[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[House]
[Page H6077]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TURKEY DAY TAX HIKE
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, this Thanksgiving will be the most expensive
on record, and Americans have the Biden administration to thank.
Put yourself in the shoes of hardworking families across America.
Every morning they wake up and leave for work. The moment their feet
touch the ground outside, inflation is already reaching for their
wallets. They turn on their cars and head to the gas station where
inflation is ready and waiting for them. At the grocery store,
inflation is lurking within the aisles.
It is a sobering reality for so many working families, and people are
rightfully angry. I share their anger.
Mr. Speaker, consider what these working families are thinking as
Thanksgiving approaches. Will they be able to afford President Biden's
turkey tax on Thanksgiving dinner? Will they even be able to get
themselves to the grocery store in time before the shelves are empty?
Will they even be able to get to the grocery store at all because of
rising gas prices?
Consider this: Thanksgiving dinner this year is estimated to cost 4
to 5 percent more for American families, and that is assuming they will
be able to put food on the table.
Just this morning I did an interview with a local radio station in
the Fifth District. The host remarked to me that under the Biden
administration we are going to have to get used to empty shelves and
rising prices. I take great issue with where the direction of this
country is headed under this administration.
Americans have been told to ``lower their expectations'' and to get
used to doing with less. No, we won't. This is America, and we do not
settle for less. We are better than meeting meager expectations,
lowering the bar, and expecting less. That is just not who we are as a
country, and it certainly is not who we are as a people.
Let's not forget that this administration touted an alleged savings
of 16 cents for family barbecues over the Independence Day weekend
earlier this year. Nobody took that claim seriously then, and it
certainly does not hold up now.
From President Biden's turkey tax to rising gas prices, empty store
shelves to rising costs of heating homes during the winter, everyone is
feeling the squeeze of inflation. This is not a high-class problem by
any stretch of the imagination.
Since President Biden took office, we have watched every month as
inflation has ravaged the country. What is this administration
thinking? Is it so blind to the fact that families and hardworking
Americans are struggling to make ends meet?
Mr. Speaker, the holiday season is on the horizon and Americans are
more concerned than ever. With Thanksgiving dinner and everyday
commodities becoming out of reach now, Christmas dinner will cost
Americans an arm and a leg. This is downright shameful.
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