Mitch McConnell

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, here is how Washington Democrats are describing the American economy. From the White House last month: ``robust economic progress under President Biden's leadership.'' According to President Biden himself, our economy has ``unique strengths that we can build on,'' that it was ``providing important breathing room for American families,'' and that it was ``strong as can be but for inflation, but for gas and food.'' The economy is as strong as it can be except that pesky thing: the worst inflation in more than 40 years. You almost have to laugh at that analysis. Contrast the Democrats' spin with how working Americans are describing our economy. From a grocery store manager in Tennessee: ``It's just not a good situation.'' From a grandmother in Georgia: ``The food, the gas, the bills, and the mortgage, everything. . . . It's a lot on a family.'' Overall, a majority of Americans are concerned their paycheck can't cover the essentials amidst inflation, and a majority disapprove of what President Biden is doing about it. Clearly, something isn't adding up, but that isn't a new feature of Washington Democrats' one-party control of government. In fact, missing the mark on economic policy has been a hallmark of the Biden administration. Last spring, they misread what it needed after a once- in-a-century pandemic and flooded the engine with trillions in liberal spending. Then, they missed the warning signs of the runaway inflation that that mistake brought on. Now, they are mounting a panicked campaign to redefine the word ``recession'' before the next quarterly GDP comes out tomorrow. So Washington Democrats seem to think the real-world effects of their policies--the pain Americans are feeling as they try to balance household budgets--can just be spun away--spun away--with talking points. Well, I can tell you there are millions of working families who wish it were, in fact, that simple, but you know full well that it isn't. Border Security Mr. President, now on a different matter, yesterday, I met with members of the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association to discuss the ongoing substance abuse crisis in my home State. These frontline professionals have watched Kentucky pass some grim milestones in recent years. This is one of the most horrifying consequences of the ongoing breakdown of law and order in our country. In 2020, overdose deaths in the Commonwealth increased nearly 50 percent from the year prior, reaching an alltime high of 1,964. Then, last year, we broke that record again, recording 2,250 overdose deaths--14.5 percent higher than in 2020. Remember, as of this past January, 2 years into the pandemic, fentanyl alone had killed more Americans aged 18 to 45 than the coronavirus. That is not even all overdoses; that is just fentanyl alone. The Kentucky law enforcement officers with whom I got to visit work every day to try to reverse these heart-wrenching trends. They have had some success. Earlier this month, in Louisville, law enforcement seized a full kilogram of fentanyl in Louisville. The experts say that is enough to kill half a million people in Louisville alone. But they are struggling to stem the cascade of narcotics pouring into our streets. The reason for this, they told me, is pretty clear: our unsecured borders. Already this year, our overwhelmed Customs and Border Patrol agents encountered more than 1.6 million illegal crossers down at the border. That is close to the total number of encounters for the entirety of last year. Some of these individuals were promptly detained and deported, but many of them were booked briefly and then released into the American heartland. Presumably, we will never hear from most of them ever again. These are just the known encounters, to say nothing of the 900,000 ``got-aways'' that DHS officials think have taken place since the beginning of the last fiscal year. Put another way, a group of people larger than the entire population in my hometown broke into our country without interacting with border agents at all. Alongside this human tide is an ever-increasing flood of illicit drugs, most notably fentanyl. That drug played a role in 72 percent of overdoses in Kentucky last year. CBP officials have seized 5,722 pounds of the stuff this year alone. Imagine how much slipped through their fingers and onto our streets. Are Democrats admitting this is an emergency? Are they working overtime to put a tourniquet on this crisis? Just the opposite. Secretary Mayorkas jetted to a summit in Aspen earlier this month and pronounced that ``the border is secure.'' That is our Secretary of Homeland Security. Maybe that kind of talk plays well at a ritzy ski resort packed with liberals. It doesn't play very well with law enforcement and first responders in States like Kentucky who have to deal with crime and fatal drug overdoses every single day. The far left throws our borders open for ideological reasons, and it is the most vulnerable communities that end up paying the deadly price. The president of the National Border Patrol Council has directly contradicted the Biden administration's insistence that our southern border is in great shape. Here is what he had to say. This is the president of the National Border Patrol Council: [T]he cartels use illegal border crossers to facilitate their higher value contraband, including . . . fentanyl. In other words, more illegal immigration means more of this illegal poison. But President Biden and Washington Democrats simply won't admit it. Their response to the border crisis has been to issue new internal guidance encouraging border personnel to use more politically correct language when they are referring to criminal aliens. They would rather police language than police the border. Remember, the Biden administration spent taxpayer dollars going to court, arguing they have a right to end the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy and throw our borders open even wider. President Biden tried to cut funding for ICE in his most recent budget. Washington liberals say the compassionate policy is to lure desperate people into inhumane conditions, let the drug cartels have open season, and let Americans die as a result. That is not compassion; that is cruelty--an abdication of duty with deadly consequences for the American people. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, over the past two decades, one man has revolutionized law enforcement in Kentucky's Oldham County and built a reputation as one of the Commonwealth's best sheriffs. Steve Sparrow has served as Oldham County's sheriff since 1999 and, in his time leading the county's police force, has brought professionalism, dedication, and, above all, devotion to the rule of law to his community. This year, Sheriff Sparrow is retiring from his post. I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring his career and the lasting legacy he built in Oldham County. Sheriff Sparrow began his career in law enforcement nearly 50 years ago, at a time when Oldham County's population was less than a quarter of its current size. As this burgeoning community expanded into one of Kentucky's fastest growing counties, Sheriff Sparrow's leadership helped Oldham County maintain its reputation for safety and neighborliness. Under his purview, the area remains one of the most desirable places to live in the Commonwealth. Sheriff Sparrow didn't achieve this high level of law enforcement efficacy by accident. As sheriff, he dedicated himself to furthering professional training for both himself and his department. He is the only sheriff in Oldham County history to have trained at a certified law enforcement academy and the only Oldham County sheriff to have graduated from the National Sheriff's Institute. He brought similar high levels of training to his department, making Oldham County Sheriff's Office the fifth in the Commonwealth to achieve accreditation standards. In recognition of Sheriff Sparrow's hard work to improve Oldham County's police department, the Kentucky Sheriff's Association named Sheriff Sparrow their president in both 2005 and 2012. He received additional praise and leadership roles from Kentucky's Governor, the Kentucky Law Enforcement Board of Directors, and the National Sheriff's Association Board of Directors. Oldham County voters also strongly approved of Sheriff Sparrow's performance, reelecting him to his office six times in a row. Leaders around the Commonwealth will be sad to see Sheriff Sparrow leave his role. He has been one of my closest partners in the law enforcement community, and I have been proud to lean on his expertise to back the blue at the Federal level. Though we will all miss Sheriff Sparrow's leadership, I know he will put his retirement to good use, spending more time with his wife Dotty and their children and grandchildren. On behalf of the Senate, I share our congratulations with Sheriff Sparrow for achieving this milestone and wish him the best in this next chapter of his life.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, 93 percent of the American people are concerned about inflation; 42 percent say they are struggling just to stand still financially; 63 percent say that gas prices, inflation, bills, or the economy are their biggest concerns. That is because 100 percent of the American people live in a country experiencing the worst inflation in more than 40 years, and 100 percent of the American people live in a country where things did not have to be this bad but for Democrats' deliberate policy choices. Don't take it from me. Listen to Larry Summers, Treasury Secretary to President Clinton and NEC Director to President Obama. Here is what Larry Summers had to say: There wouldn't have been nearly the same kinds of supply chain problems . . . if we weren't giving people who were laid off unemployment insurance that was far more than the salaries they had been earning . . . if we weren't mailing checks willy-nilly . . . there would have been less spending, that would have meant less bottlenecks. He continued: Printing money and distributing it well ahead of the supply of goods is a prescription for inflation--and that's what we did. We injected enough money into the economy to make total spending grow at an 11.6 percent rate last year. When you have 11.6 percent growth rate in spending, then on any reasonable theory of how much capacity there is, you're going to have a lot of inflation. And that's what we did. That is a top Democrat talking, but he is intellectually honest. He tried to advise Washington Democrats not to dump nearly $2 trillion onto the economy, but, of course, they didn't listen. And now working families are stuck with skyrocketing costs and bills as a consequence. You would think the worst inflation in 40 years would be enough to convince Democrats to stop running these painful experiments on American families. But, if you can believe it, almost every House and Senate Democrat would like to follow up this historic inflation with massive new tax hikes. The same people who spent us into inflation want to tax us all the way into recession. So let's hope this small handful of Democrats who see the insanity of this approach continue to stand strong for our country. Ukraine Mr. President, on an entirely different matter, this past Saturday brought yet another escalation in Russia's brutal war in Ukraine. The ink had barely dried on a deal securing safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports when Russian missiles hit the port city of Odesa. Ukraine produces one-fifth of the world's high-grade wheat. Russia's Black Sea blockade and the destruction of Ukraine's crops have left vulnerable regions of the world literally on the verge of crisis. But Vladimir Putin only managed to resist the urge to commit senseless violence for about 24 hours. Now, the fact that Putin was even compelled to negotiate was thanks to the introduction of HIMARS long-range rockets and Harpoon anti-ship missiles into Ukraine's arsenal. If Ukraine had had weapons like these earlier, the blockade of Odesa could have been prevented in the first place. The Biden administration says its decision making throughout the process has been deliberate and nuanced. History will likely judge otherwise. The months before Putin's escalation clearly called for boldness and resolve, to say nothing of the months since. But, too often, the administration's first instincts have been to plot along slowly and vacillate. The Ukrainians have fought bravely to stop Russia's advance despite being undermanned and outgunned. Just think what they could have accomplished if the West had acted boldly to support Ukraine as storm clouds were first gathering, or right away when the storm broke. But, now, no one should need a reminder of the far-reaching impacts of the war in Ukraine. Our eastern flank allies certainly don't. They have been preparing to defend themselves literally for generations, and from the beginning of Russia's latest offensive, they have reached deep into their own inventories to help equip Ukraine. Elsewhere in Europe, treaty allies have finally taken an important lesson about investing in deterrence and self-defense to heart. Countries like Germany have made historic commitments to increase military spending. The Germans, Swedes, and others have also broken historic precedent to share their stockpiles with Ukraine. And, of course, Russia's war has led other major European states to announce their intention to join the ranks of the strongest alliance in world history. Last week, our colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee advanced the necessary protocols to ratify Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO. There is now nothing preventing the Democratic leader from calling these measures up for immediate consideration and passage by the full Senate. The legislatures of other NATO allies like Canada, Norway, Poland, and Germany have already ratified them. The United States would be fortunate to have two new treaty allies as impressive and capable as Finland and Sweden. Both countries' high-tech economies and extensive American-made systems will improve the alliance's interoperability and instantly improve the state of burden- sharing the day they come in. American leadership in the world has made possible the peace and security our country enjoys today. That leadership is helping encourage our allies to make sufficient investments in their own capabilities to face down the shared threats, but American leadership is only as strong as our willingness to make robust investments in our own capabilities. President Biden has submitted a defense budget request that fails to keep pace with growing threats and fails to keep pace with Democrats' own inflation, and Senate Democrats are giving short shrift to the need for a strong, bipartisan Defense authorization bill. Russian aggression isn't the only threat to American interests today. Rogue states like Iran and North Korea continue to march toward devastating weapons. China's provocative behavior in the Indo-Pacific continues to raise the stakes for long-term competition. So there is no time--no time--to waste on either of these measures-- neither the Sweden and Finland protocols nor a strong, bipartisan NDAA. We need to do all three as soon as possible.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, for the past year and a half, Washington Democrats have continually found new ways to be wrong about the U.S. economy. Last springtime, Democrats insisted their plan to dump $1.9 trillion onto the economy would not cause inflation. Here was the Democratic leader in March of 2021: I do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the near term, are very real. And here was President Biden: The biggest risk is not going too big . . . it's if we go too small.'' Well, obviously, they were entirely wrong. Their reckless spending fueled the worst inflation in 40 years. As Ms. Alvarado, a teacher and mother of three, explained to a reporter--here is what she said: When I say, ``OK, we cannot buy anything this week or else we'll go into overdraft,'' [my husband] says, ``No, what are you talking about? We're both working. That shouldn't happen.'' Well, it shouldn't have happened, but it is exactly what Democrats' policies have inflicted on working families in this country. Every time I fill up our van, I'm flabbergasted-- Ms. Alvarado explains-- I'm always worrying. . . . I can postpone the mortgage by two weeks, but then it becomes two more weeks, and then all of a sudden they're calling you. After Democrats' policies that did cause inflation, they moved on to their next wrong prediction. President Biden admitted inflation did, in fact, exist but said it was ``expected to be temporary.'' That one didn't work out either. That was over a year ago. Then, 7 months ago, in early December, President Biden promised inflation had peaked--wrong again. It didn't peak in December. It just kept getting worse. Inflation set a fresh new 40-year high just last month. These same folks are preparing for yet another battle against reality. In advance of the GDP numbers coming out later this week, the Biden administration has begun their latest project: a frantic effort to redefine the word ``recession.'' The White House published a whole explanation insisting that even if the new data suggested our country is in recession, we actually won't be. It is almost beyond satire. The White House isn't focusing their energies on correcting their mistakes and making the economy better for working families who are hurting. Instead, their priority is telling everybody things aren't as bad as they look or feel. They want working Americans like Ms. Alvarado to believe Democrats' spin instead of their own lying eyes. I guess the whopping 42 percent of Americans who say they are struggling to stay where they are financially are supposed to read the White House press release and cheer up. The same people who said inflation wouldn't happen and then said it would be transitory and then said it had peaked last year are now insisting we aren't heading into a recession. Well, draw your own conclusions. Prescription Drug Costs Madam President, on another matter, staring down the barrel of the economic disaster they have created, Washington Democrats still don't appear to be pumping the brakes on their reckless agenda. For example, the same Democrats who spent our country into inflation are now angling to regulate our medical cures industry into fewer new cures and fewer lifesaving treatments. American researchers and manufacturers are the driving force behind cutting-edge treatments that the entire world relies on. American innovators are leading the races to cure terminal illnesses like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The entire world benefits from our genius, but, in particular, the American people get first and fastest access to the latest new treatments, cures, and medical marvels. But the Democrats' pursuit of prescription drug socialism could put all of this at risk. Arbitrary, top-down, government price controls would dry out the wells of American innovation to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in lost research and development, and American patients would feel the pain. The cost of breakthrough cures is measured in dollars, but the cost of neglecting them would be measured in lost years of American life. One academic analysis pegged that true cost at a cumulative 331.5 million years. Let me say that again: One expert says the negative effects of Democrats' proposal on medical research would cost a collective total of 331.5 million cumulative years of life. In other words, their proposal would eventually destroy as many years of Americans' lives as there are Americans to live them. Just 2 years ago, Democrats were lining up with Republicans and the rest of the country to cheer the American researchers and innovators who were driving the race for a COVID-19 vaccine--a race they finished in record time. The American people know what it looks like when lifesaving advances happen right here at home. Unfortunately, they may be about to find what happens when they don't. Burma Madam President, now, on one final matter, over the weekend, Burma's long and difficult struggle toward democracy and freedom took another dark step backward. The brutal military junta controlling Burma executed--executed--four political prisoners, including the well-known activist Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former elected official and protest musician--yet more innocent bloodshed for the crime of dissenting against the junta's illegitimate rule. This is yet another atrocity in a long list of horrors committed by the junta with no legitimacy, no regard for the sanctity of human life, and no respect for its fellow citizens. It provides even further evidence that the junta does not fear any consequences for its actions--not from internal chaos, not from civil war, not from its neighbors, not from the so-called international community. The United States has led efforts to support Burma's people and to impose costs and consequences on the junta. Clearly, it is time for Burma's neighbors to shoulder a larger burden as well. It is time for ASEAN states to step up, individually and collectively. As the junta plunges Burma deeper into chaos and civil war, the turmoil will affect the entire region. It is Burma's neighbors who have the most economic influence over the junta, and it is Burma's neighbors who have the most at stake. Do they want a failed state wracked by civil war like Syria on their borders? Do they want a Russian- or Chinese-backed client state in their midst? If they will not step up and impose meaningful costs on the junta, the Biden administration should use authorities already given to it by Congress to sanction Burma's energy sector, including Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, notwithstanding the concerns of those neighbors. The people of Burma are risking their lives and, in some cases, losing their lives to defend their freedom. The Biden administration claims to prioritize democracy and human rights in its foreign policy. Here is an opportunity to demonstrate that it means what it says. So in sum, it is time for Burma's neighbors to act. If they do not, the Biden administration should sanction Burma's energy and other major sources of revenue for the junta.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, Washington Democrats' one-party government has actually performed an amazing feat. In 18 months, they have taken an economy that was ready to soar and completely derailed it with $2 trillion in unnecessary borrowing, printing, and spending. Now, 9.1 percent inflation is pinching hard-working Americans every time they visit the gas pump or the grocery store. The Biden administration has tried their hardest to find a silver lining amid the economic storm clouds they helped create. They have touted the strength of consumer spending to conclude our economy is strong. That is what they said. Well, of course, consumer spending has only gone up because the price of nearly everything has increased. A recent economic analysis shows the American people do spend more on gas, groceries, furniture, and clothes than we used to, but--listen to this--adjusted for inflation, they are actually consuming less--paying more, getting less. Parents of school-age kids are some of the hardest hit. Four in ten say they won't go back-to-school shopping before the upcoming school year. One young mother in Nevada says she will ``pick out one or two shirts'' for her daughter ``and that's it.'' Inflation has made everything else too expensive. Over in Arizona, inflation forces the average household to spend over $9,600 more a year compared to when President Biden took office. Many families simply don't have that much wiggle room in their budgets and are resorting to desperate measures simply to stay afloat. One Phoenix area food bank has seen a 78-percent increase in visitors compared with just last year--78 percent more families who simply can't afford to live in this Democrat-run economy. A woman in line at the food bank said she had never needed to visit one before but ``the prices are way too high'' right now to support four children on her husband's salary. Colorado families are facing the highest inflation costs in the Nation, in the whole country: nearly $10,900 in extra spending per year compared to the beginning of the Biden administration. Not surprisingly, Coloradans are falling behind on paying for daily necessities. One pawn shop owner in the State has noticed a marked increase in loan seekers at his business. For most of them, they just need ``30 bucks, 40 bucks'' to ``pay small bills, get gas, put groceries on the table.'' This is all happening in my home State of Kentucky as well. People are taking out loans, cutting back spending, and relying on charity just to cope with ever-increasing prices. But that hasn't stopped Washington Democrats from proposing new ways to wreck our economy. As we speak, they are batting around a new suite of tax hikes aimed squarely at the middle class. If Democrat-driven inflation hasn't pushed struggling families off the edge quite yet, the Democrat-driven recession certainly will finish the job. So what is on the menu? New taxes on small businesses already struggling with inflation, new fees and regulations on American energy producers that will send prices even higher at the pump, new socialist price control schemes to stifle healthcare innovation. Apparently, record inflation isn't enough to make Democrats realize their reckless economic agenda is a failure, an abject failure. Maybe tax-hike-induced stagflation will set them straight. Ukraine Madam President, now on another matter, I had the honor, along with others, of greeting the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, who greeted us here in the Capitol. Like my colleagues in the room, I was moved by her blunt, plaintive remarks to Congress. As her country endures the fifth month of a brutal Russian siege, Ms. Zelenska was candid about the pain and suffering Russia's unprovoked war of aggression was causing her homeland. She said: ``Russia is destroying our people.'' The First Lady conveyed the incredible determination of the Ukrainian people and echoed their simple request for the tools to fight their own fight--``Weapons,'' she said, ``to protect one's home and the right to wake up alive in that home.'' I hope the First Lady's visit helped steel our colleagues' resolve as friends of Ukraine. Russia's invasion has already reminded the West that revisionist aggressors cannot be appeased. And Ukraine's brave resistance, equipped with the arsenal of the free world, is a further reminder that this is a fight they intend to win. The Senate should be proud of our work over the past several months to get more lethal capabilities into Ukrainian hands. But at every step of the way, the Biden administration has been a bit slow to green light the game-changing weapons Ukraine's frontline defenders actually need. I urged the President for more than a year to take specific actions to deter Russian aggression against Ukraine--actually, before it escalated. Last June, I urged him to deliver lethal capabilities to Ukraine and other states in Vladimir Putin's crosshairs. Instead, the administration slow-walked security assistance for months. In December, I called for U.S. military reinforcements along NATO's eastern flank, but the President waited until February to deploy forces--too late to deter Putin's aggression. And even after Russia had launched its unlawful invasion, the President has repeatedly deterred himself from providing Ukraine the capabilities it needs. With nearly every weapons system requested by Ukraine, the cycle in Washington plays out like this: first, hesitation and concern; then, excuses that Ukraine couldn't effectively use the proposed weapons or objections that providing them would escalate the conflict; then-- then--grudging willingness to transfer the weapons; and finally, with weapons in Ukrainian hands, self-congratulations from the Biden administration that they are having a positive impact on the battlefield. It is exhausting to watch this decision-making cycle repeat itself from Kentucky. It must be exacerbating to watch it from Kyiv. The need for advanced, longer-range weapons to turn back Russia's aggression is painfully obvious. Air defense capabilities to combat Russia's continuing long-range strikes against civilian populations across Ukraine, anti-ship weapons to combat the Russia Black Sea blockade and the humanitarian food crisis it is causing worldwide, and more capable, longer-range artillery to pound Russian positions in occupied Ukraine from relative safety--this will help offset any numerical advantage Russia has achieved by pumping so much more combat power into its invasion force. So here it is. Putin cannot be allowed to believe he can just wait for the West to become complacent. It would do a moral disservice to the brave Ukrainians fighting every single day for their country. But this is not just about Ukraine's security. If Russia achieves its objective in Ukraine, it will imperil our own security. And if we waiver--if we waiver--on Ukraine, it would certainly send an unmistakable signal of weakness to Beijing, which is watching the conflict in Ukraine very closely. For their part, so are our friends and allies in China's backyard. As Japan's Prime Minister put it back in May: ``Ukraine might be East Asia tomorrow.'' Russia's brutal war has cost the people of Ukraine their homes, their safety, and their lives. But it has also reawakened the West to the reality of long-term deterrence and competition. It has led modern partners like Sweden and Finland to cast their lot with the greatest military alliance in the history of the world. And it has prompted current treaty allies to shake off years of neglect for their own defense capabilities. All of this will result in greater burden-sharing, interoperability, military capability, and collective security for the NATO alliance. The United States cannot afford to neglect this lesson ourselves. As the leader of the free world and the No. 1 target of revisionist adversaries like China and Russia, we have to take seriously our obligation to maintain America's military superiority. We need to act quickly and pass a defense authorization bill that restores our readiness, grows our stockpiles of critical munitions, reinforces our position along NATO's eastern flank, and lays the foundations for a new era of credible deterrence in Asia by modernizing and equipping our military for real competition with China. I hope the Democratic leader will let the Senate take action on this critical legislation without further delay.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, today, with our country facing an inflation crisis, a violent crime crisis, and a functionally open southern border, our Democratic colleagues are choosing to focus on chilling Americans' First Amendment rights and enabling more harassment of citizens for their private views. Way back in 1958, the NAACP fought Alabama's attorney general, a segregationist Democrat, all the way to the Supreme Court to defend the bedrock American liberty of associational privacy--associational privacy. Here is what Justice Harlan said for the majority back then: Inviolability of privacy in group association may in many circumstances be indispensable to preservation of freedom of association, particularly where a group espouses dissident beliefs. As the majority opinion put it, this was ``hardly a novel exception,'' even back in 1958. And yet, for most of my career, I have had to push back against Democrats' repeated attempts to unlearn this fundamental constitutional lesson. I have repeatedly defended Americans' right to join together and to voice their opinions. Prior to McCain-Feingold, almost all money in politics ran through candidates and party committees. I warned that placing unconstitutional restrictions on speech in that bill was like putting a rock on Jell-O-- it wouldn't quash political speech; it would just displace it. And the Supreme Court has consistently reaffirmed that point in case after case, upholding free speech. Our Democratic colleagues' obsession with regulating political speech is what created the environment they now disprove of. It is what drove support for McCain-Feingold, and it is what spawned this perennial bill in 2010. Democrats want to pass a law that puts discourse in the hands of the mob. But needless to say, they haven't always been very concerned with compelling disclosure using laws on the books. Existing law already requires disclosure of donations to PACs and other outside groups with the intention of influencing Federal elections. But even as our colleagues have introduced successive versions of the DISCLOSE Act, enterprising activist liberals have taken it upon themselves to name and shame conservatives by ``outing'' their private contributions illegally. It was practically administration policy during the Obama-Biden IRS. And for those keeping score, Washington Democrats never seemed as eager to publicize the donor rolls of groups whose political views they happen to share. Somehow, donor privacy for organizations pursuing liberal causes is sacrosanct, but donor privacy for groups with conservative beliefs is a threat to democracy. Somehow working for outside groups is practically a prerequisite for a West Wing job under a Democratic President, but association with groups Democrats don't like is a one-way ticket to picketing and harassment. Sixty-four years ago, the Supreme Court said the link between freedom of association and the freedom of speech was ``beyond debate.'' But today's Democratic Party wants to make sure the threat to associational privacy is every bit as real--as real--as it was in 1958. The stakes are so clear; even liberal groups like the ACLU have joined the NAACP and Senate Republicans in continuing to sound the alarm--ACLU, NAACP, and Senate Republicans aligned, sounding the alarm. They have been working together to fight State-level public disclosure laws all the way to the Supreme Court. Last year, the Court sided with those advocates to strike down predatory disclosure practices out in California. Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit did the same to an unconstitutionally vague disclosure law out in Montana. Meanwhile, the Federal judiciary itself is contending with particularly outrageous threats from the radical left to the privacy and security of the judges themselves and their families. The same liberal groups stoking mob intimidation outside the homes of Supreme Court Justices are the ones most eager to put out private citizens' political speech records. The same Democrats who refused to condemn naked threats against public officials earlier this summer once again want to expand the Federal Government's power to threaten private citizens. That is not a trade the American people or their Constitution can afford to make.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, a year ago today, with prices already rising, President Biden said that high inflation was ``expected to be temporary.'' One year later, after 9 straight months of inflation over 6 percent, the prices are now rising at their fastest rate in over 40 years. Last week's inflation report confirmed on paper what working families have been feeling for a year: President Biden's prediction was dead wrong. Instead, prices are skyrocketing, and paychecks aren't keeping up. Real hourly wages are declining at breakneck speeds, dropping a full 1 percent last month alone. The average American worker got a full 1-percent pay cut just last month alone due to inflation. The Biden administration has tried to claim that we are ``stronger economically than we have been in history.'' That is what the White House Press Secretary told reporters earlier this month. Kentuckians know that is utterly absurd. They know the opposite is true. In my home State, the average household now spends over $600 more--$600 more-- every month compared to the day President Biden took his oath of office. That comes out to more than $7,300 a year. Inflation is pushing Kentucky families to the brink. As a result, food bank demand is rising, and shelves are running low. A soup kitchen in Campbell County put out an urgent call for volunteers as surging visitors threaten to overwhelm its limited staff. As the executive director said in an interview, with ``inflation and milk [at] $4 a gallon,'' they see people who have ``never needed help before.'' I have received messages from constituents all over the Commonwealth facing the same crisis: Prices are rising while real wages fall. A 59-year-old from Louisville tells me she has worked two jobs since she graduated from college in 1987 to save for retirement. Now she is afraid she will ``lose [her] hard-earned money . . . due to this inflation.'' Another constituent in Hopkins County tells me he worked 60 hours a week for years to afford the home he bought recently. Now, with rising prices, he ``can't even support [his] family anymore'' and might lose his new house as well. A couple in Lexington in their late seventies spends almost all of their fixed income on rent, utilities, and medical bills. They are struggling to find enough left over for food. ``What are we suppose[d] to do?'' they ask. Families across Kentucky are asking themselves the same question every day. The answer from Washington Democrats is alarming but not surprising. After spending us into inflation, they now want to tax us into recession. I can't think of a more reckless response for struggling Kentuckians.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, after more than 50 years as a pillar of Owensboro, KY, news media, Keith Lawrence is retiring. As the Messenger-Inquirer's longest tenured reporter, Keith was his community's ever-present voice, covering stories that ranged from local businesses to U.S. Presidents. As the city's mayor put so well, Keith ``will be hard to replace.'' Today, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Keith in his retirement. Keith has written for one newspaper or another since September 1963, when he first discovered his passion for journalism in high school. He cut his teeth during his undergraduate years at Murray State University writing for the Murray State News. After graduating, Keith entered the military, stationing in Fort Hood, TX. Loathe to give up any opportunity to write, he helped publish newsletters on base and worked at the post's newspaper. Following his military service and some short stints at a series of weeklies, Keith and his wife Sandy made their way to Owensboro, where he began his extensive career at the Messenger-Inquirer in 1972. Though he has covered local, State, and national stories, community journalism always remained his top priority. Keith felt he needed to be the ``eyes and ears'' of his readers. Keith's journalistic gifts have earned him fans both in Owensboro and across the wider Commonwealth. He recently received the Mayor's Award for Excellence for his commitment to community coverage and joined the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame. Throughout my time in office, Keith has been a constant at any of the events I held in Owensboro. He asked insightful questions, squarely focused on how my work in the Senate affected his city. Though he is taking a step back from his position at the Messenger- Inquirer, Keith plans to continue his column and write news stories as a freelancer. Anyone who knows Keith shouldn't be surprised. He will always live and breathe community journalism. For Keith, his work with the Messenger-Inquirer was more than just a job; it gave him a home in which his family flourished and provided a deep bond to his city. In honor of Keith's retirement, I would like to thank him for his service to the Commonwealth and persistent loyalty to strong local journalism. He has delivered an invaluable service to Owensboro residents for more than 50 years. The Messenger-Inquirer paid tribute to Keith's career in a recent article. I ask unanimous consent that the article be printed in the Record.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, last week, American families' pain was confirmed by yet another round of awful statistics. Year-on-year inflation set a new 40-year high in June. The painful fallout of Washington Democrats' 2021 spending binge continues to spread. A loaf of bread costs the American consumer 10 percent more than it did a year ago. A dozen eggs will run you 33 percent more. The price of a gallon of gas, of course, rose more than 100 percent on Democrats' watch. Across the board, the American people's hard-earned dollars are not going nearly as far as before Democrats' inflation. Even as nominal wages rise, millions of families have seen their real income decrease; a net pay cut for workers, courtesy of Washington Democrats' runaway spending. No wonder three out of four Americans--three out of four--say inflation is causing them financial hardship. Seventy-five percent of the country is in a tough spot. Of course, it is not affecting everyone equally. The lowest earning Americans consistently spend larger portions of their incomes on the sort of essentials that are most expensive right now, from housing to fuel, to groceries. And workers in blue-collar industries are among those having the hardest time keeping up. U.S. manufacturing workers are seeing their lowest average earnings--adjusted for inflation--since 2014, while the overall private-sector workforce is seeing wages at 2019 levels. Unfortunately, these hardships show little sign of slowing anytime soon. Last month's core inflation, when compared to just a few months earlier, is actually accelerating. So we have got the worst inflation since 1981. The vast majority of Americans are saying it has them in a bind financially. And it is low- and middle-income families who are actually bearing the brunt of it. This, Madam President, is the landscape as Washington Democrats keep trying to force even more party-line liberal bills with even more new Washington spending and--for a bonus--a bonus--massive new tax hikes. For the better part of a year, our colleagues have been trying to cook up legislation that would make life harder for small businesses, attack affordable American energy, and hike income taxes on families in every single tax bracket. Apparently, for most Washington Democrats, spending the country into inflation actually wasn't enough. Now, for a second act, they want to tax us into a recession. The response for Democrats robbing American families once cannot be for Democrats to rob American families a second time.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday's CPI report told Americans what they already knew all too well: The disastrous effects of Washington Democrats' spending binge last year still have our economy in a vice grip. Year-on-year, inflation has hit 9.1 percent for the first time since the fallout of the Carter administration. And the signs are inescapable. Price hikes on everything from food to fuel to housing are setting new multidecade highs. A shopper out in Oregon told a reporter recently she doesn't buy beef anymore. Here is what she said: We kind of try to eat what we have while we have it. Yesterday, we learned exactly what she and millions of Americans are up against: the fastest rising grocery prices since 1979. In Nevada, the owner of a local diner says: My concerns are that my food costs have escalated dramatically. I used to gut wrench about [raising menu prices] 2 or 3 percent. Now it is way more than that just to keep my doors open. Yesterday's report says he is not alone. Nationwide prices for food outside the home haven't risen this fast since back in 1981. And this new reality is especially frustrating for those working to help. As the head of one South Dakota food bank put it, ``The donation load seemed to lighten up. . . . When we give out food boxes, they're not as full as they used to be.'' Right as working families are struggling the most, so are the organizations trying to help them. Just one more cruel twist of Washington Democrats' runaway inflation. One of the first and most painful consequences of the Biden administration's failed policies have been the soaring costs of energy. Remember, on their party's watch, the cost of heating a home rose by double-digit percentages last winter. Electricity prices climbed at their fastest rate since 2006. Prices at the gas pump have doubled since President Biden took office. One Pennsylvania woman said that ever since her heating bill skyrocketed last winter, she has had to scale back her spending big time. Here is what she had to say: I need to hide under my bed and save every dollar I can. And in Maryland, one retiree reports that ``skyrocketing gas prices mean that visits to the local library--about 5 miles round trip--no longer feel free.'' From day one, the Biden administration has worked overtime to make it harder to produce the most affordable and reliable forms of energy that Americans rely on at home. Now, as their radical climate agenda takes its toll on domestic production, millions of Americans are facing the possibility--listen to this--of summer blackouts. The heartland, the West, and the Southwest face the highest risks. The people of Arizona and Nevada, for example, are already at what experts call ``elevated risk'' for this summer. Are Arizonans and Nevadans clamoring for a new tax hike on natural gas electricity on top of everything else? I doubt it. Are they desperate to double down on the very unreliable green sources that set us up for these blackouts in the first place? I don't think so. Our electric grid is overburdened already, but Democrats apparently want to strain it even more by eliminating the most reliable sources of energy we have, all the while spending hundreds of billions on schemes that depend on Chinese minerals, components, and supply chains. Trading American energy independence for less reliable sources that depend on forced child labor and foreign producers with questionable environmental standards--really, is this what our colleagues think will usher in a big transition to green daydreams? Washington Democrats are the only ones who would define higher energy costs and lower reliability as a victory. Real-life Americans know that higher costs and rolling blackouts are just two more symptoms of a failed government with failed leadership pushing failed policies. Working families are still reeling from the time Democrats decided to spend us into inflation. They have got no appetite for being taxed into recession.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, this morning, this all-Democratic government produced yet another absolutely terrible, terrible inflation report. Inflation during the month of June shattered the experts' predictions. We are now--listen to this--at 9.1 percent annual inflation; yet another fresh 40-year high, the most out-of-control inflation that American families have seen since the early 1980s. Food costs are up more than 10 percent. Energy costs are up more than 40 percent. The costs of the fuel that drives us to work, delivers our goods, and drives our economy are all up over 60 percent. These are staggeringly--staggeringly--bad numbers. And they were fueled directly by the reckless spending spree that the Democrats rammed through on party lines just last year. Remember, right before the $2 trillion spending spree, President Biden said: The biggest risk is not going too big . . . it's if we go too small. The Senate Democratic leader said: I do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the near-term, are very real. These were gigantic--gigantic--unforced errors. One leading economist recently said the so-called American Rescue Plan was ``arguably the biggest fiscal policy mistake in several decades.'' Our core inflation rate here in America is more than 2 percentage points higher than in Europe. Inflation is uniquely bad here because our all-Democratic government has made uniquely bad choices. And now American families are dealing with the fallout every single day. It is no secret how much the American people disapprove of the course Washington Democrats have put us on. They say so in poll after poll after poll. So you might think by now that our colleagues would be ready to try a different approach. Well, guess again. President Biden and his party, fresh off of spending America into inflation, now want to tax-hike us into recession. They are behind closed doors playing around with what may amount to the single largest tax increase in American history. Tucked inside are exactly the sort of radical ideas that working families can least afford right now. They want a giant tax hike on passthrough small businesses, a category--listen to this--that encompasses 95 percent of all businesses in the country--95 percent of them. Take it from a constituent of mine in Mount Sterling, KY, who put it this way: Small business is already in a struggle to survive with all the taxes and regulations we have to deal with. Adding another tax is only making things worse. Democrats also want a so-called ``methane fee'' that amounts to a big new tax hike on domestic natural gas, while their inflation has pushed American families' natural gas prices and electricity costs up through the roof already. If following reckless spending and runaway inflation with a gigantic, painful tax hike sounds like a bad idea to you, believe me, you are not alone. Even some House Democrats are lighting their hair on fire over what a terrible idea these discussions are. One House Democrat from New Jersey is telling reporters that she is ``not for any type of legislation that raises taxes . . . especially right now, as my constituents are facing inflation, cost of living [increases] . . . [and] housing prices.'' Well, let me put it this way. When House Democrats from the Northeast start trying to sound more like Ronald Reagan running against Jimmy Carter, you know they have gotten themselves into a fix. Too bad every single House Democrat except one and every single Senate Democrat voted for the $2 trillion mistake that brought us to where we are. The Democrats complaining about inflation today voted in lockstep for the bill that brought us here. And now their answer to picking families' pockets once is to now pick the families' pockets yet a second time. The same Democrats that spent us into inflation now want to tax us into recession.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, now on an entirely different matter, this week, I have been discussing the historic term the Supreme Court just concluded--the most consequential and pro-Constitution term since Brown overturned Plessy almost 70 years ago. Back in 2015, in one fell swoop, the Obama-Biden administration took aim at domestic energy production, harmed the separation of powers, and attacked the rule of law. Remember, after Americans elected Republicans in 2010 to place a check on the leftwing agenda, President Obama infamously said he would just ignore the will of the people and work around Congress. Here was his quote. He said, ``I've got a pen.'' He said, ``I've got a phone.'' Thus began a whole series of unconstitutional power grabs by the executive branch, a sort of crime spree against the Constitution. For example, when Democrats could not get harmful and unpopular environmental restrictions through Congress because the people's duly elected representatives did not support them, the bureaucrats at the Obama EPA decided to pretend that some obscure lines in an old law actually gave them enormous sweeping regulatory powers to manage our economy which nobody had ever noticed before. The EPA effectively wrote and passed a giant piece of legislation, the so-called Clean Power Plan, as one branch of government acting alone. They tried to make law without involving actual lawmakers. The Obama EPA just up and decided they could start giving orders and issuing edicts and remake our country's electricity grid by brute force. Of course, the pretext was simply false. As Justice Scalia once wrote, ``Congress . . . does not alter the fundamental details of a regulatory scheme in vague terms or ancillary provisions--it does not, one might say, hide elephants in mouse holes.'' When the legislative branch actually intends to hand over giant chunks of our power to unelected bureaucrats, we make it pretty darn clear. The Obama-Biden EPA had no lawful authority to grab control of electricity generation all across America. And that is exactly what the Supreme Court affirmed last month. The ruling was a huge win for American ratepayers and anybody who wants affordable and reliable energy; but it was also a landmark legal victory for our very system of government. The Supreme Court applied the plain text of the law and reaffirmed that the unelected administrative state is not allowed to reach way beyond the powers that Congress has actually given it. With any luck, this will be part of a sea change that has been a long time coming. Remember a few months ago, a young district judge in Florida applied the plain, straightforward text of a statute and overturned the administration's illegal and unilateral mask mandate for public transportation. That was the Centers for Disease Control stepping way, way over its boundaries. And this past January, the Supreme Court put the brakes on President Biden's blatantly illegal attempt to have the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, force 84 million American workers to get the COVID vaccine whether they wanted it or not. As Justice Gorsuch wrote in concurrence back then: The central question we face today is: Who decides? The only question is whether an administrative agency in Washington . . . charged with overseeing workplace safety may mandate the vaccination or regular testing of 84 million people . . . Justice Gorsuch continued: Or whether . . . that work belongs to state and local governments across the country and the people's elected representatives in Congress. On issue after issue, our courts are beginning to answer that question the way the Constitution commands. ``Who decides?'' is the question. The answer: The people decide and the Members of Congress they elect. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. We all know inflation and the economy are the biggest problems facing Americans today. The New York Times released a poll just yesterday showing a full 93 percent of working-age Americans are dissatisfied with the state of our economy. We are a big and a diverse country. Ninety-three percent of Americans hardly ever agree on anything, but Democrats are unifying the country in unhappiness at the dark path down which they have taken our economy. Monmouth University released some data explaining why Americans are feeling so sour. Forty-two percent of Americans are struggling to stay afloat financially at the highest rate ever--ever--in this poll's entire history, even higher than the darkest days, the days of the COVID pandemic. Sixty-three percent of Americans named economic issues as their chief concern. And they know who to blame for their misfortune: President Biden and congressional Democrats, who plowed $2 trillion into our economy last year and created the highest inflation in four decades. I am sure many of my colleagues heard heart-wrenching stories from constituents struggling with inflation during the past 2 weeks' State work period. I certainly did in Kentucky, where the average household now spends more than $500 more a month than they did before President Biden took office. At a meeting with homebuilders in Northern Kentucky, local employers told me their businesses were poised to slow down dramatically. For 2 years, they struggled as Washington Democrats' exacerbated supply chain hiccups and worker shortages with freewheeling spending policies. Now, as the Fed tries to rein in inflation by hiking interest rates, home buyers have to contend with the most expensive borrowing environment in over a decade. Homebuilders foresee their industry literally stalling out. In Paducah, I sat down with some of Western Kentucky's barge operators. Like the homebuilders, they are concerned with ongoing worker shortages, inflation, and of course spiraling fuel costs. They also rightly worry that power outages could hit the Commonwealth in the coming months. Washington Democrats pursued environmental goals crafted by activists with no sense of how the real economy functions. They sidelined powerplants that use cheap, reliable energy sources without acknowledging that shortages would occur when the wind doesn't blow or the Sun doesn't shine. Independent electricity reliability experts have been sounding the alarm that two-thirds--two-thirds--of the United States could endure electricity blackouts this summer. Then, Kentucky's ongoing labor shortage hit home during a meeting with bourbon distillers in our famous Bluegrass region. As the distillers explained to me, the programs implemented by Washington Democrats in their $2 trillion spending package last year encouraged workers to exit the workforce and stay on the sidelines. The Commonwealth still has 20,000 fewer workers--20,000 fewer workers--than we did before the pandemic. So hamstrung by a lack of employees, these Kentucky businessowners are watching apprehensively as Washington Democrats debate another dose of bad policies. This time, our colleagues are reportedly cooking up a trillion dollars in massive tax hikes on things like small businesses and domestic energy. When you tax something, you get less of it. That is the way it works. I don't know many Kentuckians who think America needs fewer small business jobs or less American energy. I am not certain about the good people of West Virginia either. One estimate has found that almost half of all the jobs in all of West Virginia are tied to small businesses, the vast majority of which are passthroughs. Half of all the jobs in the entire State are provided by passthroughs. I can't imagine the people of Pennsylvania or Ohio or a number of other States are especially keen to have fewer small business jobs, higher prices passed on to consumers or less American energy either. Yet each of these States and many others have a Senator apparently keen--keen--to champion these bad ideas. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation has proven that the policies that Democrats are floating would completely break President Biden's promise not to raise taxes on the middle class below $400,000. The JCT says their bad ideas would create a tax hike for more than a quarter of all Americans who earn between $75,000 and $100,000 and more than half of the people earning between $100,000 and $200,000. They are taking President Biden's promise not to raise taxes on anybody below $400,000 and putting it through the shredder--putting it through the shredder. This all-Democratic government has already spent America into runaway inflation, and now--now--they want to tax us into a recession.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, since the Senate was last in session, our Nation's highest Court finished its term. It was an absolutely historic series of victories for the American people and for the Constitution--the single best Supreme Court term in nearly 70 years, since Brown v. Board overturned Plessy in 1954. For the first time in modern history, there is a textualist and originalist majority on the Court--Justices who understand the job of a judge is to follow the law as it is written, who understand they are there to faithfully apply what our statutes and our Constitution actually say and leave everything else to the people and their elected representatives. This is the kind of judiciary that the rule of law requires, that our system of government demands, that a diverse society needs. Last month, the Court corrected one of the most egregious legal and moral mistakes of the 20th century. Only seven countries in the entire world allow elective abortion-on-demand past 20 weeks, but until 2 weeks ago, past Supreme Courts had mistakenly decreed that the Constitution forced America to be one of them. All 50 States had to handle this issue like China and North Korea. No State was allowed to handle it even like France or Germany. Of course, there is no command like that in our Constitution, and that is what the Court finally recognized. There is nothing in the Constitution that forces us to be a radical, global outlier on abortion. The American people finally have their freedom back to enact commonsense protections for unborn life. Millions of Americans spent nearly half a century working, marching, and praying for this landmark day. It has been an honor to stand with them throughout the journey that led to June 24, 2022, and to continue to stand together. The Court's ruling in Dobbs is not only a huge victory for innocent life, it is a historic triumph for the rule of law itself. Even liberal legal experts, including the late Justice Ginsburg, said the Court's abortion precedents were badly reasoned. Liberal Yale law professor Akhil Amar, just this May, wrote: I am a Democrat who supports abortion rights but opposes Roe . . . In the eyes of many constitutional experts across the ideological spectrum, it [lacked] solid grounding in the Constitution. Now, Washington Democrats have taken pains to ignore that. Remember, their party has become jaw-droppingly extreme on this issue. More than 60 percent of Americans support restrictions after 15 weeks. Only 19 percent of Americans want abortion on demand until the moment of birth, but 97 percent of Washington Democrats support precisely that; 97 percent of Washington Democrats are with less than one-fifth of the country on this issue. So Democrats are desperate to change the subject. Many are not even trying to argue with the decision but have pivoted to claims about all kinds of unrelated issues, but this is nonsense. Here again is Professor Amar, the arch-liberal from Yale Law, writing, again, back in May: Does Justice Alito's draft, as many are now claiming, inflict collateral damage on other areas of constitutional case law, such as the Warren Court's precedents on contraception and interracial marriage? It does not. In fact, the Dobbs draft reinforces these iconic opinions by explaining why they were [actually] right. From top to bottom, this ruling was a gigantic step forward for human dignity and for the rule of law. The Justices tuned out the mobs and attempted violence, tuned out the threats from politicians, and simply followed the law where it clearly led. This historic achievement was just one part of the most consequential Supreme Court term in seven decades. I will have more to say on this subject this week.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, the American people do not have to choose between safer schools and the Constitution, and neither does the U.S. Senate. The American people want their constitutional rights protected and their kids to be safe in school. They want both of those things at once, and that is just what the bill before the Senate will help accomplish. Thanks to the leadership and dedication of Senator Cornyn, Senator Tillis, and several of their counterparts across the aisle, we are considering a bipartisan bill that will make our country safer without making it any less free. This is the sweet spot: making America safer, especially for kids in school, without making our country one bit less free. The legislation before us would make our communities and schools safer without laying one finger on the Second Amendment for law-abiding citizens. Its key provisions are hugely popular with the American people. This bill supplies significant new funding to law enforcement and police, to school security, and to mental health treatment both in school and in the wider community. Under this bill, if a teenager has been convicted of a crime or adjudicated to be mentally ill, even before their 18th birthday, that important information will show up in a firearms background check until they are 21. This strengthens the existing background check system without expanding it. States will receive new money for crisis intervention programs of their own choosing, and if they choose to use the money for so-called red flag laws, those laws will have to meet a new, higher standard for due process. This is a commonsense package. Its provisions are very, very popular. It contains zero--zero--new restrictions, zero new waiting periods, zero mandates, and zero bans of any kind for law-abiding gun owners. Police and law enforcement support the bill strongly. The police chiefs' association and the Fraternal Order of Police say: ``This bipartisan measure is . . . one that will save lives,'' according to the FOP and the police chiefs' association. The National Sheriffs' Association calls it: A bill that can actually save lives . . . that allows the States to craft their own unique answers to the questions raised by gun violence. After years--literally years--of liberal demands that would make war on citizens' constitutional rights, our Democratic colleagues have finally accepted that we can make schools and communities safer without impeding on the Second Amendment. We can do more to protect innocent Americans, schoolkids especially, without--without--eroding the Bill of Rights 1 inch, and that is just what the Senate will do when we pass this bill.

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL. Yesterday, the Senate took a big step toward an important bipartisan bill to prevent mass murders, make schools safer, and protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. The bipartisan group, led by Senator Cornyn, put together a package of commonsense and popular solutions to make these horrific incidents less likely, and it does not so much as touch the rights of the overwhelming majority of American gun owners who are law-abiding citizens of sound mind. I have spent my career supporting, defending, and expanding law- abiding citizens' Second Amendment rights. The right to bear arms, the right to defend one's self and one's family is a core civil liberty. Among other things, Senate Republicans spent years confirming a generation of Federal judges who understand that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights actually mean what they say. The American people know that we don't have to choose between safer schools and our constitutional rights. Our country can and should have both. But throughout recent years, our Democratic colleagues have indicated they were not interested in substantial legislation to create safer communities if they didn't get to take massive bites out of the Second Amendment in the process. There have been attempts at bipartisan talks after horrible incidents in the past, but they fell apart when Democrats did not sign on to anything--anything--that did not roll back the Bill of Rights for law-abiding Americans. Well, this time is different. This time, Democrats came our way and agreed to advance some commonsense solutions without rolling back rights to law-abiding citizens. The result is a product that I am proud to support. It will send more direct funding to community behavioral health centers and for mental health in schools. It will send money not just to States that decide to implement so-called red flag laws, but to every State to fund crisis intervention programs of their own choosing. And States that do not use the money for red flag laws will have to build in new due-process protections that have never been required before. The bill also removes the blinders that have prevented the NICS background check system from considering young people with preexisting juvenile records. If a young teenager has been convicted of a violent crime or institutionalized for mental illness, there is no reason why that important record should be magically wiped away on their 18th birthday for the purpose of buying weapons. That information is clearly relevant, and 87 percent of Americans agree. To be clear, this legislation has no new restrictions, bans, waiting periods, or mandates for law-abiding gun owners of any age--no new restrictions, bans, waiting periods or mandates for law-abiding citizens of any age, including those aged 18 to 21. Someone who has never been convicted of a violent crime or adjudicated as mentally ill will not have their rights affected one iota. And a whole lot of schools and communities will receive more mental health funding to prevent crisis situations before they develop. Judicial Security Mr. President, now on a related matter, speaking of safer communities, it would be nice if Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice could do their jobs and enforce the Federal laws that Congress actually already has on the books. For example, it is currently--right now--illegal to join a mob protesting outside the private family home of a Federal judge, including Supreme Court Justices. It is illegal right now to try to replace the rule of law with harassment and intimidation. What has been going on outside Justices' homes for weeks now is a Federal crime right now. But you wouldn't know it from the Justice Department's inaction. First, the most prominent Democrats in America fan dangerous flames with intemperate rhetoric about the Court. Then House Democrats blockade a noncontroversial Supreme Court security bill for weeks-- weeks--until a literal assassination plot came to light. And all the while, Attorney General Garland still refuses to enforce existing Federal law and put a stop to these illegal pressure campaigns. As Washington Democrats continue to stage hearings about political violence that took place a year and a half ago, their own side of the aisle is engaging in ongoing political violence as we speak. In recent weeks, the entire country has been swept with vandalism, arson, and attacks directed at churches, pro-life organizations, and crisis pregnancy centers that serve and help women--going on all across the country. By one count, there have been more than four dozen incidents of vandalism, harassment, or violence committed by pro- abortion advocates since the shameful leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion. The Department of Justice will not even condemn or stop illegal intimidation mobs today, leading to ask: Are they really prepared to protect the safety and civil rights of American citizens after the Court issues high-profile rulings? Are local authorities here in Washington and around the country ready for what one far-left group is promising will be ``a night of rage''-- ``a night of rage''? Well, they had better be. I understand, yesterday, Attorney General Garland caught a flight to Ukraine. Now, I certainly support our efforts in Ukraine and was proud to meet with President Zelenskyy myself a month ago. As a U.S. Senator, I work directly on foreign policy, but our head of domestic law enforcement ought to be a little more concerned with his day job. Gas Tax Holiday Now, Mr. President, on one final matter, this morning, the Biden administration announced another ineffective stunt to mask the effects of Democrats' war on affordable American energy: calling for a holiday on the Federal gas tax. This ineffective stunt will join President Biden's other ineffective stunt on gas prices: emptying out the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that we need in the event of a true national security crisis, not just a Democratic-fueled inflation crisis. This ineffective administration's big, new idea is a silly proposal that senior members of their own party have already shot down well in advance. Earlier this year, Speaker Pelosi said President Biden's idea ``[wouldn't] even [be] going to the consumers.'' She called it ``very showbiz.'' Larry Summers, a top economist to multiple Democratic Presidents, said the idea would be ``shortsighted, ineffective, goofy, and gimmicky.'' That is Larry Summers. Jason Furman, President Obama's former head of the Council of Economic Advisers, said just yesterday--yesterday: Whatever you thought of the merits of a gas tax holiday in February, it is a worse idea now . . . A gas tax holiday would also add to inflation. Jason Furman, yesterday. Back in 2008, then-Candidate Obama called the idea ``a gimmick [that would] save you half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer so that everyone in Washington can pat themselves on the back and say they did something.'' Look, a recent study of past gas tax holidays found that less than 20 percent of the amount ends up actually lowering prices at the pump. In other words, lifting an 18.4-cent gas tax would mean lowering Americans' gas prices by just 3 or 4 cents--3 or 4 cents. The price of gas has risen $2.60 since the Biden administration took office and launched its holy war on affordable American energy. There had already been a substantial increase before the conflict in Ukraine escalated. Now the President wants to trim 3 cents--3 cents--off the top and take a bow? I don't think so. Tomorrow, Secretary Granholm will continue the empty theater by holding an ``emergency meeting'' with domestic energy refiners. Presumably, this will involve another leftwing browbeating like the accusatory letter President Biden sent to domestic producers just last week. The same administration--the same one--that hasn't awarded a single offshore energy lease, that hasn't offered an onshore lease sale in five straight quarters, and that has taken every single opportunity to slow-walk new energy infrastructure into submission appears to have found a convenient scapegoat for the consequences of its own actions. Actually, I have a better idea: Democrats could stop setting off inflationary spirals, stop proposing massive tax hikes on the brink of a recession, stop waging a holy war against American fossil fuels, and stop applauding the pain that working families are feeling as part of some grand, leftwing ``transition.''

Mr. McCONNELL

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

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, a little more than 2 years ago, with Republican policies in place, American workers and families were enjoying one of the best economic moments in a generation. Unemployment was at a 50-year low. Inflation was very low at the same time. Our economy was growing robustly, and workers were reaping the benefits: Real wages were climbing. In fact, wages at the bottom of the income distribution were growing faster than that at the top. In other words, on our watch, working-class Americans were getting bigger percentage raises than their bosses. Under these conditions, the American people were looking forward to the future. Satisfaction with the direction of our country was at a 15- year high. Consumer confidence was hovering near its highest level since 2000, and small business optimism had set an alltime record high. Republican policies helped create that environment, from cutting redtape to passing the most comprehensive tax cuts and tax reform in a generation. Now, Democrats said the 2017 tax bill would not strengthen the economy and would starve the Federal Government of money, but we Republicans knew better. And sure enough, with our tax bill in place, Federal revenues are at historic levels. The past fiscal year's nominal corporate tax receipts were the highest they have been since 2007. Individual income tax receipts just hit an alltime record high as well, and they are on pace to climb even higher this year. Overall, Treasury Department revenues just recorded their largest 1-year surge in 44 years. So that is what has happened since the 2017 tax reform that Democrats literally predicted would be ``Armageddon": tax cuts for American families, record-setting tax revenues, and the best economy for working families in a generation prior to the pandemic. Unfortunately, most of our Democratic colleagues have a terrible track record when it comes to economic policies and predictions. The tax reform they called Armageddon preceded low inflation, high employment, and robust growth. And what about on their watch? Democrats setting policy on party lines decided on trillions of dollars in reckless spending. That has bought us the worst inflation in 40 years, anemic growth, and now, on top of all of that, the threat of rising unemployment and a possible recession. Just as Senate Democrats were preparing to dump $2 trillion in reckless spending on our economy, the Senate Democratic leader said: I do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the near term, are very real. President Biden said: The risk is not doing too much. The risk is not doing enough. Secretary Yellen said: [T]he price of doing too little is much higher than the price of doing something big. Well, they were all wrong, and American families are paying dearly for it. The Democratic leader claimed: The dangers of undershooting our response are far greater than overshooting. And: We cannot do too little. We cannot lock our country into a long and slow recovery. Well, if Democrats did not want a long recovery, mission accomplished. A long and steady recovery with stable prices, rising real wages, falling unemployment, and strong growth would have been exactly what the doctor ordered, but the Democrats' policies helped take that option entirely off the table for our country. Instead, their decisions have fueled skyrocketing prices, a decline in Americans' real incomes, and cornered the Federal Reserve into having to raise rates sharply and potentially stop or reverse the recovery altogether. So, faced with this mess, what is our all-Democratic government planning next? Are our colleagues admitting their mistakes and trimming back their appetites? Unfortunately, not--just the opposite. Even now, with the evidence of a historic, self-inflicted policy disaster piling up all around them, Democrats are reviving talks for yet another party-line taxing-and-spending spree this summer. Even with the economy teetering on the brink of a recession, even with families' real incomes already falling rapidly on their watch, Senate Democrats are reportedly behind closed doors, dreaming up--listen to this-- historic new tax hikes to drop on top of our economy at the very worst possible time. The same Democrats who wanted to pass trillions more in spending last year now want to rush through huge new tax hikes. The same party that spent 2021 trying to inflate their way out of inflation now wants to spend 2022 tax-hiking their way right into a recession. You could not invent--could not invent--a worse time for Washington Democrats to pile on new tax hikes on our country. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. McCONNELL

Mr. McCONNELL. Before Democrats dumped $2 trillion on the economy last year, experts warned that such reckless spending would not just raise prices for working families, but could also trigger a full-on recession. In February of 2021, for example, a prominent economist testified right here on Capitol Hill and said Democrats' runaway spending might back the Federal Reserve into a corner. It might leave the Fed no choice but to sharply raise interest rates. And that would not just slow down our economic recovery, but potentially actually shift it into reverse. Sound familiar? That is exactly what has happened right before our eyes. Yesterday, a few days after the far-worse-than-expected inflation report for the month of May, the Fed announced the biggest interest rate hike in 28 years--the biggest interest rate hike in 28 years. And they signal more increases may be on the deck soon. The Fed acted too slowly on the incorrect presumption that inflation would fade away. Now that it hasn't happened, they have to make up for lost time. The stock markets that carry Americans' retirement savings have been in free fall. The S&P 500 has lost a full one-fifth of its value in just 6 months. Americans' consumer confidence just nose-dived to its lowest point ever recorded--worse than at any point during the 2008 recession, worse than the early panic over COVID. The percentage of small businessowners who say they are optimistic about the near future has never been this low in the entire 48-year history of that survey. And signs suggest this may be just the beginning of the pain for the American people. Just 3 months ago, the Fed predicted we would not have to see rising unemployment until 2024. Yesterday, however, they announced they now see unemployment increasing this year, next year, and--and the year after that. Just between March and May, their official estimate for our country's economic growth in 2022 plummeted--listen to this--by 40 percent. It looks increasingly like Democrats may have driven America toward a full-on recession. They have driven our country toward a full-on recession. The term ``stagflation'' was invented to describe the most painful economic conditions for workers and families. It means the worst of three worlds at once: High inflation, slow growth, and rising unemployment. Unless something changes--we all hope it does--this appears to be exactly the trajectory on which Democrats' policies have put our country. The last time we had a unified Republican government, our policies created low inflation, robust growth, and record-low unemployment. Sole Democratic Party control has produced something quite different. But, unbelievably, the same Washington Democrats who dug this hole seem unwilling to put away their shovels. They want to keep digging. With our economy trending toward a possible recession, some of our colleagues are trying to restart discussions about massive trillion- dollar-plus tax hikes. It really beggars belief. Democrats spent 2021 trying to respond to inflation with even more--even more--reckless spending, and now they are spending 2022 trying to respond to a looming recession with gigantic tax hikes. This is utter nonsense. It's unbelievable. Democrats have quite likely inflated their way into a recession, and now they want to pile on historic tax hikes and make it worse. In every poll, in every survey, the American people make their views of the Democratic economic policies crystal clear. For the sake of the country, let's hope our colleagues remember the first rule of holes, and stop digging. Energy Madam President, on a related matter, tomorrow President Biden will host the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. Meanwhile, working Americans will continue to face the consequences of his disastrous energy and climate policies. While President Biden and his team have declared a holy war on America's domestic production, average gas prices have soared over $5. By August, they are projected to hit $6.20. Diesel, which literally drives our economy, is now at an all-time high. Natural gas is up 30.2 percent; fuel oil is up 106.7 percent; groceries, which overwhelmingly rely on diesel semis to get to supermarket shelves, are up nearly 12 percent compared to last year. These eye-popping numbers are the predictable results of Democrats' inflationary policies and specifically their war on affordable American energy. Well, the American people continue to tell Democrats they are not interested in buying fantastical green boondoggles when they can barely afford the essentials today. According to one recent poll, more than half of Americans are very or extremely concerned about how grocery prices are affecting their household's financial situation. Nearly two- thirds feel that same way about gas prices. But Washington Democrats are still in staggering disarray over how and even whether to clean up the mess they have made. Some, like the administration's climate czar, John Kerry, are still in denial. He said recently: ``We absolutely don't''--John Kerry--``We absolutely don't'' need to ramp up oil and gas production. Instead, he insisted: We have to transition to electric vehicles about 20 times faster than we are now. Americans continue to report that just affording gas has become a daily hardship, but the former Senator from Massachusetts says to folks in places like Kentucky: The solution is just buy an expensive electric car. Now, some administration officials are willing to acknowledge the problem, just not its source. The American people continue to hear about a so-called ``Putin price hike'' even though gas was already up nearly 50 percent--50 percent--since President Biden took office at the time Russia launched the war. Some Members of the President's party seem more clear-eyed. Yesterday, one House Democrat said: I'm calling on the President to sit down with domestic oil and gas companies and find a way to lower prices. . . . The President needs to bring everyone together. That was a Democrat in the House. But, unfortunately, the Biden administration still appears to be jaw- droppingly naive about the consequences of its war on affordable domestic energy. As energy prices continued to skyrocket earlier this year, the White House reportedly insisted the production could just be turned back on with the flip of a switch. According to one analyst: They thought shale oil production could grow sharply in the near term--like in a matter of months or quarters . . . They were shocked to learn that that's like asking for blood from a stone. Of course, Democrats' misunderstanding hasn't stopped them from trying to use American energy producers as a scapegoat. Yesterday, the White House press secretary insisted: ``We have done our part . . . `' she said. ``We need [oil companies] to act.'' Really? That doesn't pass the laugh test. In a letter yesterday, one of America's biggest domestic producers asked the Biden administration for three things: ``Clear and consistent policy that supports U.S. resource development'', ``regular and predictable lease sales'', and ``support for infrastructure such as pipelines.'' Notice that this is precisely a summary of what President Biden hasn't--has not been doing since he took office. Since day one, the Biden administration has been outright hostile to U.S. resource development, frozen certain new development leases, and canceled a pipeline project that would have expanded efficient energy transport and created American jobs. The American people are bracing for a very pricey summer, from the gas pump to the grocery store. And they know exactly who to blame.