Described as insurmountable. We never relented and said we wanted to get back to the goibt intable and wanted to start with climate and will make the biggest investment while creating millions of good paying jobs. The stakes couldnt be higher in communities of color who are always the hardest hit. This legislation is for my grandmother alice jones paid for the high cost of Prescription Drugs not fully covered by medicare. We will lower Prescription Drug prices for our seniors. This is why i ran for congress. This is government working for the people. This is democrats delivering on our promises. I yield. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Smith i yield one minute to the gentleman from california. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from california is recognized for one minute. New data from the department of Economic Development that unemployment remains at a high. The reasons why americans are suffering from this inflation is reckless levels of deficit spending by our federal government. So only the United States congress could respond to the situation with a bill that increases federal spending by over 700 billion at the same time it increases taxes on americans. To add insult to injury, our own Congressionalbudget Office as well as the university of Pennsylvania Wharton School of business and hundreds of economists that this socalled Inflation Reduction Act will not reduce inflation at all. We need to solve the reckless spending that is causing this instead of taking action that makes the situation even worse. I urge a no vote. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from kentucky is recognized. Mr. Yarmuth i now yield one minute to the the gentlewoman from North Carolina, distinguished hem of the judiciary committee, ms. Ross. Ms. Ross i rise to support the Inflation Reduction Act. This bill is a monumental cheevment that will move America Forward making important advances in everything from Health Care Costs to Energy Prices to tax fairness. Coming from North Carolina, a state hit by catastropheic storms, this act represents the most significant investment to combat Climate Change. This bill includes a measure that i have championed, which will send will end the prior moratorium on offshore wind. The Trump Administration basically banned North Carolina from taking advantage of industrial scale offshore wind. Our utilities support it. It is good for our economy and its good for our environment. This is an important Game Changing bill. Thank you and i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from kentucky reserves. The gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Smith i yield one minute to the gentleman from georgia who has his experiences with the i. R. S. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Thank you, madam speaker, despite the white houses politically motivated propaganda that claims our economy has zero inflation, we are facing an Economic Situation and battling 40year high inflation. As americans struggle to buy groceries, pay utility bills and pay rent, they are ram, inc. This bill that will make life worse. Now i know the left cant quite grasp High School Biology but appears they need a lesson on fundamentals and basic math. But i dont think they are interested because their actions are intentional. Time and time again the left lies with Big Government socialism. And they are willing to to demolish Small Businesses, worker. Reject fueling inflation and reject tax hikes by voting no on democrats build back broke bill. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri reserves. The gentleman from kentucky re is recognized. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Smith i yield to the gentleman from texas. Tax increases for the average american, check. 80 billion to the Internal Revenue service to hire agents, jobs already posted, check. Increase like that prices, increase gas prices and tilted windmills with your tilted energy policies, check. Increase government and corporate control of health care, check. I hear my colleagues talk about, we are going to go after phrma, what did the c. D. C. Yesterday say, dont worry about the mandates or the vaccines or the quarantines, sorry. My colleagues now today are going to dump hundreds of billions into Corporate America screwing over the American People every single day with tax audits, increased Energy Prices and increased taxes. Congratulations. Take that to the polls. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from kentucky is recognized. Mr. Yarmuth i have no more speakers and am prepared to close whenever the Ranking Member is. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from missouri is recognized. Mr. Smith could you tell us how much time we have . Mr. Smith the speaker pro tempore the gentleman has one minute. Mr. Smith the cleution to the inflation crisis that the democrats have set forward is to spend hundreds of billions of more dollars and to tax all hardworking americans once again. You cannot spend your way out of inflation and cannot tax your way out of recession, but that is the recipe that the one Party Democrat rule in washington, d. C. Is suggesting for the hardworking americans who are barely surviving. I would like to point out to the chairman that his president s budget outlines an additional 80 billion for the i. R. S. And highlighted in that budget, he wanted 87,000 i. R. S. Agents, that is the number coming from your president who presented the budget. We never had a hearing on the budget for the last 3 1 2 years and why you didnt know 87,000 auditors are being hired. The speaker pro tempore the time of the gentleman has expired. The gentleman from kentucky is recognized and has three minutes remaining. Mr. Yarmuth i yield hice the balance of my time. I remind my colleagues and the American People what republicans will be voting against today. They will be voting against cutting Prescription Drug prices for their constituents, voting against come about thing tin flags and lowering energy costs. They will be voting against the largest federal investment dealing with Climate Crisis in the history of this country and i cannot believe and i still heard from the other side the hoax comment, Climate Change is a hoax. You would think of what is going on in the world, while i watch what is going on in my state, when my citizens in Eastern Kentucky were devastated by historic floods, when my citizens in western kentucky were devastated by historic tornadoes. All of this exacerbated by Climate Change. There are still people that deny that Climate Change exists. But for the first time in this country, we will show true leadership to the world that we are taking action and we are going to lead the world in combatting Climate Change. And the gentleman from texas said, democrats own this bill. Yes, we do. Proud of it. I dont know one member of the Democratic Caucus who is not thrilled to death today that we are doing what we are doing, because the vast majority of the American People support what we are doing. The vast majority want to on cap out of pocket expenses for seniors at 2,000. Republicans say no. They are going to vote against it caps at 35 copay. Tens of millions of americans will benefit from that. We know that five former treasury secretaries from both democratic and republican administrations, 126 Top Economists support the Inflation Reduction Act. On the other side, we have big phrma, corporate lobbyists, tax cheats and Congressional Republicans of the this debate is made clearer than ever, democrats are making life better for the American People while republicans just dont care. It is simple as it is harsh. This lemmings is important, historic and significant win for American Families. I will be voting yes on the Inflation Reduction Act and will be sending it to President Bidens desk and signing it into law. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. Neal, the gentleman from texas, mr. Brady, each will control 30 minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts. Mr. Neal i yield myself such time as i might consume. As we begin the proceeding here on the ways and means portion of the legislation, i want to begin by calling attention to the untimely and tragic loss of our colleague Jackie Walorski and members of her staff. She was a force on the committee as well as a member of Ranking Member input and was well regarded as a member of the committee, a real humanitarian. You couldnt miss her bright smile or booming laugh. She embodied what it meant to serve. When she called me mr. Chairman loudly with a booming voice, i know she meant it. We are all lucky to have had her as a colleague and be able to call her a tend. Families and loved ones of congresswoman walorski and her staff be in our thoughts and prayers, rest in peace. I rise in full support of the Inflation Reduction Act. I look forward, as i have in the post to this moment. The words come from another son of massachusetts, mr. Webster. And over the speakers ross strum that adorns this marvelous institution which i love, the quote is simple, let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, buildup its institutions and promote all its great interests and see whether in our day and generation may not perform Something Worthy to be remembered. The Inflation Reduction Act is Something Worthy of being remembered. This is substantive and transformative legislation, a remind irto all, in a legislative life, we generally pursue perfection but accept the possible. Part of that is what a we are marking this moment. This is a historic win for family pocketbooks and for the future of climate security and we fund these gains by ensuring large Profitable Companies pay their fair share, just like all members of the American Family are asked to do. The Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for the first time. Medicare will negotiate drug prices and a cap of what comes out of seniors pockets for lifesaving prescriptions. No more rationing or foregoing necessary medicines. We are, he tending the tax credit extending the tax credit enhancements through 20256789 let me give you a statistic that is compelling. 100 of the children in massachusetts have Health Insurance. 97 of the adults in massachusetts have Health Insurance. And it polls extraordinarily well in terms of its success ratios because we decided with labor, business, democrat and republican, to make it work and we did. These enhanced premium credits first enacted by the American Rescue plan have made way for record low uninsured rates and have put hundreds of dollars back in the pockets of americans. This legislation will also make the largest investment in tackling Climate Change that our nations ever witnessed. Ever. The investments in clean energy, Energy Efficiency and clean manufacturing will generate 9 nine million goodpaying jobs. These historic wins are achieved with sensible and responsible multiyear investments in the i. R. S. I have been a member of the ways and Means Committee, madam speaker, for 30 years. Let me give our friends an interesting statistic about the American Family. We have the highest voluntary compliance rate in the world. 86 of the American People pay their taxes. This idea that were creating 87,000 armed representatives of the federal government to go out and harass the American People is nonsensical. Retirements alone are going to require a substantive investment. The i. R. S. Has fewer than 20,000 20 of the employees that it once did. Whats important to remember here is this. That we want to make sure, with this investment in the i. R. S. , that we continue to have a high voluntary compliance rate. And also to invest in the Necessary Technology that will allow the modeling to make sure the compliance remains with us as well. These are historic investments and achievements and they also are going to continue our quest on the democratic side here for an element of tax fairness that will hold people at the very top as responsible as the other side likes to hold people who receive the eict tax credit in terms of their request for audits. We do this simply by asking the most powerful among us to pay their fair share. This is what a full and fair Tax Administration is about. The American People have been through an unthinkable hardship over the last 2 1 2 years, but they entrusted joe biden and Congressional Democrats to keep them safe and to rebuild our economy. So heres a fact. On march 11 of 2020, dr. Fauci gave his warning. He warned us of what was coming. In april of 2020 america had lost 22 million jobs. Here we are two years later and the Biden Administration, every job has been returned and there are 10. 6 million jobs that go unanswered right now in the american economy. Weve bounced back faster than we imagined. Not only have all these jobs been returned, 51 Straight Days gasoline prices have fallen. Thats an issue about supply and demand, by the way. Its about international events. Including the russian invasion of ukraine, supplies across the world and chains. Those chains that i just referenced, they have been shored up and retailers are starting to realistically address some speculation as it relates to price. Democrats shouldnt be asked to do this alone. But were being asked to do it today alone. Were going to hear a lot of washington talk from folks on the other side that want to address the politics of the situation rather than cap the cost of insulin for their constituents. They want to protect the pocketbooks of those who would raise Prescription Drug prices unnecessarily and cut costs for workers and their families, which we intend to do. Youll hear a lot of spin on this bill thats received a lot of endorsements. Even from bipartisan former treasury secretary. But thats because the opponents are out of options. The Inflation Reduction Act sets our nation on a healthier, fairer and more prosperous path. Weve heard the calls of the American People and with the Inflation Reduction Act, we continue to win this moment for them in its totality. I urge our colleagues to support this legislation and i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves the balance of his time. The gentleman from texas is recognized. Mr. Brady thank you. I want to join with chairman neal in expressing our heartbreak and sorrow in losing congresswoman Jackie Walorski, our colleague. As well as zach and emma. Shes so proud of her team, walorski. The truth is, jackie lit up every room she was in. With her passion and her brilliance and just her friendship and warmness. Theres no question she could do everything. She was all in on everything and worked hard to find Common Ground wherever she could. Last week was a shocking week and a week to mourn. This week is a time to celebrate jackie, her legacy and her life. With that, sadly this Massive Senate bill drawn in secret, stuffed with government checks to the wealthy and favored interests, rushed through congress, is a hoax on the American People. It fails to reduce inflation, fails to reduce the budget deficit, and fails to reduce the worlds temperature. Who in their right mind raises taxes in a recession . The answer is, only President Biden an