March 11, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 43 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Pages S1749-S1750]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           The Green New Deal

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, in the last couple of weeks, I have come 
to the floor for a few short comments on the Green New Deal. I have 
compared it to the New Deal of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt 
administration and its attempt to get us out of the Depression with the 
New Deal then.
  In his 1932 campaign for President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt called 
for what he called a ``bold persistent experimentation.'' That is a 
pretty good description of the New Deal. It wasn't a very cohesive 
plan, but it was a collection of disconnected policies. In that sense, 
the Green New Deal emulates its namesake. It, too, is kind of a 
collection of disconnected policies.
  The New Deal of the 1930s failed to pull the economy out of the 
Depression that actually ended at the beginning of World War II. It is 
not surprising, however, that it didn't pull us out of the Depression 
because it didn't create economic growth. Economic growth needs

[[Page S1750]]

predictable and sensible tax and regulatory policies. We have seen the 
fruits of this approach under the Trump administration. So let's not, 
through the Green Deal, kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
  The Green New Deal is both breathtaking in its professed ambitions 
and, quite frankly, laughably weak. It is just a resolution calling on 
the government to enact a whole range of policies.
  Then, why not introduce a bill that actually does something rather 
than a resolution calling for future implausible actions?
  It is supposed to be about protecting the environment. As someone 
with a track record of real bipartisan achievements that have resulted 
in a cleaner environment, I don't get it. If you want to know my 
credentials there, I am the father of the wind energy tax credit, just 
as an example. We get 38 percent of our electricity from wind in Iowa.
  What do universal healthcare--another item of the Green New Deal--or 
free college tuition or a Federal jobs guarantee program have to do 
with the environment anyway? All of those things are in the Green New 
Deal.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Scott of Florida). Without objection, it 
is so ordered.