[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 12, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2353-S2354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, President Biden came to Congress on 
Thursday night to deliver the State of the Union Address. And, 
unfortunately, it was exactly what you might expect from the President: 
the same old tired tax-and-

[[Page S2354]]

spend proposals, a far-left agenda, and a couple--or I should say--a 
complete failure to address some of the biggest challenges facing the 
country.
  Let's step back in time for a minute to the beginning of the 
President's administration. Mr. President, 3 years ago this month, the 
President signed into law a massive and partisan $1.9 trillion spending 
bill under the guise of COVID relief, despite the fact that Congress 
had just passed a fifth--fifth--bipartisan COVID bill that met, 
essentially, all current pressing COVID needs.
  Economists, including some left-leaning economists--warned at the 
time that the bill ran the risk of setting off inflation. But Democrats 
and the President proceeded anyway. And every American knows what 
resulted--an inflation crisis that saw inflation reach its highest 
level in more than 40 years. An inflation crisis that, 3 years later, 
still--still--isn't over.
  But if you thought 3 years of inflation had taught President Biden to 
be wary of excessive government spending, you would be wrong. The 
President's State of the Union address was bursting with ideas for new 
spending--and new taxes to go along with them.
  Yet the President had the audacity to claim that he is ``delivering 
real results in fiscally responsible ways.''
  Well, when you have passed an unnecessary $1.9 trillion spending bill 
that plunged the country into an inflation crisis from which it has not 
still emerged, I would think you might be cautious about asserting any 
claims to fiscal responsibility.
  But the President isn't overly troubled by the facts in these 
matters. He went on to assert that he has cut the Federal deficit by 
more than $1 trillion, a deceptive claim he has repeated so often that 
it earned him a ``Bottomless Pinocchio'' from the Washington Post's 
Fact Checker column.
  As CNN put it in its State of the Union fact check, ``Biden's actions 
have clearly added to deficits.''
  Mr. President, the President's address featured lots of new spending 
ideas and proposals for new taxes. What it didn't feature was solutions 
to the challenges that are actually facing the American people.
  The President didn't get around to discussing the border and 
inflation--two of the biggest issues on the minds of Americans--until 
around halfway through his speech. And even then--even then--it was not 
to offer solutions; it was to dodge responsibility for these crises.
  Despite the fact that the crisis at our southern border is a direct 
result of President Biden's policies, the President spent his entire 
discussion of the border suggesting that it is Congress's 
responsibility to act.
  President Biden created this border crisis, and he has the power to 
end it. And he could start today.
  For example, the President could crack down on abuse of the asylum 
system by tightening the standard for asylum claims, which could help 
weed out many of the specious claims that are being made that allow 
individuals to get years of, essentially, legal permanent residence.
  But I don't think the President is really interested in securing the 
border. He is interested, however, in preventing the border crisis from 
hindering his reelection. So he is taking steps to put the blame 
anywhere but on himself.
  As for inflation, well, the President has tried a variety of tactics 
for messaging on inflation, from minimizing the crisis to blaming it on 
others. In the State of the Union, he trotted out his latest blame-
deflecting strategy, complaining about so-called shrinkflation. I hate 
to tell the President this, but a 10-percent shrinkage in the size of a 
Snickers bar is not the reason why Americans are paying $1,000 more a 
month these days to maintain the same standard of living they had when 
the President took office. Shrinkflation is not an explanation for the 
inflation crisis the President helped create. It is just one more 
attempt by the President to shift the blame.
  There are a lot of other things I could say about the President's 
speech. I could talk about the President once again touting his Green 
New Deal policies, including his plan to install 500,000 electric 
vehicle charging stations, even as our electric grid heads for 
disaster. I could talk about how disappointed I was that the President 
chose to resurrect the ugly moments early in his Presidency when he and 
his Democratic colleagues attempted to manufacture a nonexistent voter 
suppression crisis in order to justify legislation to give Democrats a 
permanent advantage in elections.
  And, of course, I thought it was deeply sad that the President's 
definition of freedom seems to be mostly centered around abortion. The 
way the President made it sound in his speech, the core American 
freedom these days is the right to kill unborn Americans.
  Well, there is a lot more to say, but I will stop here. Suffice it to 
say that if Americans were looking for solutions to the challenges 
facing our country, they did not hear them in the State of the Union.
  I yield the floor.