[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 21, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H3359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                INFLATION UNDER THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Joyce) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, since President Biden took 
office, the price of gasoline has risen 55 percent, the price of 
electricity is up close to 30 percent, the price of groceries is up 
more than 20 percent, and the price of baby food is up 30 percent.
  Across Pennsylvania, families are feeling the effects of this 
inflation. On average, they are paying an additional $70 a month for 
housing and an additional $240 a month for transportation. Since 2021, 
Pennsylvania households have spent over $20,000 more than they would 
have because of inflation.
  Recently, President Biden has attempted to claim that inflation was 
already at 9 percent annually when he took office, when, in fact, it 
was only at 1.4 percent.
  What we are seeing is a President who has failed in his duty to 
protect American families. In central Pennsylvania, more than 100,000 
families make less than $50,000 a year. Mothers shouldn't have to make 
a decision on whether to buy gasoline or to buy school lunches. Parents 
should not have to worry at the kitchen table about paying their credit 
card bill or their rent.
  This is the reality that President Biden's radical spending spree has 
created over the past 4 years. It is time to return to fiscal sanity, 
and it is time to once again be responsible stewards of the taxpayer 
dollar.
  No matter what President Biden says in his campaign speeches, 
inflation is the fault of his administration, and it is time to put a 
stop to the President's failed policies.


                        Recognizing Memorial Day

  Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, as we recognize Memorial Day, 
we remember and honor the over 1.1 million Americans who have given 
their lives while serving in the Armed Forces. These men and women are 
heroes. The American story is not told without recognizing the price 
that they have paid to ensure our continued freedom.
  In Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District, we understand the 
terrible price that freedom costs. It was in Gettysburg, following the 
bloodiest battle of the Civil War, that President Lincoln said we must: 
``take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last 
full measure of devotion.''
  In the western part of our district, Cambria County was home to both 
United States Marine Corps Sergeant Michael Strank and U.S. Army 
Captain Harry Cramer.
  Sergeant Strank was one of the marines who raised the American flag 
on Iwo Jima. He was killed several days later during heavy fighting on 
that island.
  Captain Cramer was a Green Beret, one of the Army's most highly 
trained warriors who, in 1957, would become the first American casualty 
during the war in Vietnam.
  These stories are very representative of the men and women across our 
country who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
  This weekend, amid graduation parties and summer barbecues, please 
take a moment to recognize these brave men and women who swore an oath 
to defend our Nation and gave the ultimate sacrifice in the service of 
our freedoms.

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