REPEALING GREEN SUBSIDIES

On 2025-03-27, Representative Becca Balint (D-VT) delivered a floor speech titled "REPEALING GREEN SUBSIDIES" in the House. The speech addressed the economy and also covered foreign policy, China.

REPEALING GREEN SUBSIDIES

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 56 (Thursday, March 27, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 56 (Thursday, March 27, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1306-H1307] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] REPEALING GREEN SUBSIDIES (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, we must use budget reconciliation to fully repeal the so-called Inflation Reduction Act's, IRA, green subsidies. They are a trillion-dollar disaster, driving up energy costs, undermining grid reliability, and forcing out dependable power sources like coal and natural gas as well as the hydroelectric dam destruction we see happening. Keeping even one of them threatens real spending reductions and makes it nearly impossible to rein in the national deficit of around $2 trillion brought on by the Biden administration and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. The stakes are very clear. Europe's energy crisis shows what happens when [[Page H1307]] a country relies too much on unreliable renewables. Meanwhile, China profits off of our bad policies, selling us solar panels and electric vehicles while expanding its own coal production and power plants. We cannot let the left's green welfare agenda weaken our energy security while boosting our biggest adversary any longer. Full repeal means saving taxpayers $1 trillion in wasteful spending, easing inflation and lowering costs for families and small businesses, and restoring energy security by stabilizing our grid. Reconciliation is the way forward. {time} 0915 TAKING A KNEE VERSUS BENDING A KNEE (Ms. BALINT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.) Ms. BALINT. Mr. Speaker, I want to clarify something for some of my colleagues and for leaders across this country because there seems to be some confusion. There is a big difference between taking a knee and bending a knee. Taking a knee shows that you can hold many truths at once, you can love our country and believe that there is still more work to do. It shows that you are willing to do that work and to live up to our country's ideals. However, bending a knee is something quite different. Bending a knee is capitulation. It is what you do when you have given up, when you have lost your fight, when you have lost your way, when you are not willing to show courage, to show up, or to speak up. Taking a knee, you have got skin in the game. Bending a knee, you have given in, you have lost your self-respect. We were not elected to be obedient, to submit, to cower. We were not sent here to worship one man. We have no kings in America. We were sent here to work on behalf of the people. If you are not risking anything, you are not being brave. Show some grit and stand up for your people. ____________________