John Thune

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Hagerty), and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran). The PRESIDING OFFICE (Ms. Baldwin). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote?

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer) and the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. THUNE

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, inflation numbers came out this morning, and, once again, they were not good. Inflation in June was 9.1 percent--9.1 percent, the highest level since November of 1981. Groceries are up 12 percent, on average. Baby food is up 14 percent, milk up 16 percent. Chicken is up 18 percent. And the list goes on. Household cleaning products are up 11 percent. Gas prices are up nearly 60 percent. Furniture and bedding are up 13 percent. Utility gas service is up 38 percent. Health insurance is up 17 percent and on and on and on. Everywhere Americans look, they are facing price increases, price increases on the most essential items: groceries, gas, their utility bills. And on top of all this, real average hourly earnings are currently declining at the fastest pace in 40 years. Fifty-eight percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Price increases on the most essential items--groceries, gas, their utility bills--all these things are forcing Americans to dig into their savings, when they have them, to try and make ends meet. Others are relying on things like credit cards or visits to food banks. Demand for food assistance has soared in recent months. One organization in my hometown in South Dakota received 600 more calls for food assistance in May of this year than it had received in the same month a year ago. Food banks often have fewer resources to meet the need, thanks to declines in donations and the high price of groceries. And there is no end to this pain in sight. A recent Joint Economic Committee analysis found that inflation will cost the average household $7,620 over the next year or $635 per month--$635 per month. That is an unsustainable burden for working families. By now, most Americans are familiar with how we got here. When President Biden took office, inflation was at 1.4 percent, well within the Fed's target inflation rate of 2 percent. And it might have stayed there had Democrats not decided to pass a massive and partisan $1.9 trillion spending spree under the guise of COVID relief, mere weeks--mere weeks--after Congress had passed a fifth bipartisan COVID bill that met essentially all current pressing COVID needs. The Democrats' so-called American Rescue Plan sent a lot of unnecessary government money into the economy, and the economy overheated as a result. You don't have to take my word for that on the damaging effects of this legislation. Here is what one Democratic economist who worked in the Obama administration had to say on the subject: The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed in the early days of the Biden administration will go down in history as an extraordinary policy mistake. Another former Obama adviser noted: The original sin was an oversized American Rescue Plan. It contributed to both higher output but also higher prices. Those are warnings that came from Democrats that their so-called American Rescue Plan ran the risk of overheating the economy, but Democrats here in Congress passed it anyway. The President signed it. What is also worse is that even after they saw the inflation that resulted from their $1.9 trillion boondoggle, they spent months last year trying to double down on the reckless spending that helped cause so much inflation in the first place. Even as inflation was steadily increasing, Democrats spent months working to pass their so-called Build Back Better bill--a multitrillion-dollar--trillion-dollar-- reckless tax-and-spending spree that would have dumped more unnecessary government money into an already overheated economy. But, fortunately, their efforts ultimately failed last December. But like a zombie, Democrats' Build Back Better tax-and-spending spree just keeps coming back from the dead. That is right. Despite the fact that our inflation crisis is even worse--worse now than it was last fall--Democrats are once again considering a version of their Build Back Better tax-and-spending spree. We don't know all the details yet, but what we do know--what we do know--is cause for alarm. Democrats are planning to raise taxes by a trillion dollars--$1 trillion--and a substantial part of that tax increase would come in the form of new taxes on small businesses. That is right, on small individually and family-owned businesses or what are often called passthrough businesses; in other words, Main Street America, the businesses that create jobs. In South Dakota, passthroughs, such as sole proprietorships, S corporations, and partnerships, employ an estimated 68 percent of the private sector and represent almost 100 percent--99 percent or thereabouts--of all businesses in my home State of South Dakota. Nationwide, more than 90 percent of American businesses are passthroughs, and these businesses employ tens of millions of Americans. Small business owners' expectations for better business conditions recently hit an alltime low. Business owners are struggling with the high cost of everything, from inputs to electricity, as inflation continues to soar and global supply chains continue to be sluggish. I recently read a comment from one small business owner in South Dakota who noted: It's hard when you're working so hard but you're not making money. . . . We are right there right now. ``It's hard when you are working so hard but you're not making money.'' Yes, it is. And if Democrats have their way, life for small business owners--and their employees--is going to get even harder because raising taxes on businesses will lead to a combination of lower wages for workers, lower returns for business owners, and higher prices for goods and services. It is just intuitive. Think about it. If you are a small business owner, you are paying more for inputs and all the supplies that you need to run your business, and then government says: Oh, we are going to hand you a big, fat tax increase on top of that, what happens? Well, you can take lower profits--and some of them certainly, I am sure, will, but inevitably that gets passed on in the form of higher cost to the consumers, to the people they serve, their customers, or in the form of lower wages to their employees. That is what it is going to do. It will also make it more challenging for small business owners to reinvest in and grow their businesses. As I said, altogether, Democrats are contemplating raising taxes by $1 trillion in their new Build Back Better tax-and-spending spree. And those tax hikes and their economic impacts are not going to be limited to small businesses, nor are they going to be limited to families bringing home more than $400,000, despite the fact that the President has repeatedly pledged not to raise taxes on families making less than that. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation studied the tax-and-spend provisions that Democrats are discussing, and its analysis shows that lower and middle-income taxpayers will face significant hits from the proposed tax hikes. The Joint Committee on Taxation analysis--again, bipartisan, nonpartisan organization studies the implications of taxing-and- spending provisions on our economy and on classes of different people in this country--that JCT analysis found that more than half of Americans earning between $100,000 and $200,000 would see a tax hike next year as well as a quarter of Americans making between $75,000 and $100,000 a year. Raising taxes on small businesses, including passthroughs in South Dakota and across this country, is a reckless--reckless--approach to the economy. Mr. President, we have an economy that is wobbling. I just mentioned that the inflation numbers are historic: 9.1 percent. We haven't seen that kind of inflation since 1981, back when I was in college. We have an economy that some argue is already in a recession, depending on what ultimately the numbers are for the second quarter of this year. But some people--economists--are expecting negative GDP growth for the second quarter, which, by the clinical, technical definition, would put the country already into a recession. But most economists and people who study this suggest that there is certainly a likelihood of a recession within the next year. So we have the prospect of a recession. We are looking down at the possibility of record inflation, coupled with a recession, and what do the Democrats want to do? Raise taxes. Raise taxes and grow government. Spend more. Flood the zone with more spending. Hit businesses with higher taxes, which will get passed on in the form of lower wages and higher prices. So the Democrats apparently are content with the idea of a recession. They almost want to seem to guarantee that we want to get there, and I am at a loss to understand any other reason why they would be contemplating increasing the tax burden on small businesses and middle- class Americans during an inflation crisis. Mr. President, Democrats tried their hardest last fall to double down on the spending strategy that helped plunge us into this inflation crisis in the first place. Mercifully--and I say ``mercifully,'' and I thank God for a couple of discerning Democrats who saw otherwise-- mercifully, they failed. Let's hope that common sense will once again prevail and the Democrats' latest reckless tax-and-spending proposal will come to nothing. American families are already suffering. They should not-- not--have to deal with the economic consequences of yet another ill- advised piece of Democratic legislation. I yield the floor.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, on June 24, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, returning the question of abortion to the States and to the people and their elected representatives. The Supreme Court's decision was an affirmation of democracy, which had been set aside by Roe in favor of a national abortion regime imposed upon the entire country by a handful of activist Justices. Roe took legislative power out of the hands of the people and put it in the hands of unelected Justices on nonexistent constitutional grounds. The Supreme Court's decision puts the question of abortion back in the hands of the States and the people and their elected representatives, where it should always have been. I am profoundly grateful for this decision, most especially because of what is at stake here, because the Roe decision was not a failure of constitutional jurisprudence on some arcane point; it was a failure that infringed on our most fundamental rights as human beings--in fact, on the fundamental right: the right to life. Roe not only allowed for but imposed a regime that forced States to legalize the killing of unborn human beings. So the decision to overturn Roe not only affirms democracy and repairs a constitutional wrong, it allows for the righting of a profound moral wrong: the legal killing of unborn Americans. The Supreme Court's decision does not, of course, make abortion illegal, but it will finally--finally--allow those States to choose to put in place protections for unborn children. Since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion through all 9 months of pregnancy, more than 63 million children have been killed in this country by abortion--63 million. It is an unfathomable number and, frankly, a heartbreaking number. To put it into some kind of perspective, that is more than twice the population of the State of Texas and more than 70 times the population of my home State of South Dakota. Sixty-three million. Sixty-three million unique, unrepeatable human beings--future doctors and nurses and farmers and teachers and busdrivers and plumbers and scientists. That is a lot of innocent lives lost. And, yes, when we talk about unborn babies, we are talking about human lives. Members of the pro-abortion left would like to obscure this fact, but science and medical technology and plain old common sense, I would add, all clearly demonstrate the humanity of the unborn child. Every mom who has ever felt her unborn baby kick is well aware that she isn't just carrying around a clump of cells, and ultrasound technology and medical advancements have made the humanity of the unborn child even more undeniable. It is impossible to hear the heartbeat of an unborn child at 6 weeks and say that he or she is not alive. It is impossible to look at an unborn baby on an ultrasound kicking her feet and moving her hands and sucking her thumb and to pretend that she is anything but a human being. And human beings deserve to be protected. Democrats' response to the Dobbs decision has been predictably hysterical. We have heard cries to pack the Supreme Court because apparently the only legitimate Supreme Court is a Supreme Court that rules in line with Democrats' policy preferences. We have heard cries to abolish the filibuster and to eliminate protections for the minority party in the Senate and the Americans whom it represents. We have heard a proposal to establish abortion facilities in national parks. I am struggling to think of any family who wants an abortion facility to be part of the itinerary offered on their trip to Yellowstone or the Badlands of South Dakota; but, apparently, some Democrats think our national parks should become abortion factories. Then, of course, there is the flood of misinformation out there falsely suggesting that pro-life laws would prevent women from getting essential medical care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. And on top of all this, multiple Democrats have started a crusade against pregnancy resource centers. That is right. Pregnancy resource centers-- which were established to provide moms in need with things like diapers and baby clothes, prenatal and parenting classes, help connecting with State and local resources, emotional support, and agency referrals for moms who want to choose adoption--are now under attack by members of the Democratic Party. Apparently, the pro-choice party can't stand the idea that women might be offered a choice other than abortion. When the Dobbs decision was handed down, the President called it a sad day for our country--a sad day. To the President and his party, apparently it is a sad day when the doors open to greater protection for human life and human rights. I would say that it is a sad day when the right to kill unborn human beings has become the signature issue of the Democratic Party, when the party that portrays itself as the defender of the little guy has become the party that wants to deny even the smallest protection to the littlest guys and girls among us. The Democrats' vision of America is not my vision of America. I believe that America is big enough to take care of both moms and their babies. We don't have to pit moms and babies against each other. We can take care of them both. It is something the pro-life movement has been focused on for years and something that a number of States have worked to do with their Alternatives to Abortion programs. And I know that commitment will only grow in the wake of the Dobbs decision. Those who seek to deny human rights to some human beings are never found to be on the right side of history, as our Nation knows, to its sorrow. Our country was founded to protect human rights--the right to life, to liberty, and to the pursuit of happiness; but for almost 50 years now, our country has failed to protect the human rights of unborn human beings. Today, thanks to the Dobbs decision, we have a chance to change that. We have a chance to build a society where the life of every American is valued and where being small and vulnerable does not mean that your human rights are any less respected. At our best, we are a country that defends human rights, not denies them. We stand up for the innocent. We protect them. We fight for them. It is time to live up to that. The Dobbs decision gives us a chance to protect the human rights of the smallest and most innocent humans among us, but the Dobbs decision would never have happened without the tireless work of so many since the day Roe v. Wade was decided. It would never have happened without those who prayed, who offered help to moms in need, who fought for the rights of unborn Americans in elections, in courts, and in State legislatures. ``Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,'' it says in the book of Proverbs, and for 50 years that is what members of the pro- life movement have done. And it is their work that has brought us to this day when we finally, once again, have a chance to protect innocent unborn Americans in law. May the Lord reward their work and their wages be full from the Lord. I know that sometimes it seemed like the day when Roe v. Wade would be overturned would never come, but it is here. And while there is still much work to be done to ensure that the human rights of unborn Americans are respected and that moms and their babies have the support they need, it is, nevertheless, a moment for joy and for gratitude. I am profoundly grateful for this decision, profoundly grateful that we now have the opportunity to move closer to the day when we fully live up to our founding principles and ensure that every American--born or unborn--has the opportunity for life, for liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I yield the floor.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch) and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch) and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch) and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Moran), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse).

Mr. THUNE

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

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. Kennedy), the Senator from Alaska (Ms. Murkowski), the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch), and the Senator from Nebraska (Mr. Sasse). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer) would have voted ``yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Blunt), the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton), and the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton) would have voted ``Yea.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton) and the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer). Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Arkansas (Mr. Cotton) would have voted ``nay.''

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer).

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, June is Great Outdoors Month. It is a theme that definitely speaks to me. I am an outdoors guy through and through. I love pheasant hunting, boating, swimming, running. I will shoot hoops whenever I get the chance, indoors or outdoors, but this is nothing better than doing it outdoors. When I was a kid, my dad attached a basket to a pole in our backyard, and there was nothing my siblings and I liked better than spending long summer days and sometimes fall days and spring days shooting hoops in our backyard in Murdo. The outdoors was a huge part of my life as a kid. We spent the long summer days outside, barring the hour every day my mother made us come inside to read. On summer evenings, my dad would take us to get ice cream cones, and then we would drive down to the White River to watch the sunset. Another outdoor pastime we embraced was hunting. My dad taught my siblings and me to hunt, and I loved going out with him. Pheasant hunting remains one of my favorite outdoor activities, and I get excited every year as the third Saturday in October--the official start to pheasant season--rolls around. It is a tradition that I am happy to be able to share with the next generation, as my dad shared it with me. There is nothing better than a day spent outdoors with friends and family, followed by a communal meal, sometimes involving pheasant. Being in the outdoors isn't just enjoyable; I think it is a part of the good life. The health benefits of time spent outdoors are well- established, and I know a day--or even an hour--out in the fresh air always clears my mind and refreshes my spirit. With more and more of our life spent in front of screens, I think time spent outdoors and disconnected is even more important than ever. I am grateful for all those hours we spent as kids running around outside and for family activities outdoors, like our summer trip to the Black Hills. We used to go out there for Labor Day, stay in this little non-air-conditioned cabin and just enjoy the outdoors. We would hike, and we would visit caves. We would go to Mount Rushmore, head to the lake--I loved and still love visiting Sylvan Lake in South Dakota. I loved being there with my parents and siblings, and I loved taking my daughters there on trips like the ones I took growing up. Nobody who visits South Dakota should miss the Black Hills. I am not sure there is a more beautiful place on Earth--the interplay of light and shadow on the trees and rocks late on a summer afternoon, the endless South Dakota sky reflected in the blue of Sylvan Lake and other lakes in the Black Hills, the Milky Way carpeting the night sky with millions of diamonds. There is no better place to spend time in the great outdoors than South Dakota. Our State is filled with natural wonders, the Missouri River, Jewel Cave and Wind Cave, two of the longest caves in the world. Together, they offer hundreds of miles of underground passageways to explore, filled with glimmering crystals and remarkable rock formations. We have the magnificent Black Hills National Forest in Custer State Park, rolling prairies, and, of course, the Badlands. If you haven't experienced the rugged beauty of the Badlands, you are missing out-- extraordinary layered rock formations that look like they might have come from another planet, a wealth of fossils. Everybody should see the sunset over the Badlands at least once in their life, turning the tops of the rocks to a sea of fiery orange. And, of course, no mention of South Dakota's great outdoors would be complete without a mention of Mount Rushmore, one of our national treasures. Nature got a little help from man here, and the result is magnificent. You can't help but be awed when you see Mount Rushmore soaring up in front of you. And you can't help but feel a little prouder to be a citizen of this great land. Our Nation's great outdoor spaces need to be cared for so that we can preserve them for future generations--from wildlife enthusiasts to hikers and runners to farmers and ranchers. I am a longtime supporter of the Conservation Reserve Program. Agricultural producers are familiar with the Conservation Reserve Program, or what we call CRP, which provides incentives for farmers, ranchers, and landowners to take environmentally sensitive land out of production for 10 to 15 years. The Conservation Reserve Program helps the environment by improving soil health and water quality and providing habitat for wildlife, including endangered and threatened species. I pushed for an increase in the CRP acreage cap in the 2018 farm bill, and the final bill raised that acreage cap to 27 million acres. Currently, I am working on further improvements of CRP that I will work to get included in the 2023 farm bill. Based on my conversations with farmers and ranchers, I developed the Conservation Reserve Program Improvement Act, which I introduced in March. This legislation would make CRP grazing a more attractive option by providing cost-share payments for all CRP practices for the establishment of grazing infrastructure, including fencing and water distribution. It would also increase the annual payment limit for CRP--which has not changed since 1985--to help account for inflation and the increase in land value. This would enhance the appeal of CRP for farmers and ranchers, improving their bottom line while helping to protect the environment and increase wildlife habitat. Another priority of mine is improving forest management in the Black Hills National Forest to reduce the risk of wildfires and damaging insect infestations. I have introduced two pieces of legislation during this Congress to help improve management of our national forests, including the Black Hills. Currently on-the-ground management activities, including timber thinning, are significantly lagging in the Black Hills National Forest and other forests throughout the country. My Expediting Forest Restoration and Recovery Act would require the U.S. Forest Service to expedite treatment of more than 70 million acres of National Forest System lands to reduce the threat of insect and disease infestations and catastrophic wildfires. My Black Hills Forest Protection and Jobs Preservation Act is also designed to help expedite forest management projects in the Black Hills and elsewhere. The bill, which I introduced with my Wyoming colleague, Senator John Barrasso, would require the U.S. Forest Service to quickly issue National Environmental Policy Act decisions that are necessary to carry out forest management projects, including thinning of overly dense timber stands in the Black Hills National Forest. Our bill would also expedite timber production projects in the Black Hills National Forest and neighboring national forests to help maintain the timber sale program that plays a critical role in keeping these forests healthy while also supporting the regional economy. I am grateful to live in a State that has so much to offer when it comes to the great outdoors. And I will continue to work to protect and preserve our national treasures, and I hope every American will take advantage of Great Outdoors Month to get outside and enjoy our natural world. I yield the floor.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from North Dakota (Mr. Cramer), the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Shelby), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey).

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today I recognize Andrew Law, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks. Andrew is a graduate of Wall High School in Wall, SD. Currently, he is attending South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD, where he is pursuing degrees in business economics and agriculture business. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Andrew for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today I recognize John Abdallah, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks. John is a graduate of O'Gorman High School in Sioux Falls, SD. Currently, he is attending the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, SD, where he is pursuing a degree in business administration. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to John for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.

Mr. THUNE

Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, today I recognize Jonathon Sundet, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several weeks. Jonathon is a graduate of Brookings High School in Brookings, SD. Currently, he is attending South Dakota State University in Brookings, where he is pursuing a degree in political science. He is a hard worker who has been dedicated to getting the most out of his internship experience. I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to Jonathon for all of the fine work he has done and wish him continued success in the years to come.