[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 87 (Monday, May 20, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3766-S3767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Economy

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak 
about the economy.
  Joe Biden is clearly the President of high prices. People all across 
the country, all 50 States, are well aware that this is going to be Joe 
Biden's enduring legacy.
  Prices spiked again in April. The statistics are out. Prices have 
been rising again and again and again. Price increases have been now 
above 3 percent for the last 37 months. This is the longest period in 
history of high prices since the late 1980s.
  President Biden continues to repeat a falsehood--you could call it a 
lie--because he has said time and again that inflation was 9 percent 
when he came into office. This is pure confusion on his part. Even the 
liberal fact checkers--people at CNN, people at the Washington Post--
have said what President Biden is saying about inflation is flatout 
false; it is wrong.
  In January of 2021, the day that the President--current President 
Biden--took the oath of office, the inflation rate in America was 1.4 
percent. Today, prices are almost 20 percent higher than they were the 
day he took the oath of office. The burden of Bidenomics on the 
American public is crushing; it is compounding; and, of course, it is 
cumulative. It continues to add on every single day.
  But Democrats in this Chamber and around the country deny this 
economic reality. Certainly, the Democrat in the

[[Page S3767]]

White House denies this economic reality. And President Biden proved 
that he was completely disconnected from the suffering American 
families. Earlier this month, he said Americans have ``the money to 
spend.'' I am not sure whom he is talking to, but that is not the case 
across America, and it is not the case of my home State of Wyoming.
  Democrats are completely out of touch with the economy because they 
are out of touch with American voters, the citizens of this country. 
Rising prices have plagued Americans for the last 3 years. Everyday 
life costs more and more and more. Under Joe Biden, Americans are 
squeezed; they are stressed; and they are struggling to get by.
  More than half of Americans will tell you that the economic 
conditions that they see day in and day out are poor--poor--for them 
personally. More than 80 percent of Americans say that high prices are 
their No. 1 concern. That is what Americans are suffering from today. 
President Biden's policies are not the cure for inflation in our 
economic anxieties. Joe Biden and the Democrats' policies are the cause 
of our economic struggles.
  Joe Biden and the Democrats in this Chamber and in the House of 
Representatives at a time when Nancy Pelosi was Speaker approved more 
than $3 trillion--$3 trillion--in wasteful Washington spending. The 
President added more than $1 trillion additionally on stifling and 
punishing economic regulations.
  He launched a war on American energy, hiked energy costs for 
families, gas prices went up, electricity prices went up. Because of 
failed Bidenomics, Americans are paying over $12,000 more a year--this 
year--than they did the year that he came into office just to buy the 
same things that they could buy the day he came into the White House. 
It is over $1,000 a month. That is what the American people are seeing 
today. A $100 cart of groceries in 2019, the cost now for that same 
cart of groceries--not very full--is $137. A gallon of gas in 2021 was 
$2.38. Today, in many of the battleground States--Nevada, Arizona, 
Pennsylvania--it is approaching $4 a gallon.
  Now, of course, high prices aren't the only problem. Interest rates 
are at the highest level in 23 years. High interest rates are a bitter 
fruit of Bidenomics. People are suffering when they have to take out a 
loan. This is causing significant affordability crises all across the 
country and in all age groups.
  Under these failed policies of the Biden administration, younger 
people--younger Americans--are being demoralized. They are delaying 
life's biggest moments. Homeownership is slipping clearly out of the 
reach of most young married couples and young people trying to start a 
family.
  Young Americans are facing the costliest housing market ever. 
Borrowing costs have soared. When Biden took office, they were 2.7 
percent. Today, they are over 7 percent. Home prices today are nearly 
six times higher than the average household income. That is a record 
ratio--six times higher than the average household income. Other 
costs--utility costs, insurance costs--all costs are climbing, and they 
are all caused by the amount of spending we have had under this 
administration.
  Younger Americans are having trouble buying a car. The price of car 
loans has gone way up as well as the price of automobiles themselves.
  Younger Americans are also forced to rely on credit cards more and 
more. They are developing mounting debt, which is going to continue to 
saddle them in their future. Young Americans will tell that you they 
are overextended and they are distressed and they are begging for 
relief. Today's high prices and high interest rates are going to create 
tomorrow's troubles.
  Now, President Biden has failed to protect the American dream. We now 
have an entire generation of young Americans who can't afford to buy a 
home, can't afford to start a business, can't afford to begin a family, 
and certainly can't afford to begin to grow any savings that they may 
have.
  Americans are absolutely fed up with big-spending, high-price 
Democrats. People are financially exhausted by Joe Biden's high prices. 
People are ready to move beyond Bidenomics and beyond Joe Biden.
  It is time for a change. Senate Republicans are ready to put America 
back on track. We are fighting to lower costs. That is what we are 
hearing every weekend at home: Get down the prices of things that are 
up under Joe Biden; stop the wasteful Washington spending; and please 
unleash American energy. That is the solution to the problems facing 
America today. This is how we can help make life more affordable for 
all Americans.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Nebraska.