[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 26, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H7156-H7157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE IMPACT OF INFLATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 2021, the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) is recognized 
until 10 p.m. as the designee of the minority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Arkansas?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my 5 minutes for 1 hour under 
the House rules, which I don't believe is very helpful to my 
colleagues.
  So let me begin that we are here to talk about inflation and the 
impact of inflation on our constituents.
  I will start out briefly and talk about Melissa from Adona, Arkansas. 
She says: It is severely impacting us, with gas and grocery prices so 
high that we couldn't make our $300 car payment last month because my 
husband had four doctor visits to make. We have to do without air 
conditioning unless it gets above 97 degrees. Our grandkids come over 
and say: We thought y'all bought groceries. And we tell them we did, 
but that is all we could get. My husband is a disabled veteran, and we 
could barely make it before. With the rise in prices, we just have 
faith in the Lord that we can meet our needs.
  Madam Speaker, that is Melissa from Adona, Arkansas.
  All of our constituents are suffering.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr) to 
talk about the impact of inflation in his district.
  Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, whether it is Putin's price hike, corporate 
greed, transitory--depending on the day, Madam Speaker, these are just 
some of the false narratives in the laundry list of excuses President 
Biden and Democrats have used to try to explain away the impact of 
their disastrous economic policies.
  The truth is, Madam Speaker, that this historic inflation crisis, the 
fastest rate of inflation in 40 years, is the direct result of policy 
errors.
  The latest excuse from the President comes in this tweet from 
yesterday: Can you believe it? At current prices, the average driver 
will spend less than they would if prices had stayed at their peak.
  The problem is, Madam Speaker, the peak was under his policies.
  Here is the real--here's the real tweet: At current prices, Americans 
will spend $1,200 more per person for gas and a whole lot more than 
they would have if Joe Biden had not been President of the United 
States.
  The reality is, our country went from energy dominant to energy 
desperate, and gas prices have almost doubled in less than 2 years from 
$2.36 per gallon to $4.32 today.
  Not only did that peak occur under President Biden's policy, but I 
think I

[[Page H7157]]

speak for all Americans when I say I never thought I would see the day 
when an American President would celebrate gas prices north of $4 
nationwide.
  My story is Charlie from Fleming County, Kentucky. He is a farmer, 
and he cannot afford these diesel prices. He told me: I don't know, 
Congressman, where you come up with these numbers in Washington, D.C., 
9.1 percent inflation. To us in America, it feels two or three times 
that much.
  This inflation is hurting Americans. Time to reverse course and end 
these disastrous policies of war against American energy.
  Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Kentucky for his 
strong words.
  While Mr. Donalds is coming forward, I got a note from Ron in Little 
Rock. He is a 100 percent disabled veteran. He is not eating well. He 
is not able to go places because of the cost of gas in this country. He 
has to conserve his gas money in order to go to the VA for his primary 
care.
  Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Donalds), 
my friend from Florida's 19th Congressional District.
  Mr. DONALDS. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. 
Hill) for yielding.
  Energy prices are up over 35 percent. Groceries have surged more than 
11.9 percent. The consumer price index is up 9.1 percent. The producer 
price index is up close to 12 percent.
  None of this was happening before the American Rescue Plan was passed 
by Congressional Democrats and signed into law by Joe Biden. Before 
that time period, our inflation rate was holding steady between 2 and 3 
percent.
  What happened? What happened was the Congressional Democrats and the 
President of the United States, Joe Biden, unleashed a labor shortage 
on the United States. People did not have to go to work in order to 
continue to buy goods. So what happens when you take people out of the 
workforce is that they have money to spend, but there is not enough 
supply in the economy because enough people are not working to provide 
the products for enough goods. So if there are not enough goods, but 
everybody has money, prices go up. It happens every single time.
  This is very simple. Even Lawrence Summers, who was an economic 
adviser to Bill Clinton, said that the American Rescue Plan was going 
to unleash a massive inflation in the United States. House Republicans 
said if you pass that bill, it is going to unleash a massive inflation 
the United States.
  So the American people need to know and understand that it is the 
policies of Congressional Democrats and Joe Biden that have unleashed 
the worst inflation most Americans have ever seen in their lives.
  Mr. HILL. Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from California 
(Mrs. Kim), who will tell us how inflation is impacting her 
constituents.

                              {time}  2200

  Mrs. KIM of California. Madam Speaker, I thank my friend, French 
Hill, for yielding.
  Families, workers, and small businesses are hurting from the highest 
inflation in over 40 years, and in Southern California where I am from, 
everything is more expensive.
  Inflation doesn't discriminate. It impacts every American and hurts 
small businesses and workers with less income the most.
  For example, Raul and Rosalina Davis, owners of Tlaquepaque 
Restaurant in Placentia, in my district, told my office: ``Higher gas 
prices and issues with our supply chain are leading to increasing costs 
from everything from beverages to meat for ingredients, to workforce 
shortages. As a restaurant, we run our small business with very tight 
revenue margins, and a small change in prices can really hurt our 
bottom line. If we have to pass on higher costs to our customers, it 
puts us in a tough place when we are competing against bigger 
restaurants that can absorb higher costs.''
  While the Biden administration calls inflation temporary and seeks to 
redefine the long-established meaning of a recession, I have introduced 
bills to combat inflationary spending, lower taxes on Californians, and 
support job creators.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
  Mrs. KIM of California. Policies from Congress should make life more 
affordable, not less.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman is no longer recognized.
  Mr. GIMENEZ. Madam Speaker, Thank you, Congressman Hill for taking 
the time to put together this special order.
  From Arkansas to South Florida, every hardworking American is facing 
the same dilemma under Biden's presidency.
  Look, we all know the facts. Record high inflation, 9.1 percent, a 
shrinking economy.
  But what we often overlook is just how devasting this Biden's 
inflation is on everyday people and the real-life, practical impact it 
has on hardworking families. Inflation is the worst tax on American 
workers.
  Over the last week, my office has been hearing a lot about Biden's 
inflation. Many families desperate to make ends meet, having to choose 
between feeding their families and putting gas in their car.
  Genevieve from Cutler Bay reached out to my office saying quote: ``we 
were already living paycheck to paycheck with very little savings. Now 
we are dipping in our savings just to make ends meet. I am worried that 
I will not be able to pay for after school services for my children 
when the school year starts.''
  Marianela from Miami shared similar concerns, saying quote: ``I have 
less money to save or spend. My groceries are to a minimum. Costs of 
gas are a consequence of Mr. Biden's executive orders which have a 
domino effect on everything we have to buy.''
  Maria from Key West also reached out to us saying quote: ``Constantly 
negative in the bank because bills have doubled in price, had to use 
credit cards after being debt free because of how expensive everything 
is. I was a stay at home mom and will have to return to work sooner 
than planned.''
  When you go out and talk to people at the grocery store, at the gas 
pumps, parents at our schools, they all share the same stories. Biden's 
9.1 percent inflation isn't just some fictional economics stat.
  It means Americans are 9.1 percent poorer today than they were a year 
ago. Hardworking Americans are feeling the heat. It's time President 
Biden grow a backbone and do the work needed to increase our domestic 
energy, arrest the out-of-control spending, and get our economy working 
again for all Americans.
  Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Madam Speaker, Six hundred and seventy-seven 
dollars.
  That's how much more--per month--Georgians are spending on everyday 
goods due to Biden's inflation crisis.
  That's gas. Groceries. Retirement. That's money people need to live 
their lives.
  Instead, they're using it to subsidize Biden's far-left agenda.
  And unlike the President, the American people can't just change the 
definition of a word and watch their problems go away.
  Regardless of what the White House's latest blog says, we are headed 
towards a recession. In fact, we may already be in one.
  The single mom trying to feed her family and the trucker paying more 
for diesel are feeling the sting of this Administration's policies 
daily.
  Recession isn't just a word to them--it's a lived reality that leads 
to lost income, jobs, opportunities, and even hope.
  Where the White House sees the so-called ``strength'' of the economy, 
my constituents see weakness.
  That weakness is emblematic of a failed President who is willing to 
look us in the eye and say that we are not in a recession, that the 
$4.30 you're paying for gas is a gift.
  He's wrong.
  Washington Democrats' one-party rule is robbing Americans blind.
  We know how to fix this! Unleash American energy independence, rein 
in the runaway spending, and pass a budget, which was supposed to 
happen months ago, so that the American people know what their elected 
officials value and how their tax dollars are being spent.
  It's time to put the American people first.

                          ____________________