Click here or on the image above to watch Senator Capito’s floor speech.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, delivered remarks on the Senate floor explaining the growth of the administrative state under President Biden and the consequences and costs it has resulted in for the American people.

Senator Capito’s floor remarks, as prepared for delivery, are included below:

“Mr/Madame President —

“Well, here we go again. I rise today to address this chamber as President Biden and his administration enter yet another summer of executive overreach, as the administration adds layer after layer of bureaucracy that spells negative consequences for nearly every aspect of American life.

“Throughout this president’s time in the White House, we haven’t seen much consistence… except when it comes to his desire to grow the influence of unelected government bureaucrats, defy congressional intent, and impose unnecessary rules, regulations, and red-tape. These things will forever define his administration and of June 7th of this year, the 946 final rules imposed by President Biden have cost the American taxpayer over 1.6 trillion dollars.

“For President Biden and his administration, I’d recommend a brief refresher on the history of the United States and the intent that inspired the framers of our Constitution.

“Our Founding Fathers were quick to recognize that power and authority vested in one body would create devastating costs for the future of our nation. That was the motivation behind establishing separated powers, creating a system of checks and balances across three equal branches of government.

“However, President Biden’s advocacy for the growth of the administrative state has put this separation into question. This goes against Article One of the Constitution, which states that ‘all legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States.’

“Let’s just take a few examples we’ve seen recently of outrageous overreach:

“First, something I’ve been very vocal about is the EPA’s Clean Power Plan 2.0, which will eliminate coal power generation and block new natural gas plants from coming online in the future. This rule from EPA is meant to put coal and natural gas employees out of work and shutter these baseload power plants once and for all.

“Next, we have the final rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that imposes burdensome federal staffing mandates on long-term care facilities. This is something that will be incredibly harmful to rural states like mine. Unattainable employee requirements like this could force many of these rural nursing homes to shut their doors, especially as rural health facilities face staffing shortages.

“Then there’s the Biden-HHS rule that endangers the safety and wellbeing of unaccompanied migrant children.

“Currently, migrant children who enter our country illegally without an adult are detained and placed in the Unaccompanied Children program.

“The HHS rule I’m referring to includes many harmful practices like, optional sponsor vetting, refusal to consider a sponsor’s criminal record, and weak standards for post-release home studies to determine a child’s status or safety once in custody of a sponsor.

“There are many heartbreaking stories we see with the border crisis, but this exploitation of children is one of the most devastating.

“Over at the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, they have an interim final rule that targets U.S. businesses that support Americans’ exercise of their Second Amendment rights. Specifically, it restricts the ability of American firearm, ammunition, and related-component manufacturers to obtain a license to export their products for sale. Aside from the fact that it’s unlawful, the interim rule will have a negative impact on these American manufacturers, their suppliers, and the jobs they support.

“Additionally at EPA, we saw the Coal Combustion Residuals final rule, also known as ‘coal ash,’ that imposes retroactive and costly regulations on coal ash management at inactive coal-fired power plants. This highlights yet another anti-energy rule from the Biden administration that would throw our power grid into even more uncertainty.

“The volume of these efforts truly goes to show the broken rulemaking process of this administration. It also underscores Biden’s bureaucratic blunders and his administration’s ineffective style of government.

“While each rule may seem unrelated from one another, they strike a common chord: President Biden’s administrative state is out of control.

“They would rather impose harmful regulations that restrict American’s rights and make life more difficult for our families than work with Congress on pragmatic solutions. And they further escalate the ‘hidden tax’ generated by these regulations that often receives too-little attention.

“The growth of the administrative state has distorted the way that policy and lawmaking works in Washington, D.C. This shift away from letting Congress legislate openly defies the basis our country was built on, and takes the power away from the people through the representatives they elect.

“Remember, the Constitution starts with: ‘we the people.’ It does not start with: ‘we the administration.’ I encourage President Biden and my colleagues in Congress to recognize that.

“So, while President Biden and his bloated bureaucracy attempt to put major limitations on American energy, decimate the healthcare workforce for our seniors, tax-and-spend their way to higher prices, cast our southern border into chaos, and put restrictions on American’s Constitutional rights, Senate Republicans will continue to fight and hold the administration accountable, and return authority back to the American people on the issues that impact them every single day. That is what they sent us here to do.

“With that, I yield the floor.”

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