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PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 5376, BUILD BACK BETTER ACT
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, by direction of the Committee on Rules, I call up House Resolution 803 and ask for its immediate consideration.
The Clerk read the resolution, as follows:
H. Res. 803
Resolved, That during further consideration of the bill
(H.R. 5376) to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of S. Con. Res. 14, pursuant to House Resolution 774, the further amendment printed in the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution shall be considered as adopted.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized for 1 hour.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, for the purpose of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Reschenthaler), pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purpose of debate only.
General Leave
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Massachusetts?
There was no objection.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, today, the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 803. The rule self-executes an additional manager's amendment to H.R. 5376, the Build Back Better Act.
Madam Speaker, I don't think I will surprise anyone here when I say that reconciliation can be a challenging process. The legislation we pass here must be vetted to comply with the Senate's procedural rules so that it can be considered there as quickly as possible. This is why we are here tonight, to ensure the historic Build Back Better bill can be taken up across the Capitol without delay.
There was some concern that this process might negatively impact the policies and programs contained in the legislation. But I am proud to report tonight, Madam Speaker, that this rule makes only very technical changes.
As the summary states, it makes ``technical changes to narrow U.S. Code citations and references to comply with Senate procedural requirements.''
Now, let me put that in plain English, Madam Speaker. The Build Back Better Act remains virtually unchanged.
That means U.S. workers will see the establishment of the first-ever national paid family and medical leave guarantee.
People will see the largest expansion of healthcare coverage since the Affordable Care Act was passed nearly a decade ago.
Nine million Americans will see their premiums reduced through the expansion of the premium tax credit.
Four million people who are uninsured today will have access to quality care through the closing of Medicaid's coverage gap.
Those who take prescription drugs will see lower costs since Medicare is finally--finally--allowed to start negotiating drug prices.
The more than 25 million people who rely on insulin in this country will see the cost of insulin capped at just $35.
Families will save an average of $8,600 per child every year through the establishment of universal and free preschool for 3- and 4-year-
olds.
Five million students will see their Pell grants get a boost, and Dreamers will be eligible to receive them.
Roughly 40 million American families will see a tax cut through the extension of the child tax credit. This was first enacted in the American Rescue Plan and will help cut child poverty nearly in half.
And, yes, Madam Speaker, future generations will have a more livable planet through historic investments that we are making here to combat the climate crisis.
Now, I know this has been a long process at times. The Rules Committee has spent more than a dozen hours over multiple meetings considering this bill, and that is in addition to the work of all the other committees.
But now, Madam Speaker, the numbers have been crunched; the technical language has been vetted; and we are on the doorstep of passing this historic bill.
The Build Back Better Act is a transformational bill at a historic moment, and it is up to all of us to seize this opportunity.
I urge all of my colleagues to support this rule and advance this transformational legislation so that we can deliver for the American people.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts for yielding me the customary 30 minutes, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, in Joe Biden's America, 70 percent of Americans describe this economy as poor. It is not hard to see why that is.
Inflation is at a 31-year high. This makes it harder for everyday Americans to purchase everyday items. It is also wiping out wages.
Gas prices alone are at a 7-year high.
American families are facing the most expensive Thanksgiving on record.
The backlog of ships that are waiting to deliver goods has grown by 43 percent since President Biden promised to fix our supply chain crisis last month.
Yet, here we are, about to consider the most expensive bill in American history. We are doing this instead of addressing the real problems that are facing real Americans.
Democrats are now doubling down on their failed tax and spend policies that will make Joe Biden's economic crisis even worse than it is now.
President Biden once said: ``Show me your budget, and I will tell you what you value.'' Well, the bill before us today makes one thing clear: Democrats value millionaires and billionaires over blue-collar workers and American families.
The Democrats' Big Government socialist spending spree provides tax cuts of up to $25,900 for millionaires, home buying and childcare subsidies for couples making over $200,000, and electric vehicle subsidies for couples who bring in more than half a million dollars a year.
Those are the values of my colleagues across the aisle. In total, there are $250 billion in tax breaks for the top 1 percent.
Who will be paying for the wealthy to buy a new mansion or maybe put a new Tesla in their five-car garage? That is easy. It is going to be middle-class Americans, working families who have to subsidize these extravagances.
The left-leaning Tax Policy Center found this bill would raise taxes on middle-class Americans by 30 percent. That doesn't even factor in the hidden tax of inflation that is over 6 percent now.
This tax scheme will also destroy up to 1 million U.S. jobs.
Just like millionaires and billionaires, China benefits from this bill, thanks to a ban on domestic mineral production and policies that make it better for foreign businesses to manufacture outside the United States rather than right here in America.
Far-left news organizations also luck out with a new tax cut, while millions of illegal immigrants will be granted amnesty and will be eligible for $45,000 a year in government benefits.
Butterflies, freshwater mussels, and desert fish also receive millions of dollars in this bill. There is also $2.5 billion for so-
called tree equity.
How about middle-class Americans? We already know that they will be paying more in taxes and seeing fewer economic opportunities. But, surely, there is something in this bill for them.
Well, for starters, Democrats are hiring 87,000 new IRS agents to spy on their bank accounts. Their proposal will double the chance of being audited, with nearly half of all audits hitting families making less than $75,000 a year.
The Democrats are also implementing Big Government socialist price control schemes on prescription drugs, meaning that fewer cures and fewer treatments will be available for seniors and patients.
Also, thanks to a natural gas tax and more than $550 billion spent on Green New Deal policies, Americans can expect to pay higher prices for home heating costs, electricity rates, and gas prices. Keep in mind that heating bills are already expected to be up as much as 54 percent for some American households this winter.
So if President Biden's words are true and a budget is demonstrative of values, then it is very clear what my friends across the aisle value, and that is millionaires and billionaires, illegal immigrants, bugs and fish, and even this concept of tree equity.
Those are the values that are prioritized in this budget over the concerns and needs of everyday Americans, working-class and middle-
class families.
The Democrats' Big Government socialist spending scam is full of far-
left priorities and will further fuel the highest inflation and the highest spike in prices that we have seen in four decades. Sadly, it is going to be American workers, job creators, and families who will be forced to foot this bill.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a November 17 Reuters article titled ``Rating agencies say Biden's spending plans will not add to inflationary pressure.'' Rating Agencies Say Biden's Spending Plans Will Not Add to Inflationary
Pressure
(By Kanishka Singh)
U.S. President Joe Biden's infrastructure and social spending legislation will not add to inflationary pressures in the U.S. economy, economists and analysts in leading rating agencies told Reuters on Tuesday.
Biden has spent the past few months promoting the merits of both pieces of legislation--the $1.75 trillion ``Build Back Better'' plan and a separate $1 trillion infrastructure plan. read more
The two pieces of legislation ``should not have any real material impact on inflation'', William Foster, vice president and senior credit officer (Sovereign Risk) at Moody's Investors Service, told Reuters.
The impact of the spending packages on the fiscal deficit will be rather small because they will be spread over a relatively long time horizon, Foster added.
Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat, has previously raised inflationary concerns in relation to Biden's social spending plan, with a report earlier this month suggesting he may delay the passage of the Build Back Better legislation. read more
``The bills do not add to inflation pressures, as the policies help to lift long-term economic growth via stronger productivity and labor force growth, and thus take the edge off of inflation,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, which operates independently from the parent company's ratings business.
Zandi said the costs of both the infrastructure and social spending legislation were sustainable.
``The bills are largely paid for through higher taxes on multinational corporations and well-to-do households, and more than paid for if the benefit of the added growth and the resulting impact on the government's fiscal situation are considered'', he said in an interview.
Charles Seville, senior director and Americas sovereigns co-head at Fitch Ratings, said the two pieces of legislation
``will neither boost nor quell inflation much in the short-run.''
Government spending will still add less to demand in 2022 than in 2021 and over the longer-run, the social spending legislation could increase labor supply through provisions such as childcare, and productivity, Seville told Reuters.
The House of Representatives passed the $1 trillion infrastructure package earlier this month after the Senate approved it in August. Biden signed the bill into law on Monday.
The Build Back Better package includes provisions on childcare and preschool, eldercare, healthcare, prescription drug pricing and immigration.
``The deficit will still narrow in FY 2022 as pandemic relief spending drops out and the economic recovery boosts tax revenues'', Seville said. ``But the legislation (Build Back Better) does not sustainably fund all the initiatives, particularly if these are extended and don't sunset, meaning that they will be funded by greater borrowing.''
The Congressional Budget Office anticipates publishing a complete cost estimate for the Build Back Better plan by Friday, Nov. 19. Biden said on Tuesday he expected the Build Back Better legislation to be passed within a week's time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, just yesterday, economists and analysts made clear that the Build Back Better bill would not add to inflationary pressures. Let me remind those on the other side that there are provisions in this legislation to bolster our supply chains.
If we want to talk about values, our values are that we want to lower the cost of prescription drugs for our senior citizens. Our values are that we think it is outrageous that drug companies charge so much for insulin, a drug that has been around forever, yet families are being gouged by these drug companies. There is a provision in this bill that caps insulin costs at just $35 a month. Those are our values.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Colorado
(Mr. Neguse), a distinguished member of the Rules Committee.
Mr. NEGUSE. Madam Speaker, with all the respect in the world to my colleague from Pennsylvania, to the extent he wants to talk about Joe Biden's America, let's stick to the facts.
In Joe Biden's America, wage growth is up, and unemployment is down. In Joe Biden's America, family income is up, and prescription drug pricing is poised to go down.
That is why I am excited to be here today, Madam Speaker, to support the Build Back Better Act and speak in support of this transformative, historic legislation that will inure to the benefit of each and every American.
There is a lot to be proud of in this bill, such as the tax cuts for working families that it will deliver, the jobs that it will create, and the costs for working families that it will lower.
But for me, personally, the part that I am most enthused and excited about is universal pre-K because, as the Speaker knows, I am a father. I have a young 3-year-old daughter who started preschool this year. There is nothing that can bring a smile to my face more than seeing my daughter after a day at preschool, seeing how much she has enjoyed it and how much she has learned. We are lucky to be able to send her to school, but many families in Colorado and across the country are not.
Thanks to President Biden's vision, universal pre-K for every 3-year-
old and 4-year-old in the United States of America will be a reality.
So let's pass this bill. Let's send it to the Senate. Let's get it across the finish line. And let's deliver for the American people.
{time} 1815
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I just want to cite something. While campaigning for the White House last year, President Biden repeatedly, repeatedly stressed that he would not directly raise taxes on individuals making below $400,000.
Information in an analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation released Tuesday showed that the House version of President Biden's bill will start raising taxes as early as 2023 on middle-class families.
Additionally, tax increases fall heaviest on the lower and middle class, while the super-wealthy receive a generous tax cut until at least 2025.
I know my good friend from Colorado was talking about wages increasing. What is not being considered is that if wages are not increasing at the amount of inflation, people are actually having less purchasing power. So unless your wages have increased by 6.2 percent, your money earned is actually not what it was just a month or two or three ago.
So, yes, wages may be rising, but they are not keeping pace with inflation, so everyday Americans are paying what economists call the invisible tax of inflation, which hurts working-class and middle-class families the most, particularly when you look at the amount they have to pay for gas prices, which are at a 7-year high. By the way, the last time gas prices were this high, President Biden was again in the White House.
Additionally, something to consider, the budget resolution has three committees that are well over the budget resolution amount, which I believe is going to cause a problem in the Senate.
First, the Committee on Homeland Security was at $500 million in the budget resolution. It is almost three times that amount on the current CBO score. It is just under $1.5 billion.
If you look at the Committee on the Judiciary, you had a budget resolution number of just about $108 billion. The CBO came back at $115 billion, just over $115 billion, with $369 billion from 2032 to 2041.
Then you have the Committee on Oversight, which is almost just as egregious as Homeland Security's number. It was in the budget resolution as $7.5 billion. It is almost twice that, at $13.8 billion.
I am not the Senate Parliamentarian, but from my understanding, this is going to cause significant issues at the Senate.
But, Madam Speaker, I just want to talk about the previous question. If we defeat the previous question, I will offer personally an amendment to the rule to strike provisions in this bill allowing millions of illegal immigrants to live and work in the United States indefinitely and setting them on the path toward citizenship.
Madam Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to insert the text of my amendment in the Record along with any extraneous material immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Pennsylvania?
There was no objection.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), my good friend and the former ranking member of the Judiciary Committee to explain the amendment.
Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, in 10 months we have gone from a secure border to complete chaos. We don't have a border anymore. We don't. We now have what Secretary Clinton said she wanted when she ran for President 5 years ago. We have a borderless hemisphere.
You don't believe it? Just look at the numbers. March was the highest month on record for illegal crossings at our southern border, the highest month on record until April, and then April was the highest month on record until May, and then May was the highest month on record until June. June was the highest month on record until July, when there were 212,000 illegal encounters on our southern border.
This past month it went all the way down to 164,000. 1.7 million this year alone. A record.
And guess what? Thousands more in a caravan are on their way. And all the terrible things that happen in these caravans are there because of the policies of the Biden administration and the Democrats who control the Federal Government.
But don't worry. Don't worry. Secretary Mayorkas said this, ``The border is closed. The border is secure.'' If the effects and what happens to kids and families on these treks wasn't so serious, if it wasn't so bad, you would almost have to laugh because there is no way anyone can describe the border as closed and the border as secure.
In this big spending bill, this $2 trillion monstrosity, what is the Democrats' response to that chaotic situation on our border?
Amnesty for over 6 million people who are in our country illegally. Think about that. That is their response.
Oh, and don't forget--don't forget what the Justice Department is getting ready to do. When they are not spying on parents, when they are not treating parents as a domestic terrorist threat, our Justice Department is getting ready to pay people who illegally entered our country $450,000. I mean, you can't make this stuff up. It is why people all across this country are just throwing their hands up. What is going on?
The cost of the immigration policies in this legislation are almost half a trillion dollars over the next 20 years. Half a trillion dollars. But, again, don't worry, Joe Biden says that half a trillion dollars in spending on immigration policies and all the other spending in this bill is going to help the inflation problem.
There is not a rational, sane person on the planet who believes that. And why the President of the United States would make such a statement is beyond me.
Record high inflation. The highest we have had in 31 years, and Joe Biden says spending half a trillion over 20 years on immigration policies in this legislation and all the other spending is going to lower inflation.
Let's defeat the previous question. When it comes up, let's defeat the rule. And for goodness' sake, I hope we will vote down this bill, which is only going to exacerbate the already terrible situation we have seen. Every single policy that has come from the Biden administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress has been harmful to American families.
We have gone, as I said, from a secure border to chaos. We have gone from energy independence to the spectacle of the President of the United States begging OPEC to increase production. We went from relatively safe cities to crime going up in every major urban area in this country, and we went from stable prices to a 31-year high in inflation.
You want to buy a home? It is going to cost more.
You want to rent an apartment? It is going to cost more.
Put food on the table? It is going to cost more.
Put gas in your car? It is going to cost more.
Thanksgiving turkey is going to cost more. Christmas presents for your family are going to cost more in Joe Biden's America.
This bill is so bad. Vote down the previous question, vote down the rule, vote down this bill for the good of the families of this great Nation.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I have to tell you, I think what is on display here really is the difference between Democrats and Republicans.
I mean, this Build Back Better bill is about our values and about what we are for, about solving problems. And what we hear from our Republican friends is hate and vitriol, blaming Joe Biden for everything. It is a cloudy day out; it is Joe Biden's fault. I mean, everything. But no solutions, nothing that they are for.
We passed a historic infrastructure bill 2 weeks ago. It is going to help rebuild our country. The overwhelming majority of my Republican friends voted against it, and the few that voted for it are now under attack by the Republican leadership and are being threatened with losing their committee assignments. I mean, that is their response to our infrastructure challenges.
When the previous President, Mr. Trump, was in office, we had infrastructure week, infrastructure month, infrastructure press release, but no infrastructure money. Thankfully, because of the leadership of this President, and Members of this Congress who voted for it, we have an infrastructure bill.
When you talk about policies that they are against, I mean, really, you are against the extension of the child tax credit, which has decreased child poverty by almost 30 percent?
Are you against increasing the Pell grants and against investing in affordable housing?
Are you against dealing with the climate crisis?
Are you against, you know, the universal free pre-K for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds?
Are you against expanding the earned income tax credit?
Are you against making historic investments in historically Black colleges and universities?
I mean, I can go on and on and on. But these are the things we are for. What you hear from the other side is what they are against.
I think the American people think it is more important for us to tell them what we are for. And what this bill is about is about being on the side of those who struggle in this country every day.
And, by the way, there are investments in this bill to deal with our supply chain issues, which can also help with inflation, but I guess they are against that, too.
I now yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the distinguished chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his strong and important leadership on this historic bill.
I rise in strong support of the Build Back Better Act and thank the Democratic leadership for their historic investment into the American lives and the lives of their families.
We have no future if we don't get serious about combating climate change, and this bill is transformative in this area and so many other areas.
The Oversight Committee's title would make the Federal Government a leader on combating climate change by electrifying the Federal Government's vehicle fleet. Our title includes nearly $3 billion for GSA and $6 billion for the Postal Service to purchase tens of thousands of electric vehicles and build the infrastructure necessary to support them.
Electric vehicles are a sensible and cost-effective investment that will reduce emissions and help save our planet.
The title also includes $4 billion for GSA to expand the use of emerging green technologies and to green Federal buildings.
I am especially pleased that we have included dedicated funding for OMB to track labor equity and environmental standards and performance.
It is critical that the House pass this bill as quickly as possible. Congratulations to everyone who is supporting this critically important bill.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, we are all here to represent our constituents, and I don't think it is a coincidence that House Democrats represent all but one of the 25 districts that benefit from the SALT tax provision. That includes Speaker Pelosi's own district. What this is, it is a tax break for millionaires and billionaires.
Let's just look at the tax consequences of this bill. Analysis by the nonprofit Tax Foundation found, ``Over 96 percent of districts across the United States would eventually see a tax increase'' because of President Biden's and House Democrats' socialist, Big Government spending spree. Ninety-six percent of districts will have higher taxes because of that. This hurts the working and middle class.
Even the left-leaning Tax Policy Center found that President Biden's and Speaker Pelosi's spending spree would raise taxes on middle-class Americans by 30 percent. That is 30 percent that you have to take into account when you have inflation at over 6 percent. In essence, it is a 36 percent-plus tax increase on middle-class families and working families.
This bill, though, delivers tax cuts to some people, and that is two-
thirds of the country's millionaires. Two-thirds of the millionaires in the United States under this bill actually receive a tax cut.
Small businesses also get hurt. They don't get favored like millionaires and billionaires. This includes $400 billion in small business tax hikes, which some argue would take the effective tax rate of small businesses in excess of 57 percent.
Additionally, this bill hires 87,000 new IRS agents that are going to be used to increase audits on everyday, working Americans. Nearly half of those audits will impact families earning $75,000 a year or less. About one-quarter affected will be Americans who earn just $25,000 per year. This will damage the working and middle class severely.
{time} 1830
This isn't just numbers. We can talk about tax rates all we want, but when Americans go to Thanksgiving Day dinner, they will pay more than ever.
If you just look at how much Americans are paying, steak is up 24 percent. Bacon is up over 20 percent; fish and seafood over 11 percent; eggs, 11.6 percent. This will be the most expensive Thanksgiving Day dinner in the history of the United States, thanks to Joe Biden's economy.
Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), my good friend and colleague.
Mr. JORDAN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
The chairman of the Rules Committee said Republicans want to blame Joe Biden for everything. I am not blaming Joe Biden for everything; the American people are. Right-track, wrong-track polling says 71 percent of our fellow citizens think our country is on the wrong track. I am not blaming Joe Biden; they are, the people we represent.
Approval rating is 38 percent, and the Vice President's approval is 28 percent. In the history of polling for Vice President and President, I don't know if I have ever seen anything that low. It is the American people who are fed up with what they see.
The gentleman who chairs the Rules Committee said: What are they for? I will tell you what we are for. I will tell you what Republicans are for. I will tell you what the American people are for. We are actually for a secure border. Imagine that.
We are for lower prices.
We actually would like to have real wages be going up like they were under President Trump.
We would like to have a secure border like we had under President Trump.
We would actually like less crime in our urban areas like we had under President Trump.
We would like to be energy independent like we were just 10 months ago. We would kind of like not to have the spectacle of the President of the United States begging OPEC to increase production at the same time your policies in this bill would discourage American companies from increasing production. What do you guys want, $8 a gallon gasoline?
I will tell you what we are for. We are for a Department of Justice that doesn't target parents, doesn't target moms and dads for standing up and saying we don't want this racist curriculum, anti-American curriculum, taught to our kids.
I will tell you what we are for. We are actually for not raising taxes on American families. That is what we are for. That is what American families want. They like to keep the money they earn, be able to put gas in their car, buy Christmas presents for their family, afford the things that just 10 months ago they could. Ten months ago, it was so much different. That is what we are for.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I don't even know how to respond to all of that. I would just say to my friends that the American people had what they had to offer. When they were in the majority, we had 4 years of Donald Trump, and guess what? They voted for Joe Biden and gave him a victory by millions and millions and millions and millions of votes. So, I don't think they want what they were selling.
I just also say to my friends who are trying to lecture us on tax policy, my Republican friends can't be serious here. You added $2 trillion to the deficit to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires and corporations at the expense of everyone else. It was shameful. It was shameful what my friends did.
I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano), the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
I rise today in support of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs contribution to the Build Back Better Act of 2021.
The committee has an important responsibility to advance measures that support veterans and honor their service and sacrifice, as well as that of their families, caregivers, and survivors.
Last week, we celebrated Veterans Day. The Build Back Better Act is the perfect way to continue to show our gratitude with concrete, meaningful investment for all veterans.
By making this critical investment at the VA, we can start rebuilding VA's capacity in terms of brick-and-mortar infrastructure, human capital, and support structures that serve our Nation's veterans.
Now, I have a difficult time believing my colleagues across the aisle think that veterans are unworthy of this investment. The fact is, veterans from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Beaufort, South Carolina, and from Columbia, Missouri, to Clarksville, Tennessee, are among the districts that stand to gain directly from these resources.
The most important piece of this legislation is the $1.8 billion for medical facility leases that fixes a longstanding backlog of lease authorizations. Take a look at VA's budget book, at the leases that are on that list. You will see it largely benefits Republican districts. Do my Republican colleagues not want VA facilities and clinics in their districts? I don't believe that for one moment. I know that they will attend the ribbon-cutting ceremonies, though, when this bill is passed into law and issue press releases when these facilities are open.
Voting against this legislation would not only mean turning our backs on our most sacred promise to our Nation's veterans, but it would be a striking departure for many of my Republican colleagues who have long advocated for these investments.
As demand for care and services at VA continue to grow, the lack of purposeful, usable clinic space will hurt veterans, including women veterans, because clinic spaces are not designed for them. A lack of access to healthcare providers will hurt veterans because we simply don't have enough providers in this country. Making investments in the next generation of healthcare providers is just common sense.
I will end by saying nearly three-fourths of the American people agree that it is time to update VA's infrastructure. The Build Back Better Act gives us the framework to do just that.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
My friend and colleague from Massachusetts was talking about taxes. I will stand here and talk about taxes all day because, at the end of the night, the American people will see that the second-biggest provision in this bill is actually a tax break to millionaires and billionaires.
Facts are facts. If you look at it, the Committee for Responsible Federal Budgets found that the SALT tax carve-out would ``be nearly 50 times as large as the benefit of the expanded child tax credits for a typical family over 5 years.''
SALT gives tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires in blue States. Who pays for that? Working families all over the United States.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter).
Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. This is our moment. Now is the time to deal the working people back in.
We need to prove to the people that the government works for them, not just for those on top.
Build Back Better lowers family healthcare costs by strengthening the ACA, capping the price on insulin, adding in hearing benefits for Medicare, and much more.
This bill would be transformative for American families. With the child tax credit, childcare, and affordable, high-quality preschool, our Nation will finally invest in our children.
We must address the climate crisis, and we can't leave any community behind. Our health, our culture, and our economy depend on it.
We cannot wait another day to build back better for the working families of America. Let's start now.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
One thing we need to address here also is the tax on natural gas. This will increase nearly everything everyday Americans buy.
We already know that there are projections that people will be paying more than ever this winter to heat their homes, almost a 50 percent increase in some places.
If you look at the fees in this bill, the taxes, a $900 methane fee phases into $1,500 in production per metric ton. That just sounds like numbers, but think about it. If we are taxing natural gas, we are taxing Americans who use natural gas to heat their homes. We are taxing the industries that use petrochemicals to manufacture everyday products that we use and manufacture here in the United States. And consumers end up paying that tax, as well.
We are also making it more expensive to manufacture here in the United States because as you tax natural gas, it costs more to manufacture goods here at home. Again, the American consumer will end up paying this tax.
These taxes on natural gas will do nothing more than make it harder for Americans to heat their homes. It will make it more expensive for us to manufacture products, to pay for petrochemicals. It will make it harder for us to actually rebuild the economy.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jones).
Mr. JONES. Madam Speaker, I am so proud to have played a leading role in securing high-quality, affordable childcare for every family in America in the Build Back Better Act.
This policy is personal for me. Growing up, I was raised by a single mom who had to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. She got help raising me from my grandparents. My grandmother cleaned homes, and when daycare was too expensive, she had to take me to work with her.
Madam Speaker, no family in America, no child in America, should have to accompany their guardian to work because childcare is too expensive, certainly not in the richest nation in the history of the world. That is why we are investing nearly $400 billion in childcare and early learning programs to ensure that we solve this affordability crisis.
The childcare provisions will transform our childcare system and help bring unemployed parents back into the workforce without them being financially burdened.
For these reasons and so many more, I urge my colleagues to vote
``yes'' on this historic legislation.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Clyde).
Mr. CLYDE. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania for yielding.
Madam Speaker, this monstrosity of a bill is the most progressive and expensive piece of legislation in our Nation's history. It will fundamentally alter the course of our great Nation by codifying the far left's dangerous policies, such as components of the Green New Deal, taxpayer-funded abortion, and the weaponization of the IRS.
In fulfilling the far left's wish list, this bankrupts America. And it does so, Madam Speaker, all while Americans are reeling from record-
high rates of inflation that are crippling their pocketbooks, emptying shelves at the supermarket, and making gasoline prices skyrocket.
This compounded with the fact that the Biden administration refuses to address the myriad of crises plaguing Americans across the country, I am convinced that my counterparts on the other side of the aisle have no desire to set America up to succeed, nor are they interested in embracing the freedoms that we know and love, the very freedoms that serve as the foundational underpinnings of our great democracy.
No, this bill moves us not just one step toward socialism, it propels us into Big Government socialism. That is because this bill provides:
Universal preschool childcare from birth to the tune of nearly $400 billion, both of which are great opportunities for Washington-
controlled curriculums and bureaucrats to indoctrinate our children in the most developmental of years.
$80 billion to double the size of the Internal Revenue Service, further weaponizing the agency and targeting hardworking American taxpayers. That should frighten every one of us.
$100 billion to establish a backdoor amnesty program that will give 5-year renewable visas to millions of individuals illegally residing in the United States.
The child tax credit to those who enter the United States illegally by dropping the current law requirement for a Social Security number.
$550 billion for the Green New Deal, including billions for a new climate green bank, environmental and climate justice grants, and the United States Postal Service to convert to an electric vehicle fleet.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman.
Mr. CLYDE. And $12.5 billion for tree equity and radical environmental justice initiatives.
That is right, this bill leaves us knocking on the door of Big Government socialism.
My constituents sent me to Washington, D.C., to protect and secure their freedoms and to put Americans first, not last, and I look forward to voting ``no'' on this travesty of a bill.
I encourage all of my colleagues to also vote ``no'' on this Big Government socialism bill.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Stansbury).
Ms. STANSBURY. Madam Speaker, I want to take a moment this evening to dedicate my remarks to my dear friends Jon Baran, Caitie Padilla, and their beautiful daughter, Sophie.
This week, we celebrated the signing of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Now, it is time to pass the other half of the President's agenda to ensure that our families and our communities can build a brighter, more just, more equitable, and more sustainable future.
As a proud daughter of New Mexico, I represent the strong, beautiful, resilient people of New Mexico's First Congressional District. Over the pandemic, we have used every ounce of our grit, our determination, and our heart to get by. Yet, so many families are still struggling.
That is why we must pass the Build Back Better Act and why it is a must-pass bill for New Mexico.
We must invest in healthcare and community well-being. We must invest in universal pre-K. We must invest in childcare and caring for our elders.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentlewoman.
Ms. STANSBURY. Madam Speaker, we must invest in addressing global climate change because that is our charge. Our communities are counting on us, and that is why we must deliver this bill tonight.
{time} 1845
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I have heard a lot tonight about pharmaceuticals. This bill implements socialist price control schemes for prescription drugs that will actually negatively impact seniors and negatively impact patients and those who have rare diseases in their families.
There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding about this industry. On average, it costs $2.6 billion to take a drug to market. We, for whatever reason, focus on the cost per each dose. By the way, petrochemicals are used to make our pharmaceuticals, which this bill also taxes, as I said before. But there is a fundamental misunderstanding in how drugs are produced. If we get these socialist price controls in this bill, it will actually kill our innovation, or deincentivize any pharmaceutical company to actually reinvest and invest in new drugs and prescriptions, which will actually harm those with rare diseases and make it harder for those that are suffering from mental conditions to get the drugs they need.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, let's be clear. My friends are saying that putting a cap on the cost of insulin is somehow socialism or undercutting the United States of America.
Give me a break. Talk to parents whose children have diabetes and how they anguish over the costs and how they worry about how their children will be able to support the cost of their prescriptions once they become 26 and are no longer on their parents' healthcare.
So let's get real. This is a debate about values. We are on the side of capping the cost of insulin so that diabetes patients aren't gouged like they are now.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus).
Ms. TITUS. Madam Speaker, Democrats know that genuine recovery from this pandemic means more than returning to the status quo ante.
Earlier this week, we made long overdue investments in our infrastructure. Now with the Build Back Better Act, we can expand healthcare coverage and lower costs. We can provide families with access to affordable childcare and universal preschool. We can reduce housing costs. We can cut taxes for working people while making the wealthiest pay their fair share; and we can make the grandest effort in American history towards combating climate change.
How we choose to invest our resources is a reflection of our values. The previous administration prioritized handing $2 trillion to billionaires and big corporations.
Let us instead invest in American workers and families and pass this Build Back Better Act now.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Scanlon), a distinguished member of the Committee on Rules.
Ms. SCANLON. Madam Speaker, for decades Congress has based economic policy on trickle-down economics, eviscerating America's middle class in the process. But today, we reject that approach. The Build Back Better Act invests in American families, not hedge funds, in ways that will benefit all of us.
I would mention two investments of particular importance to my district in Pennsylvania: Children and veterans.
This bill builds upon the American Rescue Plan that we passed in March to expand benefits for families and support for childcare. In doing so, it will reduce child poverty more and produce generational benefits to our country. The bill also makes long, overdue investments in the aging infrastructure of our Veterans Administration; including upgrading medical facilities and finally digitizing service records that are required for veterans and their families to obtain the benefits our Nation has promised to them.
With this bill, we can create real, sustained economic growth that benefits all Americans, and I am proud to support it.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I would just note that this bill does not include the Hyde amendment, which will allow taxpayer dollars to be used to fund on-demand abortions.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee).
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, in this season of giving, as we sit down to our Thanksgiving table, I hope the American people will know that we have handed them a gift over corporate greed that is insistent on raising the price of goods. We presented to them the Build Back Better Act.
And for those naysayers who want to talk about inflation, Mark Zandi said, ``The bills do not add to inflation pressures, as the policies help to lift long-term economic growth via stronger productivity and labor force growth,'' that is from one of the renowned economists in this Nation.
Madam Speaker, what I am fighting for is to make sure that Perla Rosalez in Texas has health insurance for the first time in decades. I remember that I cried when we were not able to give all of these uninsured persons insurance. We are giving them health insurance and we also--as chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations--are giving community violence dollars to stop the violence.
Madam Speaker, this is a bill we should pass. Support the Build Back Better bill for the American people.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, while I have tremendous respect for my colleague from Texas, I do want to point out that according to Moody's Analytics, consumer prices will rise 2.24 percent higher after the Biden infrastructure and the American Rescue Plan and the Build Back Better spending spree then in a Biden-free economy.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, Mr. McGovern, for yielding.
Madam Speaker, when I served in local government, I helped to write and pass 14 consecutive budgets. If I learned one thing from that process, it is that budgets are statements of values. When Republicans last used the budget reconciliation process, it was to pass a $2 trillion tax giveaway to the wealthy. Before that, they used it to rip healthcare away from more than 20 million Americans. They stated their values loudly and clearly.
Well, here are our values in this bill. We value working Americans, and are using reconciliation to cut their taxes; not the rich. We value American children and parents, and are using reconciliation drastically to lower childcare costs, provide paid family leave, and guarantee access to preschool. We value the health and well-being of the American people, and are using reconciliation to expand access to vital health services, especially our seniors. And we value our environment, and are using reconciliation to make the single largest investment in the fight against climate change in history.
These are our values. This is how we build back a better America, not only for the rich and well-connected, but for all Americans.
Madam Speaker, I urge the passage of this important investment in our future.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I think it should be noted that this bill actually impedes and bans domestic energy and mineral production, which will actually increase our dependencies on resource suppliers, from OPEC, Russia, and China. I just think that should be noted.
Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida
(Mrs. Cammack), my good friend and colleague.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from Pennsylvania
(Mr. Reschenthaler) for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I am going to read a statement from one of my Democratic colleagues here today.
``Because of last-minute late-night changes to the latest version of the Build Back Better Act, two-thirds of millionaires would get a big tax cut for the next 5 years under the bill. That is one reason that I refuse to vote for the bill without time to review the changes made to it a little over a week ago. Now we know. The tax benefits to these millionaires over 5 years could be 50 times as large as the benefit of the child tax credit for a typical low- or middle-income family. The bill spends more on tax breaks for millionaires than on childcare assistance, education, seniors, and even more than all of the healthcare provisions combined.''
This is from one of our Democratic colleagues. If one of our Democratic colleague is stating this, then we know that there is bipartisan opposition to this bill, a bill that we know is going to kill every single American's American Dream. This is a socialist nightmare that we can simply not afford.
One in 25 people in this country is here illegally, and this bill will create a pathway for amnesty and all of the social welfare programs that go with it. We cannot afford this. We cannot agree to bankrupt our children and our grandchildren because of a political agenda. It is unfair. It is not right. It is un-American. I urge all of my colleagues, consider your children, your grandchildren.
Madam Speaker, 10 years ago, I, myself, was homeless, and under this bill, had these programs been in place, I probably would have never been able to be standing here today because the American Dream is bankrupted under this bill.
Madam Speaker, I urge every single one of my colleagues, think with your hearts and your heads rather than the political agenda that you have been tasked with executing. Vote for the American people.
Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, you have to love these Republicans. They get up and talk about everything but what is in this Build Back Better bill. When all else fails, they get out and they bash immigrants again, blame immigrants for everything.
Having a tough time at work? Well, blame an immigrant.
Having a problem with your marriage? Well, blame immigrants.
But the bottom line is, they come to the floor and they tell us what they are against but they don't tell us what they are for. This bill includes an extension of the child tax credit, which has already reduced child poverty in this country by 30 percent. They are against that? We are for that.
This bill actually caps the cost of insulin to $35 a month. Talk to your constituents who have to rely on insulin to save the lives of their children. I mean, really? You are against that? We are for that.
We actually care about our children's future. That is why there is money in here to deal with the climate crisis; while my friends deny that there is even a climate crisis to be concerned about.
So give me a break. Give me a break. This is a statement of our values. This is what we are for. We don't hear what they are for. All we hear is what they are against.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Soto).
Mr. SOTO. Madam Speaker, headline: Democrats deliver for the American people again. Democrats deliver for Central Florida, again. Lowering prescription drug prices and capping costs for seniors. Extending child tax credit payments. Paid family leave and lower childcare costs for Central Florida families.
Providing nearly 1 million Floridians with an expansion of the ACA, boosting affordable housing, immigration reform, the largest effort to combat climate change in history.
And unlike the GOP tax scam that busted the deficit by $400 billion and $4 trillion in debt, we pay for ours with major corporations, and the wealthy paying their fair share.
Madam Speaker, the Republicans are doing nothing but divide. The Democrats are delivering for America.
Mr. RESCHENTHALER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, with record high inflation and gas prices, supply chain shortages, and what is going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving on record, Democrats should focus on addressing real economic crises that are facing real Americans and real American workers every day. But instead, this bill before us would actually double lower- and middle-income earners chances of being audited. It would make it more expensive for them to heat their homes and fill their gas tanks, and it will actually drive businesses and jobs overseas; further damaging our economy.
Democrats are extending tax breaks in this bill, extending tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and jamming through far-left radical policies that will only drive prices higher and make our paychecks lower.
If President Biden and congressional Democrats get their way, average Americans will be pinching pennies while our country's coastal elites will be legally evading taxes and getting tax subsidies and tax breaks to put another Tesla in their five-car garage.
Madam Speaker, for that reason, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 201(1), Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 201(2)
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
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