[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H4539]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 FAILED POLICIES AND RECKLESS SPENDING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the Biden-
Harris administration's failed policies and reckless spending that have 
led to runaway inflation and have bled American workers dry.
  Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration, the 
essentials Americans rely on daily have become unaffordable and 
inaccessible for most Americans. Before President Biden took office, 
inflation sat at 1.4 percent. It went up to 9 percent.
  Since then, inflation and prices have increased by a mind-boggling 
20.11 percent. At the gas pump, regular gasoline has increased a 
whopping 55.3 percent, and groceries are up 21.2 percent. Interest 
rates are at record-high levels, the highest they have been in two 
decades, impacting every family.
  With the average American spending $12,800 more a year to buy basic 
needs, Bidenomics has hurt millions of everyday Americans and Iowans 
living paycheck to paycheck. Biden-Harris inflation is a Biden-Harris 
tax on all Americans, especially seniors on a fixed income and those 
working families.
  House Republicans remain committed to reining in Biden-Harris 
reckless spending and taming inflation.


                             Border Crisis

  Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the 
national security crisis that is the Biden-Harris border crisis.
  Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, there have been 
over 9.7 million illegal immigrant encounters nationwide and 1.8 
million known got-aways who have evaded the U.S. Border Patrol. A 
record 350 individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watch list 
have also been encountered at the southern border.
  Let us not forget it was the Biden-Harris administration that ended 
the effective remain in Mexico program and allowed for 40 percent of 
catch-and-release migrants to disappear, and we have lost over 85,000 
children.
  Across the country, we have seen the impact of a porous border. 
Fentanyl and crime coming across the border has ravaged communities in 
Iowa and across America, making drug overdoses the number one cause of 
death in 18- to 45-year-olds. This is devastating the lives of millions 
of Americans.
  Democrat-led cities, such as New York and Chicago, have become 
unrecognizable due to the influx of migrants and violent crime.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on my colleagues to push the Senate to support 
H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, to protect our American homeland and 
stop the madness and crisis at our southern border.


                        Every Legal Vote Matters

  Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 8281, 
the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act.
  The SAVE Act protects and preserves the right of American citizens to 
vote by requiring States to obtain proof of citizenship, in person, 
when registering an individual to vote in a Federal election. It also 
provides States with access to existing Federal databases to clean up 
their voter registration rolls and remove noncitizens.
  Under the outdated National Voter Registration Act, or NVRA, States 
are not required to ask for proof and are prohibited from asking for 
proof of citizenship when registering an individual to vote in Federal 
elections.
  While Democrats and their media allies claim their elections are 
secure, there are a multitude of cases with incontestable evidence of 
noncitizens registering and voting in Federal elections. If you think 
one vote doesn't matter or one person voting fraudulent doesn't matter, 
I won my race in 2020 by six votes, and we had a mayoral race in my 
district that was decided after two ties by drawing a name out of a 
hat. Every vote matters. Every legal vote matters.
  Americans should decide American elections, not illegal immigrants. 
The SAVE Act is a commonsense measure to safeguard this cherished 
American right and privilege, and I urge my colleagues to vote for it.

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