Reduce Exacerbated Inflation Negatively Impacting the Nation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to offer an amendment to this underlying piece of legislation to ensure that it applies to everything. I don't believe that we should be in the business of exempting certain executive orders. I think they should apply across the board.

My amendment would strike the exceptions to the bill's inflation estimates for executive orders that provide emergency assistance or relief or related to national security.

I don't believe that we should be pulling out of the calculation those executive orders that touch on national security simply because, frankly, often my colleagues on both sides of the aisle want to be able to use ``emergency'' for all manner of sins, and they want to be able to use the Defense Department to hide behind all manner of sins and expenditures.

The underlying bill is actually an important piece of legislation, despite what my colleague from Maryland is saying.

Why? Because the executive orders being offered by this administration, and frankly by many administrations, do have an actual and significant inflationary impact.

We are allowing the executive branch to run amuck. We are allowing the executive branch to essentially legislate and make massive policies that have an enormous impact on everyday, hardworking American people.

That is why this legislation is important. Unlike our colleagues on the other side of the aisle who like to use the power of government to be able to actually put gasoline on the fire of inflation by spending more money, by engaging government into the business of the American people, we want to be able to look at information about what government is doing to cause the problem in the first place.

For example, the President's executive order on vaccine mandates. You don't believe that had a massive inflationary impact to go around this country, forcing people to stick a needle in their arm or lose their job, causing all sorts of constraints in labor supply, making it difficult for people to carry out their jobs?

You don't believe that the executive orders on minimum wage, the executive orders on the Keystone pipeline, and other limitations on Federal oil and gas leases, the executive orders with respect to WOTUS and NEPA and all sorts of environmental rules and regulations that restrict the ability of the American people to create wealth, create jobs, create opportunities; you don't believe those create inflationary impact?

Of course they do. Our job in Congress is to check the executive branch. Our job in Congress is to stand up for the American people and get the government out of their lives.

This amendment is designed to make sure that we are going to apply it equally to all manners of the executive orders produced by the President, regardless of party. We believe that it is critically important.

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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Comer), my friend.
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Mr. ROY. Mr. Chair, the question seems to be about we have nothing allegedly in the cupboard, nothing to offer. I think there is plenty to offer.

How about stop spending money we don't have? How about stop dumping trillions of dollars into the economy, jamming up inflation?

How about ending all of the subsidies and all of the Federal expenditures that are undermining the American people's ability to create wealth and create jobs?

The gentleman talks about the amount of debt that was increased under President Trump. How about the 43 to 45 percent of our entire debt that was increased under Nancy Pelosi as Speaker?

Because those are the actual facts, and this is the body that has the power of the purse. This is the body that starts all the spending. We know where the spending starts.

The fact of the matter is my colleagues on the other side of the aisle like to talk about creating 12 million jobs.

First of all, this body doesn't create jobs. The government doesn't create jobs. The American people create jobs.

The fact is our labor participation rate is still far behind pre- COVID levels. We are basically playing catch-up to the utter destruction that was levied against the American people by government, against the American people, shutting down this economy, locking our kids in the corners, setting our kids back generations in terms of their academic performance, and criticizing three-page bills.

I will tell you what. It is a far cry better than the 4,100-page, $1.7 trillion omnibus bill jammed through by the Democrats in December, destroying this economy.

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

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