[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Mr. President, you know, I think Americans must look 
at what is happening up here in Washington, DC, and think that the 
Democrats look like squirrels dodging cars in traffic. This is Biden's 
America, one where the party in power is throwing policy spaghetti at 
the wall in hopes that one of their harebrained ideas will stick.
  It would be almost funny if our country wasn't staring down multiple 
problems as a result of the Biden administration's policy failures. And 
it is time the Democrats faced the facts. But after 10 months of 
President Biden running the country, how are ordinary Americans doing?
  Let's just take a look. Take the border crisis: a complete, 
predictable, self-inflicted disaster.
  On his first day in office, President Biden made the radical decision 
to open our borders by undoing many successful policies put in place by 
the Trump administration. They were working, and we changed them. You 
can draw a straight line from those ill-advised policy decisions to 
where we are as we speak.
  Two million illegal immigrants will have been apprehended by the end 
of this year, and those are just the ones that we caught. Oddly enough, 
this is one issue that the mainstream media and conservative media 
agree on.
  Here are a few recent headlines. From CNN: ``12,000 migrants have 
been waiting in makeshift camps under the Del Rio bridge in Texas.'' 
That is from CNN.
  And this from the Daily Caller: ``Migrants Illegally Crossing U.S.-
Mexico Border Thank''--they thank--President ``[Biden's] 
Administration.''
  Do those headlines sound like the southwest border is under control?
  Here is another headline for you. In a remarkable about-face, the 
Biden administration announced that it would reimplement the Trump-era 
Remain in Mexico policy after doing away with it on election day. They 
are going to reinstate it only because of a Federal judge. It is clear 
President Biden could have prevented this border crisis if he had not 
been focused on playing politics from his first day in office.
  This is Biden's America.
  How about the fact that President Biden didn't listen to the best 
military advice his top commanders gave him when it came to withdrawing 
troops in Afghanistan? America's best experts--GEN Mark Milley, GEN 
Frank McKenzie, and GEN Scott Miller--all advised the President to keep 
2,500 troops in Afghanistan to remain stable. Basically, at the end of 
the day, this was a State Department and President's decision.
  Instead, the President's strategy turned into billions in American 
equipment handed over to the Taliban; our most valuable airfield, 
Bagram--maybe one of the most valuable in the world--abandoned in dead 
of the night; Americans left behind in enemy lines that are still 
there; and a complete abandonment of our allies in Afghanistan. What a 
disaster.

  President Biden was more concerned about a good September 11 headline 
than a great strategy, more concerned about his press than saving 
American lives. The President's withdrawal will continue to be a stain 
on his legacy. Joe Biden created the worst American military foreign 
policy disaster in recent history, and the United States will be 
haunted by this decision for many years to come.
  Another fact about this is Biden's America: President Biden's 
policies have undercut economic growth and derailed rapid recovery that 
was taking place under the Trump administration. And this was even 
during a pandemic.
  Now prices are skyrocketing, businesses can't find people to work, 
and the United States is facing an unprecedented disruption in the 
supply chain. And this administration didn't know it was coming.
  Incredibly, the White House and its defenders continue to say that 
all of these deeply concerning realities are due to the fact that 
President Biden has been so successful in his economic policy. They are 
using the ``everything is so bad because President Biden is doing so 
good'' argument. Where in the world are they getting that from?
  This month, the President's own Chief of Staff promoted the idea that 
inflation is only a ``high-class problem,'' the 1 percent. Where has 
this guy been hiding? Try telling that to the middle-class families in 
Alabama who are seeing hard-earned money cover less at the grocery 
store and at the pump.
  The fact is, prices are rising--not just for the wealthy but for 
everybody. Consumer prices are at the highest point in 13 years, and 
inflation is costing American taxpayers $175 a month. Somebody is 
screwed up. Again, you can draw a straight line from the President's 
decisions to where we are now. It is what happens when you pay people 
to not rejoin the workforce, force vaccine mandates on workers, stifle 
growth with regulations, and waste trillions and trillions of dollars 
as our country attempts to recover from a pandemic.
  And it will only get worse with this $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend 
spree--not if when we raise taxes but when we raise taxes to pay for 
this socialist package. The American people aren't going to buy into 
it.
  The fact is that this is Biden's America. His agenda has led to the 
border crisis, foreign policy disasters, and a financial strain on 
American families. This is Biden's America, where Democrats are focused 
on finger-pointing and scoring political points instead of paying 
attention to the cold, hard facts of their policy failures.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.

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