US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urged legislators to approve additional investment in renewable energy and higher taxes on the wealthy on Tuesday, as she defended the administration's efforts to blunt the effects of inflation.
Ms Yellen was updating the Senate Finance Committee in the first of two days of testimony on President Joe Biden's budget for the 2023 fiscal year.
"I believe there's a lot that Congress can do to ease the cost burdens that households are experiencing," she said.
Besides renewable energy investment — which Ms Yellen said could help address high petrol prices — the Treasury Secretary backed more spending on housing and efforts to rein in pharmaceutical prices.
She highlighted the Biden administration's historically large release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease the cost for drivers at the pump, which have skyrocketed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hitting record prices daily, with the national average at $4.92 a gallon on Tuesday.
"Gas prices, while very high ... would be higher without that," Ms Yellen said.
The hearings come as Mr Biden contends with a low favourability rating before crucial midterm elections, with the pain from higher petrol and food prices outweighing a strong job market and 3.6 per cent unemployment.
Ms Yellen was warmly received by Senate Democrats, but Republicans highlighted the administration's energy and climate policies as a reason for the current crunch and characterised the government's 2021 American Rescue Plan as a main reason for inflation.
"What I heard you say is that it is OK to raise taxes right now and that it is proper to have more stimulus spending to deal with this crisis," said Senator Mike Crapo, a Republican representing Idaho.
"I just have to say I disagree with you on that."
Ms Yellen defended the American Rescue Plan, saying the administration took action in response to forecasts that unemployment could top 9 per cent given the headwinds amid the Covid-19 upheaval.
At the time, she said "the overwhelming risk was that Americans would be scarred by a deep and long recession".
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Sterling 46', De Bruyne 65', Gundogan 70')
Aston Villa 0
Red card: Fernandinho (Manchester City)
Man of the Match: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
Company%20profile
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
