[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 23, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, this past Saturday marked 3 years of the 
Biden administration. After 3 full years under President Biden, the 
question naturally arises, Is America better off? Are Americans better 
off? For a whole lot of Americans, the answer is no.
  In a December poll, 55 percent of voters said they are worse off 
under President Biden. In a January poll, 46 percent of voters said 
their personal financial situation is getting worse compared to just 28 
percent who said it is improving.
  A recent ABC News article noted:

       In a dispiriting sign of the times, barely more than a 
     quarter of Americans say the American dream still holds true.

  It is no wonder because perhaps the biggest legacy of the President's 
first 3 years in office is a massive inflation crisis that has still--
still--not gone away.
  Inflation may have descended from the stratospheric heights it 
reached earlier in the President's term, but we are still stuck with an 
inflation rate well above the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2 
percent. And inflation actually ticked up again in December by a not 
insignificant margin. The practical effect has been that a whole lot of 
Americans have seen their breathing room disappear under President 
Biden.
  According to a recent analysis from the members of the Joint Economic 
Committee here in Congress, a typical household has to spend over 
$11,000 more each year to maintain the same standard of living it had 
at the beginning of the Biden administration--$11,000 more each year. 
That is a staggering amount of money. It is money that a lot of 
families don't have.
  So it is not surprising that 55 percent of voters say they are worse 
off under President Biden. It turns out that when you are spending 20 
percent more on groceries, 18 percent more on shelter, 35 percent more 
on gasoline, and 25 percent more on electricity--and on and on--over 
the course of just 3 years, you don't feel very prosperous. And I 
haven't even mentioned how difficult it has gotten for many Americans 
to achieve the dream of homeownership, thanks in part to rate hikes 
that the Federal Reserve has had to implement to deal with President 
Biden's inflation crisis.
  Suffice it to say that the inflation crisis President Biden helped 
create with his so-called American Rescue Plan has resulted in economic 
misery for a lot of Americans.
  The President will unquestionably be remembered for his massive 
inflation crisis, but he will also be remembered for presiding over a 
border crisis of staggering proportions, a crisis that, like the 
inflation crisis, he had a large hand in creating.
  From the day he took office, when he rescinded the declaration of a 
national emergency at our southern border, President Biden made it 
clear that border security was at the bottom of his priority list. And 
over the 3 years since, he has turned our southern border into a magnet 
for illegal migration, from repealing border policies of his 
predecessor to misusing our asylum and parole systems, which are now 
providing temporary amnesty to hundreds of thousands of individuals who 
are here in our country illegally.
  We have had 3 recordbreaking years of illegal immigration at our 
southern border on President Biden's watch. Fiscal year 2021 saw a 
recordbreaking 1,734,686 migrant encounters at our southern border. 
Then fiscal year 2022 broke that record. Then fiscal year 2023 broke 
that record. And if fiscal year 2024 continues on its current 
trajectory, we will end up breaking the record yet again. December 
reportedly saw a staggering 302,000 migrant encounters at our southern 
border, the highest monthly number ever recorded.

  To borrow an analogy from our colleague from Pennsylvania, that is 
like having the entire city of Pittsburgh show up at our southern 
border in just 1 month. And that doesn't count the ``got-aways.''
  Of course, the overwhelming numbers we are seeing make it easier for 
dangerous individuals to make their way into our country.
  Between October and November alone, 30 individuals on the Terrorist 
Watch List were apprehended attempting to cross our southern border; in 
other words, roughly 1 every other day. Those are just, again, the 
individuals who were actually apprehended.
  Since October 1, there have been more than 83,000 known ``got-
aways.'' Those are individuals the Border Patrol saw but were unable to 
apprehend. How many of them were criminals, terrorists, or other 
dangerous individuals?
  The truth of the matter is, we just don't know. But what we do know 
is that the crisis at our southern border is leaving a gaping hole in 
our national security, one that the President has spent a majority of 
the past 3 years essentially ignoring.
  His border crisis and his inflation crisis might be the two most 
notable features of the President's first 3 years in office, but the 
President is also leaving some other troubling legacies.
  His hostility to conventional energy production and his devotion to 
Green New Deal policies have put us on a dangerous trajectory when it 
comes to our Nation's energy security. We are already seeing weaknesses 
in our electric grid, and the President's energy policies are putting 
us at risk of significant disruptions to our supply.
  On the trade front, the President's almost complete lack of action on 
meaningful trade agreements has meant declining market access for 
American farmers and ranchers and threatens America's competitiveness 
in the global market.
  The weakness the President has frequently demonstrated on the 
national security front, from his disastrous withdrawal from 
Afghanistan to his attempt to revive President Obama's dangerous 
nuclear deal with Iran, has compromised America's ability to deter 
hostile actors on the world stage.
  I could go on, but I will end it here. Suffice it to say that it has 
been a rough 3 years for our country under President Biden, and it is 
not over yet.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Padilla). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SCHMITT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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