[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 74 (Wednesday, May 4, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2309-S2310]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Madam President, it has been over a year since Joe 
Biden and Kamala Harris and the Democrats took control of all the 
government here in DC. They like the fact that they have got their 
hands on the drivers, and they are enacting their policies. But what is 
so interesting, as my colleague from Iowa was pointing out, is they 
continue to try to blame Donald Trump and Republicans for the issues 
that are in front of us.
  Just a few years ago, if you would have asked me how I would evaluate 
a government that spent their way into inflation--recordbreaking 
inflation--surrendered our border to the drug cartels, and abandoned 
two Embassies, I would tell you that that sounds like an administration 
that is in disarray. I think most people would believe that to be a 
fact.
  But here is the problem: We have moved beyond disarray. Tennesseans 
feel like it is more like a catastrophe.
  This is not mere incompetence at work. Joe Biden is earning his 
disapproval rating that he was joking about at the Correspondents' 
Dinner last week. He knows that it is, indeed, low--some of the lowest 
ever.
  The fact is that President Biden and Vice President Harris have had a 
terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year, and they did this to 
themselves. And now their allies in Congress are ready to make things 
even worse. They are doubling down.
  This is what happens when you try to force an agenda filled with pet 
projects that the American people are telling you they do not want and, 
as taxpayers are saying, ``You can't afford this.''

[[Page S2310]]

This is what happens when you really have no vision for the future of 
the country. It is all about power, all about control.
  Last month, the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics released 
a poll showing that this distinction between agenda and vision actually 
matters to people. They found that 56 percent of young Americans, ages 
18 to 29, disapprove of Joe Biden's job performance. That is correct; 
56 percent disapprove. And just last spring, 59--that is right, 59--
percent of young persons were still in his corner.
  Look at what is happening. Look at that flip that is taking place.
  The measure of success or failure for this administration shouldn't 
come down to how many boxes they can check off their wish list but how 
many young Americans look at what they are doing, and they say: I can't 
support this. This does not give me hope. This does not look good for 
my future.
  Indeed, 56 percent of young Americans, ages 18 to 29, disapprove of 
the Biden agenda.
  Right now, this age group, they are losing hope. That same Harvard 
poll shows that their top concern isn't the environment; it isn't 
abortion or Roe v. Wade; it is the economy. And why wouldn't it be? The 
current inflation rate is 8.5 percent. Last year, it was 2.6 percent.
  How can anyone be expected to plan for their future if they are 
struggling to plan for next week's grocery run? They are paying a 
premium just to live.
  Meanwhile, the President is asking them to sacrifice even more so he 
can check some more boxes on his to-do list that is all about this 
leftist agenda. It is not about the people; it is about power; it is 
about control.
  Young Americans--and I would say all Americans, Tennesseans--deserve 
better than this. They deserve leaders who have a vision for the future 
of this country, who have the God-given common sense to see it through.
  Joe Biden and the Democrats have been in power for more than a year. 
The window for blame-shifting and excuses is closed. It is shut. It is 
time for the President to abandon this self-destructive agenda and give 
the American people a fighting chance at reclaiming their own vision 
for the future.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.