[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 47 (Tuesday, March 14, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S765-S766]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, every year, I meet with local leaders 
and citizens in all 95 Tennessee counties, and with each visit, I am 
more and more encouraged by the changes I see. Low taxes, pro-business 
policies, and less invasive government have encouraged growth that my 
Democratic colleagues are not seeing back in their States. But still 
many areas of Tennessee are hurting, and those that

[[Page S766]]

aren't are feeling the negative effects of inflation and broken supply 
chains.
  What has happened over the past few years is proof that these 
Tennessee families and businesses are much better at spending their own 
money than the Federal Government is at spending taxpayer money. They 
have to be because if they were as reckless with their paychecks as the 
Biden administration is with taxpayer funds, they would have gone 
bankrupt a long time ago.
  When they saw what the President put together in his latest budget 
request, they were not surprised, but they were incredibly discouraged 
at the idea of another year of Federal spending that leaves our 
southern border vulnerable and guarantees another year of unsustainable 
inflation.
  Joe Biden and the Democrats have made it their mission to tax and 
spend this country into oblivion, but adding insult to injury is their 
commitment to ignoring the actual problems the American people are 
facing on a local level: inflation, drugs, crime, and continued supply 
chain problems.
  During my recent visit with officials in Cannon County, they had a 
lot to say about how this failure to govern has affected their ability 
to follow through on even the most basic public works projects.
  Like many distressed counties around the country, Cannon County 
received emergency funding during the pandemic. They put it toward 
short-term projects that, for this community, were really a once-in-a-
lifetime opportunity to grow.
  But here is the problem: Over the past 2 years, my Democratic 
colleagues have spent so much money and driven inflation so high that 
any progress Cannon County leaders could have made with those projects 
has been completely washed out by the overall effects of inflation.
  For Joe Biden and the Democrats, this is something that is easily 
brushed aside, but for the people of Cannon County, it means that 
something as essential as a water project is stalled indefinitely.
  The topography of Cannon County makes it pretty hard to bring water 
in, but with this particular project, they would have been able to 
install a water line from neighboring Warren County and alleviate the 
pressure on their water supply. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it 
would have provided relief.
  But, now, inflation and supply chain breakdowns have turned this 
project into a nightmare. Local leaders are questioning the 
construction estimates because they change or expire before their 
contractors can get their hands on the right materials. This means that 
by the time those materials come in, the county may not be able to pay 
for the work, and on and on it goes. There is no light at the end of 
the tunnel.
  The White House can spin this all they want, but this is not how 
business normally works. Joe Biden and the Democrats have embraced 
dysfunction at every turn and Tennesseans--they are the ones who are 
suffering.
  Our wide-open southern border has come up in every single county 
meeting I have taken since Joe Biden took his oath of office, and, over 
the past few years, we have watched the situation become increasingly 
dire.
  Every town is a border town, and every State is a border State, 
including Tennessee.
  When I was in McMinnville, earlier this year, local leaders described 
to me in great detail how the Biden administration's refusal to secure 
the border has pushed local police to the breaking point. For a town 
that small, the people of McMinnville should not be suffering from so 
much crime. But the flow of drugs is out of control, and the law 
enforcement officials I spoke with can trace it from their 
neighborhoods to the closest cartel distribution hub in Atlanta and 
then down to the southern border.
  They find fentanyl in just about every drug that they seize--deadly 
fentanyl. Overdoses caused by marijuana laced with fentanyl are common 
now, something that just a few years ago would have been rare if not 
unthinkable.
  The rampant availability of drugs has caused a crisis among teens and 
young people, who are now using at such a rate that law enforcement has 
nowhere to house juvenile offenders. Fentanyl, the leading killer of 
Americans age 18 to 45. Fentanyl, the fastest growing killer of 
children under 18 fentanyl. Fentanyl that is flooding across our 
southern border--14,000 pounds apprehended last year by Border Patrol. 
That is enough to kill 3.3 billion people--3.3 billion people.
  This is why every town is a border State. It is why every single 
local law enforcement official is saying: We need help. Secure that 
southern border.
  When I have talked to them about what they need to get a grip on the 
fentanyl issue, they have told me the same thing that local officials 
are telling other Members of this body: Secure the border and make the 
resources available so that we can get a grip on this. They need to 
hire more law enforcement officers. They need to give them better pay 
and training, and they need to expand antidrug programming for younger 
children. As sad as that is, they are the ones who are being introduced 
to and affected by these drugs.
  You could visit any county in the United States and probably hear 
very similar stories from local officials who have worked hard, kept 
their own spending in check, and who have done their best to plan for 
the future of their communities. They love their communities. They are 
worried about crime. They are worried about drugs. They want more 
choice and options for education. They want security in their local 
streets.
  Officials in the White House and here on Capitol Hill know what their 
policies have done to these local leaders and to the American people. 
They also know that the President's budget request doesn't reflect what 
they need or even what they want.
  They are asking for relief. They are not asking for new programs. 
They are not asking for pie in the sky. They are not wanting to see 
more bailouts. They don't need more mandates.
  What they need is relief--relief that will address inflation, relief 
that will address supply chains, relief that will address the drugs and 
the crime that is flowing across that southern border.
  These are issues they look at as root causes of rampant, out-of-
control crime and out-of-control spending that has stalled growth in 
many communities.
  They won't be able to do that until Joe Biden and the Democrats 
realign their priorities with those of the American people.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
  Mr. KELLY. Mr. President, I ask that the scheduled vote occur 
immediately.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.