill that they would like to see. Frankly, they know they will never have enough votes in the Senate for an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants. So they are trying to cram it into a spending bill. Democrats are hoping that the American people won't notice.

If Democrats have their way, this spending spree would be the most consequential immigration bill in half a century. The bill would give amnesty to 6\1/2\ million people in the country illegally. It would also give them five new entitlements.

The bill includes new permanent welfare programs. There would be no work requirements--not a single one--and no citizenship requirements. This includes free childcare, free preschool, and even free money for college. Now, this is in addition to the $300 check every month for every child Democrats already send to illegal immigrants that they have sent earlier this year.

So it is shaping up to be a long December for American workers and taxpayers, and people know it because we already had the most expensive Thanksgiving ever.

On Friday, we saw one of the most disappointing jobs reports in a disappointing year. The jobs report says we created less than half the number of jobs that the experts predicted we would produce last month. Still, there are almost 4 million fewer Americans working than before the pandemic. At the same time, inflation is only getting worse.

People in all our States are wondering if they are going to be able to afford to have presents under the tree this year; wondering if they can afford a tree at all because, of course, the cost of Christmas trees are up 30 percent--30 percent more this year than last.

More and more Americans find they are heading to shop at the dollar stores. Yet many dollar stores, you have seen in the press, aren't dollar stores anymore. Dollar Tree is selling more and more items for $1.25. Dollar General is opening new stores with a $5-or-less business model. Prices are going up everywhere you look.

One of the reasons for inflation in Joe Biden's economy is the rise in cost of energy. Natural gas is at a 7-year high. Winter is almost here, and prices are up dramatically. The price of gas at the pump is at a 7-year high as well. Yet Biden and the Democrats say everything is fine.

It is just fascinating. Last week, the Democrats' headquarters sent out a

tweet. It was a graph showing gas prices had dropped by 2 cents over a week. The caption was ``Thanks, Joe Biden.'' I actually thought it was a joke. It was serious. They actually said: Hey, good, the price of gas is up $1.25 since he took office, but it dropped 2 cents last week, and let's celebrate the success of Joe Biden.

This is just another example of Democrats' bad math. It is an example also of Democratic leaders who are completely out of touch. Gas is up $1.25 a gallon since Joe Biden took office. A 2-cent drop is hardly enough.

So here is my 2 cents' worth: The American people don't want pennies from Joe Biden; they want a refund from the last election. That is what they deserve. They want affordable, available, reliable American energy.

Joe Biden said last week:

I have used every tool . . . to address price increases.

On the contrary. President Biden has used every tool to drive up prices. He has attacked American energy. He has driven up costs for all Americans. He has shut down the Keystone Pipeline. He is threatening other pipelines. He has blocked oil and gas leases on Federal land. He has threatened to raise taxes on the production of natural gas. We are now producing about 2 million barrels of oil a day less than before the pandemic.

The Secretary of Transportation thinks he has a simple solution to the energy crisis. This is what Pete Buttigieg said. He said it is easy. He said last week that families who buy electric cars ``never have to worry about gas prices again.'' Well, it is simply false. You would think somebody as educated as the Secretary of Transportation would intuitively say: Gas prices affect grocery prices. Gas prices affect retail prices and the price of just about everything else.

Look, even for the Biden administration, this is really out of touch with mainstream America or people who live anywhere outside the bubble of the beltway. People who are struggling with inflation can't afford to go out and buy an electric vehicle. Seniors and families just starting out aren't going to go out and buy an $80,000 electric vehicle.

We know who buys these luxury vehicles. More than 80 percent of the Federal subsidies for electric vehicles go to people making more than $100,000 a year, and, unlike the rest of the people on the roads, these drivers use the roads for free. Yet Democrats make sure to include electric vehicle owners on their shopping list this year.

This bill would give $12,500--$12,500--to couples making up to half a million dollars a year if they buy a luxury electric vehicle. This includes vans, SUVs, and trucks costing up to $80,000. The bill also includes $900 payouts to people who buy electric bicycles.

It has already been a long December for the American people, and we are only at December 7. Yet it must be an exciting time for the Democrats' favorite groups. Democrats have always liked to play Santa Claus, and this year, they have a list of who they consider America's good little boys and girls. Who is on the list? Well, as I said a few minutes ago, it is illegal immigrants, union bosses, professional activists, and the millionaires who live in the penthouses of New York and the mansions of San Francisco and Hollywood. Working-class, Middle America, those families--they are the ones who are going to get stuck with the bill.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the Defense bill that is currently before the Senate and note that the majority leader this morning made some mention and some complaints about substantive, timely, and important amendments that are being offered by my colleagues. He was particularly agitated, it seems, about an amendment dealing with communist China.

Well, the U.S. Senate has a lot of work to do by the end of the year. We need to fund the government. We need to prevent a shutdown. We need to deal with the debt ceiling. Democrats are going to need to lift that. We need to make sure that our troops are funded and that we deal with the Defense bill. These are some of the important issues that are before the Senate.

Yet, here we are, near the end of the year, scrambling to get it all done in just a couple of weeks--no way to run the U.S. Senate. We haven't had an appropriations bill brought to the floor all year, and the Defense bill has been sitting in limbo for months.

The Armed Services Committee actually finished marking up this bill in July. It is a bipartisan bill. It passed the vote in the committee by 23 to 3. Things don't get a lot more bipartisan than that.

So, typically, the Senate starts working on the Defense bill and then negotiates over the next couple of months. We start in June. But, instead, we have gone months and months and months.

We have seen the disastrous collapse and fall and withdrawal in Afghanistan, and yet no Defense bill to the floor of the U.S. Senate.

So what did the Democrats try to do instead?

Well, they pushed a very partisan agenda and brought to the floor two bills on election takeovers. And the Democrats also seem to be very obsessed with their own bill. They want to call it Build Back Better, something like that. I will tell you, it is a bill that is going to break the backs of American families.

So now here we are, just at the deadline, and the majority leader is finally getting around to dealing with a bill that has to do with supporting the troops. It seems to me that is like a kid with a term paper that is due tomorrow. It is the night before, and they are going to start writing the term paper.

Well, if you want to get it right, it takes a longer process than that. It is a long process, generally, because it is that important for the Nation. Every Senator wants to be involved.

Yet, through the procrastination by the majority leader, the Defense bill has been delayed.

Now, I have made the case that, frankly, national security has been a very low priority of this President and this administration and the majority party in the House and in the Senate. And the reason I say that, exhibit A, is the fact that the budget that President Biden proposed when he came into office--and let's be frank. The budget he proposed was a massive, supersizing of the size of the Federal Government--more money for this, more money for that, more money for everything except for two items alone. Only two items in the entire Federal budget came in to grow at a rate less than inflation--less than inflation.

Now, what were those two items? Defense and homeland security. That tells me how this administration prioritizes the role of our Nation's security for our country.

So, finally, we have gotten to work on this bill, and there are some concerns because amendments need to be voted on, debated, brought to this floor.

I have introduced an amendment with the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee to sanction the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. There is bipartisan agreement that that pipeline needed to be sanctioned, and we have been fighting for that together in a bipartisan way through multiple administrations.

This is Vladimir Putin's pipeline to which Joe Biden has given the stamp of approval. It is a weapon that Putin is going to be using to hold half of Europe hostage. And under what this administration has been doing on energy--penalizing American energy production and begging Putin to produce more and sell it to us--this has been a jackpot for Vladimir Putin.

Our amendment would do the right thing and block this President's present to Vladimir Putin--a Christmas present. And this is at a time with

Joe Biden inflation that we have many Americans worrying if they are going to even be able to afford to buy Christmas presents. This is no time for our Nation to give this present to Vladimir Putin.

The Republican Senator from Ohio has introduced an important amendment to provide lethal aid to Ukraine. Vladimir Putin has 100,000 troops right now staged on the border with Ukraine. We ought to stand by Ukraine and pass that amendment.

The Senator from Montana has an amendment to block Joe Biden from sending $400,000 to the families of illegal immigrants. An open border is a threat to our national security, and these payments would cause a mad rush if not a stampede to the country and into the country, the way the border has been left open.

There are lots of important amendments, and we ought to be having a fair and open debate. This is supposed to be the greatest deliberative body in the world, and yet the majority leader has tried to cut off debate on some of the most important issues facing our Nation.

Why? Because we can hear the clock ticking, that is why. He has dragged his feet for months, and now, he wants to force us into a mad dash to close this.

Look, it is a disservice to our troops. It is a disservice to our allies. It is a disservice to the people of our Nation.

And yet, this morning, the majority leader is pointing his finger. He came to the floor. He attacked Republicans.

We didn't make him delay this bill for month after month after month. This is a choice that the majority leader has made.

It does seem that the other Democrats have basically higher priorities than our Nation's defense: election takeovers, new entitlements, amnesty for illegal immigrants.

It is no way to govern, no way to make important decisions, no way to run the U.S. Senate.

I yield the floor.

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty) and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune).

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), and the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. Thune).

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, as I was home last week for Thanksgiving, traveling the State of Wyoming, talking to many folks, I heard a lot, got an earful from people about the Democrats' reckless tax-and-spending bill that is being proposed and that Senator Schumer has said he wants to get passed before Christmas. Well, if that is the case, it is going to be a long December.

The people of Wyoming do not like this bill because they are finding out more and more about what is in it and how it is going to impact their lives. So I come to the floor today to talk about a couple of things that the American people have heard and the people in Wyoming have been tuned in to dramatically, and that is wanting to know what does it cost.

Just before Thanksgiving, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its report about the cost of the bill, and the report confirmed what Republicans who had read through it have expected. It is jam-packed with phony accounting gimmicks, and it seems like the Democrats have used just about every trick in the book to deal with the true cost of the massive amounts of money the Democrats are trying to spend in this bill with one giveaway after another and, additionally, entitlements--new entitlements that the country cannot afford.

Even with all the gimmicks used, the spending is still hundreds of billions of dollars added to the debt--not just hundreds of billions of dollars of spending, hundreds of billions of dollars added to the debt. This is a violation of the speech that Joe Biden has given repeatedly, that his press people have said repeatedly, that the Speaker of the House has said repeatedly, because they continue to say and the President has said and the Secretary of the Treasury just yesterday said the cost of the bill would be zero. I can remember seeing President Biden on television saying the cost is zero, zero, zero. The budget office even says it is hundreds of billions of dollars added to the debt.

But watching this unfold, as the President and the Democrats have tried to force this bill onto the American public, there have been three big lies coming out of the President's mouth repeatedly on this. One is, he said it would cost zero. The second, he said it wouldn't raise taxes on anybody making less than $400,000 a year. The third thing, he said it wouldn't add to inflation.

Well, the President has been wrong on all of those. Hundreds of billions of dollars onto the debt--hundreds of billions of dollars. It does raise taxes on the middle class. The budget analysts and the tax analysts who looked at this say at least one in three Americans in the middle-income areas will be paying more in taxes. And it will certainly increase inflation.

I would point out that the people at home are feeling the biting impacts of inflation. It is hitting their lives. It is hitting their pocketbooks. They noticed it over the Thanksgiving holiday. People in Wyoming are going to the gas station to fill up their truck, and it is $100--$100 dollars every time you fill up.

People drive great distances to work in Wyoming. I think we are the State that has the most miles driven, average, for any State over the course of a year, more miles driven in Wyoming by Wyoming residents, so we know what happens when gas prices go up a dollar and a quarter.

Prices are up at the store as well, up a dollar and a quarter at the grocery store. I don't know if you know that the Dollar Tree store has actually changed it to a dollar and a quarter for what they are charging for things.

That is what we are getting under this administration with its reckless positions and policies.

Yesterday, the Treasury Secretary, at the Banking Committee, said that this would not add to the debt. You know, the American people don't believe it. Poll after poll says the President is not being honest with them, in their opinion. That is what they are seeing, and the budget report confirms it. The American people do not want more debt, more taxes, and more spending which results in higher costs for them.

When the President said it wouldn't actually raise taxes on people making up to $400,000 a year, there are the direct taxes, which the budget analysts point out to us, but there are also the taxes that are going to be raised by the IRS fund, putting the American people under the microscope, because in this bill that the Democrats are proposing, it super-sizes the Internal Revenue Service to go after American taxpayers to try to squeeze more money out of honest people so they can spend it on things like five new entitlements for illegal immigrants. The bill would nearly double the size of the IRS, and the money is going to enforcement.

Now let's talk about some of the tax breaks that are in this. Who is going to benefit the most with tax cuts that are actually in the bill? Because the President says there are tax cuts in it. Well, there are. Nancy Pelosi's California--the millionaires there benefit a lot. People of New York benefit a lot. People of New Jersey benefit a lot. The millionaires in those three States will see significant cuts in their taxes, as middle-income people pay more, which gets us to the third big concern about what the President is continuing to say to the American people, which is where he says that it will not add to inflation.

People can see through this. They see what they are paying. They see that inflation is coming.

I would note that yesterday, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve said that this idea about temporary inflation is wrong. Oh, no--here to stay. People get it, and they don't like it. They don't like it when they are thinking about what is going to happen if they are trying to shop for Christmas. Can they get what they want to buy, and what is it going to cost?

Well, the President has said that 17 Nobel laureates said the bill wouldn't add to inflation. But then his comments were fact-checked, as so many things we say are fact-checked, and what those economists, the Nobel economists, actually said was that it wouldn't add to inflation if the bill were fully paid for, and it is not, because the budget officials have pointed out that the bill is going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt.

As I started this, I talked about the fact that I was home for Thanksgiving. Well, this Thanksgiving has been the most expensive ever for the American people, and people are now really worried about what is going to happen come Christmas.

The price of gas is at a 7-year high. Natural gas is at a 7-year high. It is getting colder. Winter is here. What is going to happen with heating costs?

Hard to believe that in just 10 months as President, Joe Biden has taken inflation to a 30-year high. According to one estimate, families are paying about $175 more each month because of inflation since President Biden took office. That is about a $2,000 bite out of the paychecks for every working American over a year.

Now, it is interesting, when you kind of dig into the meat of what is in this bill, the Democrats want to make energy even more expensive than it is now. So if we are at a 7-year high for the cost of gasoline and a 7-year high for the cost of natural gas, what is

going to happen when the new taxes and regulations on American energy go into effect at a time when President Biden is begging Russia, Vladimir Putin, and Saudi Arabia to produce more oil to sell it to us? It is a jackpot for Putin. That is what we have--Joe Biden's jackpot payday for Vladimir Putin at the expense of the American people. So there are families who are going to have to decide this winter whether they are going to be able to afford to eat or to heat their homes.

The Democrats' tax-and-spending bill is going to raise taxes across the board, and a lot of it is aimed at small businesses, mom-and-pop operations. What are they going to do with the taxes that come at them? Well, of course, they are going to pass them on to the customers. What is that going to do to the cost when the customer comes in? The cost is going to go up, and therefore you have inflation.

Another part of what the Democrats are proposing, which will make inflation worse, is they are going to increase government spending. More spending. More debt. More printing of money by the Federal Reserve. More dollars facing fewer goods. Prices will go up.

One of the things that we are starting to hear about as people learn more about it is the increased cost of childcare under the President's proposal, by about $13,000 per family. Look, this is already a huge expense for working families, but the bill could nearly double it. That is because it includes a Federal takeover of childcare in America.

In total, the bill would create more than 150 new government programs. It is interesting that it uses the words ``tax,'' ``fee,'' and ``penalty'' 637 times.

When the President said Build Back Better, I looked at this as a bill that is going to break the back of American families 637 times--tax, fee, penalty. From top to bottom, this bill is a laundry list of more taxes, more debt, more government control over our lives. The people of Wyoming do not like it and do not want it. This is not what the American people are asking for. They don't like its content; they don't like its cost; and the more they learn about it, the less they like it.

It is interesting because the day after the budget office came out with their report, the Democrats rushed the bill through the House, saying: We have got to get this through here before people see what is in it. Every Republican is united against it. Every Republican voted against it in the House, and actually, there was a Democrat who voted against it as well. So the opposition is bipartisan.

Now, the bill comes to the Senate. Here we are. I promise you it will hit a buzz saw of resistance from Republicans in this body.

So Democrats in the Senate have to make a decision. As people in our States struggle to pay for Christmas, the Democrats who are pushing this reckless proposal have to decide whether or not they want to ignore the suffering that has been created by this administration with increased prices, by causing prices to go up even higher as well as taxes to go up as well.

The American people know that President Biden has not been truthful with them about the bill--about what he has said about the cost, about what he has said about taxes, about what he has said about inflation. Poll after poll says they don't believe him because they know the bill is going to add hundreds of billions of dollars to the debt; they know it is going to raise taxes on the middle class; and they know it is going to make the pain of inflation even worse.

If Democrats pass this bill, everyone in this country will end up paying for it, one way or another.

The last thing the American people need for Christmas is higher taxes, more debt, and higher prices. The last thing the American people are asking for is this reckless tax and spending.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the need for more American energy, not energy that the President is begging to OPEC or Russia to produce for America but American energy.

Last week, President Biden ordered the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The President, by doing that, in my opinion, is just pretending to show concern about the high cost of energy in this country. I will get into why I think he is only pretending to show it because the amount he released is so very little. In reality, this President's call to release energy oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was an admission of failure of this President and this administration.

Releasing oil from the Reserve is something that Presidents did in the past during times of war, the Iraq war, after Hurricane Katrina, and during the Arab Spring. In other words, it is something Presidents do in times of crisis.

Well, President Biden doesn't want to admit that he has created an emergency crisis in our country, but his actions of calling on the release from the Strategic Reserve--the actions speak louder than his words. By releasing oil from the Reserve now, the President is admitting what every American knows, that America has an energy crisis and it is not for lack of the fact that we have plenty of energy reserves here in the United States.

Last week, an estimated 50 million people over Thanksgiving weekend took to the roads. Those who drove paid the most for gasoline that they have in 7 years. Gasoline and diesel fuel prices are sky-high, and they have increased more than a dollar a gallon since Joe Biden took office just in January.

Why is it happening? Well, it is economics 101, really. You have demand; you have supply. Demand is up; supply is down. With the end of the lockdown, demand for gasoline has increased as people took to the roads. Yet domestic supply is still below the peak that we reached under President Trump.

The Biden administration wants us to believe that releasing oil will solve the problem when he taps the Strategic Reserve, but I don't even think President Biden believes it. I am not sure they actually know what they are doing. If you watched that press conference with the Secretary of Energy last week, she was asked how much oil the American people use. She admitted she didn't know. She said: I don't have a number in front of me. She didn't

know how much oil, how much energy Americans use. The Nation's top energy official doesn't know how much oil the American people use so how can she then know that the amount to call for the release is the right amount or not? She is President Biden's top lieutenant in the war on American energy. She doesn't know how much we use.

Well, the media has broadly reported that the total amount that Joe Biden is releasing from the Petroleum Reserve is what the American people use every 2\1/2\ days--every 2\1/2\ days. That is the total amount that is being released. It is the amount that we in the United States use every 2\1/2\ days. This is a drop in the bucket when it comes to oil prices and energy prices and what people are paying at the pump.

It is not a long-term solution. It is not even a short-term solution. It is just a carefully created sound bite. Oil production is down by nearly 2 million barrels a day compared to the peak under President Trump. It is not a surprise when you take a look at the attack on American energy that President Biden and this administration have continued to do since day 1, when he killed the Keystone XL Pipeline.

The administration also announced last week, without any fanfare, without the President making a statement at the White House--the Department of the Interior said: Oh, by the way, American people, we are going to do this the day after Thanksgiving, when you are busy doing other things, maybe going shopping, doing other things and not paying attention to the news of the day. This administration called for additional fees, more taxes, more expenses on oil and gas leases on Federal land. That impacts my State dramatically. This is in addition to the fees that the President is also including in this massive tax- and-spending bill that the Senate is going to be considering.

This is also economics 101. Higher fees on the cost of producing oil means higher prices for people at the pump--astonishing--making it harder to produce and more expensive to produce American energy. Begging OPEC and Russia to produce more to sell to us is a jackpot for Vladimir Putin. So if President Biden and his Department of the Interior get their way, the prices will go up even higher. Inflation is here to stay under the Democrats.

The American people deserve better. They deserve real solutions in this energy crisis that this administration has created. Higher fees are only going to get passed on to consumers. Instead of spending our savings, we should be producing more American energy. Why are we sending this money to Vladimir Putin and begging him to produce more so we can send him even more money? That is the policy of this administration.

Today, I am introducing legislation that says an administration needs to develop a plan to increase oil and gas production anytime an administration taps the Reserve unless there is an energy supply emergency like Katrina, like a war. Those are the things that are legitimate reasons to release energy from the Strategic Reserve. The Reserve is for emergencies, not for sound bites. It is not supposed to be a bandaid for bad policies.

If the President is tapping the Reserve, he also ought to increase American energy production. So I urge my colleagues to return to the policies that gave us the best economic times in my lifetime, return to the policies that made us energy-independent as a nation for the first time in 70 years, return to the policies that made us the No. 1 producer of petroleum in the world. We are much stronger and better as a nation if we are selling American energy to our friends than if we have to buy it from our enemies. Apparently, the President does not fully grasp that or believe in that or he would not be begging Vladimir Putin to produce more energy; he would be encouraging America to produce more energy, which we have here.

It is time to stop the restrictions on energy production, time to stop the rush to raise billions in taxes, time to stop the President and the Democrats' declared war on American energy.

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the need for more American energy, not energy that the President is begging to OPEC or Russia to produce for America but American energy.

Last week, President Biden ordered the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The President, by doing that, in my opinion, is just pretending to show concern about the high cost of energy in this country. I will get into why I think he is only pretending to show it because the amount he released is so very little. In reality, this President's call to release energy oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was an admission of failure of this President and this administration.

Releasing oil from the Reserve is something that Presidents did in the past during times of war, the Iraq war, after Hurricane Katrina, and during the Arab Spring. In other words, it is something Presidents do in times of crisis.

Well, President Biden doesn't want to admit that he has created an emergency crisis in our country, but his actions of calling on the release from the Strategic Reserve--the actions speak louder than his words. By releasing oil from the Reserve now, the President is admitting what every American knows, that America has an energy crisis and it is not for lack of the fact that we have plenty of energy reserves here in the United States.

Last week, an estimated 50 million people over Thanksgiving weekend took to the roads. Those who drove paid the most for gasoline that they have in 7 years. Gasoline and diesel fuel prices are sky-high, and they have increased more than a dollar a gallon since Joe Biden took office just in January.

Why is it happening? Well, it is economics 101, really. You have demand; you have supply. Demand is up; supply is down. With the end of the lockdown, demand for gasoline has increased as people took to the roads. Yet domestic supply is still below the peak that we reached under President Trump.

The Biden administration wants us to believe that releasing oil will solve the problem when he taps the Strategic Reserve, but I don't even think President Biden believes it. I am not sure they actually know what they are doing. If you watched that press conference with the Secretary of Energy last week, she was asked how much oil the American people use. She admitted she didn't know. She said: I don't have a number in front of me. She didn't

know how much oil, how much energy Americans use. The Nation's top energy official doesn't know how much oil the American people use so how can she then know that the amount to call for the release is the right amount or not? She is President Biden's top lieutenant in the war on American energy. She doesn't know how much we use.

Well, the media has broadly reported that the total amount that Joe Biden is releasing from the Petroleum Reserve is what the American people use every 2\1/2\ days--every 2\1/2\ days. That is the total amount that is being released. It is the amount that we in the United States use every 2\1/2\ days. This is a drop in the bucket when it comes to oil prices and energy prices and what people are paying at the pump.

It is not a long-term solution. It is not even a short-term solution. It is just a carefully created sound bite. Oil production is down by nearly 2 million barrels a day compared to the peak under President Trump. It is not a surprise when you take a look at the attack on American energy that President Biden and this administration have continued to do since day 1, when he killed the Keystone XL Pipeline.

The administration also announced last week, without any fanfare, without the President making a statement at the White House--the Department of the Interior said: Oh, by the way, American people, we are going to do this the day after Thanksgiving, when you are busy doing other things, maybe going shopping, doing other things and not paying attention to the news of the day. This administration called for additional fees, more taxes, more expenses on oil and gas leases on Federal land. That impacts my State dramatically. This is in addition to the fees that the President is also including in this massive tax- and-spending bill that the Senate is going to be considering.

This is also economics 101. Higher fees on the cost of producing oil means higher prices for people at the pump--astonishing--making it harder to produce and more expensive to produce American energy. Begging OPEC and Russia to produce more to sell to us is a jackpot for Vladimir Putin. So if President Biden and his Department of the Interior get their way, the prices will go up even higher. Inflation is here to stay under the Democrats.

The American people deserve better. They deserve real solutions in this energy crisis that this administration has created. Higher fees are only going to get passed on to consumers. Instead of spending our savings, we should be producing more American energy. Why are we sending this money to Vladimir Putin and begging him to produce more so we can send him even more money? That is the policy of this administration.

Today, I am introducing legislation that says an administration needs to develop a plan to increase oil and gas production anytime an administration taps the Reserve unless there is an energy supply emergency like Katrina, like a war. Those are the things that are legitimate reasons to release energy from the Strategic Reserve. The Reserve is for emergencies, not for sound bites. It is not supposed to be a bandaid for bad policies.

If the President is tapping the Reserve, he also ought to increase American energy production. So I urge my colleagues to return to the policies that gave us the best economic times in my lifetime, return to the policies that made us energy-independent as a nation for the first time in 70 years, return to the policies that made us the No. 1 producer of petroleum in the world. We are much stronger and better as a nation if we are selling American energy to our friends than if we have to buy it from our enemies. Apparently, the President does not fully grasp that or believe in that or he would not be begging Vladimir Putin to produce more energy; he would be encouraging America to produce more energy, which we have here.

It is time to stop the restrictions on energy production, time to stop the rush to raise billions in taxes, time to stop the President and the Democrats' declared war on American energy.

Madam President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to Brandon for his hard work as an intern in the Senate Republican conference. I recognize his efforts and contributions to my office as well as to the State of Wyoming.

Brandon is a native of Maryland. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he studied philosophy, politics, and economics. He has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made him an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of his work is reflected in his great efforts over the last several months.

I want to thank Brandon for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have him as part of our team. I know he will have continued success with all of his future endeavors. I wish him all my best on his journey.

Madam President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to Owen for his hard work as an intern in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I recognize his efforts and contributions to my office as well as to the State of Wyoming.

Owen is a native of Laramie. He is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, where he studied mathematics. He has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made him an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of his work is reflected in his great efforts over the last several months.

I want to thank Owen for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have him as part of our team. I know he will have continued success with all of his future endeavors. I wish him all my best on his journey.

Madam President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to David for his hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office. I recognize his efforts and contributions to my office as well as to the State of Wyoming.

David is a native of Casper. He is a graduate student at George Washington University, where he is studying legislative affairs. He has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made him an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of his work is reflected in his great efforts over the last several months.

I want to thank David for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have him as part of our team. I know he will have continued success with all of his future endeavors. I wish him all my best on his journey.

Madam President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to Hank for his hard work as an intern in the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. I recognize his efforts and contributions to my office as well as to the State of Wyoming.

Hank is a native of Casper. He is a student at the University of Wyoming, where he is studying political science and economics. He has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made him an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of his work is reflected in his great efforts over the last several months.

I want to thank Hank for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have him as part of our team. I know he will have continued success with all of his future endeavors. I wish him all my best on his journey.

Madam President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to Matthew for his hard work as an intern in the Senate Republican conference. I recognize his efforts and contributions to my office as well as to the State of Wyoming.

Matthew is a native of Oklahoma. He is a graduate of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, where he studied international affairs. He has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made him an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of his work is reflected in his great efforts over the last several months.

I want to thank Matthew for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have him as part of our team. I know he will have continued success with all of his future endeavors. I wish him all my best on his journey.

Madam President, I would like to take the opportunity to express my appreciation to Billy for his hard work as an intern in my Washington, DC, office. I recognize his efforts and contributions to my office as well as to the State of Wyoming.

Billy is a native of Riverton. He is a student at Georgetown University, where he is studying government and English. He has demonstrated a strong work ethic, which has made him an invaluable asset to our office. The quality of his work is reflected in his great efforts over the last several months.

I want to thank Billy for the dedication he has shown while working for me and my staff. It is a pleasure to have him as part of our team. I know he will have continued success with all of his future endeavors. I wish him all my best on his journey.