[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 102 (Wednesday, June 15, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H5598-H5603]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       INFLATION AND OUR ECONOMY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Johnson) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous materials on the subject of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Louisiana?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, Democrats have enjoyed 
unilateral control of Washington for the last 17 months, and we all 
know the results: record inflation, soaring gas prices, unhinged crime 
in our cities, and uninhibited illegal immigration.
  In the midst of all this, what issue gets their prime-time billing? 
Very simple. They are displaying their seething hatred for Donald Trump 
and anybody who ever supported him.
  For nearly a year now, they have invested thousands of hours, 
millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars. They have interviewed 
hundreds and hundreds of witnesses. They compiled 100,000 pages of 
documents. They hired lawyers, consultants, and even big network TV 
producers. And all for what?
  They are doing this production, this rehash, this replay of a moment-
by-moment dissection of a terrible event that took place here a year 
and a half ago. They thought the American people would be riveted by 
their production, but the ratings have proven what everybody already 
knew. The American people have lived through all this, and they have 
moved on.
  In fact, we thought it was interesting, according to one report, CBS' 
decision to bump a ``Young Sheldon'' rerun from its prime-time slot in 
favor of Thursday's January 6 hearing resulted in fewer viewers than 
the identical time slot the prior week. Reruns of ``Young Sheldon'' 
played better than the January 6 drama.
  The American people have moved on. They have moved on to caring about 
things that actually affect their daily lives.
  Look, the criminals involved in January 6 are being prosecuted. 
Lessons about Capitol security were learned here. We will never know 
the true facts about all that, of course, because Speaker Pelosi's 
partisan committee will not look into why we didn't have adequate 
security here.
  But the Senate produced a bipartisan report on all these events a 
year ago. The truth is the Democrats could hire an army of broadcast 
media executives and specialists to try to boost their ratings, but it 
will not change the simple facts.
  The election this fall is going to be about three things. It is going 
to be about inflation, immigration, and incompetence, the staggering 
levels of incompetence that the Democrats in charge of Washington put 
on display here every single day.
  If the Democrats want to reverse their political fortunes, they need 
to reverse their policies. But we all know, of course, they refuse to 
do that. So hardworking American families will continue, very sadly, to 
struggle as our country becomes less safe, less secure, and less stable 
by the hour.
  I am grateful to my colleagues for joining me tonight to discuss the 
myriad crises facing our country. They are all taking a back seat to 
the Democrats' reality show, but we think it is important to point out 
to the American people the realities here, the true realities of what 
is happening and what we are facing as a country, these unprecedented 
challenges.
  Madam Speaker, I yield first to the fine gentleman from the State of 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Keller).
  Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana for 
hosting this Special Order.
  Madam Speaker, this week, President Biden visited Philadelphia and 
attempted to spin a narrative fully detached from the reality Americans 
face every day. Speaking to a group of labor unions, the President 
professed to be advancing a pro-worker agenda. He proclaimed, ``We are 
changing people's lives.''
  Well, he is right, only not for the better. Inflation is at a 40-year 
high, costing Pennsylvania families an additional $517 more per month.
  Gas prices are above $5 a gallon, forcing families to spend $2,800 
more at the pump than last year.
  Pennsylvanians are smart, hardworking people. They know that they are 
not better off today than they were just 18 short months ago.
  While the President continues to blame Republicans in Congress for 
the economic disaster he has created, the fact remains that Democrats 
control the House, the Senate, and the White House. If the President 
truly cared about stopping skyrocketing inflation, he would stop 
calling for more out-of-control spending, stop shutting down American 
energy production, and stop blaming others for his failures.
  It is time that he has faith in the American people and gets out of 
the way.

[[Page H5599]]

  

  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend. That is 
so well said. Just get out of the way. Let the American people do it.
  Madam Speaker, I yield next to another great gentleman from the State 
of Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).
  Mr. MEUSER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. 
Johnson) for his leadership.
  Madam Speaker, President Biden's plan to tame escalating inflation 
passes the buck to Americans once again. Costs for driving to work, 
feeding families, housing, and utilities are under unimaginable 
increases and strain on my constituents, thanks to the disastrous 
policies.
  President Biden largely puts responsibility on the Federal Reserve to 
stabilize inflation. However, the shocks that the Biden administration 
has brought to our economy are out of the Fed's control. Sure, they 
play a role here. A majority of the inflation, however, has been caused 
by the assault on domestic energy, excessive government spending, and 
incentivizing a lack of American productivity.

  President Biden then wonders why we don't embrace his plan to reduce 
inflation by tapping the emergency energy reserves. Somehow that is 
going to lower gas prices. Well, it hasn't. It is a bad idea, and it 
hasn't made a dent.
  Shockingly, against every fundamental of economics that we are even 
taught back in the seventh grade, Madam Speaker, he wants to raise 
taxes on American businesses, which, according to the Biden 
administration, will reduce the deficit, slow inflation, and create 
jobs. I am surprised it wouldn't put food on the table as well.
  Americans, in their opinion, need relief right now, not in some far 
off, far out way. Small businesses are rightfully concerned about 
surviving after having to absorb huge new costs since the Biden 
administration came into office. And this is factual. The data is 
there, and the graphs are there.
  Bidenomics has greatly worsened what was and is a challenging time 
for our economy. But digging a hole much deeper than necessary and 
exacerbating pain for Americans who are struggling to cope with one 
economic hardship after another is certainly not the answer.
  There is no doubt the Federal Reserve's delay in acting did make 
inflation worse, and America's overreliance on goods made in China also 
contributed to inflation, along with the COVID supply chain setbacks. 
However, we would be nowhere near the position we are in now if it were 
not for the terrible Bidenomics that they put in place. These reckless 
actions have turned economic challenges into a full-blown, as some 
describe, hurricane of an economic crisis.
  These policies have spearheaded an assault, an absolute assault, on 
our domestic energy--this is unforgivable--over the last 18 months.
  President Biden canceled the Keystone pipeline. That was just the 
start of it. He halted issuance of other pipeline and drilling 
permits--far less were issued than were ever issued during the Obama 
years; mitigated LNG exports; threatened domestic banks and investment 
companies against investing in carbon fuels.
  Our domestic energy went from a state of independence and surplus to 
a high level of dependency. After these Biden administration policies 
kicked in, the U.S. became at the mercy, once again, to the energy 
players like OPEC and Russia, meaning any geopolitical disruption would 
spike gas prices, leading to cascades of issues for Americans, 
consumers, and businesses.
  Madam Speaker, we have seen this before. This is a rerun. This is why 
U.S. domestic energy independence is so crucial.
  However, the administration, and many in this Chamber, have a ``go 
green now or else'' mentality, which has generated $5-plus gasoline 
prices and caused natural gas to go so far high up in price that 
fertilizer costs have caused farmers' prices and costs to skyrocket. Of 
course, food on everybody's table soon followed.

                              {time}  1715

  Biden and the Democrats--and it is far too many Democrats, frankly--
in Congress continued spending trillions which exacerbated inflation, 
leading to predictable inflation where even Democrats such as Larry 
Summers, an economist, stated, look out for a rapid rise and a 
sustained inflationary period.
  Many others said, Oh, no, Larry's wrong this time. Well, Larry was 
not wrong. Now, with the threat of tax increases and a laundry list of 
every regulatory antigrowth measure imaginable, this woke, go-broke 
economy is going to continue to fail American families.
  Madam Speaker, we must encourage responsible domestic energy 
production. We must lower taxes to rev up our economy. The United 
States must have the most competitive economy in the world, job 
creation machine and perhaps a job creation tax credit.
  We must support production of items made in America. We must do our 
very best to buy American, and we need to pivot from this awful path 
that we continue to be on.
  I will wrap up by simply stating that we must recognize where the 
problem started, what the problem is, have a plan for solutions, and 
that means having the courage to change course now.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you for that expertise. You sound 
like a former Secretary of Revenue or something from the State of 
Pennsylvania.
  As you pointed out, my friend, you don't have to be an economist to 
figure this out. Every freshman economics student knows if you keep 
printing money and dropping it into the economy, you are going to cause 
inflation. This is not rocket science, but you know what? The President 
of the United States apparently doesn't get it.
  Madam Speaker, I am delighted next to yield to the good doctor from 
Texas (Mr. Babin).
  Mr. BABIN. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Louisiana, the 
gentleman, for his leadership. I really appreciate it.
  If Joe Biden valued America, if he valued our freedoms, our 
prosperity, our success, our influence on the world, he would value the 
security of our economy. He would value a balanced budget, and he would 
value your financial future.
  But, of course, we know he doesn't. Your financial stability gets in 
the way of his agenda. The money that Biden asked for and that 
Democrats in this Chamber incessantly spend is not only just random 
dollars and cents from who knows where, but also money that you have 
earned from your hard work, money that should have been used to ensure 
you and your family see a stable and prosperous future.
  Plain and simple, these antigrowth and pro-tax policies have us 
hurtling toward a recession and will destroy your ability to build the 
future that you want to have. It is no wonder that consumer confidence 
and the Democrats' agenda is reeling nationwide.
  Last month, inflation increased at the quickest pace since December 
of 1981--8.6 percent over the past year. Those aren't just words. 
Inflation means that everything costs you more.
  Inflation this high, rising that quickly, means that American 
families are now facing the very harsh reality that they could be on 
the brink of financial ruin which many respected economists now are 
fearing that the wheels may come off of our economy.
  Commonsense solutions could have prevented most of this. Reckless 
socialist spending sparked the fire and paying workers to stay home 
fanned that flame.
  The irresponsible policies coming out of the Democrat party spurred 
on a manufacturing and supply chain disaster like we have never seen 
before in our history--all for the sake of a woke socialist agenda.
  I hope that they are proud of themselves. I hope that they are proud 
that they have caused energy prices to rise by more than 30 percent. I 
hope they are proud that gasoline is $5 a gallon across the country, 
nearly a 100 percent increase.
  I hope they are proud that we still don't have baby formula on the 
shelves and that people cannot put food on the table because prices are 
way up, over 12 percent now, and that wages are shrinking, and that 
fewer women and minorities are in the workforce, and that the stock 
market is volatile and has lost trillions of Americans' wealth. I could 
go on and on.
  My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are responsible for 
this, and it is time that they take responsibility and shift course 
before it is too late. Our very future hangs in the balance.

[[Page H5600]]

  

  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, that was so well said.
  Dr. Babin, that woke socialist policy has brought some real pain to 
the American people. I think they have had enough.
  Mr. BABIN. Amen.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. November can't get here soon enough.
  Madam Speaker, I am happy to yield next to the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Grothman).
  Mr. GROTHMAN. Madam Speaker, we will talk a little bit about the 
border again and what I think is kind of an inappropriate way to handle 
some recent events that happened down there.
  First of all, we have got to give the backdrop, right. We are all 
familiar with the most recent statistics available. For April of 2022, 
184,000 people crossed in the country that were not appropriately 
vetted and we do not particularly want here.
  A year ago, that 184,000 number was at 66,000. Two years ago, under 
the prior administration, it was 5,700. So, first of all, the American 
public should kind of let that sink in: 5,700 a month to 66,000 a month 
to 184,000 a month. Horrific.
  Part of monitoring the border is showing respect for the Border 
Patrol. I have been on the border eight times over the last 2 years, 
and I think they are the most professional of law enforcement agencies 
I have run into.
  Last September, when potential Haitian immigrants tried to cross the 
Rio Grande and get up on shore, agents on horses used reins to protect 
the Haitians from the horses' hooves.

  Every agent I have talked to felt this was an entirely appropriate 
way to protect the Haitians who were trying to come into our country. 
But President Biden, the new expert on horsemanship, felt that the new 
immigrants were strapped, whatever that meant, and said that they would 
have to pay.
  Now, the Department of Homeland Security claims that the Border 
Patrol agents should be disciplined for protecting the Haitians from 
the horses' hooves.
  Since then, President Biden's budget, the last budget which he 
signed, the last appropriation bill, provided millions of dollars for 
monitoring and disciplining the Border Patrol.
  This is kind of a mental problem we have seen before in Washington. 
It reminds me when we had record murders in our big cities, and 
Washington responded by saying that we had to pass a bill making it 
easier to sue the police. In other words, all these people dying, 
records in the last 2 years in Milwaukee--which is adjacent to my 
district, and they think the problem is the police.
  In any event, that is what the Biden administration did. They claimed 
the police were racist, making it easier to sue police. Obviously, that 
is inappropriate.
  The other thing I think is inappropriate is we hired a new Border 
Patrol head who used to be a police chief. When he was a police chief, 
he wouldn't cooperate with ICE when they had problems with people who 
they were trying to deport or people who were here illegally.
  I mean, can you imagine what type of effect that has on the Border 
Patrol agents when the person who is supposed to be the boss doesn't 
seem to be on board with the underlying mission?
  I believe he also had a problem in which he was accused of some 
harassment in his prior job. Now, we have got to hire some more Border 
Patrol agents here, and the way to do it is to not have the 
administration treat these brave, honorable people inappropriately.
  So I call upon Congress to try to weigh in with the President. If you 
have taken a trip down to the border, tell him how great the Border 
Patrol agents are.
  Make that an attractive job because we need top-flight agents to save 
our country from people who don't belong here and also to save our 
country from the sea of fentanyl that is flowing in here and that 
apparently is not something that concerns Congress a whole lot.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you, my friend. That border crisis 
continues to grow by the hour. Right now as we speak, there is the 
largest caravan we think that has ever been spotted currently headed to 
our southern border.
  It was incentivized, of course, by the Biden administration's open 
border agenda. The caravan has as many as maybe 15,000 people, most 
from Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
  Here is the key point. One of the migrants is reported to have told 
FOX News that he hopes President Biden will keep his amnesty promise to 
the caravan. You know, that is exactly why people from more than 160 
countries have been flooding over that border since right after Joe 
Biden took office.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. 
Burchett).
  Mr. BURCHETT. Thank you, Vice Chairman Johnson, for yielding valuable 
time out of your very busy schedule. Madam Speaker, thank you, ma'am.
  The Biden administration's response to the baby formula crisis has 
been a joke. President Biden has tried to deflect the blame by claiming 
he wasn't aware of the severity of the shortage until April of 2022.
  To me, Madam Speaker, Mr. Chairman, this claim just shows he either 
has no idea about what is going on in his administration or in this 
country, or he is a liar, or maybe both.
  The FDA received a whistleblower's report, as you well know, in 
October of 2021 about the sanitation issues at the Abbott manufacturing 
plant, but they didn't do anything about it. They didn't have any 
intention to do anything about it.
  They only closed the facility in February of 2022 when two precious 
little babies died after drinking formula from that plant, and to me, 
that is criminal.
  Unfortunately, the Biden administration's signature move, as always, 
is see a problem, don't do anything, then blame others when things go 
wrong.
  I always remember the words of Harry Truman, ``The buck stops here.'' 
This President has repeated those, and he has yet to follow his own 
advice, and I believe things have certainly gone wrong.
  The out-of-stock rate for baby formula was recently 70 percent across 
our great country--70 percent. This means that parents across this 
Nation are going to be unable to feed their little ones.
  This disproportionately affects our low-income families because folks 
with money generally are going to find something. They are going to 
find it on the internet, find a friend or somewhere else.

  Of course, House Democrats' solution was to give $28 million to a 
bloated bureaucracy at the FDA to address the shortage. But, of course, 
$23 million of it was for staff salaries and the administration.
  Of course, the bill that passed that was bipartisan cleared up some 
of the bureaucracy, but that was completely ignored by the media.
  It is mainly because the media, by and large, except for a few 
exceptions, is totally in the tank for this administration. They have 
so much invested in him that they can't stand to see him fail, which he 
is--horribly.
  I believe throwing money at a problem is not going to make it go 
away. You need a plan to go with it. You need to cut some of this red 
tape and bureaucracy. It gets in the way of enacting real solutions.
  We still likely won't see any formula hitting the shelves until mid-
July--mid-July. I think that is unacceptable, Mr. Chairman. We need to 
feed our babies today.
  Mr. Chairman, thank you for your leadership, and as you have told me 
many times when I was a freshman, that when you are sitting at the 
table, there will be time enough for counting when the dealing is done. 
You, sir, are the gambler.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. And you have got to know when to fold.
  Madam Speaker, Tennessee is going so well, I may as well yield to 
another good friend, another gentleman from the State of Tennessee (Mr. 
Rose), one that is even more reputable than the last speaker.
  Mr. ROSE. So true. Thank you, Vice-Chairman Johnson. I appreciate 
that.
  Madam Speaker, the average cost of a gallon of gas in this country 
just passed $5 per gallon for the very first time. I repeat: The 
average cost of a

[[Page H5601]]

gallon of gas in this country just passed $5 per gallon for the very 
first time.
  I would like to remind Americans, especially those on the other side 
of the aisle who may not be affected because they drive electric 
vehicles, that prices at the pump started to go up well before Vladimir 
Putin's disgraceful invasion of Ukraine.
  In fact, they started climbing shortly after President Biden took 
office. It is not a coincidence. It is not an unintended consequence. 
It was the President's intended outcome.
  The President doesn't beat around the bush on the topic of fossil 
fuels. On the campaign trail, he pledged to get rid of them. I would 
say he is well on his way to keeping that promise.
  Remember, this country was a net exporter of oil. Now we are stuck 
hoping the President has a good meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi 
Arabia, the same country he called a pariah, one that we hope results 
in them producing more oil and, hopefully, lowering global prices.
  This administration has taken many steps to make it next to 
impossible to expand drilling here at home. We all remember how quickly 
the President killed the Keystone XL pipeline with no regard for the 
impact that would have on those jobs or how dependent it would make us 
on foreign oil suppliers.
  This administration has also proposed more than $80 billion in tax 
increases on energy producers in the first two budget cycles since 
being in office.

                              {time}  1730

  We know the war in Ukraine has impacted fuel prices, but we 
Republicans argue that we didn't have to be reliant on foreign 
countries. If we just used the oil we have here at home, we probably 
could have kept prices down. Now, we are asking OPEC to produce more. 
It makes no sense.
  The President calls this moment an incredible transition. I see 
nothing incredible about it. In fact, the only transition I see is the 
American people going from being able to provide for their families to 
being stuck at home because of record inflation and gas prices that 
have more than doubled.
  We are not going to go from oil to electric consumption overnight. 
The grid isn't ready for an all-electric future. We should pursue an 
all-of-the-above approach that includes oil. The Tennessee Valley 
Authority uses 39 percent nuclear, 19 percent coal, 26 percent natural 
gas, 11 percent hydro, and 3 percent wind and solar to power millions 
of homes across the Tennessee valley. That is how you make sure you are 
not just energy independent, but you are energy dominant.
  The answer isn't raiding our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The answer 
certainly isn't relying on foreign countries for supply. The answer is 
tapping into the resources with which our Nation happens to be 
abundantly blessed.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, my friend is correct. That 
energy crisis haunts every American. We see no end in sight because the 
White House will not reverse its policies.
  Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Bilirakis).
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to discuss the misguided 
priorities of this Chamber.
  At a time when Americans are facing extreme hardship--grappling with 
the highest rates of inflation in more than 40 years; $5 per gallon, at 
least, gas; workforce and food shortages; and unprecedented crime and 
illegal border crossings--House Democrats continue to ignore urgent 
matters and, instead, engage in deflection.
  For example, the majority scheduled three irrelevant bills for 
consideration on the House floor.
  The first allocated $1.3 billion in annual mandatory spending, Madam 
Speaker, for a new regulatory agency to protect endangered species. 
This is the type of tone-deaf policy proposals that show Democrats are 
out of touch with the American people, unfortunately.
  The second bill brought up for consideration targets the Federal 
Reserve at a crucial time. The Federal Reserve is supposed to be an 
independent, nonpolitical, agency tasked with managing our Nation's 
monetary policy, yet House Democrats want to divert the Fed's attention 
away from addressing an impending recession and instead impose its woke 
agenda. Out of touch, Madam Speaker.
  This truly defies common sense, in my opinion. Inflation hurts all 
Americans, regardless of race, and turning the Federal Reserve into a 
social justice warrior will only serve to compound the hurt for 
everyone, unfortunately, Madam Speaker.
  The third measure brought to the floor this week is more deflection. 
In essence, it adds more costs to U.S. producers. That is no way to do 
it. This will only serve to increase the cost of doing business. Those 
increased costs will get passed along to the consumer, like you and me.
  Another attempted distraction is the sham January 6 hearings hosted 
during prime-time TV in a gross display of partisan gamesmanship. These 
are not fact checking.
  It is no secret I voted against the creation of this panel. It was 
clear from the onset that Democrat leaders had no interest in an open 
and unbiased review of what occurred that day when they denied all 
Republican-named nominees to the panel.
  Any doubt that this would be anything more than a bogus, made-for-TV 
drama was put to rest when footage surfaced that the committee was 
relying on teleprompters, and when ratings weren't good, they canceled 
or postponed hearings. My goodness.
  Madam Speaker, I will not be distracted from the real problems facing 
American families. I will keep fighting to do the right thing by my 
constituents. If House Democrats had any sense of urgency, they would 
put aside the political charade and join me and my Republican 
colleagues to get the hard stuff done.
  Time is of the essence. The American people cannot wait any longer.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, my friend said it well. He 
is right, time is of the essence. Every day that we belabor and 
continue these radical leftist policies, the American people feel more 
and more pain.
  Madam Speaker, I yield next to my good friend from Georgia (Mr. 
Clyde).
  Mr. CLYDE. Madam Speaker, I thank Vice Chairman Johnson for hosting 
this Special Order tonight and for allowing us to highlight the various 
crises that are affecting our Nation today.
  Last week, inflation hit a whopping 8.6 percent, the highest since 
1981, and gas prices have soared to $5 a gallon nationwide for the 
first time in history. In fact, just last week, for the first time in 
my life, I paid more than $100 just to fill up the gas tank of my 
pickup truck. As the good Speaker knows, if our own home State had not 
temporarily suspended the gas tax in Georgia, it would have been $110 
to fill up my pickup truck.
  Consumer confidence has plunged to a record low, and I don't blame 
them. Gas, groceries, utilities, common goods, they are all going up. 
Month after month, the sticker shock continues to burden American 
workers and families, with no end in sight.
  Yet President Biden comically claims he is, and I quote, changing 
people's lives. Well, I think he really is, but it is not changing for 
the better. Dare I say the President's policies are actually ruining 
people's lives, destroying the middle class, and dismantling our 
economy. Our Nation is in full buyer's remorse.
  The American people are increasingly fearful of a recession. What are 
the Democrats here in Congress doing about it right now? As of late, 
their focus has been prime time political hearings, aimed at smearing 
President Trump and his supporters, as well as infringing on Americans' 
constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

  Not to mention, earlier this afternoon, the Subcommittee on Economic 
and Consumer Policy of the Committee on Oversight and Reform held our 
very first hearing in 2022. The subject? Investigating tick and flea 
collars. I just can't make this stuff up. It was not Jimmy Carter-era 
inflation. It didn't make the cut.
  And then we have the news reports from this morning that suggest some 
of my Democrat colleagues are focused on instituting gender-neutral 
bathrooms throughout Capitol Hill.
  What in the world is going on? I can assure my Democrat colleagues 
that my constituents in Georgia's Ninth District are far more concerned 
about putting food on the table and filling their gas tanks than any of 
the liberal nonsense that this body is so fixated on.

[[Page H5602]]

  Democrats' severely misguided priorities are a disgrace, but maybe 
they are actually intended to be a distraction because tackling 
inflation head-on would require Democrats and President Biden to face 
the undeniable reality that their Big Government, socialist agenda 
caused this mess in the first place.
  The American people deserve better, period. Congress must refocus its 
attention on implementing effective solutions in order to get our 
economy and our country back on track, just like it was under President 
Trump's leadership.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, my friend from Georgia made 
a great summary of the crisis that we are in. I thank him for bringing 
that.
  Madam Speaker, I yield next to the gentlewoman from Tennessee (Mrs. 
Harshbarger), my dear friend, and the third speaker from the good State 
of Tennessee, can't have enough of those Vols.
  Mrs. HARSHBARGER. Madam Speaker, I had a lot of problems to choose 
from tonight, but I rise today to talk about the border crisis.
  I remind the American people that our national security is still in 
jeopardy as our southern border remains wide open. Since Joe Biden took 
office, over 2.6 million illegal immigrants have been apprehended at 
the southern border.
  Because of President Biden's failed open border policies, more drugs 
have been smuggled into our neighborhoods than ever before. CBP 
estimates that nearly 5,300 pounds of deadly fentanyl analogues have 
been apprehended, and that is enough to kill 2.4 billion people. I 
don't know of a person that I talk to or that I see that hasn't been 
touched by the loss of somebody concerning overdoses.
  As a pharmacist, I know this all too well, that the illegal fentanyl 
analogues flowing through Joe's open border have caused unthinkable 
harm by poisoning our communities.
  According to the Metro Public Health Department in Nashville last 
year, 74 percent of overdose-related toxicology reports detected fatal 
fentanyl analogues.
  Wondering how all that fentanyl is getting into a State like mine? I 
am not even a border State.
  It is no coincidence that Border Patrol agents reported a 1,066 
percent increase in fentanyl seizures at just one stretch of the U.S.-
Mexico border last year.
  The influx of dangerous, illegal drugs is making its way through all 
our neighborhoods, and this is no longer a geographically tied tragedy. 
As I said before, Tennessee isn't a border State, but we are all border 
States. The Biden administration's failure has had deadly consequences, 
and my home State has not been immune.
  As I stand here today, the largest caravan of people intending to 
illegally reside in the United States is heading to our southern 
border. Word has gotten around that Joe Biden is soft on crime and that 
he has opened his arms and our border to anyone and everyone.
  This caravan could total up to 15,000 people, and that far outnumbers 
our Border Patrol agents who are already struggling to protect our 
borders. These thousands are just crumbs compared to the millions who 
have entered our country illegally in the last year.
  I have been to the border more times now in my first term in the 
House of Representatives than Joe Biden has in nearly half a century in 
public service. What I saw there at both Eagle Pass and the Rio Grande 
Valley Sector was heartbreaking and infuriating.
  I had the opportunity to speak with our Border Patrol agents who just 
want to do their job and keep our Nation safe, but they are struggling 
under the conditions this administration has boxed them into. They 
don't have enough resources, manpower, or support to turn away the 
hordes of invaders that come through the border every single day, and 
the illicit and illegal criminals that are coming, the got-aways, we 
don't know who they are, where they came from, or where they are going. 
That is of even more concern.

  In fact, they have been encouraged to help transport these 
individuals to every corner of the Nation without a way of knowing who 
they are or where they are going. What we do know is who is paying for 
all this, and that is a simple answer. It is the American taxpayer.
  This year, Secretary Mayorkas admitted that Americans are out $72 
million just from President Biden's order to halt the border wall 
construction. We are paying not to build the border wall. Plainly 
speaking, the American people are being charged to ensure they are less 
safe. This crisis greatly benefits the cartels and gravely threatens 
Americans.
  Every State is a border State as Joe Biden's border crisis damages 
our national security. This crisis has gone on long enough. Americans 
deserve better, and they deserve a closed border.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I have another colleague or 
two on the way. How much time is remaining on the clock in this Special 
Order?
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman has 21 minutes remaining.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Thank you so much, Madam Speaker. I will 
read a quote here that is very familiar to everyone now because it has 
been repeated over and over in the last several days. It is from Chuck 
Schumer. Of course, he is the Democrat leader on the Senate side. He 
stood on the steps of the United States Supreme Court, and he exclaimed 
to a crowd, to their applause, and to all the television cameras, what 
is now a quote that lives in infamy, ``I want to tell you, Gorsuch; I 
want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you 
will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with 
these awful decisions.''

                              {time}  1745

  The leader of the Democrats in the Senate stood on the steps of the 
United States Supreme Court and threatened the Justices by name.
  Now, what is happening? What is happening now? Well, people are 
heeding that advice. There was a leaked opinion, an unprecedented, 
terribly tragic event there that will harm the institution permanently, 
the Supreme Court. Some clerk, we suspect--I think it is one of the 
liberal law clerks for one of the liberal Justices, the three Justices 
on that Court committed to that ideology. Somebody leaked the draft 
opinion, and it has caused a whirlwind.
  All of these protesters are criminals. They are not really 
protesters. They are criminals because this is blatantly against the 
black letter of the Federal law. 18 U.S.C. 1507 openly makes this a 
crime. You can't protest at the home of a judge to try to influence 
their opinion. Yet, that is exactly what is happening.
  As we speak right now, there are liberal activists on the lawns of 
the Justices of the Supreme Court, the conservative Justices.
  Do you know what? Their lives are in danger because we now know, just 
a few days ago, a would-be assassin was apprehended on the lawn of 
Justice Kavanaugh. He was home with his wife and his two young 
daughters.
  This is a dangerous thing, and this is what is wrought when so-called 
leaders tell the American people to get in the faces of their political 
opponents, to release the whirlwind, you won't know what hit you, and 
all the rest. That is what is happening right now.
  What are Republicans doing about it? What is Congress doing about it? 
Nothing at all. The Democrat majority won't even acknowledge that this 
is a problem. In fact, on this floor last night, we had 27 
progressives, 27 of the Democrats in this House, vote against a simple 
bill, a measure that would provide security and protection for the 
innocent children of these Justices. They voted against that. It is 
unbelievable.
  People back home ask me, my constituents, say: What are they 
thinking? What in the world is going on? Do they want people to be 
harmed?
  Look, I think the motive is that they want to send a message to the 
radical left that we like you violating the law. We want you on the 
lawns of conservative judges. We want you to try to intimidate them 
into changing their opinions because they may overturn Roe, or they may 
interpret the Constitution in a way that the radical left disagrees 
with.
  This is a tinderbox. This is a dangerous time in the country. The so-
called leaders here are encouraging and inflaming this. Heaven forbid 
if someone actually gets hurt.

[[Page H5603]]

  We filed a resolution here within a few days of that leak last month. 
Forty-five Members joined me in that resolution. We called upon the 
Department of Justice to enforce 18 U.S.C. 1507, to enforce the law 
that makes it a crime to picket or parade to influence a judge. Do you 
know what? Crickets. The Department of Justice hasn't done anything.
  Can you imagine if a threat was made to one of the liberal Justices? 
Can you imagine the outcry? The mainstream media and the Democrats 
here, the radical left, they would be demanding action. But if it is a 
conservative judge, hey, fair game, apparently. It is open season on 
conservative judges. That is what we have now.
  We also filed, last month, the Leaker Accountability Act that would 
make it a crime to knowingly share confidential information from the 
Supreme Court. I authored that legislation. I think it ought to be 
punishable by a fine or up to 5 years imprisonment.
  We have to send a message. This behavior, the leak, the violence that 
has ensued because of it, is unacceptable. The idea, again, that our 
colleagues would vote against protection for the children of these 
judges is, to me, unconscionable and an unforgivable vote.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. 
LaMalfa), my good friend.
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louisiana for 
leading these important topics here.
  There is such a broad range of things we can be talking about, but 
one of the key issues that finally we got action on was the issue with 
the crazy radicals that have illegally protested outside of the Supreme 
Court Justices' homes, threatening them, going so far as even 
implicating that they are going to have an assassination attempt on a 
Supreme Court Justice.
  What kind of system of government will we have if they have to worry 
about whether they are going to be assaulted or even killed over doing 
their job?
  After weeks of twiddling their thumbs as this violence escalated, 
finally, we were able to pass the Supreme Court Police Parity Act.
  Meanwhile, inflation rates have skyrocketed for months, and prices on 
everything are going up dramatically because of supply chain issues 
that could be fixed if the administration and this Congress were 
focused on the American people instead of pie-in-the-sky things like 
the Green New Deal or others.
  We have seen little action from the left on these issues. It looks 
like we will be too busy to bring to the floor these solutions that we 
have been working on in the Committee on Agriculture and others. 
Instead, we get the soap opera, complete with prime time and production 
from ABC News executives, otherwise known as the January 6th Select 
Committee. Select what?
  The hearings are being broadcasted in prime time, although the 
ratings are actually going in the toilet for that, as reruns from other 
programs are outstripping them, including the TV show called ``Young 
Sheldon,'' which is actually kind of entertaining, I guess. What it 
really shows is that viewers would rather watch paint dry than watch a 
bunch of lawmakers using teleprompters in their made-for-TV drama.
  We didn't need a whole partisan production when Bennie Thompson 
objected to the 2004 Presidential election, and we had a Senator join 
in on that, to bring that to a vote. I guess that all is different when 
it is a Republican coming in.

  We need to look into the security failures of the day, on January 6, 
and ask the real questions that need to be asked. The select committee 
is, instead, doctoring evidence, texts, and other things to make it 
look like a one-sided deal. If we had balance on the committee, we 
would actually be getting to ask the real questions and get down to 
real solutions.
  With many reviews conducted of the security vulnerabilities in the 
Capitol, we have a lot to do in order to make it more secure and 
something that people can have confidence in, in the process we are 
supposed to have here, including on that day, January 6, when we were 
supposed to constitutionally complete our work, though I had colleagues 
saying: ``Are we going to actually go back in there and complete it?'' 
Yes, we have to do our job. We have those duties on January 6 following 
each Presidential election.
  Is it politics or is it solutions? Soaring gas prices; baby formula 
shortages, for crying out loud; sky-high inflation; rising crime rates; 
illegal aliens flooding across our border.
  The only thing the Dems really want to run on is bashing President 
Trump. Well, he is not President anymore. Even though he is living 
rent-free inside their heads, we need to move on to something else, 
getting the work done, the job done, for the American people, who are 
suffering right now because of the policies and the inattention to the 
details that would help them.
  Let's get to work on the real things.
  Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend for 
faithfully coming to this floor and speaking to his constituents and 
the American people about these very serious issues that face us as a 
country. His voice is an important one.
  I am grateful to him and our many colleagues for joining us tonight 
to discuss all of these crises facing our country that are taking a 
back seat to the Democrat reality show and the most radical set of 
domestic and foreign policies that America has ever seen.
  As we close, I remind everybody--we heard it last night--the 
President exclaimed in his now infamous speech, he said: ``We are 
changing people's lives.'' You saw that?
  Mr. LaMALFA. Yes.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. There is zero doubt about that, Mr. 
President. Lives are being devastated under your policies.
  I will just say this, as we conclude: November cannot get here soon 
enough.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________