[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 19 (Monday, January 31, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S397-S398]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Madam President, after a year of record-setting bloodshed in 
America's streets, violent crime is still forcing too many to live in 
fear.
  The historic humanitarian and security crisis that unfolded at our 
southern border on Democrats' watch has actually gotten only worse.
  The Biden administration's war on affordable and reliable American 
energy has put consumers in a bind.
  And half a world away, in multiple regions, growing storm clouds are 
darkening the international stage with major implications for America 
and for our allies. Across the Middle East, from proxy terrorist 
attacks to nuclear and missile development, Iran keeps reminding us it 
has no intention of playing by the rules.
  In Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin himself is spelling out the reality 
of Russia's threat to the international order, one armored vehicle at a 
time.
  I am encouraged that President Biden finally appears inclined to 
reinforce Eastern European treaty allies with U.S. forces, and those 
deployments must take place sooner rather than later. And other NATO 
allies should join us in defending our eastern flank allies.
  Likewise, American and allied efforts to support Ukraine's ability to 
defend itself must occur not at the speed of bureaucracy but at the 
speed of relevance. Unfortunately, Washington Democrats have spent 
months focused on one distraction after another from these pressing 
challenges.
  Months before Russia began massing forces for an invasion of Ukraine, 
our colleagues on the Armed Services Committee produced a bipartisan 
Defense authorization bill that would reassert our commitments to our 
allies and partners in Eastern Europe, as well as Asia, and help our 
own forces stay on the cutting edge of competition with China and 
Russia.
  But instead of moving this legislation forward to prompt passage, the 
Democratic leader left the NDAA in limbo until almost the last minute.
  In the meantime, Senate Democrats spent months trying to assemble a 
massive reckless taxing-and-spending spree, packed with policies that 
nobody was asking for outside of the radical left. Our citizens were 
fighting for their economic lives, trying to fight off gas prices, 
grocery prices, car prices, housing prices, and here Democrats were 
claiming the way out of inflation was to spend trillions on windmills 
and welfare.

[[Page S398]]

  And, of course, the multitrillion-dollar debt explosion wasn't even 
the most radical thing Democrats have recently tried to ram through.
  Earlier this month, the vast majority of Senate Democrats tried to 
break--break--this Chamber's most fundamental rule for the sake of 
appointing themselves the entire country's board of elections on 
steroids.
  Well, I hope our friends across the aisle can spend 2022 recommitting 
themselves to the actual problems that families are facing on their 
watch. This razor-thin Senate majority owes the American people at 
least that much.