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Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 117 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

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Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 117 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 117 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 167 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2021 No. 21 House of Representatives The House met at 10 a.m. and was America’s emissions enough to meet sense legislation to create green jobs called to order by the Speaker. our 2015 promise to the world or to and seize low-carbon opportunities, ex- f stem the climate crisis. For that, we actly the type of legislation we will must act urgently. We must reject the need to meet our Paris Agreement MORNING-HOUR DEBATE bad-faith talking points about a false commitments. The SPEAKER. Pursuant to the dichotomy between environmental Mr. Speaker, preliminary data indi- order of the House of January 4, 2021, stewardship and economic growth and cates that 2020 will tie 2016 and go down the Chair will now recognize Members openly embrace the idea that a sustain- in history as the hottest year on from lists submitted by the majority able economy is dependent upon a sus- record. This means that the 7 hottest and minority leaders for morning-hour tainable environment. years have now occurred in the 7 last debate. Far from climate action costing us years. The Chair will alternate recognition jobs, the truth is that our entire econ- The call for action from those whose between the parties, with time equally omy is at stake if we do act on climate. homes have been destroyed by natural allocated between the parties and each By contrast, climate action means disasters and from those suffering Member other than the majority and clean air and better public health. It through record heat waves and minority leaders and the minority means more miles between fill-ups and droughts is loud and clear. And we hear whip limited to 5 minutes, but in no more money in Americans’ pockets. It that same call from our constituents event shall debate continue beyond means reliable, robust harvests and in- who see through the pandering mis- 11:50 a.m. novative and productive ways to make direction of outdated thinking, under- f money farming sustainably. stand the imperative to act, and in- It means passing America’s beautiful creasingly vote only for those willing MEETING OUR PARIS AGREEMENT natural heritage on to future genera- to take action. COMMITMENTS tions and protecting the places and President Biden corrected an egre- The SPEAKER. The Chair recognizes creatures that make our country the gious mistake when he moved to reen- the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. envy of the world. It means safe, liv- ter the U.S. into the Paris Agreement. QUIGLEY) for 5 minutes. able coastlines that don’t wash away We must move with him and usher in Mr. QUIGLEY. Madam Speaker, by our roads and our homes. And it means the low-carbon economy of the future rejoining the Paris Agreement, Presi- high-paying jobs that can’t be now. dent Biden has promised the world that outsourced—up to 24 million globally, f America will retake its position as a according to the United Nations. global leader in the fight against cli- We have a lot of work to do: building LOCKDOWNS ARE KILLING US mate change and be true to its word to out electric vehicle infrastructure and The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. meet our commitments to reduce a modern electric grid; cleaning up our CUELLAR). The Chair recognizes the greenhouse gases. It now falls to us—it rivers and lakes; deploying clean, re- gentleman from California (Mr. falls to Congress—to prove the Presi- newable power generation; and invent- MCCLINTOCK) for 5 minutes. dent right. ing the next leap in battery storage Mr. MCCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, we Despite all the confused, disingen- technology. are now nearly 1 year into the most uous, and flatly false rhetoric around No one is better suited than Amer- self-destructive social experiment in the Paris Agreement, in reality, it is ican workers. Low-carbon, long-term, the recorded history of human civiliza- simply a framework for catalyzing, and resilient economic growth and eco- tion. measuring, and improving action to re- logical stability are within our grasp, On this day 1 year ago, we enjoyed duce greenhouse gas emissions and but only if we have the courage to go the greatest economic expansion in our adapting to climate impacts. after them. lifetimes. The poverty rate was at its The agreement, signed by 195 coun- This Congress must send legislation lowest in 60 years. The unemployment tries in Paris and not simply for the to the President’s desk meeting this rate was the lowest in 50 years. Wage benefit of that city, is made up of com- challenge and seizing this opportunity. growth was the strongest in 40 years. mitments from each nation, deter- Executive action cannot do it alone. The wage gap was narrowing, with mined by that nation, and which they I am proud to serve as vice chair of blue-collar wages rising the fastest. are each responsible for meeting. the House Sustainable Energy and En- Unemployment rates for minority President Biden’s commitment, nec- vironment Coalition. This group has groups and women were at the lowest essary as it was, will not itself reduce worked for years to advance common- ever recorded. b This symbol represents the time of day during the House proceedings, e.g., b 1407 is 2:07 p.m. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. H327 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:05 Feb 05, 2021 Jkt 019060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A04FE7.000 H04FEPT1 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with HOUSE H328 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE February 4, 2021 Then, over the course of just a few According to The Wall Street Jour- frustrated to see yet again that the catastrophic weeks, our government nal, the CDC reported 475,000 excess community he fought to uplift con- took a wrecking ball to it all. In the deaths in the United States at a time tinues to be left behind. Too many second quarter, GDP plunged by one- when it was reporting 281,000 COVID- Dine mothers, grandfathers, neighbors, third, the worst decline in productivity related fatalities. Now, that difference and friends have fallen to this deadly ever recorded. Unemployment sky- is 192,000 additional deaths unexplained disease. rocketed to its highest levels since the by normal mortality and COVID com- Since coming to Congress in 2017, I Great Depression. Tens of millions of bined. have strived to bring the voices of all Americans lost their jobs. Trillions of Could it be this is the butcher’s bill 12 sovereign Tribal nations in our dis- dollars of the Nation’s wealth were from a folly that has produced sky- trict to the discussion table in Wash- squandered. rocketing suicides, drug and alcohol ington. Today, I recommit myself to In the months since, our children deaths, domestic homicides, isolation- fighting for their needs and honoring have been robbed of a year of their edu- related deaths, delayed health their unique stories, as Albert Hale did cation. Millions of Americans have screenings, delayed health treatments, during his time with us. been forbidden from earning a living by and poverty-related deaths? My thoughts are with the Hale fam- their own government. Shopkeepers Unlike COVID, which is a curse ily and the entire Navajo Nation as we have seen their life’s work destroyed, brought us by nature, lockdown deaths mourn Albert’s passing. His work, his and when in desperation they try to are the fault of specific individuals in light, and his mission will not be for- hold on, they are led away in hand- positions of public trust who imposed gotten. cuffs. draconian restrictions out of panic, And I can’t stand here today and not Our most cherished rights to worship fear, ignorance, or egotism. They say that one of my last conversations freely; to peaceably assemble; and not preened and virtue-signaled and boast- with Albert was about COVID. to be deprived of our lives, liberty, or ed how much they cared for the lives of I am so sad that he and many other property without due process of law others while they have pursued a folly people who have died from this dreaded have all been destroyed. that is needlessly taking an appalling disease have not been able to be with Now, COVID did not cause this dam- toll of lives and livelihoods. their loved ones as they have passed age. Public officials did. They promised Some of those responsible hold power away, or their friends. I am saddened us it was for our own good and that it by virtue of appointments by elected that I didn’t know at that time that would save lives. But mounting evi- officials while others are elected offi- dence in multiple scientific studies is Albert would have been stricken with cials themselves, and I fear this night- putting the lie to these sophistries. It this terrible virus. But we do know Al- mare will not end until the officials is becoming increasingly, tragically, bert would say to us, Please continue who are responsible for it are removed and bitterly clear that the lockdowns to fight the fight for the American peo- from the offices they hold. have not only failed to save lives, but ple. f they are costing lives.
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