Schumer Floor Remarks On AG Barr’s Continued Failure To Be Impartial, The Need To Approve Disaster Relief Funding For Puerto Rico And Other Hard-Hit Regions Across The U.S., The Republican Tax Scam, And Interior Secretary Nominee David Bernhardt

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today spoke on the Senate floor regarding AG Barr’s continued failure to be impartial, the need to approve disaster relief funding for Puerto Rico and other hard-hit regions across the U.S., the Republican tax scam, and Interior Secretary nominee David Bernhardt. Below are his remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Well, Mr. President, if anyone wonders whether Attorney General Barr is a straight shooter, this week we got our answer.

Yesterday, at the Senate Appropriations Committee, the country saw another disconcerting performance by the Attorney General. In the face of serious questions surrounding the release of the Mueller Report, the Attorney General did exactly what President Trump wanted: he dodged questions, peddled a conspiracy theory, and – like the president–lobbed baseless accusations. It is clear for Mr. Barr, the title he holds is far less important than the boss he serves.

What he did not say is that Russia attacked our democracy, as all 17 agencies of our intelligence community have confirmed.

What he did not say is that the intelligence community concluded the Russians infiltrated our democracy to help Donald Trump. 

What he also didn’t say is why he continues to wait on releasing the Mueller report. It took him less than forty-eight hours to summarize over 300 pages, but over two weeks and counting to release the report itself?

Instead of giving straight answers, Mr. Barr seemed to be nothing more than a spokesperson for the President’s campaign. He seems more like the president’s Press Secretary than the Attorney General. He’s even using the president’s own tactics: admit nothing, deny everything, and make counter accusations.

Many of us tried to give Mr. Barr a chance.  But after this week’s performance, it’s clear as day. He and the president are working off the same playbook and planning to withhold crucial facts from the American people.  

And what’s really important is this, when Attorney General Barr issues his report, his objectivity will be in total doubt. No one will believe when he recuses large parts of the report that it was done on the merits. People will believe that he recuses parts of the report to help President Trump. How will the American people be able to trust Mr. Barr and how will the American people be able to believe that his version of the report is the real version when he has been so, so partisan and willing to peddle Fox News conspiracy theories before the appropriations committee yesterday?

When Mr. Barr was first nominated as Attorney General, the question posed to him was “would he be part of the Trump legal team or an independent agent of the law?”

I think we have our answer, as we watch him echo President Trump’s statements and enable President Trump’s worst instincts.

Whether it’s defending the Administration’s dangerous health care lawsuit or perpetuating conspiracy theories, Mr. Barr is acting more like a member of the president’s campaign than the independent Attorney General he’s supposed to be.

Mr. Barr is letting down thousands, tens of thousands of hard-working people at the Justice Department. They’re doing their job! When someone is given real information that Russia interfered with our elections, of course they’re supposed to look into it, that’s part of their job. For Mr. Barr to label this as spying, echoing some of the worst conspiracy theorists in the country, he loses all credibility and that credibility is vital. Because he’ll be issuing a report with redactions.

Again, when Mr. Barr issues a report, his objectivity in terms of what should be redacted and what shouldn’t will be in total doubt because of his performance yesterday. How again will the American people be able to trust the Attorney General that he has given them the most information he could rather than the least? That he is giving the American people a full view of what happened rather than protecting the president? People are just not going to believe it.

So the bottom line is that yesterday's performance calls into complete question the objectivity and even the judgment of the Attorney General. He does not seem to be an independent actor pursuing rule of law. He rather seems to be somebody simply ready to help the president, no matter what the price.

Now, on another matter: it is an absolute travesty that this chamber is recessing without a compromise on much needed funding for disaster relief.

From the start, Democrats have supported an all-of-the-above approach, help every part of America that's struggling from natural disasters.  We need to help everyone hurt last year, everyone hurt this year…everyone hurt in Puerto Rico, everyone hurt in the Middle West, everyone hurt in Florida, everyone hurt in Texas, in Alabama, in Mississippi, and Georgia. Everyone. As in the American tradition, comes together when we have disasters and we help everyone.

Now our Republicans friends seem to have a different view. They want disaster relief that explicitly denies Puerto Rico the help it needs, even though they are American citizens like everybody else. They heard President Trump’s temper tantrum at their lunch a few Tuesdays back and they’ve obeyed. This is un-American. We should not be picking and choosing who gets disaster relief.

When Americans suffer, we all step in. We all help. President Trump does not believe that, but where are our senators standing up for this principle? The compassion of the American people is much greater than President Trump’s small-minded contempt for the people of Puerto Rico. And the Senate – and particularly senators from the disaster states who need that money ought to have the courage to resist it instead of making up stories and pointing fingers of blame.

Republicans have refused to present a serious solution that can pass the House and the Senate. We all know that Puerto Rico is not treated equally; it will not be seen on the floor of the House. We all know that the Governor of Puerto Rico has said that the solution that Republicans are supporting is not adequate for Puerto Rico. We all know that.

So it’s a tragedy that the Republican Leadership in this chamber has refused to help American citizens before going into recess. They own the mess they’re creating across America, and with each passing day, the American people see it.

Well Mr. President, Tax Day is coming up and we have seen another travesty of the Republican Senate. When Republicans pushed their tax scam, it was sold as a “middle class miracle.” They promised it would prioritize middle class families. President Trump and others promised Americans would get a $4000 raise every year. That’s what President Trump promised due to his tax cuts. He said his tax cuts for the very wealthy and the big corporations will benefit every American to the tune of $4,000 a year.

Unsurprisingly, this Republican tax scam has now defaulted on its promise to lift up average American families.

For too many Americans expecting a tax refund, they’ve gotten nothing or worse. After this tax season, the jig is up.

In fairness, there is one part of America that’s made the killing—the very wealthy. Indeed, 83% of the benefits in the Republican Tax Bill will eventually go to the top 1% of earners. And the American people know it – a recent poll shows more than 60% of Americans believe the wealthy and corporations – big corporations – have been helped by the tax law. They’re right.  

Unfortunately, corporations aren’t using their windfalls as our Republican friends promised. They’re not boosting worker pay by and large, or increasing benefits, or creating jobs. According to a recent survey, 84% of companies say they have not changed their plans because of the tax law.

No. What are they doing with the money they got? They’re spending billions in windfall on record corporate stock buybacks. Not benefitting their workers, not benefitting their community – benefitting the CEOs of the corporations because the shares generally go up, and benefitting the top 10% of America who own 85% of all the stocks.

Unfortunately this story doesn’t end at making the rich richer – American workers are suffering while those same corporate executives and the very wealthy shareholders cash in.

Take the case of CSX, a freight rail company spending billions of dollars on stock buybacks after benefitting from the tax law. We just heard last week, CSX announced that they’re laying off 100 workers in Kentucky, Leader McConnell’s own back yard. Not a $4,000 raise – a pink slip. You’d think with all these tax benefits, workers would benefit – doesn’t seem to be happening.

And that story that happened in Kentucky can be repeated throughout the country. It’s hard to look at these examples with a straight face and say that the middle class factored at all into the Republican tax bill. It was a trick – no trickle down, just a trick.

So as Americans finish their filings this year, they’ll know exactly who to blame if they see their taxes go up. They’ll know who to blame if they don’t get a refund or if they owe the IRS. The tax bill is already a stunningly unpopular piece of legislation. I don’t recall a single Republican campaigning on it. Shows they weren’t proud of it. But after this tax season, the Republican tax bill will be even further crystallized in the minds of everyday Americans as a scam that left them out to dry while soaking the ultra-wealthy with even more wealth.

Now on Mr. Bernhardt. Yesterday I sat down with David Bernhardt, President Trump’s choice for Secretary of Interior, and I pressed him on some things that we should all know before we vote on his confirmation.

I asked Mr. Bernhardt, do you agree that climate change is real, caused by humans, and that we must act? I asked Mr. Bernhardt, would he commit to not opening up the waters off our coasts to harmful drilling, even off the coasts of states opposed to such drilling? And what will he do about his well-documented web of conflicting interests?

I got no answers to these questions. I would remind all my colleagues on the Atlantic Coast that again, I asked him at least to commit that he wouldn’t do drilling off the shore of states that didn’t want drilling off their shores. He would not commit to that. And there’s word that there’s a plan in the Interior Department to allow that to happen.

This is the same administration who promised to clean the swamp and rid Washington of corruption?

And yet it’s a twisted parody to think that President Trump wants an oil and gas lobbyist to lead the Department of Interior. What a contradiction. What a betrayal.

And it doesn’t stop there: Mr. Bernhardt reportedly participated in efforts to launch a White House climate denial panel – the sole purpose of which was to rebuke accepted science. We cannot allow the work of our federal agencies to fall into the hands of people like this.

So it’s hard to imagine someone whose background is so at odds with the Department’s mission as Mr. Bernhardt’s. I cannot in good conscience vote in favor of his confirmation. For the same reasons, I urge all my fellow Senators – particularly those along the coasts – to vote against this nomination to protect their shoreline and their beaches. 

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