The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“BIDEN ADMINISTRATION” mentioning Rick Scott was published in the Senate section on pages S82-S83 on Jan. 21.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, there have been few other times in American history when the need for economic growth through strategic, responsible, pro-business policies has been as great as it is today. Nothing is more important to a family than a good-paying job. That is where the American dream begins.
Today, as our Nation fights to overcome the horrendous health and economic impacts of COVID-19, we must balance our approach. We have to protect American families and individuals who have been hurt by this crisis, support commonsense public health policies and an aggressive vaccine distribution effort, while also keeping businesses open, incentivizing future growth of businesses, large and small, and standing up to our economic adversaries, like Communist China, by reshoring our supply chain back home.
We also need to continue cutting regulations to make it easier for businesses to operate and for entrepreneurs to create jobs.
President Biden and his Cabinet have the important task of revitalizing our economy amid one of our Nation's worst economic crises. In my 8 years as Governor of Florida, we balanced our budget each year, cut $10 billion in taxes, paid off one-third of our State debt, and Florida companies added nearly 1.7 million jobs. But instead of looking to innovation and approving policies of States like Florida that will create jobs and help Americans and small businesses, the Biden administrations is already making promises to go in the opposite direction--promises that are being championed by his nominee for Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen.
Let me be clear. I support targeted relief to help our small businesses and individuals who are hurting because of the coronavirus. With the start of a new administration, I was hoping to hear some fresh, new ideas on how to accomplish our shared goal of addressing this crisis. But that is not what we are hearing from the Biden administration. Their answer is the same as it always has been for Democrats: more government, more spending, higher taxes, no accountability.
Voters are befuddled by the claim that while families cannot borrow without limits or consequences, somehow the Federal Government can. It is irresponsible, and I won't stand for it. We have to get serious about how we are spending taxpayer dollars. We already have more than
$27 trillion in Federal debt.
If interest rates return to their 50-year average, the interest on our Federal debt will make it impossible to fund our military, Medicare, and Social Security.
President Biden wants to spend more than $350 billion to bail out wasteful, liberal States for their decades of mismanagement, and his nominees, including Ms. Yellen, support this nonsense.
Andrew Cuomo has threatened the New York wealthy that if they don't help him get a Federal Government bailout, he will raise their taxes.
I was elected Governor of Florida when Cuomo was elected Governor of New York. While Governor of Florida, I lowered taxes each year. Cuomo raised taxes. Since we were both elected, families and businesses have increasingly left New York for lower taxes, better schools, better roads, and warmer weather in Florida.
Asking taxpayers to bail out failed politicians in liberal States like New York and Illinois and save them from their own bad decisions isn't fair to the taxpayers in fiscally responsible States like Florida. After all, many Florida taxpayers left New York because of Cuomo's tax policy.
It makes no sense. Congress has already allocated more than $4.5 trillion to address this crisis. Think about it. We just passed a nearly $1 trillion relief package 4 weeks ago. This is all borrowed money. The Federal Government doesn't have savings for a rainy day, and we still don't know how much money is unspent from the previous coronavirus relief packages. How can we possibly justify spending more money right now? We don't even know what we might need to spend money on.
And for States like California, we know they don't need it. California's tax revenues for this fiscal year is running $9 billion, or 18 percent, above projections. Personal income tax revenue in October was $1 billion--15 percent higher than in the previous October, and sales taxes were up 9.2 percent. For the last 4 months, overall revenue in California has exceeded spring forecasts and even 2019 collections. But that hasn't kept Governor Newsom and his far left buddies in Congress from keeping their hands out for more money.
We cannot simply throw massive spending at this with no accountability to the current and future American taxpayer. It is shameful.
We have also heard the Biden administration and its nominees call for a new national minimum wage of $15 an hour. It is clear that these folks haven't talked to business owners. Small businesses in America are struggling like never before, especially in liberal States, where repeated lockdowns have exacerbated their work to stay open. And President Biden believes now is the time to slap another mandate on their back and drive even more Americans chasing the dream of this country out of business? I am not sure how you could possibly be more detached from reality.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, a federally mandated
$15 minimum wage would cost as many as 3.7 million Americans their jobs.
Let me tell you, I know what it is like to be poor, to live in public housing, to not have enough money to afford healthcare for a family member. I watched my parents struggle for work. I don't want any family to go through what I went through.
I ran for office because I wanted to help struggling families like the one I grew up in to have the chance to live the American dream. So when I hear folks like Ms. Yellen say that job loss from a minimum-wage mandate is ``very minimal, if anything,'' it really leaves me at a loss. Watching 3.7 million Americans lose their jobs will not be minimal.
Adding insult to injury, we have heard great praise for the implementation of a carbon tax. Let's remember, this was part of the Green New Deal, which would be a disaster if passed. According to estimates from the Heritage Foundation, a carbon emissions tax would cost the country 1.4 million jobs while decreasing our GDP by $3.9 trillion and reducing income for a family of four by $40,000, with disproportionate costs falling on low-income families. Again, how can this be seen as the logical step when so many in our Nation are simply trying to recover and rebuild from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic?
If the administration has its way, Americans should prepare for higher taxes, less income, less opportunity, and more government mandates.
Ms. Yellen seems to think the solution to America's economic woes is more government, more taxes, more regulation, not more individual opportunity. That is wrong and will only send us further into debt and our families further into despair.
Based on what I have heard, I am concerned and, frankly, disturbed by what is being offered as the future of America's economic policy. When I ran for the Senate, I did so to fix Washington's broken way of doing things. We have to address Washington's unconscionable need to waste tax dollars on things that don't actually help or even hurt American families, especially working families and those on fixed incomes. I will never give up this fight.
In 2018, Ms. Yellen was quoted speaking about the unsustainable U.S. debt and said: ``If I had a magic wand, I would raise taxes.'' We know that is not the real answer to solving our debt issue. It is simply the lazy, liberal approach.
It is time to get value out of every dollar we spend and make hard choices that actually help families and ensure a strong economic future for our Nation.
I cannot support the nomination of a candidate who proudly promotes Joe Biden's policies to mortgage our kids' and grandkids' futures with irresponsible and shortsighted tax spending.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.
Mr. SCOTT of Florida. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Warren). Without objection, it is so ordered.
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