Scott Perry

Mr. PERRY

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, I rise to offer Dr. Foxx' amendment to prohibit censorship while acting as an employee performing activities under taxpayer-funded time. We want to prohibit censorship while you are acting as an agent of the Federal Government using taxpayer dollars. Public-sector unions already make liberal use of the so-called official time policy--in my opinion, to the detriment of the American people. That is not what this is about. However, it is important to get a context here of how much time we are talking about. Take the Department of the Treasury, which houses the IRS. In fiscal year 2019--going back a few years--employees spent nearly 350,000 hours receiving taxpayer funds while doing and conducting union activities. I know in our office, especially during the pandemic, we often had to intervene with the IRS on behalf of our constituents who couldn't get their refunds back and couldn't get answers. Yet, 350,000 hours were used by these same people. Mr. Chair, that is the equivalent of 40 years of time in 1 year conducting union activities. Those are the 350,000 hours that the employees at the IRS are not answering taxpayer inquiries. Let's look at the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA employees spent over 500,000 hours in 1 year wheeling and dealing for their own union interests while our Nation's veterans stood in line. We have heard about the waiting list and the backlog. I don't know, maybe we can do something with that 500,000 hours, which is 57 years accumulated in 1 year. We are not here to talk about these excesses. We are here to talk about censorship being conducted while on official government time. While I object to the entire practice, I hope even my colleagues who support taxpayer-funded lobbying can agree that those employees should be expressly prohibited from censoring the American people while on official time. That is it. Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, as the designee of Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. PERRY

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Raskin), my friend, talks about increased bureaucracy, the increased bureaucracy of informing the American people. My goodness. My goodness. I have never heard that from my friends on the other side of the aisle, ``increased bureaucracy.'' I mean, all they do around here is infuse more government into our lives with every single thing they do. The gentleman talks about the medical situation and price-fixing. He doesn't call it price-fixing, but that is what it is. It is price- fixing. More bureaucracy taking more drugs off the market, more lifesaving research off the market, but they are good with that. They talk about 12 million new jobs, but don't talk about the fact that in one of the reporting periods a million jobs were created but then it was only months later we find out that only 10,000 were created. Oh, and that first report? Right before the election. Interesting how that happened. He doesn't want to talk about that or the workforce participation rate. He talks about lowering inflation. You can talk about that all you want to but people that pay for things don't experience it. So you can say it is true, but the reality is that it is not true. All these years he has been saying it is unnecessary to do this. My goodness. My good friend from Maryland is a member of the legislature. You would think he would want to preserve the power of the legislature instead of handing it to the executive branch, which is what this place has done for years upon years. Now we have a chance, and my friend wants to hand yet more power to the executive branch instead of preserving the power of the branch that he serves in. Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, as we all should know by now, this bill requires the President to consider for any major executive order the impact of the executive order on inflation. I mean, the President is the President of the United States and the well-being of every citizen should be of the President's concern, and I believe it is. When the American people have been suffering this inflation for years, it makes sense to require the President, no matter which party, to at least consider the impact of his actions on the American people, because they don't have any choice in the matter till the next election. This amendment requires for executive orders that are found to have an impact on the Consumer Price Index--we have got to have some measure, right? Most people recognize the Consumer Price Index--a detailed description of that impact so that we can all be on the same page and we can all reference the same data point. Folks, this is common sense, and it is reasonable. The way this bill is currently written, I support the bill. The statement prepared by the President must simply include whether it has an impact on inflation and maybe the impact is to lower inflation. That would be awesome. I think we are going to have to wait a couple years until we get a President that actually does that. So be it, we will accept that, even this legislation under a new President that lowers the cost of inflation by executive order. The current bill doesn't talk about the extent of the impact, which is what this amendment seeks to remedy. This amendment requires that statement to provide actual information on the extent of the impact regarding the Consumer Price Index. With that, Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, the underlying bill requires the President to have prepared for the American people and consider the inflation impacts of all major executive orders. This provides transparency to the American people of the economic impacts of such executive orders. At the Rules Committee last night, the minority raised concerns that these requirements would apply to a limited number of circumstances. This amendment actually appeases these concerns by lowering the threshold at which an executive order is considered major for the requirements of the bill from $1 billion to $1 million. This reduced threshold will ensure the President is required to assess the inflationary impacts of significantly more executive orders than the underlying bill would require, which actually increases the amount of transparency provided by this bill. I am sure the minority would agree with increased transparency. They asked for it just last night. They asked for it just in the last debate over the last amendment. Mr. Chairman, I am sure we have all heard from our constituents about the impact of inflation. This amendment allows us to expand our efforts to address their concerns. While some of my friends on the other side of the aisle might say, well, we need a different index, or we need an additional index, here is what the American people don't need: They don't need some report of progress or you name whatever you want to name it. What the American people know is this: When they go to the store, everything they are buying costs more. It is unaffordable. When they go to the gas station to try to fill up their tank, it costs them more. When they go to the lumberyard, when they go to the bank, when they try to buy a new home, everything costs more. They don't need some index to tell them that the cost of living is going up and something is causing it, and one of the things is this. Regardless of which party is in power in the executive branch, executive orders would maybe actually reduce the cost of inflation. We need to know that, too. We just want to know what the answer is regardless of which way. This amendment would provide for that. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, may I inquire as to the time remaining.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, let me just say this. There were no disparaging remarks about Maryland, only the fact that people in Pennsylvania understand the value of $1 million or $1 billion, and they want to know how it is being spent in Washington, D.C. It is their government. The citizens of the United States, it is their government, and it is their tax money. This amendment seeks to provide that transparency so that they know the effect of executive orders coming out of the White House, how it affects their wallet. They should know that. We should all be for that. If you want to discuss the Inflation Reduction Act, you can call any bill here anything you want to. You can call it kids are beautiful and the Sun is going to shine today. But here is what I know: In central Pennsylvania, where I live, the good citizens that I represent are paying $5, $6, $7 for a dozen eggs. They are paying $6, $7 for a pound of hamburger. They can't afford to drive to work. They can't afford to pay their energy bills. They are having a hard time paying their mortgage. That is inflation, sir. That is inflation, to the good gentleman from Maryland. Part of that is caused by the White House's edicts that impose things on the American people. They want to know and have the right to know what that is so they can inform their votes. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I will just say this. I am not from Maryland, and I don't live around the beltway here, where everything is just fine. I live up in Pennsylvania, where $1 billion or $1 million is a lot of money to hardworking people who get up in the dark of night and head out to work. A million dollars is a lot of money, and they would like to know where we are spending it here. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), the chairman of the committee.

Mr. PERRY

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the opportunity and would just tell the body and everybody listening: Not since World War II, and that crisis that our country had to deal with, has the cause of socialism and Big Government been advanced more than during the declaration of this national emergency. People might disagree with me, but let me make it real for you. The Federal Government and State governments used this national emergency to stop people from working in their businesses, stop their businesses cold and force them to inject something into their body if they wanted to go to work, if they wanted to go to school, if they wanted to travel. If that is not Big Government and oppression, I am not sure what is. People say, well, what does it matter? Well, there are more than 120 special statutory authorities granted to the administration that are now going to go away. Everybody says: Well, he is going to do it on May 11. Well, he said last September he was going to do it then. What is taking so long? The rest of the country knows that the pandemic is over, and they know that the national emergency should be over, as well. They know that part of the 122 special statutory authorities includes allowing the President to suspend a prohibition on testing chemical and biological substances on unwitting human subjects--think about that--or allowing the President to shut down or take over radio stations or freeze any asset or financial transaction. Indeed, the pandemic is over. The President announced it last September. The Senate, just in November, just a couple months ago, voted to end it overwhelmingly. For anybody that is concerned about title 42, the statute governing title 42 does not make any mention of the emergency declaration. It needs to be ended. It needs to be ended now. Americans need to be free and not oppressed by this Federal Government and these extraordinary powers that have advanced the cause of socialism like no other time in our history.

Mr. PERRY

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. PERRY. I have an amendment at the desk, Mr. Chairman, No. 41.

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman from Washington for offering this much-needed bill. This amendment, Mr. Chairman, is about trust. It is about trust because we have been told--the American people have been told--that the President is doing all he can to make sure that gas prices are low, that your diesel prices are low. That is indeed absolutely not the case. Of course, using the Strategic Petroleum Reserve reserved for issues of national security or natural disaster, instead using it for political purposes to drive down the price of gas just prior to the election, is not the reason for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, yet that is how it was used. So this bill seeks to remedy that. We need some teeth in it, Mr. Chairman. We need some evidence from the Secretary of Energy that the Secretary will actually support increased and Federal lands leased when they draw down on the strategic reserve. So this amendment requires the plan to include the list of actual parcels planned to be offered for lease and, for each parcel, its size, location, and any permits and approval necessary for the access and production, because we simply can't take their word for it. They will tell you, oh, well, we have got 9,000 leases. What are y'all complaining about? Meanwhile, you can't get a permit for the lease to go on to the leased land and actually do the exploration and the operation. You can't get a permit, so the lease is meaningless. They never mentioned that. The 9,000 leases might as well be meaningless, and that is why there is a trust issue here. So this bridges that trust issue and says, well, okay, if you have got a plan, and you have got leases, and you have got parcels, that is great. Let's see them, and let's see the permits associated with them that will actually allow us, in America, to go get our resources, the natural resources given to Americans by the good Lord to go use so that they can drive down their own prices and live in their communities in a way that is affordable. This administration tells us all the time they are doing all they can, but they are not doing all they can when they tell you they are going to outlaw your gas stove and require you to buy an electric vehicle, by the way, which they can't support charging, but that is another story. We need them to provide the permits and the approvals necessary to access the land. Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson).

Mr. PERRY

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from Oklahoma for yielding. My friends on the other side of the aisle are so concerned all the time about civil rights, having the majority for the last few years, they are not interested. They are not interested in what the American people or the little guy has been enduring every day when he comes home from a hard day's work. He watches the TV, and asks: How many more times do I have to say, huh, I told you so? We just had Social Security numbers of the targets of the so-called J6 investigation released to the public. Huh, I told you so. No surprise there. What about the school board association working in collaboration with the White House, working in collaboration with the White House and the Department of Justice to intimidate American citizens. Thirty miles from here, just a little drive from here, a young lady was raped. A schoolgirl was raped, and her father was concerned about her safety and had the gall to question the school board. And what does he get? Persecution and intimidation by his own Federal Government. I told you so. We all told you so. People on important committees in this institution lie on national TV over and over and over again with no consequence. They come home and say: Yeah, I told you so. That is not a big surprise here. The Federal Government is collaborating with Big Tech to silence Americans' voices. Where are their civil liberties? The Federal Government is collaborating with Big Tech and the health agencies to silence information that concerns the health of every single American citizen. Yeah, I told you so. How many more times? I ask the minority: How many more times do we have to say ``I told you so'' before you will recognize the overwhelming power and the abuse of power by this Federal Government? Will you ever do anything about it? Do you know when you want to do something about it? When you think you have the Presidency in 2024 and you try and regain this House, then you are going to be all into it investigating all your enemies. That is not what the Federal Government is supposed to be for. It is supposed to protect our civil rights, so we don't serve it but so that it serves us.

Mr. PERRY

Mr. PERRY. Mr. Speaker, this is completely disgusting. Everything about it is disgusting: the fact that it showed up in the middle of the night, the fact that we knew for essentially a year, everybody in this place knew what was coming, that this had to be done. The folks on this side of aisle made sure we were going to do this right before Christmas. We all know what is going to happen. Everybody has got to get home for Christmas, not troops that go overseas. They are not going to be home for Christmas, but you folks are. This is not about America's priorities, this is about your priorities, your personal priorities. You know how we know that? Because your names are on these things. Somebody wrote this. Somebody wrote in there that we are going to protect Tunisia and Egypt's border, but we are not going to do anything to protect our border. Somebody wrote that. Yeah, I know you are all over there talking about it, somebody has got a name attached to that, and you are proud of it. This is a Christmas tree of 7,000 of your priorities, not America's priorities. This does absolutely nothing to fix our border. It does nothing to fix the fire of fentanyl deaths that are raging across the United States of America, absolutely nothing at all. It does nothing to fix the fact that people that I represent can't afford butter, milk, bread, gasoline, and energy. It does nothing to fix any of that. These are about your priorities. Now, my friends on the other side of the aisle say we are not willing to be constructive. Well, forgive me. Forgive me for voting ``no'' and not being constructive in playing a part in you destroying our country. Our country is sick of what you are doing. This is why you are doing it now. My friend on the other side of the aisle says, well, this is about getting things done. People on this side of the aisle don't want to get things done. Look at what is in this bill, ladies and gentlemen. This isn't about getting things done. This is about getting things before you are done. That is what this is. That is why it is happening now. That is why it is happening the way it is. The American people are sick of this and it must end.

Mr. PERRY

Mr. PERRY. Is the gentleman suggesting--even though we all know that we want to help, what is happening in Ukraine is objectionable, we disagree with every bit of it, what Russia is doing--but is the gentleman suggesting that the first time since the war started that the leader in Ukraine left the country, are you suggesting it is a coincidence that he ended up in the United States speaking on this very House floor from that dais right there on the night before the 4,155- page omnibus passed with billions upon tens of billions in funding for his country was included, are you suggesting that wasn't just a coincidence?

Mr. PERRY. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. PERRY. You don't want to shut the government down right before Christmas, Chip. That can never happen, which is why the gentleman from Texas suggests that this is a setup. The CR, the continuing resolution--because we don't pass budgets, because we don't complete our appropriations process, so we don't know what we are going to fund, so the continuing resolution has to keep going, and we do it right into December right before Christmas knowing--like this has never happened before--but we know that, guess what, people that come to Washington, D.C., from around the country, you know what they would like to do, Mr. Roy from Texas? They would like to go home to see their families on Christmas. But the only way they are going to be allowed to do it is if they vote for whatever is in that bill. They can object or whatever, but they know if it doesn't pass, if the 4,100-page bill with $1.7 trillion loaded up with earmarks doesn't pass, what happens then? Well, you just have to stay during Christmas, and, oh, my goodness, just like you said, the gentleman from the 28th Infantry Division fighting in Bastogne fighting to save Bastogne before the 101st could get there, they spent their Christmas away from home. This is all designed to get exactly what we got. This is broken, and the leadership here in the House and the Senate has done nothing to change this trajectory. It cannot continue.

Mr. PERRY. Well, the retiring Senate chief appropriator, Senator Shelby, happens to come from Alabama. I have got nothing bad to say about Alabama. I spent a fair amount of time down there. I love Alabama. Here again, I don't know why Pennsylvanians, Texans, North Dakotans, Californians, whoever, have to pay for this. What is the Federal nexus to this spending of money that we don't have? I am going to turn it back over to my friend here in a minute. We can just go back and forth because I have got plenty here. I know he does, too. How about $4 million for a Bahamian Museum of Arts and Culture, Florida? $1.4 million to restore an outdoor amphitheater in California. $1.7 million for an urban agriculture garden in California. Look, the list just--we are going to get into it, but, people, when are we going to start asking ourselves whose responsibility this is and when are we going to start asking ourselves, is this ever going to change? We haven't had the process here where the Senate and the House passed its own budget, its own appropriations bills, conferenced them, worked out their differences, and then had a vote on that, that process that I just described, how our government was set up to spend your money, that hasn't happened since 1996. It is 2022. What is it going to take for us to finally say, ``Man, we have had enough. I call uncle. I can't take anymore,'' and change this place? I would submit to you that the leadership that has allowed this to continue--and not only allowed it to continue, to ensure that it has continued--is derelict, irresponsible, and accountable to this tragic, epic, enormous failure. This is a failure, and there has got to be an accounting for it. Just because it is hours and days before Christmas, and it is real cold outside, and we have got worries about our children's schooling, being able to pay the bills, grocery bills, fuel bills, electric bills, don't think that we as the American people don't see what is happening here. We see it, and we see who is doing it. And we are not going to tolerate it. Mr. Speaker, I turn it back over to my good friend from Texas.

Mr. PERRY. Will the gentleman yield for a question?

Mr. PERRY. So to answer the good gentleman from Texas, the Federal Reserve is trying to cool down the fires of an overinflated, overheated economy by raising the interest rates and targeting the housing market. New home buyers that are hoping to get out there and start their lives in their new homes, they cut their purchases in half or whatever, because they can't afford it. The Federal Reserve is trying to cool down this overheated economy, inflationary pressures and food and gasoline and oil, electricity, housing, meanwhile the House of Representatives and the Senate and the Presidency here in Washington, D.C., are throwing the gasoline on the fire, the gasoline of unaccounted for money, unprinted money, untaxed money, just creating money out of thin air and throwing it onto the fire. I would agree with the gentleman from Texas. I would tell him, as well, that my daughters would like their father to be home for Christmas, too. My daughter texted me today when she knew I wasn't coming home yet, she said, ``Stay strong and save America.'' So me and Mr. Roy, the gentleman from Texas, we are going to stay here until the bitter end and do our duty, and we are going to say things like $4.2 million in earmarks for parking spaces in the Northern Mariana Islands or $6 million to expand the reach of the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library might be important things, but can we afford them? What is the Federal responsibility? And oh, by the way, regarding the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, look, I am a fan, but the lady that offered that, her party is in favor of tearing down the statue of Ulysses S. Grant in New York. The great emancipator, right? The guy that carried out Lincoln's order to make sure that slaves were no longer held in the United States of America. But, you know, you can't tear it down on one hand and then spend $6 million on it on the other hand while people are struggling to buy their Christmas presents or their Christmas meals.