[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H208-H214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
52 WEEKS OF BROKEN PROMISES
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Banks) is recognized
for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, today, at least on one question, Americans
are more united than ever before. This week, as we mark the 1-year mark
of the Biden Presidency, the vast majority of the American people agree
that the Biden Presidency has been a failure.
After 1 year in office, President Biden's approval rating is the
lowest ever recorded after the first year in office of any President in
American history.
Why is no mystery. By every measure, Americans are worse off today
than when Biden took office. Inflation, crime, the debt, the border,
Afghanistan, a never-ending pandemic, Americans have endured
humiliation abroad and division at home, and all of these disasters are
man-made.
Everyone knows why inflation is at a 40-year high. Everyone knows why
Americans' wages have been cut by 3 percent or more. Democrats spent
trillions and then passed the largest Federal budget in history.
How, in less than a year, did we go from energy independence to
begging Saudi Arabia for oil? Well, maybe it has something to do with
the President banning new natural gas production in the United States.
You see, the media wants to make things complicated. They want you to
believe that no one really knows why you are paying close to $4 per
gallon at the pump. They want to separate the consequences of the last
year from its cause. But don't be fooled, Madam Speaker.
There is a border crisis because the Biden administration stopped
building the wall, cut deportations by 90 percent, and reversed every
single one of President Trump's successful border enforcement measures.
Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to
45 because it, too, is pouring across a wide-open southern border. It
is that simple.
Crime immediately shot up after Democrats' antipolice riots, because
of Democrats' antipolice riots.
There are still hundreds of Americans stranded in Afghanistan because
the Biden administration didn't prioritize its own citizens for
evacuation.
President Biden's COVID policies do not work. That is why COVID
cases, hospitalizations, and deaths all rose during the Biden
Presidency. Americans endured mandatory vaccinations, pointless mask
mandates, endless school closures, and never-ending Dr. Fauci
interviews. And it was all for nothing.
Americans can see what is in front of them. That is why they have
rejected this administration. The proof is in the pudding, and the
pudding is stale.
The question is, can Americans endure 3 more years just like the last
one? I believe that they can, but they shouldn't have to. That is why
the Republican Study Committee is here tonight. We will hold the Biden
administration accountable every step of the way. We will make sure
that the past year of crises and catastrophes never repeats itself.
Madam Speaker, tonight, I will yield to a number of my colleagues,
like the next speaker. The gentlewoman from the great State of Indiana
(Mrs. Walorski) is going to share some thoughts with us.
Mrs. WALORSKI. Madam Speaker, the American people have faced 52 weeks
of broken promises.
The President who promised to unite the American people instead has
pitted citizens against one another.
The President who promised to work with Americans across the
political spectrum has prioritized a radical agenda that caters only to
the extreme wing of his party.
The President who promised to protect the American people has left us
vulnerable at the southern border and across the world.
The President who promised to build back better has only hindered
America's economic recovery.
For a year, we have witnessed failure after failure. The American
people have paid the price. Day after day, Hoosiers and Americans
across the country experience the real ramifications of the Biden
administration's policy agenda.
With inflation at a 40-year high, we are paying the price of the
President's reckless spending during every trip to the grocery store
and the gas station.
Despite spending trillions of dollars on the President's so-called
rescue plan, we are facing escalating supply chain bottlenecks and
workforce shortages with no end in sight.
Thanks to the Biden administration's open border policy, every town
across America is a border town. As illicit drugs pour across the open
southern border, including a 1,000 percent increase of fentanyl last
year, every neighborhood is at risk.
[[Page H209]]
While Democrats work to defund the police, Americans are facing
dangerous crime surges in cities all across the country.
In the end, it all comes down to control. If you don't want to get
the vaccine, you are fired. If you dare to ask what your children are
learning in school, you are labeled a domestic terrorist.
This is America under 52 weeks of Joe Biden's leadership. The
American people deserve better.
{time} 1930
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the great State
of Indiana for her comments. I know she and I both agree that Hoosiers
are sick and tired of this leadership, or lack thereof, that we have
seen from President Biden over the last year.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms.
Foxx), the ranking member of the House Education and Labor Committee
and a great mentor and colleague.
Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Indiana for
holding this Special Order tonight and calling attention to the
problems of the past year.
I could use many words to describe President Biden's first full year
in office, but the one that comes to mind immediately is incompetence.
There is a blueprint for the economic and societal ruin that has
stabbed America in its back for a year. This administration is the
architect of that blueprint.
Inflation has skyrocketed to its highest level in 40 years.
Job creators have faced innumerable setbacks that have threatened
their livelihoods.
The ever-growing Federal bureaucracy has metastasized like a cancer.
Parents have been targeted by the FBI and DOJ in what can only be
described as a wave of new-age McCarthyism that has been spun by this
administration.
The southern border has all but collapsed due to gross mismanagement.
The list goes on and on.
Simply put, the policies and actions of this administration mirror
the agenda of political arsonists.
No matter how ambitious or forward-thinking the Biden administration
tries to bill itself as, it cannot shake the stench of incompetence
that surrounds every initiative it heads up.
Socialism is no longer an ominous shadow on the horizon. This
administration has brought it to our doorstep.
This great country must be saved from the ruin that this
administration has created.
Republicans will be the ones to save it.
Republicans will be the ones to safeguard the values and freedoms
that have always defined America.
Republicans will be the ones to turn this country around and deliver
for the American people.
When we retake the House of Representatives and the Senate this year,
that is precisely what we will do.
Americans demand it, and we will act.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, from Indiana to North Carolina to Kansas
and beyond, the American people are feeling the effects of this
disastrous administration.
I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Estes), my colleague and my
friend, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, and a
leader in the Republican Study Committee.
Mr. ESTES. Madam Speaker, this week we look back over a year of
failures; from the economy and crime to foreign policy and national
security. There is not one area where a year of total Democrat control
shouldn't receive an F.
It is hard to believe it was only a year ago this Thursday that
President Biden swore to uphold the Constitution just outside the
building from where we stand today.
Despite assuring the American people that he sought to unify the
country, Biden's first hours in office were marked by divisive and
controversial executive orders.
Biden's incompetent economic policies destroyed our chance at a
strong economic recovery and harmed hardworking families and small
businesses.
A year later, Americans are paying about 50 percent more each time
they fill up their tank. That is after President Biden canceled the
Keystone XL pipeline, halted new oil and gas leasing on Federal land,
and proposed burdensome taxes and regulations on small energy
producers. These policies all matter. They impact real people.
That is why tonight I wanted to share some insight and experiences
from folks in Kansas after a year of President Biden holding office.
Nick, a new father in Derby, has certainly noticed the increase in
fuel. He just had a baby last year and started a new job. Paying more
at the pump means that he has less for his newborn's needs, and as
every new parent knows, diapers aren't cheap.
But that is not the only thing Kansans are paying more for.
The Biden administration has directly caused rising prices by
flooding the economy with their Big Government spending. The prices of
many other everyday goods like beef, bacon, eggs, chicken, and coffee.
That is a lot for any American, but it is especially noticeable for
Nancy, a grandmother on a fixed income. She shared that each time she
goes to the grocery store she notices her grocery bill keeps going up.
That is not to mention bare shelves and out-of-stock items that many
Kansans have experienced when they go shopping.
Beyond the economy, we have witnessed the failure to keep our country
safe from illicit drugs flowing into our country at the southern
border.
Executive orders have halted the production of a barrier at our
southern border, and open border policies have allowed drugs and
trafficking to become commonplace. Every State is now a border State,
as fentanyl makes its way to communities in Kansas and across the
country.
CBP reports that more pounds of fentanyl were seized at the southern
border than in the previous 2 years combined.
In a recent survey, a majority of Kansans from my district told me
the issues of most importance to them are the economy, rising prices,
immigration, and our Federal deficit.
It is time for Congress and the President to start addressing these
core concerns. Americans cannot afford another year of radical
socialist policies with this administration.
I thank my good friend from Indiana for hosting this Special Order.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Estes for his comments.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Moore), one
of our leaders in Congress on the Republican side fighting for veterans
every day on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and my colleague and
friend.
Mr. MOORE of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today to mark the 1-year
anniversary of the Biden administration. And what a year it has been.
The crisis raging across our Nation because of the incompetency of
this administration threaten the lives and livelihoods of countless
Americans.
On his first day in office, President Biden gave a taste of what was
to come by spitefully eliminating President Trump's border policies and
stopping the wall, fueling a border crisis that we have not seen in a
generation.
The drug and human trafficking that we have seen at our porous border
reaches every community in our Nation. Untold numbers of American
families who have lost loved ones to drugs and violence, those families
will be broken forever.
But instead of coming after criminals, Biden's Justice Department has
focused its crosshairs on engaged parents--moms and dads--and labeling
them just because they had concerns about CRT or maybe mask mandates,
they are labeled as domestic terrorists and now are charged with hate
crimes.
Our economy is in shambles. The Biden jobs deficit, the difference
between jobs created and those he promised to create as part of his so-
called stimulus from March, has swelled to 1.11 million.
Historic inflation has surged to the highest level in four decades.
Gas and energy prices are at the highest they have been since the
Obama-Biden administration.
The supply chain crisis has brought any economic recovery to a
standstill. Have you been to the grocery store lately? Retailers are
facing a 12 percent out-of-stock level on many household
[[Page H210]]
staples. Empty shelves are the new norm.
And let's not forget the pandemic. President Biden centered his
campaign on having a solution for the virus. It is clear now that like
every other crisis we face, Biden has no plan.
By resorting to harmful and unconstitutional mandates and shutdowns,
President Biden is threatening the very liberty that is the foundation
of this great American experiment.
And then there is Afghanistan, an issue that is very personal to me.
What the Biden administration allowed to happen there, leaving so many
Americans and allies behind to the Taliban is a historic tragedy.
But does Joe Biden seek unity? No. He resorts to smearing over half
the American people who disagree with his radical agenda.
But that is how this leadership of the Democratic Party in Washington
thinks. They believe that the country is theirs to govern as they wish,
to force their will on you and me.
Well, we have had 1 year of Democratic Party control; and in only 1
year, the Democratic Party has tried to take our country from us. I say
it is time we take it back.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, as President Biden continues to fail the
American people in so many ways and his poor leadership has created
crisis after crisis after crisis, I can't think of anywhere in the
country that shows us just the opposite type of leadership than the
free and open State of Florida.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs.
Cammack), one of Florida's great leaders, a freshman leader in the
Republican Study Committee, my colleague and friend.
Mrs. CAMMACK. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from the great State
of Indiana for yielding, and I am still holding out for my honorary
Hoosier title.
Madam Speaker, this week we mark 1 year since Joe Biden was sworn in
as President and Commander in Chief of the United States. Now, there
are 525,600 minutes in a whole year, and somehow Biden has used every
single one of those minutes to diminish and destroy the strength of the
American economy, its workers, and our national security. During the
first year of the Biden Presidency, America has faced more COVID deaths
than in the prior year, a disastrous exit from Afghanistan of which we
are still getting Americans out, a 40-year high inflation rate, and so
much more.
Now, this country has spent the last year staring down a border
crisis that has gone unmanaged and a pandemic that has gone unabated.
In 2021 alone, there were over 1.7 million border encounters. Keep in
mind, the comparison of 500,000 or less the year prior. Now, while our
brave border agents were left underresourced and unsupported, this
administration first attempted to ignore the crisis then sought to
downplay the consequences. The so-called border czar, Vice President
Harris, refused to visit the border and see this crisis firsthand. This
amounted to criminal negligence, and Americans won't soon forget the
role that Biden and his administration played in dramatically weakening
America's national security.
Now, as millions of illegal immigrants poured over our southwest
border, COVID continued to sweep through the United States. The Biden
administration was caught flatfooted, once again, on testing capacity
nationwide and distribution of critical lifesaving therapeutic
treatments. In my home State of Florida, we had a fantastic monoclonal
antibody treatment program going, and the Federal Government stepped in
and stopped it. Why? Because they are threatened by the freedom. They
are threatened by the success. Over 440,000 Americans have lost their
lives to COVID-19 under the Biden administration. That is more than
when the pandemic began and the entire year of 2020.
Further, images of high gas prices at the pump and empty shelves at
the supermarket define the first year of the Biden Presidency. As our
Nation has grappled with a global pandemic, this administration has
stood on the sidelines while Americans have struggled to get basic
necessities. Every sector of the American economy has been hurt by
supply chain issues caused in part by abusive Chinese trade practices
and, also, weak administrative leadership.
On top of these mounting challenges, the Biden administration has put
the entirety of their political capital behind over $6 trillion worth
of so-called social justice spending bills meant to prop up failing
government programs and a liberal wish list of items. The economic
devastation from so much uncontrolled spending has already been felt in
historic levels of inflation and will certainly be burdening
generations of Americans to come.
This administration's first year in office has been a disaster from
top to bottom. Instead of working to change positively, Biden has
worked to change our country into a population of dependents because
that is, at the end of the day, what this administration is about:
Dependency and control.
We can take our country back, and we will. To Americans hurting in
the first 52 weeks of this administration, remember, November is
coming.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Florida for her
comments.
I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman), one of the
greatest voices of common sense in the entire Congress, a senior
Republican leader on the House Education and Labor Committee, my
colleague, and friend.
Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, as has just been said, I think the first
year of this administration has been about as disastrous as it could
possibly be.
I will focus on the COVID pandemic. Over 300,000 people had died when
President Biden took office, nevertheless, things in a way were looking
up. Donald Trump had been given a combination of monoclonal antibodies
and several other things in a cocktail in which he was cured just a few
months before President Biden took office.
One would have thought all one had to do was follow down the path of
treatment that Donald Trump received and it would be the end of the
pandemic. Instead, we are over a year after him taking office, and at
least in Wisconsin we don't have enough monoclonal antibodies to deal
with the people who are sick today.
Even though ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine have also shown
promise, the CDC and NIH under President Biden have not shown a
leadership role and encouraged more doctors to use them. Vitamin D can
do a tremendous job in reducing the number of people who succumb to
this disease, but again, a complete lack of leadership out of
Washington, some people feel a complete lack of leadership because
there is not enough money to be made in Vitamin D by the drug
companies.
{time} 1945
We recently had calcifediol imported into this country from other
countries, and it has not been anywhere near publicized as it should
be. It is time for President Biden to step up, to make sure monoclonal
antibodies are available to everybody and put an end to the pandemic. I
have had my own staffer use monoclonal antibodies, and it turned him
around from being quite ill within 24 hours just fine.
Madam Speaker, it is time to look at things other than just making
money for the drug companies. It is time to solve this problem.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin
(Mr. Fitzgerald), my colleague and a freshman Member of the House.
Mr. FITZGERALD. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, as we are hearing from many of my colleagues tonight,
there is no shortage of policy failures to reflect on as we approach
President Biden's 1-year anniversary. But the one that is still beyond
belief and a complete disaster is the cancellation of the Keystone
pipeline project.
On day one, just hours after being sworn into office, the President
halted construction of the pipeline, bringing down thousands of good
jobs, many of them in my home State of Wisconsin and many of them in my
district. This decision undermined our country's energy independence
and destroyed a safe and efficient route to transport oil.
Oh, and now Russia is flush with cash as they market their oil around
the entire globe. That is right. Killing the Keystone project didn't
just stop the transportation of oil; it completely
[[Page H211]]
reconfigured the way that this works globally.
Listen, while President Biden continues to ignore the negative
implications of his agenda, my Republican colleagues and I have been on
the forefront proposing solutions--in this case, the Keystone XL
Pipeline Construction and Jobs Preservation Act.
Madam Speaker, after seeing the disaster that President Biden left in
his wake after only 1 year, I can only fear what will come in the next
3 years.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California
(Mr. Garcia), a fellow veteran and friend.
Mr. GARCIA of California. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman and
shipmate from Indiana for this evening's Special Order.
Madam Speaker, we the people really aren't asking much of our elected
officials. Above all things, we just want them to do what is right for
our country and be on the side of Americans. This isn't a party thing.
This isn't a Republican versus Democrat thing. Regardless of party
affiliation, we just want them to do what is right for the country.
The current Presidential administration and its policies have failed
us in this regard and in a frighteningly short period of time. In just
1 year, this administration and its policies have eroded America's
status as the lone, premier superpower; eroded our energy independence,
making us once again beholden to OPEC, literally begging Middle Eastern
nations to provide us with more oil; eroded an economy that was
thriving before COVID and beginning to recover in the midst of COVID,
and now, we are experiencing inflation that we haven't seen in 40
years; eroded our Nation's security, tucking tail against a group of
savages and terrorists in Afghanistan after 20 years of fighting for
the right reasons.
After almost 2 years of no American deaths in Afghanistan and
relative stability in a country that was formerly a breeding ground for
terrorists, this administration set an arbitrary exit date and backed
that date up with absolutely no plan. This admin stranded hundreds of
Americans in Afghanistan and left our allies high and dry. The ad hoc
and sloppy withdrawal led to the death of these 13 precious American
servicemembers--absolutely avoidable and absolutely the fault of this
administration.
We are really not asking for much from our elected officials. We the
people just want this administration to stop giving hope to the bad
guys and to start taking care of our Nation, our workers, our jobs, the
small business owners, our children and their education, and to allow
parents the right to understand what our children are being taught in
school, the right to make school choices for our children.
We are asking that the administration stop calling parents terrorists
and start preventing actual terrorists from infiltrating our country.
We are asking for secure borders, so we don't see 175,000 human beings
come across our border and into our Nation each month without any
accountability.
If you care about the Dreamers, if you care about the potential DACA
recipients, like many of us do, then you must first end this man-made
border crisis.
We are really not asking for much. We just want someone to stand up
and fight against this ridiculous defund the police movement and make
our streets safe again.
We don't want the cost of goods and supply chain issues to overcome
our income. We are asking simply that we fairly value the time, the
skills, and the experience of our workers so that when they work harder
and provide quality service, they make more money and keep more money.
We don't want higher taxes only to see the government at all levels
squander our hard-earned money.
Madam Speaker, above all things, we just want the President to be on
our side and to have the backbone to stand up for the good guys. We are
not asking for much. We just want this administration to stop giving
hope to the bad guys.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, thanks to our next speaker, I have been to
the border in Arizona and Texas, both during President Trump's
Presidency and now during President Biden's Presidency. What our next
speaker has taught me along the way is the night-and-day difference.
The border was under control under President Trump; it is wide open
under President Biden.
What I have learned and what I have stressed more than ever before is
that what is going on at the border impacts my district in northeast
Indiana every single day.
Our next speaker is the co-chair of the Border Security Caucus. No
one does more in Congress to highlight these issues and work toward
protecting and securing our border than Dr. Brian Babin.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Babin).
Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I really appreciate the gentleman from
Indiana (Mr. Banks), the chairman of the Republican Study Committee. I
thank him so much for having this very important Special Order.
Madam Speaker, this week marks 1 year since Joe Biden became
President, and what a lawless year this has been. Never in my entire
life would I have dreamed that we would have a President who
prioritizes criminals and illegal aliens over law-abiding American
citizens. But here we are.
The reckless policies coming out of this White House and the
Democratic Party as a whole have put you and your families in grave
danger.
It is not hard to see where the left's demonization of law
enforcement and the decision to gut police department funding has
gotten us. Thanks to the Democrats, we are now in the midst of a crime
wave with record-high homicide rates in more than a dozen major cities
across this great country of ours. The city of Chicago alone saw at
least 800 homicides in 2021, a number that we haven't seen in decades.
Bad policies lead to bad consequences. And folks, we are living these
in technicolor.
More than 100 of our brave police officers were shot in ambush-style
attacks last year. Meanwhile, we have seen violent criminals released
into our neighborhoods to commit more violent crimes.
It is happening in my own district in Houston, Texas, in the 36th
Congressional District, which had its deadliest year in nearly 40
years. In Harris County, 113 criminals were granted bond after capital
murder charges in 2021. Yes, you heard that right: capital murder
charges.
Numerous Harris County citizens have been murdered by repeat
criminals out on bail, murders which, tragically, could have been
avoided. Innocent Americans are being hurt and killed by this foolhardy
Democrat policy. But accountability starts at the top. Will this crime
wave be just another crisis to go unresolved in 2022, or will this
President and his party come back to reality and work with us to stop
it?
America is watching.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, when I became the chairman of the
Republican Study Committee, which is not just the largest conservative
caucus in Congress but the largest caucus overall in the entire United
States Capitol, I had to choose someone to lead the Republican Study
Committees' Budget and Spending Task Force.
For almost 50 years, this task force and the Republican Study
Committee has put forth a fiscally responsible balanced budget in the
Congress to lead the way toward fiscal responsibility. And no one has
done a better job of that in my time in Congress than Kevin Hern, a
small business owner from the great State of Oklahoma. He has chaired
and run this effort well.
Over the last year, we put out a budget that we showed to the
Congress. We could balance the budget in 6 years. That is in stark
contrast to what the Democrats and President Biden have done to put
forth the largest budget that this country has ever seen.
I don't just appreciate the leadership of Representative Hern; I am
proud of the effort he put forward.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Hern).
Mr. HERN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana for the
opportunity to speak to everyone tonight.
Madam Speaker, this week marks a historic milestone, the 1-year
anniversary of the Biden Presidency. There is a date in January that 1
year ago has affected all Americans, and that was the election of Joe
Biden to the Presidency, his taking office.
Looking back at the previous 12 months, several words come to mind:
[[Page H212]]
failure, confusion, disarray, pain, dishonesty.
I am sure that many of my colleagues will touch on these and many
other themes relevant to what has unfolded at the White House since its
latest occupant took office some 11 months ago. However, I want to
focus on one word that has defined the Biden administration this year,
and that is ``inflation.''
Every single month since Biden took office, inflation has risen
higher. In the past 11 months, inflation has reached its highest level
in 40 years.
Most of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have never
experienced this type of inflation. The last time it was this bad,
``E.T.'' was showing in theaters. Jimmy Carter, the man largely
responsible for those hardships, was a one-term President for this very
reason.
Thanks to the Biden job-killing policies, taxpayers are paying the
price. Our economic recovery is stagnant. Our small businesses are
being crushed out of existence. December brought us to a 7 percent
increase in inflation over the previous year, a number that American
families are feeling every single day in their pocketbooks.
While inflation is up 7 percent, wages have only risen 4.7 percent,
meaning that real wages are actually negative, not positive. Americans
are paying a whopping $3,500 more for basic necessities than they were
last year. For all the back-patting Biden has done for the dismal
number of jobs created under his administration, we are still over 4
million jobs short of prepandemic levels.
This is the Biden economy. Polling proves that inflation is the top-
of-mind issue for the vast majority of Americans. So you would think
that this administration would be doing everything in their power to
alleviate that burden. Instead, they are focused on flushing the
markets with even more unchecked spending. When will it end?
The President's dismal approval rating isn't a result of his standing
with Republican voters, who haven't liked him from the start. Rather,
Democrat and independent voters across the country are voicing their
strong displeasure with how poorly our country has been run this past
year.
We know what works, and we know what doesn't. What the President is
doing is only exacerbating the problem, something just about everyone
outside of D.C. knows.
The White House must stop the spending spree, stop imposing
unconstitutional mandates, and stop pushing radical legislation. The
best thing this President could do right now is just get out of the
way.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Oklahoma again
for his leadership and the important words that he had to share with us
tonight.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Carl), a
new member of the House Committee on Armed Services who is playing an
outsized role on the Committee on Armed Services as we work hard to
support our troops who need our support more than ever before.
Mr. CARL. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr.
Banks), my colleague, for organizing this Special Order.
Madam Speaker, when my father was a child, he sold newspapers on the
streets in Oklahoma City. He was 6, 7, and 8 years old. He would tell
me stories that they would show up every morning and fight over the
best corners because they knew they could sell the most newspapers.
That was when we were in the middle of a depression.
We are not in a depression today--yet. But yet, we still have
fighting over those same corners.
Today, instead of fighting over the sale of newspapers, they are
fighting over the sale of drugs, and these are illegal drugs that are
coming across our border.
{time} 2000
Most people don't realize how potent fentanyl is. Let me give you an
example. One grain, one single grain of fentanyl can kill a grown man.
You can take two packs of sweetener that you sweeten your drink with;
that is enough to kill every member of Congress, House and Senate, to
give you some idea of how potent these drugs are. Could you imagine a
50-pound backpack of it coming across our open borders?
My personal observation is these intercity killings are primarily
against minority communities. Where is the outrage for these children
which are our responsibility? They are our responsibility, not another
person's responsibility. Our communities are being flooded with illegal
drugs being brought in from the left and the right, across our southern
borders. My Democrat colleagues remain silent.
Madam Speaker, I truly believe President Biden cares about the lives
that are being lost due to illegal drugs and the violence that is being
claimed due to these illegal drugs. But where is he? Why is the
President not being the leader that he was elected to be? We need a
President that is a leader and that will step out there.
We have had a full year to address this simple issue. This simple
issue is the illegal drugs. No one seems to be paying attention. I
promise you it affects every family. Every family in America that has a
family member or friend that has been affected by this fentanyl needs
to hear this because we can stop it. We can do it.
This is an American issue that all communities should be in an uproar
about. There are simple, commonsense solutions to fix this problem. I
am asking, no, I am begging President Biden to sit down at the table
and work across the aisle. Let's secure our southern border and stop
the flow of these illegal drugs into our community that are killing,
killing our kids.
Let's build a wall now instead of stopping the wall. Let's build a
wall now and finally put safety and security back into America. First
and foremost, our responsibility is the safety of the citizens of this
country.
Mr. President, please hear my plea. Now is the time to take action.
We need an American leader.
Mr. BANKS. I thank the gentleman from Alabama, Mr. Carl. It is such a
powerful statement as we think about the drugs that are flooding over
the border, that are impacting communities, destroying families.
The lack of attention by this administration to do anything about it
is appalling to the American people. As they see what is going on at
the border, they know the border is wide open. They know that this
President is responsible for the lack of leadership to secure the
border that has allowed drugs to flow into communities and affect and
destroy so many families across this country.
Enough is enough. We call on the President. We ask President Biden to
step up to the plate and address this issue so that more families
aren't ruined, and more communities aren't destroyed because of the
amount of drugs and the drug epidemic that is affecting our country.
Again, I said in my opening statement fentanyl is now the leading
cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45. Why isn't the President
paying attention to that statistic and doing anything about it to
address it?
Madam Speaker, next, I yield to a senior member of the House Armed
Services Committee, someone who I know has a heart for our veterans,
someone who has served under four Presidents since he has been in
Congress. His perspective is powerful.
I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina, (Mr. Wilson), my
colleague, mentor, and friend.
Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. As we reach the one-year anniversary of
President Biden in office, I borrow from the great Ronald Reagan and
his extraordinary question during the 1980 Presidential debate and ask:
Are you better off today than you were a year ago? The obvious and sad
answer of thinking Americans is no.
Since President Biden took office January 20, American families have
suffered under a one-party Democrat rule, destroying jobs. The
continued taxing and spending policies of Biden and Democrats have
caused inflation. This situation is getting worse and will challenge
our children's future, while threatening the savings of retirees.
Bidenflation has hit the highest rate in 40 years, and the
astronomical price increases that come with that affect all of our
pocketbooks. A few examples include, gas is up 56 percent higher than
over a year ago. Propane, kerosene, and firewood are up 40 percent.
Beef and bacon are up 19 percent. Chicken is up 10 percent.
Compounding this damaging effect, most workers have not received
wages
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that keep up with inflation, according to The New York Times. Families
have actually lost possibly $5,000 in just one year. Also, the December
Jobs Report came in at less than half where economists projected.
Since President Biden took office, he has failed to protect our
southern border. Over 1.7 million illegal aliens have invaded,
benefiting the drug cartels and benefiting the horror of promoting
human trafficking.
Energy independence has been replaced by energy dependence, resulting
in skyrocketing costs. President Biden's policies worldwide have been
disastrous. A feeble response to Putin is putting Ukrainian families at
risk of mass murder with already 14,000 people killed; bowing to China
as it continues the genocide of weaker Muslims; capitulating to Iran as
it shouts death to America, death to Israel; appeasement of Afghanistan
leading directly to thirteen American heroes murdered; leaving
Americans behind and establishing Afghanistan as a safe haven to attack
American families with suicide bombers, as we saw claimed this weekend
at the Texas synagogue.
American families have never been at greater risk of attack than they
are today in American history. The Democrat elite think they are
smarter than everyone, and they think Democrat voters and Democrat
media are ignorant to believe $5 trillion in spending costs zero. That
is a direct quote from the President.
So I ask the rhetorical and famous question again. Are you better off
today than you were a year ago?
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, last but not least, I yield to the
gentleman from the great state of Texas, (Mr. Arrington), my friend,
someone who fights so hard for freedom, for families.
Mr. ARRINGTON. I thank the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Banks), my
friend and colleague from the Hoosier State.
Looking back over the last year under the leadership of this
President and single-party rule, for a guy who wants my team to win, my
team is not the Republican Party, Madam Speaker. It is the great United
States of America. It is my children, quite frankly. Personally, it is
my children who I want to inherit the blessings of liberty and
opportunity in this great country.
That is our greatest calling, to hand this country back better than
we found it, take on the challenges that face our country, work
together to solve the problems, and make this a better, stronger,
safer, more prosperous, more free Nation for the next generation. That
has not happened, not even close, not even close.
I am disappointed to say that this President and his colleagues in
the Democratic Party have absolutely failed our country. I didn't say
they were bad people. In fact, there are many of them I would call
friend and proudly. As a team elected by the American people to do the
job I outlined, they have failed miserably. As we say in west Texas on
Saturday morning after Friday night lights, when we are looking at the
film, the eye in the sky doesn't lie. If you look at the footage, you
watch the film, you can't help but see one self-inflicted disaster
after another.
Madam Speaker, let's start with the tone and the promise to unify
this country and its leaders, to usher into this Chamber and to
politics and political rhetoric civility and unity. That is a big F.
This President, I would say, took more unilateral actions and, along
with his Democrat leaders in Congress, have jammed through more
partisan bills than they have worked together to address the issues
facing this country. We are more divided today than we were.
If our Speaker, Ms. Pelosi, would actually focus on the things that
would be required to prevent another riot on this Capitol, then you
would have the Capitol Police and the Inspector General of the Capitol
Police saying, we are better prepared than we were a year ago. We are
actually less prepared today because there has been so much hyper-
partisanship and so much political weaponization and theater than there
has actually been real governing of our great country. So there is the
tone which is failure.
The most important job of the Federal Government is to provide for a
common defense. It is the safety and security of the American people. I
know you have heard Chairman Banks. I am sure the remarks today have
been replete with the debacle in Afghanistan and the sadness with which
all Americans watched that. At the same time that they watched this
needless, senseless incompetence, they saw America's credibility slip
quickly, not only with our enemies but with our allies. I don't know if
there was ever a time that the American troops packed up and left with
Americans, our fellow citizens, crying out because we left them behind.
There is a litany of problems with what happened in Afghanistan. This
President is ultimately responsible. He didn't listen to his advisors.
People died. Our troops, we spent 20 years and trillions of dollars, we
lost the lives of our sons and daughters in uniform to the tune of
roughly 2,400. What do we have to show for it besides that
embarrassment of a withdrawal?
I live in Texas. We are at ground zero with respect to the chaos at
the border and the record number of people and crime activity and drugs
that are powering into our country. This President has been derelict in
fulfilling his sacred duty to uphold the law, plain and simple.
Worse, working with his Democrat colleagues in this Chamber, they
have poured fuel on the fire that is burning out of control at the
border by saying we will give you more carrots. We will create more
incentives. We will turn the volume up so that people will come in by
the millions with the offer of reparation, with the offer of
citizenship, mass amnesty, the ability to vote in our elections.
You can't make this up, but this border crisis is real. The American
people who live along the border feel like this President and their
government has given up on them and has failed them. I would agree.
With respect to the economy, I know we had a tough job for all
Americans and all leaders for both parties to get us up and out of the
recession related to the pandemic. For this President and my Democrat
colleagues, to put policies in place that incentivize people to stay at
home rather than to go back to work, I am talking about enhanced
unemployment policies. I am talking about welfare expansion without
work requirements, actually a repeal of work requirements. To put
massive amounts of government spending into the marketplace, it is no
wonder that we are seeing runaway inflation in every corner of our
marketplace and in every good and every service that our working
Americans depend on.
{time} 2015
The majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck have lost
almost $400 a month on account of the real wage decrease because of
inflation, self-inflicted, one after another, and the state of the
Union is more fragile now than ever. It is less hopeful than it was 1
year ago.
I don't see any posture of change or relenting on the horizon from
this President, even with these startling statistics and facts that are
laid out plainly for everybody to see. I am not bashful to give blame
or credit to either side when it is due, but this is a one-party rule.
We haven't even talked about the crime spree, we haven't talked about
the promises made and broken with respect to COVID, the authoritarian
mandates in one breath and action and in another breath saying that we
are going to work together and defer to States, this isn't a Federal
solution. I am confused. I am concerned.
I have got to say 1 year in review is bleak and dismal. I don't say
that with partisan glee, I say it with tremendous sadness and with
profound grief over the opportunities lost in a backslidden country
where we can do so much better. We have done better together.
Republicans don't have all the answers. I don't have all the answers.
But this has not been the great, strong, and constructive leadership
that our Nation has seen in the past from, quite frankly, from both
parties.
So I hope and pray, Madam Speaker, that this President will hear not
my voice but the voices of the American people, the voices who cried
out from the will of the people in Virginia where the We the People
wave has begun, and that we will make changes, and that he will focus
on the real needs; he will stop placating the left, which seems to
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be the MO and has been for the last year, and start focusing on the
priorities that are important to the American people and to working
families: safer neighborhoods; a secure border; strong, effective, and
respected military and law enforcement; real growth; real
opportunities; real wage increases like we saw when we cut taxes; and
just a better quality of life and better hope over the horizon for our
children.
Madam Speaker, I thank Mr. Banks for allowing me to be a part of
today's Special Order.
Mr. BANKS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and friend for so many
important comments that he and the others have shared with us today as
we mark the 1-year anniversary mark of President Biden taking office as
the current President of the United States.
Once again, this President ends his first year in office with the
lowest approval rating of any President in American history. The
American people are feeling the decline of America. They see it, and
they hate it because they know it doesn't have to be this way. They are
crying out for leadership. They are begging the party in power--the
Democratic Party that controls the Congress and owns the White House
under President Joe Biden--to do something about inflation, because
they feel it and see it every day when they go to the grocery store.
And they beg the Democratic Party to do so something about it. They are
begging President Biden to address inflation, the worst inflation of my
lifetime.
They are baffled why the party in power and this President are
completely tone-deaf to the needs of the American people as they suffer
through this disastrous set of consequences of the policies of this
President.
Madam Speaker, you heard a lot tonight about the effects of the COVID
lockdowns and policies that have hurt our kids in schools and have hurt
so many working Americans as they feel the pressures of these lockdowns
and the failed policies of this administration. You have heard a lot
tonight about the effects of fentanyl and the drugs that are coming
over the wide-open border because of the failed border policies of this
President.
You have heard a lot tonight about the embarrassment that Afghanistan
has caused the American people on the world stage. The American people
know that when we put America's interests first in our foreign policy,
the world is safer and better off. But under this President, America is
less safe from North Korea to the Middle East, China and Russia, all of
these countries are seizing on America's weakness under President
Biden's leadership, and the world is less safe because of it.
Madam Speaker, I call on the Democratic Party and President Biden to
step up to the plate. America can't afford to suffer another 3 years of
what they have suffered through over the last year.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Members are reminded to refrain from
engaging in personalities toward the President and the Vice President.
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