COST OF LIVING STILL HIGH

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Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1342-H1343] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] COST OF LIVING STILL HIGH (Mr. Courtney of Connecticut was recognized to address the House for 5 minutes.) Mr. COURTNEY. Mr. Speaker, candidate Trump and President-elect Trump consistently and repeatedly promised the American people that when he was elected, on day one that he would lower the cost of living for Americans. He very effectively campaigned on that issue, and I think that that was a major driving force in terms of why he prevailed on November 5. In fact, he said that in a number of interviews after the election. However, then-President Trump was sworn in on January 20, and to this day, despite over 100 executive orders, countless rescissions that have come out of the White House, not one has been directed in terms of lowering the cost of living for Americans in this country. In fact, last week, the Consumer Price Index was released. It showed that prices jumped again at 2.8 percent, well above the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent, which is why interest rates are going to continue to stay unnecessarily high. On Wednesday, a couple days from now, so-called Liberation Day, he is now going to announce another wave of tariffs that every economist of every stripe will tell you is going to, in fact, raise the price of goods for Americans. Don't take my word for it, listen to the National Association of Home Builders, a staunch Republican organization that has warned this administration that putting tariffs on everything from steel to copper and nickel is going to drive up the price of home construction. In fact, screws and nails, made from steel, are already showing huge increases. They have already been hit with a 25 percent tariff from one of our biggest importers of steel, our friend and ally for many years, Canada. I now suddenly sort of wonder where this White House is coming from. [[Page H1343]] Steel and lumber used in home construction were one of the biggest factors of increased prices on last Friday's Consumer Price Index. That is, again, why the homebuilders are warning us at this time of a housing crisis. We are seeing an administration that is doing everything in terms of driving those prices up still further. {time} 1215 There is a belief in the White House that somehow Americans are going to be inoculated from tariffed goods from other countries because we are going to have this burst of output that is going to happen, even though we don't mine for things like copper and nickel, and even though the steel industry in the U.S. will tell you they do not have the capacity to replace incoming foreign steel. Yet, they somehow believe that commodity price is not going to leak into what American importers are actually going to be paying, which is going to get passed along to the American consumer. He has invoked a law, a 1976 law, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which was put into place by Congress in this Chamber to provide the President with the ability to raise tariffs against a foreign adversary or threat. That is the law that he used against Canada, and the reason he said was that fentanyl is coming into Canada. Last week, the Director of National Intelligence testified before the House Intelligence Committee. They released their annual threat assessment listing all the countries that are threats to the U.S. Do you know what country was not on that list? Canada. Because, in fact, if you look at the data from DEA and people who work at the border, less than 1 percent of fentanyl comes from Canada. Yet, he used that law, without Congress' approval, to strike at that nation. We have already heard from the new Prime Minister that they are going to raise countertariffs against the U.S. This is a vicious cycle where there is not going to be a good ending unless this Congress, led by Mr. Trump's party, grabs the steering wheel and listens to the people who are out there on the front lines of our economy and says: Stop. Enough. The Dow tanked on Friday, dropping 700 points. Futures opened today down 400 points. The warning lights are everywhere. Liberation day is just going to worsen the situation that we are seeing, not only for people who are in the stock market, which, you know, they are big boys and girls. They can handle themselves. It is really the people on Main Street who are going to feel the brunt of a tariff policy that goes completely in the opposite direction of the promises that he made on the campaign trail. It is time for Congress as a coequal branch of government--and, Speaker Johnson, if you are listening, please, you have the ability to bring to the floor a countermeasure to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and stop the madness in terms of where this administration is taking our economy. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Taylor). Members are reminded to direct their remarks to the Chair. ____________________

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