[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 184 (Tuesday, November 7, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5389-S5390]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I think we are all aware that parts of 
our world are on fire. The world is on fire in Ukraine and in Eastern 
Europe, and the world is on fire in the Middle East. I wouldn't 
describe the world as being on fire in the Indo-Pacific, but there are 
certainly embers, and they are smoldering.
  I think it is clear to most Americans that President Xi in China, 
that President Putin in Russia, and that the Ayatollah in Iran are 
working together, and their objective is to have Russia dominate 
Central and Eastern Europe and to have the Ayatollah in Iran dominate 
the Middle East. The Ayatollah, of course, is funding and supports 
Hamas.
  There is no cause in the world--none--that can justify what Hamas did 
to the innocent people of Israel. The people of Hamas are so evil they 
will kill you and drink your blood out of a boot. And President Xi and 
President Putin and the Ayatollah in Iran are just fine with that.
  The third objective of China, Russia, and Iran is to allow China to 
dominate the Indo-Pacific and be free to make moves in Sub-Saharan 
Africa and in South America.
  Parts of the world are on fire. America is about to find out what it 
is made of because the world I just described is not a world safe for 
America.
  But as we meet these challenges, Mr. President--and by God, we will 
meet them. We will meet them. While we are doing that, I don't want us 
to forget about our homeland. We have a lot of problems domestically, 
and I don't want us to lose sight of them. I think about them every 
day. I know you do, too, Mr. President.
  We still have millions of Americans who are too poor to be sick 
despite the fact that we have the best quality of healthcare in America 
in all of human history. Notice I didn't say that we have the best way 
of delivering that healthcare. But we have the best quality of 
healthcare in all of human history, but we have people in this 
country--many of them are middle class--who are too poor to be sick. 
Since the Affordable Care Act passed, we were told that it was going to 
make our lives better, that it was going to make health insurance more 
accessible and cheaper. Since the Affordable Care Act was passed, 
health insurance premiums have tripled.
  We also know domestically that our border is an open, bleeding wound. 
It is an open, bleeding wound, and it is within the power of this 
Congress to fix that.
  But none of those domestic problems that I just described--and I 
could continue with others, as I know you could, too, Mr. President--is 
hurting the American people as much as President Biden's inflation. Not 
a single one. President Biden's inflation is gutting the American 
people like a fish. It is a cancer--a cancer--on the American dream.
  In my State alone, in Louisiana--we are not a wealthy State. My 
people are pretty middle class. They get up every day. They go to work. 
They obey the law. They try to do the right things by their kids, try 
to save a little for retirement. The median household income for a 
family of four in my State is $55,000 a year. A lot of States are above 
us; some are below us.
  President Biden's inflation, which is manmade--and that man's name is 
Joe Biden--is costing my people, the average Louisiana family, $806--
not a year, a month, $806 a month. That is $9,700 a year. Now, imagine 
if you were making $55,000 a year, and you have to come out of pocket 
with an extra $9,700 a year. You blow through your savings. You max out 
your credit card. You borrow from your children's college education 
plan. You borrow from relatives. And then what do you do?
  I know what some of my colleagues are thinking: But, Kennedy, we are 
doing better on inflation.
  We are, and I am so thankful. A year ago, inflation in this country 
was 8.2 percent. Today, it is 3.7 percent. I am so happy, and I hope it 
continues to go down, but it is important for us to remember what that 
means.
  A reduction of inflation from 8.2 percent to 3.7 percent--which is 
still, of course, too high--just means that inflation is rising less 
rapidly. We still have inflation. Prices are still high, and they 
continue to go up; they just are not going up as quickly as they were. 
That is a good thing, but it doesn't solve the problem. That is what we 
call disinflation. When inflation is rising and we stop it from rising 
so quickly, that is called disinflation. But that is not what most 
Americans care about, although that is important to them. What they 
care about is prices going down, and that is deinflation. We do not 
have deinflation.
  The point I am trying to make is, we are stuck with these high 
prices. If they get inflation down to zero, those prices are not going 
down; they are going to remain the same. They are just not going to 
rise as quickly. We are stuck. The American people are stuck with these 
high prices because of the Biden administration.
  I could cite you all the sterile statistics you would like, but I 
want to try to describe in specific terms what it is like for my people 
to go to the grocery store, to have to--this is an exaggeration but not 
by much--to have to think about, well, do I have to sell blood plasma 
today in order to go to the grocery store? Do I have to draw down on 
the second mortgage on my home in order to go to the grocery store?
  Since President Biden has been in office, consumer goods in the 
United States of America are up 17 percent,

[[Page S5390]]

electricity is up 25 percent, eggs are up 29 percent. They are not 
going down, folks. Even if inflation goes to zero, those prices aren't 
going down. Potato chips, up 30 percent; bread, up 28 percent; coffee, 
30 percent; rice, 26 percent. Flour is up 28 percent; milk, 18 percent; 
half a gallon of ice cream, 21 percent; chicken, 20 percent.
  When you look at larger categories, this is what is happening to the 
American people. Since President Biden took office--since President 
Biden took office--all goods and many services in the wealthiest 
country in all of human history are up 17 percent. Food is up 20 
percent. Housing is up 17 percent. Clothing is up 12 percent. Used cars 
and trucks are up 25 percent. New cars and trucks are up 20 percent. 
Mortgage rates are up 174 percent--174 percent.
  Some may be saying: Well, but wages are going up too.
  Thank goodness. In some cases, wages have gone up. But the average 
wage of the average American has gone down after inflation. The 
appropriate way to look at wage increases is not to look at the raw 
aggregate increase; it is looking at the increase after inflation. If 
you take all of the average wage increases in the United States of 
America and you looked at the average inflation in the United States of 
America, workers have actually lost ground. Workers today, in November 
of 2023, are actually making less per hour after inflation than they 
were in February of 2021. So don't let anybody tell you that wages have 
made up for this. They haven't kept up with inflation.
  Don't let anybody tell you we are winning the war on high prices. We 
are getting inflation down, no thanks--no thanks--to the Biden 
administration and, quite frankly, the U.S. Congress. That is thanks to 
the Federal Reserve. They have tightened interest rates, which has hurt 
a lot of people, but they have gotten inflation down. They had to do it 
with one arm tied behind their backs because the other way you attack 
inflation and the only way we have ever successfully gotten it down is 
to have Congress do its part and reduce the rate of growth and spending 
and debt accumulation. But we haven't done that. We haven't done that. 
In fact, since 2019, the population of the United States of America is 
up 1.9 percent. Our country has grown 2 percent since 2019. Do you know 
how much our budget has grown? Fifty-five percent.

  This inflation is manmade, and the man's name is Joe Biden, and we 
need to address it.
  So as we fight a hostile world which day by day is becoming less safe 
for the American people, I don't want us to lose sight of another 
problem--an equally important problem--that is stealing the American 
dream, and it is called President Biden's inflation.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Markey). The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following 
Senators be permitted to speak prior to the scheduled rollcall votes: 
Myself for up to 15 minutes, Senator Gillibrand for up to 5 minutes, 
Senator Cotton for up to 5 minutes, and Leader Schumer for up to 5 
minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.