[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 26, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2149-S2150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, from the second that they wake up in 
the morning to the moment they put their heads on the pillow at night, 
the American people are burning through cash. And, as I have spent the 
last 2 weeks talking with Tennesseans, talking with people in the real 
world, this is a sentiment that they continue to talk about.
  Now, they know inflation is real. It wasn't temporary. It wasn't 
something that was just a problem for the rich. It is a problem that 
hits every single individual, and the spin that is coming out of the 
White House really is not resonating with hard-working taxpayers 
anymore.
  When I am out and about in Tennessee, people are talking about 
inflation, the border, and the sense of despair that they see taking 
over their communities. And they cannot get over the lengths to which 
this White House and this administration have gone to try to convince 
them that everything is OK, you don't have anything to worry about, and 
things are better than they have ever been.
  They can't believe it. They can't believe that this administration is 
living in the land of denial, because they know that this message 
doesn't add up with the reality of their lives, and they have spent 16 
months digging themselves out from under massive gas and grocery bills. 
Every time they fill up the tank or they fill up the grocery cart, they 
know that it is probably more than 8 percent inflation. Every time they 
go to the hardware store, they see it. When they are buying a gallon of 
paint or fertilizer for their garden, they see it. And the few 
discretionary dollars they used to allow themselves for some new 
clothes or the occasional food delivery now go to essentials, and, even 
then, they still are making tough choices. As I said, from the second 
they wake up in the morning to the moment their heads hit the pillow at 
night, the American people are burning through cash almost as fast as 
Joe Biden and the Democrats are burning through our taxpayer dollars.
  The Biden administration might not take this seriously. They may say: 
We will just go print more money.
  Look at the amount of debt they have run up. Tennesseans do take this 
issue seriously, and at this point, they laugh at the alternate reality 
coming from DC, and they know that the ``Putin price hike'' is 
something that is so divorced from reality.
  It wasn't enough for Joe Biden to abandon his responsibilities. He 
had to take the extra step of exploiting the more than 2,500 innocent 
civilians Vladimir Putin has murdered in Ukraine. It is just 
disgusting. But that is the Democrats' playbook--isn't it?--never let a 
crisis go to waste; pick up words that you can use in your spin.
  If the White House had stopped to think about what American taxpayers 
do when they are broke, when they have gotten to the end of their money 
before they get to the end of their month, when they have debt rolling

[[Page S2150]]

over them, then the White House might have realized that now is not the 
time to spend more money on programs that the taxpayers do not want.
  Now, every Tennessean who has good common sense--we have got hundreds 
of thousands of them--they know that nobody would commit to a self-
destructive agenda just because they thought they could force somebody 
else to go pick up the tab and pay for it.
  It doesn't make sense, but that is what this administration is doing, 
and I think this is one of those things that, in their playbook, they 
think sounds great. But with the American people, this is going to 
backfire.
  And through all of this, the President has shown the people who he is 
and what priorities really matter to him. Instead of exercising some 
much needed self-control, he decided to beg for the Green New Deal, 
wasteful social spending, and an election takeover. His allies in 
Congress have even come back to Washington ready to make a deal with 
the devil to resurrect his ``Build Back Broke'' agenda.
  In the interest of bipartisanship, I would like to offer some 
thoughts to my Democratic colleagues. Next time that you go home, go 
over to the grocery store and ask a busy mom who is holding a shopping 
list in one hand and digital coupons on her phone in the other just how 
they are managing through this inflation crisis.
  Ask them: Do you think it is stuck at 8 percent inflation? Do you 
think it is closer to 15 percent inflation?
  Then, follow their advice, because I can guarantee you that they will 
choose to give you an earful. They are about fed up.
  There are thousands of moms and grandmoms who know what they are 
doing, and, more importantly, they know how they are going to spend 
every single penny that they have itemized in their budget for 
groceries, for gas, for the summer garden. They know how they are going 
to spend that money.
  They wish Washington would be as careful with taxpayer money as they 
are being with their hard-earned dollars.
  It really makes them shake their heads when they hear that the 
caretakers of the most powerful Nation in the world have no vision for 
the future and no plan for how to get us to a vision.
  All that this administration and the White House and the Democrats--
who, by the way, are in charge of all the government here in 
Washington, DC--all they have is an agenda. They have got a to-do list. 
They are wanting to check the boxes, and that agenda is heavy on 
spending and light on everything else that matters to the American 
people.
  And, by the way, all that heavy spending is not Federal Government 
money, mind you. It is money that is coming out of the pockets of hard-
working taxpayers--every penny of it.
  We know border security isn't on the Biden administration's list of 
priorities. It is not on the to-do list. It is not on the thinking-
about-it list.
  In the alternate reality that this White House is operating in, the 
only immigration policy that matters is guaranteeing an open border--
the sooner they can get it, the better. They are all about it. We all 
know how well that policy has worked out so far.
  On behalf of a lot of Tennesseans back home, I would like to inject a 
little reality into this conversation also.
  Since day one of this administration, Joe Biden has done everything 
in his power to sabotage the Border Patrol and local law enforcement 
officials. His open borders rhetoric invited massive caravans of 
migrants to overwhelm the border. And just when we thought things 
couldn't get worse, he turned his back on President Trump's successful 
``Remain in Mexico'' program. As a result, last month, encounters along 
our southern border were up 33 percent. That is right--up 33 percent in 
1 month.
  CBP regularly seizes millions of dollars' worth of meth, fentanyl, 
and heroin that would have otherwise landed in ``Small Town, USA.'' 
And, now, President Biden wants to abandon title 42, which is the last 
best defense we have against this wave of illegal immigration. We 
already know that if he goes through with this, he will lose control of 
the border to the cartels.
  The Border Patrol estimates that 18,000 people a day will try to make 
it across the border. Now, currently, there are 6,000 people a day. 
Those are record numbers. Think of what is going to happen if 18,000 
people a day are rushing our southern border.
  Now, let me give you a little perspective on this. Tennessee has 345 
towns and cities. So we checked to see how many of these towns and 
cities are 18,000 people or less. Well, 90 percent of the towns and 
cities in the State of Tennessee are 18,000 people--18,000 residents or 
fewer than that.
  Now, think about that. It is like a Tennessee town--that number of 
people coming across the border every day.
  I would think that, you know, that it is the same thing, Mr. 
President, in Michigan. I don't know the number of towns and cities you 
have, but I would imagine that the majority of those are there also, 
18,000 or fewer residents.
  Think about this impact. How many days can you do that? How many 
weeks? How many years before you completely disrupt what is going on in 
your towns, in your State?
  I have to ask you: What is so compassionate about subjecting 18,000 
people a day--18,000--to the risk of exploitation by a drug cartel? And 
what is so compassionate about standing by while 18,000 people a day 
risk death by exposure in the desert? Is sticking to your talking 
points worth the lives of National Guardsmen like Bishop Evans, who 
drowned last week while trying to rescue migrants crossing the Rio 
Grande River?
  The decision to abandon title 42 is dangerous, and, frankly, anyone 
who supports it should be ashamed of themselves.
  Last month, I joined several of my colleagues on a letter to Chairman 
Durbin, asking him to allow the Judiciary Committee to get some answers 
about how the administration plans to deal with this. The committee 
must use its oversight authority to summon Secretary Mayorkas for a 
hearing so he can explain his plan to prevent chaos on the border.
  If that plan exists, we don't know about it. But, certainly, tripling 
the number of people per day at the southern border is going to create 
a chaotic situation.
  I want to make it clear that this use of our oversight authority is 
the bare minimum, and, as of now, Chairman Durbin has not indicated 
that he is willing to meet this very minimum bar.
  We must not allow the administration to hide behind their title 42 
talking points. The American people won't stand for it because they 
know that until Joe Biden secures the border, until he puts back in 
place the ``Remain in Mexico'' policy, until he keeps title 42, every 
town will be a border town and every State will be a border State.
  When I am in Tennessee and talking with Tennesseans, what we know is 
that they are like a lot of people all across this country. They don't 
trust their government to have their interests at heart. They don't 
take the actions of their government seriously because in the 
Democratic-controlled government--all branches here in DC--they don't 
seem to take their jobs seriously. They are certainly not looking out 
for the American people. They are not taking actions that are going to 
reduce the cost of a gallon of gas at the pump or the cost of food at 
the grocery store or the cost of paint, the cost of fertilizer, the 
cost of tools--the list goes on and on.
  But what they do believe is that it is time for this administration 
to make inflation, to make border security, to make the sovereignty of 
this Nation a priority and to begin to build a vision for this Nation, 
not just a to-do list.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.