During remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) spoke about reversing Biden-era regulations.
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00:00Mr. President, over the last four years, the Biden administration subjected Americans to an onslaught of regulations.
00:05Altogether, the Biden regulatory agenda cost $1.8 trillion.
00:11It heaped thousands of hours of paperwork on business owners, energy producers, and other hard-working Americans.
00:17And to what end?
00:18Well, often these regulations were part of the Biden administration's radical climate agenda.
00:24Efforts to tie up conventional energy production, force the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and even go after things like household appliances.
00:35Mr. President, those days are over.
00:37We're no longer regulating our way to the Green New Deal.
00:40President Trump has moved swiftly to unleash energy production and remove regulatory barriers.
00:46Republicans in Congress are joining those efforts.
00:48To date, we've passed a number of resolutions blocking Biden-era regulations through the Congressional Review Act, and we'll continue those efforts this week.
00:58Later today, we'll vote on a resolution blocking the Biden administration's onerous appliance standards regulation, an effort that's going to be led here in the Senate by Senator Husted.
01:08This rule imposed stricter reporting requirements on a number of household appliances, dishwashers, dehumidifiers, pool heaters, air conditioners, light bulbs, and the list goes on.
01:26Reporting and certification requirements may not sound like much, Mr. President, but there is a lot of front-end work that has to be done.
01:35Work that costs time and money and can place a huge burden on businesses and drive up prices for consumers.
01:42In its public comments on the Biden administration's appliance standards, Carrier, an appliance manufacturer, said the Department of Energy failed to adequately account for, and I quote,
01:51the cost and burden to comply with updated requirements, end quote.
01:56A manufacturer's association said that the proposed reporting standards had, and I quote, no practical utility, end quote.
02:06And another objected to what they called burden without benefit.
02:11Mr. President, the same could be said of another Biden-era regulation we'll be voting to overturn later this week.
02:17Last year, the Biden administration finalized a rule setting stricter standards for commercial refrigerators and freezers.
02:22These are the refrigerators and freezers that we see at convenience stores, in restaurants, and at grocery stores.
02:30In other words, it impacts a lot of small operators.
02:34And these stricter standards threaten to drive up costs and reduce choice for the owners of these businesses.
02:40Costs, that I might add, will inevitably pass on to consumers in the form of higher prices.
02:45Costs, proponents of this rule claim more efficient appliances will save businesses money in the long run.
02:52But in the case of at least one new standard, the Department of Energy estimates that it will take more than 90 years,
03:0090 years, for a business to see those savings.
03:06In other words, longer than any business owner will survive at the head of his or her business.
03:13And so I thank Senator Moody for leading this effort to eliminate the unnecessary burden on America's small businesses.
03:20Mr. President, this week the Senate is also taking up Senator Curtis' resolution to overturn the Biden administration's major source rule.
03:28This rule isn't just burdensome, it's backwards.
03:32The Clean Air Act has two categories of pollutants, major source and area source.
03:37Major source pollutants are more heavily regulated.
03:42But the Biden administration's rule says that even if you reduce potential emissions below the threshold established in law
03:48for classification as major source pollutants, that doesn't matter.
03:53You're still subject to the stricter major source rules.
03:56Once in, always in.
04:00Mr. President, that's wrong.
04:01And worse, it removes an incentive to reduce emissions, undermining the very purpose of the Clean Air Act.
04:08So this week, the Senate will vote to eliminate this backward regulation.
04:12Mr. President, we've made progress on reining in excessive regulation.
04:17And the American people can count on Republicans to continue our efforts.
04:20We know that rules out of Washington can frequently have very negative consequences in the real world.
04:27Complying with a new rule costs money that could otherwise go toward innovation, improvements, or investing in employees.
04:37For small business owners, a new regulation can mean late nights trying to figure out what it means
04:42and how to make the business work while following the rules.
04:46And regulations can lead to higher costs and less choice for consumers.
04:52That's why we believe that regulatory power should be used judiciously.
04:58And it's why we're committed to eliminating rules that impose unjustified burdens.
05:04Mr. President, I yield the floor.
05:07And I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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