[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 102 (Wednesday, June 15, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H5593]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               INFLATION

  (Mr. GROTHMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, I want to give a story to my good 
friends in the press corps because they always feel they have a 
shortage of interesting things in the paper. This concerns the 
excessive inflation we have under the current administration.
  The current administration claims that inflation last year was 8.6 
percent. I am going to focus on two different parts of that, one is 5.5 
percent for housing and 16.1 percent for used cars.
  I ask the press corps to call some local builders or builders 
anywhere around the country--builders, landlords, and assessors--and 
see if you can find anybody who thinks the cost of housing has only 
gone up by 5.5 percent in the past year. My goodness, the cost of 
interest by itself has almost doubled in that time. The cost of many 
parts of a house has gone up. There is no way that it is only 5.5 
percent. I think if you look around and ask builders and Realtors, they 
will laugh at that number.
  I would also ask you to call some car dealers around the country and 
see what they think about the idea that used cars have gone up 16.1 
percent in the last year. They, as well, laugh at that. The number has 
to be significantly higher.
  So there is a gift to my friends in the news business.

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