[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 114 (Wednesday, July 10, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4323-S4325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Biden Administration

  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam President, I rise today to remind the American 
people that from the day he took office, President Biden and his 
administration have left much to be desired. As we look to the future, 
I think it is just imperative that we consider this administration's 
track record over the last 3\1/2\ years.
  President Biden's record has made an enormous impact on Americans 
directly in their wallets--everybody feels it every day--as the people 
of our country continue to deal with the consequences with this 
reckless tax-and-spend agenda this administration has championed.
  President Biden has long pledged to get a hold of inflation and 
actually passed the ironically misnamed Inflation Reduction Act that 
did exactly the opposite. That law, along with other spending sprees 
passed with only Democratic support, have stifled economic growth.

  Though President Biden talks about the middle class, he has failed to 
actually deliver for them. Truly, as we know, and we have always heard 
in our lives: Actions speak louder than words. Instead, what we have 
been dealing with is a continuous impact of an economy that just isn't 
working. We have out-of-control prices at the grocery store and the gas 
pump; a housing market that has made homeownership impossible for many 
families; and for those locked out of the housing market, long-term 
rent inflation that continues to threaten renters and small businesses.
  Just last week, we celebrated a great time in our Nation, our 
Nation's independence on the 4th of July. And what is normally a joyous 
time for Americans to come together, instead, became the most expensive 
Independence Day on record. This follows the most expensive Halloween 
and the most expensive Thanksgiving, leaving Americans little to 
celebrate. The cost of a cookout is up 5 percent over last year--5 
percent. OK. But it is up 30 percent from 5 years ago. Additionally, 
gas prices this past weekend averaged $3.50 a gallon, a 27-percent 
increase from 2019.
  Couple those statistics with the June jobs report that showed our 
country's unemployment rate at the highest it has been at in 2\1/2\ 
years; or that home prices are up a whopping 49 percent since 2020, far 
outpacing any wage increases anybody has seen; and the Joint Economic 
Committee's recent report that the average American family has lost 
$25,920 paying for the increased cost of living under President Biden 
and his policies.
  It is clear to the American people that Bidenomics is not working and 
that President Biden's economic policies are failing. So this is 
something I hear frequently about from my constituents in West 
Virginia, that the savings they worked so hard for and that they have 
sacrificed to accumulate are dwindling in front of their eyes due to 
the skyrocketing costs of living under this administration.
  There are policies to employ. There are policies that we can shrink 
and cut, regulations to cut, that would improve our economic standing. 
But, instead, Bidenomics--named by the President--has severely 
jeopardized the American dream for millions of people.
  Additionally, we have seen immigration surge to the top of the mind 
for voters. And you always hear, immigration, it is only the States at 
the border, and why does everybody talk about it? It is a national 
issue. It impacts every single State.
  The Biden administration has proven time and time again that they 
really have no genuine interest in controlling or closing our southern 
border or any desire in enforcing the immigration laws that we already 
have on the books.
  President Biden has allowed over 10 million--10 million; that is 5 
times the population of my State--10 million illegal border crossings 
throughout his tenure, all beginning with his decision to rescind the 
effective immigration policies of President Trump on day one of their 
administration.
  The mass influx of unchecked immigration has led to widespread 
repercussions and endangered the lives of American citizens and of the 
migrants

[[Page S4324]]

themselves. It has also left the door wide open for individuals on the 
Terror Watchlist to enter our country, and they have actually been 
caught at the border--something that is nearly unthinkable in a time of 
heightened national security concerns, as we are in right now.
  I haven't even mentioned--just briefly, I mentioned--the drug crisis 
that President Biden's border inaction has fueled, as mass amounts of 
fentanyl stream across our border, endangering the lives of residents 
in every State, every city, every county of this country.
  The bottom line is that addressing the issues at the southern border 
is something that President Biden actually has the tools to do himself. 
If he was really serious, he would step in and bring an end to this 
humanitarian crisis that has developed under his guidance.
  Even here, his inconsistent message and leadership is just baffling 
to me--saying he doesn't have the tools one minute and then attempting 
to enforce too little too late policy changes the next. He says he 
doesn't have the tools, and then he announces that he is going to do 
something using one of the tools he has had for 3\1/2\ years.
  Perhaps, the most alarming area that President Biden has faltered is 
on the international stage where his indecision and ill-advised 
policies have signaled unreliability to our allies and weakness to 
those who would do us harm. We are living in a time when our Nation 
faces the most dangerous global threats that we have seen in decades. 
We have NATO here in town today. It is a big topic of discussion.
  Yet President Biden has proven to be a President of weakness, 
wavering during some of the most tumultuous episodes of our Nation's 
history.
  This display of weakness is best exemplified by President Biden's 
disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. It continued with President 
Biden suggesting that a minor incursion into Ukraine might not provoke 
a U.S. or allied response. Next, Iran strung President Biden along on 
fruitless nuclear talks while the regime was building up their nuclear 
capabilities and their militias to attack our U.S. troops. And now, 
most recently, President Biden has thrown our commitments to Israel 
into question, conditioning aid for our ally during this existential 
moment.
  There is no denying that President Biden's weakness has created a 
world where our adversaries are feeling emboldened and growing closer 
together, and that is something we cannot allow to happen--not now, not 
ever.
  It is important to remind the American public that it just doesn't 
have to be this way. Americans shouldn't be forced to choose between 
paying rent, putting food on the table, and filling up the gas tank. 
They shouldn't have to turn on the TV and see the southern border in 
chaos and continually hear the alarm from our Nation's counterterrorism 
experts. And Americans shouldn't have to harbor such doubt about our 
international standing, which has long stood as a pillar of strength 
and freedom around the globe.
  My Republican colleagues and I who are going to speak today are not 
here to just spectate or to throw stones. We have ideas. And this is 
why I, along with my Republican colleagues, continue to fight for 
solutions that reduce taxes and combat the crippling inflation that has 
become a defining feature of this administration; that put forward 
policies to bring order to our southern border like reinstating 
``Remain in Mexico'' or ending catch-and-release; and to restore 
American strength on the international stage, reminding both our 
enemies and our allies of who the United States of America is and 
always will be.
  While these 3\1/2\ years of failure of the Biden administration have 
damaged our Nation, it is certainly never too late to get right back on 
track. Senate Republicans remain united in our efforts to fight on 
behalf of the American people and deliver on the priorities that mean 
the most to them. There is no doubt that the people of our country 
deserve better.
  And with that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Rosen). The Senator from Wyoming.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, first, I ask unanimous consent that 
the following Senators be allowed to speak for up to 5 minutes each 
prior to the scheduled rollcall vote: Senator Hoeven, Senator Moran, 
and Senator Cornyn, following me.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I rise today to speak about the need 
for strong American leadership. President Biden's weakness, seen on the 
world's stage, is dangerous. It is dangerous for our Nation, and it is 
dangerous for the world. It hurts our citizens, and it encourages 
aggression against our Nation and others.
  Sadly, America doesn't have strong leadership right now from the 
President or the Vice President. Joe Biden is stumbling, bumbling, 
blundering into a disaster. It is not one night of forgetfulness on the 
debate stage; it is 3\1/2\ years of a pattern of failures.
  We are living in the time of heartbreak at home and humiliation 
abroad. Look at the drugs, the death, the destruction coming from our 
southern border.
  Under Democratic open border policies, there have been 10 million 
illegal immigrants who have invaded our Nation. Americans all across 
the country are in danger. Democrats' open borders allowed Venezuelan 
criminals to go to Houston, TX, to sexually abuse and murder a 12-year-
old girl. Illegal immigrants' crime has taken the lives of many 
Americans across the country. They make headlines every day.
  The open border allows deadly fentanyl to flood our Nation and poison 
our communities in all of our States, and certainly Wyoming has been 
one of the victims of this poisoning.
  More than 300 terror suspects have come into America. That is 300 
percent higher than what we saw under the strong policies of President 
Trump. And terrorists are roaming our Nation undetected.
  Remember, border security isn't optional; it is an obligation, a 
commitment to the safety of our American people. It is a foundation of 
our safety. Without border security, there can be no national security.
  Under Joe Biden, Americans are not safe at home, and, increasingly, 
the world is not safe either. President Biden's weakness has invited 
war; it has invited conflict; and it has invited chaos around the 
world.
  He continues to appease Iran by letting Iran avoid sanctions. Iran is 
exporting almost 1.3 million barrels of oil to China each and every 
day. It uses the money from these oil sales to fund terrorism around 
the world.
  President Biden made the misguided assumption that concessions to 
Iran would stop conflict. Instead, Biden's appeasement makes Iran more 
aggressive.
  Meanwhile, Biden has proven to be a fair-weathered friend to our 
strong ally Israel. On American college campuses today, student 
protestors express hostility to the very existence of the Jewish State. 
Democrats in Washington have also grown more hostile to Israel. Senator 
Schumer stood on the floor--he demanded on this floor in March that 
Israel replace its Prime Minister. Senator Sanders called the very next 
month for America to stop sending aid to Israel.
  The anti-Israel rift in the Democrat party is bad enough. What is 
more worrying is that President Biden, the leader of the free world, 
lacks the backbone to stand up against it. Rather than resist the pro-
Hamas wing of his party, Biden has repeatedly bowed to them. He 
recently slapped a de facto arms embargo on Israel. The weapons he 
withheld would limit civilian casualties and help Israel free the 
hostages. Biden stopped that.
  That includes 8 American hostages who spent the last 9 months, 
including their 4th of July, in captivity by Hamas. President Biden 
blocked these war-winning weapons anyway. He would rather appease a 
small group of pro-Hamas voters in Michigan than support our closest 
ally in the Middle East.
  Playing politics is the core of Joe Biden's foreign policy. He 
recently claimed that no American servicemembers died on his watch. He 
told the world that. Well, that is false. It is wrong. It is a denial 
of what happened.
  On January 11, 2024, two Navy SEALs were lost at sea during a mission 
to stop weapon shipments from Iran to Houthi terrorists. Less than 3 
weeks

[[Page S4325]]

later, January 28, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan by 
Iranian-backed militias. Then there is the disaster of Afghanistan. On 
August 26, 2021, ISIS terrorists killed 13 brave American 
servicemembers. They were the first American military casualties in 
Afghanistan in a year and a half.
  Twenty-year-old LCpl Rylee McCollum of Jackson Hole, WY, was one of 
them. This was a young man who loved his country and left an impression 
on everyone he met. He was our home State wrestling champion. He had 
recently been married. He was about to become a father. Madam 
President, 1,300 people in Wyoming showed up to attend his funeral. It 
was outdoors in a tent, 37 degrees, lasted several hours, and no one 
left because Americans deserve better than a President who forgets the 
sacrifices of American heroes and forgives the aggression of America's 
adversaries.
  Joe Biden's weakness and confusion are a vivid contrast to what past 
Presidents have done.
  I think of President Ronald Reagan and his successful policy of peace 
through strength. For 8 years, President Reagan built a strong national 
defense, he restored America's confidence, and he confronted America's 
enemies. His approach incredibly ended the Cold War without firing a 
single shot.
  Three decades later, President Trump adopted a similar policy--no 
more apologizing for America like President Obama had done. We had 
strong borders. We had a strong military. We had a strong economy. And 
we had strong American leadership. Our allies respected us. Our enemies 
feared us. We were safer. It is time for America to return to that 
approach.
  The truth is that Joe Biden is a President who cannot defend his 
record and cannot defend this Nation. For the safety of our Nation, we 
need a lot less of Joe Biden's weakness and a lot more peace through 
strength. That is what we need to do. That is the way we get America 
back on track.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.