[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 126 (Thursday, August 1, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5757-S5758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Biden Administration
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, last week, President Biden gave what
many consider to be his farewell address. Americans are eager to say
``farewell'' and, in many ways, ``good riddance'' to Joe Biden and the
policies that he has wrought, along with Democrats, upon our country.
It has been a record of ruin.
When Americans look at the state of our Nation today, they don't like
what they see. Three out of four Americans will tell you that the
country is heading in the wrong direction. Prices are 20 percent higher
than they were when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris came into office.
People are forced to cut back, forced to decide whether they can fill
their gas tanks or their grocery carts. According to CNN, nearly 40
percent of all Americans say they worry that they can't pay their
bills.
So how did we get here?
Well, Democrats passed trillions of dollars in reckless, radical, and
runaway spending. It was so unpopular as a proposal--and Congress heard
from the American people as to how unpopular it was--it was so
unpopular that, at a point, it was tied--the vote--and then they had to
bring in someone to break the tie. Who was that person who cast that
tie-breaking vote that brought us 40-year-high inflation and the
highest prices in 40 years for which so many people suffer today? That
person was Vice President Kamala Harris. That is right, Vice President
Harris, who is now the nominee of the Democratic Party, running for
President. She is the one who came into this Chamber to cast the vote
to break the tie that fueled the highest prices that we continue to
experience today.
We also have a very long national nightmare occurring at our southern
border. That is yet another result of the dangerously liberal agenda of
Vice President Harris. We had a secure border 4 years ago. Then Joe
Biden and Kamala Harris came into the White House. Biden and Harris
canceled the border wall. Biden and Harris canceled ``Remain in
Mexico.'' They replaced detain-and-deport with catch-and-
release. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris presided
over an invasion of our southern border by 10 million illegal
immigrants.
Since the time that Vice President Harris was appointed as border
czar, millions and millions of illegal immigrants have come into the
country, millions and millions of more known ``got-aways'' hiding from
authorities have gotten into this country. There is a total, we are
looking at, of 10 million illegal immigrants now in our communities.
Many communities across this country are overrun and overwhelmed. Yet
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris don't seem to care. They don't seem to care
about the drugs and the death and the destruction that are harming
American families from coast to coast.
Vice President Harris has a view of border security that, to me, is
particularly twisted and tortured. Here is her view, and she stated it:
Basically, if you are an illegal immigrant, you are not a criminal,
according to Kamala Harris. But if you are an agent of Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, ICE, in her words, you are comparable to the Ku
Klux Klan. That is from the Vice President of the United States.
She also believes this: If you are an illegal immigrant, you are
entitled to free healthcare. If you are an American citizen, she
proposes that you would actually lose your ability to choose your
healthcare and that private healthcare in this country would be
eliminated. No private healthcare for American citizens who would then
be forced to pay for healthcare for illegal immigrants--that is the
view of the Vice President of the United States and now the candidate
for President for the Democratic Party. It is ignorant; it is
insulting; and it is out of touch.
If her views are America's policy, millions and millions more illegal
immigrants will continue to flood across our southern border. It is a
magnet drawing people in.
It wasn't that way 4 years ago under the Trump administration. Back
then,
[[Page S5758]]
paychecks rose, prices were in check, and poverty fell at record rates.
America was energy independent. Gas prices were affordable. Our border
was safe and was secure.
None of that is true today, not under this administration or these
policies of the Biden-Harris administration. Democrats and this
administration at this time in our country will always be known as the
party of high prices and open borders.
Most Americans believe that our country is on the wrong track. And I
believe most Americans are right; we are on the right track. There is
good news, and that is that America can get back on track. We can get
back on track with commonsense policies--policies that work, policies
the American people are asking for.
Senate Republicans have solutions to the most pressing problems that
are facing the American public today. First, we are going to address
the No. 1 issue facing Americans. Americans will tell you what the No.
1 issue is they are concerned about, and that is the economy, the cost
of things.
We are going to make life more affordable for all families, and that
starts with making us energy dominant again and lowering the cost of
energy. The Republicans will put a stop to Democrats' punishing
political regulations that are just coming at us like a tidal wave
since the day this administration began.
We will end America's dependence on Communist China; we will
strengthen American manufacturing; and we will put American workers and
businesses first.
Republicans also have solutions that will make our communities safer.
Republicans will secure the border. We will finish the wall.
Republicans will restore a program that worked called Remain in Mexico.
This will stop the flood of illegal immigrants and the flow of deadly
drugs.
Republicans support our police officers, and we stand against the
deadly ``defund the police movement,'' the very movement that Kamala
Harris and Democrats proudly support.
Kamala Harris actually came into this Chamber to break the tie for
radical nominees by this administration, the number of whom support
defunding the police. That is the stand and that is the policy of the
Biden-Harris administration.
Abroad, Republicans will restore America's commitment to peace
through strength. Here in the Senate, Republicans will protect our
institutions and protect the rule of law. We firmly reject Democrats'
plans to pack the court and rig the elections.
These are solutions that unite Americans. Joe Biden is leaving behind
a catastrophic record of ruin. We cannot afford 4 more years of these
policies.
Yet what we see is Vice President Harris and Democrats want to
nationalize the dangerously liberal policies of San Francisco
Democrats. That is what she is, a very liberal, dangerous San Francisco
Democrat. That is her history.
That is how her voting record had been in the U.S. Senate, voted the
most liberal Member of the U.S. Senate, more liberal than Bernie
Sanders, the most liberal of 100 U.S. Senators.
What we see is that as Vice President, and now Presidential nominee,
she wants to bring the California nightmare of high taxes, high crime,
and no accountability to every household in America. These policies
would crush the middle class.
What do Americans want? Lower prices and secure borders. What are the
Democrats? The party of high prices and open borders.
Senate Republicans will lower Democrats' wallet-wrecking high prices.
Senate Republicans will work to secure our wide open border and will
work to keep Americans safe, at home as well as abroad.
There is no question that Republicans are committed to get America
back on track.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alaska.