Biden Administration

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. So let me get back to my remarks here and start by saying that last month, the incoming mayor of New York City, who is a leading voice in today's Democratic Party, promised New Yorkers:

We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve, and no concern too small for it to care about.

No problem too large and no concern too small for government to get involved. That was the quote. That is a dangerous way of thinking. It is a license for government growing unbounded, and it is a recipe for expanded bureaucracy and greater frustration for Americans who are just trying to live their lives.

But growing government is the driving philosophy of the Democratic Party, and you can just look at the Biden years. We had the Federal Government mandating masks for 2-year-olds outside--not in a building, outside for 2-year-olds; the EPA regulating puddles and saddling farmers and ranchers with massive compliance laws, which we experienced in my State of South Dakota; electric vehicle mandates. If they had their way, by next year, 35 percent of the vehicles on the highway would be EVs. Thirty-five percent. Do you know what that number is today? It is about 10, 11, maybe 12. There is no way--no way--that could have been complied with. And there was a reckless tax-and- spending spree that caused a yearslong inflation crisis. Inflation got up in the double-digit range--something we haven't seen in several decades.

Republicans have spent the last year cleaning up from the consequences of Democrats' Big Government philosophy. President Trump has repealed a number of burdensome regulations and rules, and here in Congress, we have used the Congressional Review Act to repeal rules, regulations, and mandates that were creeping into seemingly every facet of Americans' lives. That includes four separate rules on appliances.

That is right--last year, appliances became the latest focus of Democrats' radical environmental agenda. One rule applied expensive, unnecessary, new standards to commercial fridges and freezers, the kind used in restaurants and grocery stores. The Energy Department estimated that it would take 90 years for a business to see savings from these more expensive appliances.

Another rule sought to take gas water heaters off the market, raising costs for homeowners and imperiling American manufacturing jobs.

Then there were the Biden administration's proposed reporting and certification requirements for everything from light bulbs and dishwashers to dehumidifiers and air-conditioners.

Reporting and certification requirements may not sound like much, but those requirements mean a lot of front-end work that has to be done-- work that costs time and money and places a huge burden on businesses and drives up prices for consumers.

In its public comments on the Biden administration's appliance standards, Carrier, an appliance manufacturer, said that the Department of Energy failed to adequately account for ``the cost and burden . . . to comply with updated requirements.'' A manufacturers association said that the proposed reporting standards had ``no practical utility.'' Another objected to what they called ``burden without benefit.''

Thanks to Republicans' efforts, hard-working Americans and small businesses have been spared these costly regulations.

We have also been able to dismantle Democrats' regulatory assault on Americans' cars. President Trump repealed the Biden administration's electric vehicle mandate, and here in Congress, we approved legislation to repeal waivers that would have allowed California to impose a de facto electric vehicle mandate on the whole country.

We also passed a CRA resolution repealing the Biden rubber tire manufacturing rule--a gross example of unnecessary regulation. The Biden administration proposed new emissions standards for tire manufacturers--an industry that is already subject to strict emissions rules.

The Biden rule, while it would have reduced the emissions of certain pollutants, would have actually increased--increased--emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. That is right. You can't make that up. It would have increased emissions of carbon dioxide and methane, and it would have cost tire manufacturers $13 million per year and possibly more than that.

Unfortunately, these are not the only examples of the overreach of the Biden administration's Green New Deal-style regulations. No, the Biden administration also went after energy production, heaping additional costs and restrictions on energy producers that would have driven energy costs higher and higher.

Earlier this year, Republicans repealed the Biden administration's marine archaeology rule. Energy producers are already required to submit an archaeological report before drilling in areas that are thought to include things like shipwrecks, settlements, and other archaeological sites, but the Biden administration wanted energy producers to submit reports even when there is no reason to suspect a project will be near an archaeological site. It was just another way to slow down production and heap more costs on energy producers--costs that would eventually have been paid by American consumers. Republicans repealed that rule.

Then there was Democrats' natural gas tax. In 2022, Democrats enacted a tax on methane emissions from natural gas producers--a tax that would have driven up energy prices and destroyed jobs in the energy sector. Republicans repealed this regulatory implementation through the CRA-- the Congressional Review Act--process and then blocked this misguided tax in the One Big Beautiful Bill this summer.

Our efforts continue. A few weeks ago, the Senate passed a resolution blocking the Biden administration's restriction on energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska--an area established specifically--specifically--for the purpose of providing the United States with energy resources. The Biden administration tried to close a significant portion of it, but when President Trump signs this resolution and repeals these restrictions, we will once again be able to leverage these abundant natural resources for the benefit of the American people.

Regulations have consequences. Democrats may believe there is nothing that couldn't be improved by a little government intervention, but Republicans and I think the American people know what too often happens when government decides to get involved.

Reagan said 40 years ago:

[T]he nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.

When I am talking to business owners in South Dakota, I often tell them to let me know how we can help, even if that means getting out of the way.

And, Mr. President, that is often the right answer. While some regulations are necessary, too often regulations do more harm than good. And regulations mean costs--costs that are almost always passed on to the consumer.

Republicans are continuing our efforts to get government out of the way and to bring down costs for the American people.

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