Republican Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) explained in an impassioned Senate floor speech on Monday how “environmental extremists,” under the leadership of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), are delaying critical assistance to the American people in a time of economic crisis to pursue a “liberal wishlist.”
He noted how their demands, which include an entire cap and trade system for the airline industry, do nothing to help the American people.
Barrasso is one of several GOP lawmakers who delivered speeches on the Senate floor following the Democrats, led by Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), refusing to pass bipartisan legislation to provide economic relief to millions of Americans as the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the American economy.
The government has a duty to provide relief, he stressed, because it is shutting down the economy. While the bipartisan relief measure addressed the economic crisis, Barrasso said Pelosi “flew back from California to throw a monkey wrench into the works” and did so successfully. She and her party of “environmental extremists” are holding up critical aid, all to pursue their radical Green New Deal agenda, Barrasso stressed:
This bill is about our health care system. It’s about our economy. It’s about money in people’s pockets who through no fault of their own are finding themselves in a position they’ve never been in before. Ever. Where they can’t go out and knock on a door and say, ‘Will you hire me? I’m ready to go to work,’ whether it’s a farmer, a rancher — anyone. They can’t do that today because the government says you may not. You stay home. You might have a good job. A job you love. Can’t go to it today. Monday. You want everyone to work on a Monday. Not in America on this Monday. And so there’s a role and a responsibility of us to step in and do what the role of government ought to be in this case of crisis — a crisis caused by both a disease and the economy. The government’s action is shut down the economy, and yet Democrats, one after another, continue to block it. And they’re not blocking it for things that have to do with actually helping the American people.
Simply put, Democrats, led by Pelosi, are using the economic crisis to pursue a “liberal wishlist,” he explained.
“It is a wishlist, a liberal wishlist. It’s astonishing. They are delaying direct assistance so they can play to the liberal left,” Barrasso said, placing the blame directly on the “environmental extremists.”
“The environmental extremists. The labor special interests. We’re here trying to fight for the man and woman on the street in our home towns, and yet they’re fighting for the Green New Deal,” he said.
“Bernie Sanders may have lost to Joe Biden, but the Green New Deal of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and that entire crew is alive and well in the Democrat cloakroom and is controlling the actions today on the floor of the United States Senate,” he continued.
The lawmaker explained some of the demands Pelosi is pressing — demands completely unrelated to the crisis at hand:
They want to put up an entire cap and trade system for the airline industry. That’s a worthy debate to have, but not on this bill. They want to expand tax credits for wind and for solar power. That’s a debate that is worthy of being held, but not on this bill today.
“That’s not going to help one person who’s having problems breathing to get a respirator that they need,” he added. “That’s what’s holding this up.”
Barrasso added that the Speaker’s push has everything to do with a deal she cut with the Democrat caucus in order to remain Speaker of the House.
Pelosi “has been pushing this extreme environmental agenda from the moment she cut the deal to remain as Speaker and said to the liberals, ‘I will do what you want if you just allow me to be Speaker again,'” he explained.
That, he continued, is why she is packing her proposal with progressive agenda items like diversity on corporate boards, collective bargaining, and election reform.
“Where does that fit into a bill to rescue the American people who right now find themselves in the throes of a disease that may kill them and an economy that has been shut down?” he pondered.
“That’s why the Democrats aren’t on this floor,” Barrasso added. “Because what they are doing cannot be defended.”