Sheldon Whitehouse

If this default is provoked by what looks like a desperate last attack on clean energy competition by a massive polluting, and heavily political industry, that will come back to them.

What is in plain view in the House Default on America Act is 275 out of 315 pages that are giveaways to the fossil fuel industry.

If we end up going into this Republican threatened default, and all the pain and calamity that all of the witnesses have forecast comes to pass, people in America are going to want to know who is responsible.

Make no mistake, it doesn't matter who you vote for, what state you live in, or what you make. If House Republicans get their way it is going to make your life worse.

The Default on America Act doesn't even protect veterans healthcare, one of our fundamental obligations to the men and women who put their lives on the line for our country.

For the record, the MAGA extremists in the House who were essential to McCarthy's speakership have said that nothing less than the Default on America Option will pass.

It would be fair to describe that as crashing the American solar industry.

My hard earned experience tells me that when the Republican Party acts on pollution related and corruption related issues, the Party acts as the glove for fossil fuels dark hand.

On Monday, Leader Schumer, along with Senators Murray, Wyden and I introduced a two page bill to stave off default through the end of 2024.

275 out of 315 pages of the dirty Default on America Bill are devoted to giveaways to the fossil fuel industry.

What House Republicans have voted for is one massive gift to the Chinese government because guess what? Our competitors are not debating whether to pay their debts or wreck their economy.

Default in the service of extremism is a place we should not be going

It comes as no surprise that a bill from House Republicans, of whose 315 pages, 275 are dedicated to handouts to the fossil fuel industry, would if implemented, also crash their competition, the solar industry.

MAGA Republican's dangerous bill poses a terrible choice.

We've raised it under divided Congresses and under unified ones.

They seek to cause chaos.

My preferred policy is a border adjusted carbon tax that creates incentives to account for the costs for energy use.

If we wanted to exert pressure on countries like China and India to move off of fossil fuels and to accelerate their transition to clean energy, what U.S. policy would most likely accomplish that?

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that fossil fuel subsidies led to a minimal impact of about a half a percent more domestic oil production.

I think the way out of most of those problems is comprehensive payment reform.

There is an enormous burden of unnecessary administrative cost from that.

Widespread discriminatory practices, such as frequent and more arduous prior authorization practices

I wanted to flag, not exactly the topic of this hearing, but it has been extremely important in Rhode Island to have had mental health access through COVID through telehealth.

For the information of the Senate, there will be two rollcall votes starting at approximately 12:30 p.m. ____________________

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:31 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, April 27, 2023, at 12 noon…