WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today highlighted his plans to hold China accountable through his Foreign Pollution Fee and his plan to save Social Security from insolvency during U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent’s confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.
“I’ve been very concerned that countries like China manipulate environmental regulations. You point out that they are building hundreds of coal fire plants,” said Dr. Cassidy. “When we met, we discussed the Foreign Pollution Fee, which would put a levy—a tariff—on those carbon intensive products coming from countries like China… it’s clearly a way [China] is manipulating the world economy to steal jobs from the United States.”
“I think this is a very interesting idea, that it could be part of an entire tariff program,” replied Bessent.
Cassidy also discussed the urgent need to address Social Security insolvency, noting that the Social Security Trust Fund is expected to go insolvent in approximately eight years.
“I and others have a bipartisan plan that would create a pension investment fund, separate from the Social Security Trust Fund, and just like we do with our 401k’s, invest it in the broader economy and use the proceeds from that to offset the upcoming 25% cut in Social Security benefits that will occur if we don’t address this problem,” said Dr. Cassidy. “[O]ther advisors to the incoming president have spoken of creating an investment fund.”
“One of the tragedies of this blowout in the budget deficit is we have to get our short-term house in order to start, before we can start [sic] implementing the smart plans such as yours,” said Bessent. “I do believe that there is discussion to leverage the asset side of the U.S. balance sheet… that is very much in the mix.”
“If confirmed, this is something that I think could be very exciting, because we always look at the debt of the United States, and we have fantastic assets that could be earning, leveraged, or used for multiple revenue generating opportunities,” concluded Bessent.
Background
Last month, Cassidy and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) released a new discussion draft of their Foreign Pollution Fee Act to level the playing field with Chinese manufacturing and expand American production for public comment. In addition, the Steel Manufacturers Association, which represents 70 percent of the nation’s steel production, called on President-elect Trump and Congress to institute a foreign pollution fee.
The Foreign Pollution Fee Act was a key topic at Cassidy’s Louisiana Energy Security Summit. The summit featured ten panels that explored protecting U.S. interests from unfair trade practices, Louisiana’s low-emission manufacturing advantage, and the role of natural gas in strengthening U.S. geopolitical influence. Panelists included presidents and CEOs from Entergy, First Solar, Buzzi UnicemUSA, Orsted, and Aluminum Technologies, former Trump administration officials, and leaders from Louisiana trade associations and major energy and Fortune 500 companies.
In 2023, the Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution urging Congress to pursue an industrial manufacturing and trade policy to counter competition from China. Learn more here.
On Social Security, Cassidy has led a bipartisan working group to preserve and protect Social Security. Last Congress, he released the inaugural Bill on the Hill video where he asked Capitol Hill visitors from across the country their thoughts on the looming benefit cuts to Social Security and presented his “Big Idea.”
Cassidy successfully led the effort to hold a Senate vote on the Social Security Fairness Act to repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) last month as well. In July and again earlier this month, Cassidy spoke on the U.S. Senate floor urging Congress to repeal WEP and GPO as part of his “Big Idea” to save, strengthen, and secure America’s retirement system. In June, Cassidy entered a statement into the record urging the repeal of WEP and GPO ahead of the U.S. Senate Finance Subcommittee field hearing on Social Security.
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