[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 171 (Thursday, September 30, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H5559-H5560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FAILING TO LEAD

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Iowa 
(Mr. Feenstra) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FEENSTRA. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the President's 
complete and utter failure to lead our country effectively over the 
last 9 months.
  Despite the optimistic vision he portrayed in his inaugural address, 
President Biden has created crisis after crisis--from our economy and 
energy independence to national and border security.
  Back in February my Republican colleagues and I warned Democrats' 
reckless spending would have a devastating inflationary effect. In 
fact, many experts at the time, including former President Obama's top 
economist, warned spending trillions more would devalue our dollar and 
cause prices of goods and services to increase.
  Sure enough, just one month later, we learned that the Consumer Price 
Index had its highest monthly jump in nearly 10 years. The Producer 
Price Index has also skyrocketed by 8.3 percent, which is also a 
record.
  While the Biden administration continues turning a blind eye to 
inflation, top economists are warning inflation is here to stay for 
years to come, and it will only get worse if the Democrats pass over $5 
trillion in additional spending.

  This is a hidden tax hike on every American family, on top of their 
historic tax increases that are part of the $4.2 trillion tax-and-
spending spree that we will be discussing over the next several days. 
This is completely reckless for our businesses, our farmers, and our 
families.
  Instead of reining in spending, President Biden and his Democrat 
colleagues are leaning into the economic crisis they have created. In 
fact, the President has attempted to gaslight the American people by 
making the false claim that their $5.5 trillion so-called 
infrastructure package will cost zero dollars. Even the leftists at The 
Washington Post aren't buying it, calling the claim truly misleading.
  The crisis at our southern border, which the Biden administration has 
gone to great lengths to ignore, has continued raging on.
  In May I went to Texas with Congressman Gonzales to see the border 
firsthand. I received an aerial tour of the Big Bend sector, a remote 
part of the border where apprehensions of drugs, weapons, and other 
contraband are at record levels.
  Law enforcement on the ground told us directly that they needed more 
support from the administration. Sadly,

[[Page H5560]]

several months later, it is still clear that no help has been on the 
way.
  In August, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that they 
have made over 200,000 apprehensions of drugs, up 317 percent from just 
a year ago.
  Biden's failure to lead and take control of this situation has 
created a devolving humanitarian crisis, a national security crisis, 
and a public health crisis at our southern border.
  Biden has also failed to lead on our world stage. Our tragic and 
disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan is the sole responsibility of 
President Biden and his colossal failure to lead as Commander in Chief.
  The administration still owes the American people answers. Why were 
billions of dollars of military equipment left behind for the Taliban? 
Why did we cave to the Taliban's timeline? Why did we fail to evacuate 
every single American before leaving?
  Just this week we learned Biden lied to the American people regarding 
the advice he received from his top military generals. The commander of 
the U.S. Central Command testified under oath that he recommended 
keeping a small force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, yet Biden 
previously told the American people that no one recommended keeping 
this limited troop presence.
  Biden has been silent as the far left wing of his party has attacked 
Israel and their right to defend themselves. Abandoning our allies, 
abandoning and lying to the American people, this seems to be the Biden 
leadership doctrine.
  Under the President's leadership, we are no longer energy 
independent. On his first day of office, Biden killed the XL pipeline, 
eliminating 11,000 great jobs. He put Paris over Paullina, Iowa, and 
other communities in my district by rejoining the climate accords, 
which will cause electricity to skyrocket.
  Yet this same woke progressive administration that pretends to care 
so much about the climate is about to give a huge win to the oil 
industry. They are undermining clean-burning biofuels by attacking the 
renewable fuel standard, leaving crop growers and my biofuels producers 
behind in the dust.
  It seems the Biden leadership doctrine in a nutshell has been to ruin 
this economy and is undermining our independence.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded again to refrain from 
engaging in personalities toward the President.

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