[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 7, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4452-S4453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Inflation

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, Washington Democrats have spent nearly 
2 years--2 years--borrowing, printing, and spending our economy into 
turmoil. Families and businesses across Middle America are paying the 
price. I met with many of them in my home State of Kentucky over the 
past few weeks.
  Since President Biden took office, prices in the Commonwealth have 
spiked by 13 percent. At the same time, we still have 19,000 fewer 
workers than before the pandemic.
  During a meeting with the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers in 
Louisville, I heard directly from employers who would, under different 
circumstances, be powering our recovery. Instead, many are struggling 
to find enough workers to meet consumer demand.
  In Hopkinsville, I spoke to farmers who have watched the price of 
energy skyrocket, raising the cost of everything from fuel to 
fertilizer. As a result, all Americans are paying higher prices at the 
grocery store.
  While Eastern Kentucky struggles to recover from devastating floods, 
supply

[[Page S4453]]

chain issues and the increased cost of building materials are 
hamstringing the repair process and making it even harder to rebuild.
  I am sure my Democratic colleagues heard similar stories during their 
own August travel. Kentuckians aren't the only Americans feeling 
pinched.
  The official inflation numbers confirmed that yet again just after 
the Senate adjourned last month--a fifth straight month of inflation 
above 8 percent. Inflated gas prices, inflated utility bills, the worst 
explosion in grocery costs since 1979--these are the painful effects of 
Democrats' reckless spending.
  Americans keep communicating over and over and over that runaway 
costs are their top concern, and they didn't like what President Biden 
and his party are doing about it.
  Ah, but amazingly, just a few days before the latest inflation 
report, Democrats had just pushed through hundreds of billions of 
dollars more in liberal waste on a party-line basis. Democrats packed 
their bill with an environmentalist wish list that won't even affect 
climate. They sold it--listen to this--as an Inflation Reduction Act 
even though experts found it would do absolutely nothing meaningful to 
reduce inflation. They did find room for massive, job-killing tax hikes 
that will hit manufacturing especially hard and kill jobs on the brink 
of a possible recession.
  It is not getting any easier to put food on the table, pay rent, or 
even keep the lights on, but here we are again, starting another Senate 
work period with not one word from the Democratic leader about plans to 
bring bills to the floor to cut inflation, fight the crimewave, or 
secure the border.
  The American people have communicated loud and clear what their 
priorities are, and Democrats keep communicating loud and clear they 
simply do not care.